Review: The Queen's Lady by Eve Edwards

Last year, I found myself enchanted by Eve Edwards' YA historical romance, The Other Countess. Having never been a particular fan of historical fiction, this sweeping Tudor-era story of starcrossed young lovers opened my eyes to the appeal of a genre I'd been neglecting for years. And from the moment I closed the book, I was eagerly anticipating the sequel.

The second Lacey romance sees a shift in focus from disgraced alchemist's daughter Ellie and teenage Earl Will, to their former friend Lady Jane, who secretly risked her own future to ensure their happiness. While hers is another richly drawn Elizabethan love story, the novel as a whole has a wider scope than the first book in the series. In The Other Countess, it's Will Lacey's need to marry for money that threatens to thwart his affections for impoverished Ellie. Though money is once again an issue in this second instalment - this time for teenage Marchioness Jane and younger Lacey brother James - The Queen's Lady also delves a little deeper into the prejudices of the time as in a subplot African servant Diego falls for English dressmaker Milly. In addition, Eve Edwards takes us out of Elizabeth's court and into the sights and sounds of Tudor London itself - not to mention all the way to the 'new world' of America.

As in The Other Countess, Eve Edwards does a spectacular job of recreating an authentic Tudor setting, but again what really impresses is the way that her characters speak to the modern reader. We no longer live in a world where the eldest son is heir to the family estate and second sons like James have to make their own way, but we do live in a world where his experiences in an overseas war will resonate with the young adult audience. And while her female leads hail from a society that places certain constraints upon them, within those limitations they're all impressively independent, individual and blazing with integrity - and all worthy subjects for a ruler as formiddable as Queen Elizabeth, that's for sure.

The Queen's Lady is a welcome return to Eve Edwards' sumptuous Tudor world-building and swoon-worthy romance. The main pairings are every bit as compelling as Will and Ellie from the first book, and endearing illegitimate Lacey brother Kit's story is nicely set up for the sequel - which, having finished this one, I know I won't be able to resist. This is historical romance to lose yourself in.

Out: February 3rd 2011, UK

Many thanks to Razorbill UK for providing a review copy of this book. 

Guest post: Sophia Bennett on inspiring fashion pictures

Today, I'm thrilled to be hosting the final book tour stop for Sequins, Stars and Spotlights, the third book in Sophia Bennett's Threads trilogy. And I'm especially thrilled to present a special guest post from the author herself. Take it away, Sophia!

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Fashion pictures – la la la


When Lauren suggested themes for this, the final stop on the blog tour, I loved the sound of ‘My favourite fashion book covers’. So off I went to look them up. And then I got distracted. Lauren – I hope you don’t mind.


As soon as I got onto Google Images, I found myself looking at fashion illustrations more generally, and reminding myself of some of the people whose pictures have inspired me. Here are my top five. Any one of them could, I’m sure, have created a fabulous cover for Threads. (Oh, and by the way, I’ve also included Giles Deacon – who did. Thank you again, Giles. I’ll always love that hardback edition very much.)


1. First off is Erté. Russian. Slightly decadent. Flamboyant. Playful. I discovered him at school and I had this book of paper dolls from the 1920s. I ADORED it. I collected posters, calendars and books with his illustrations – whatever I could find. Crow would love him, and be very jealous that he designed for the ballet, which is her biggest dream.

2. Next up is Norman Parkinson. For me, he’s the photographer of the 1950s, when chic was at its chic-est. I love the way he frames his pictures. The car. The New York skyline. There’s always such a story going on and I want to be a part of it. (If you like this sort of thing, by the way, follow Digs Frocks and Books here: http://digsfrocksandbooks.blogspot.com/)

3. Cally Blackman’s illustration of a cocktail dress is also (yay, Lauren!) a book cover. I love the way she’s suggested the dress with splashes of paint. Fabulous. Wish I could draw like that. (Ooh just realised – a character in my new book’s called Cally. Coincidence?)

4. I discovered Corinne Day last year. She was the photographer who made Kate Moss famous in her teens. Corinne was often friends with her models and they loved working for her. She could do original shots (Kate controversially in her undies in Corinne’s flat) or others that were inspired by the greats and gave them a modern twist. She died last year of a brain tumour. Here, she’s summoning up the sheer amazingness of behind-the-scenes V&A. Nonie heaven.

5. The very amazing GeckoGrace is a teen blogger who wrote to me about Threads. I then discovered her website and her fabulous illustrations and writings. Here’s a recent drawing from her blog [http://geckograce.wordpress.com]. I love her photography too.

Also, I promised you that hardback edition of Threads, with an illustration done specially by Giles Deacon. It’s in the spirit of all my favourites. Lucky. Me.

I’d like to thank Lauren and all the bloggers who’ve hosted me on what’s been a (for me) wonderful tour. You’ve made the launch of Sequins very special for me. Thank you, everyone.

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Thank you, Sophia for sharing such a wonderful post with us!

Check out Sophia's website here for the inside scoop on the Threads trilogy.

Changes

Due to commitments in other areas of my life, I've had to make the decision to cut down on the amount of time I spend blogging. As of February 2011, I will no longer be accepting books for review.

While I will definitely miss the excitement of reading and reviewing books pre-publication, gradually I Was A Teenage Book Geek will go back to what it started out as: a place for me to talk about the books I bought for myself. The only difference being that, having been part of the YA blogosphere for a year and a half, my reading horizons have expanded dramatically. Thanks to the publishers who have kindly provided me with review copies over the past year and the wonderful bloggers whose posts I follow, I've discovered some new favourite authors, my genre preferences have shifted, and my tastes have become more varied. I'm immensely grateful for all of that, but since I'll be posting far less frequently I really wouldn't feel right about continuing to accept review copies.

I do have a substantial review book mountain at the moment, and I'll be working my way through that as usual. Beyond that? Who knows. I want to promote British authors, and I also want to promote authors whose books reflect the level of diversity I like to see in YA fiction, and we all know I love the Aussies so they'll be in there somewhere. In other words, I don't know what this blog will become, but I'm real interested to find out.