Rating: 
Summary: An OK Tudor-era romance
Review: _Blaze Wyndham_ tells the story of a young girl growing up in Tudor England. She and her huge family of little sisters have little hope of marriage, since her parents are too poor to dower even one of them, let alone the others. But word of her mother's fecundity has reached widower Edmund Wyndham, whose first wife died in the birth of a stillborn child after fifteen years of barrenness. Edmund needs an heir, and he needs a healthy and fertile wife to get one. He offers to marry Blaze without a dowry, and provide marriage portions to her sisters as well. The young girl objects, but decided to marry him to help her sisters. She soon falls in love with her kind and sexy husband, but she's not so sure about arrogant Anthony, his nephew, with whom she constantly bickers in that way that is shorthand for "Look out! Chemistry ahead!" Mostly comfortable in her new life, Blaze bears a daughter. Unfortunately, Edmund dies, Blaze blames Anthony for the accident that killed him, and Blaze's sister recommends that Blaze go to the royal court for a time to forget her pain. Instead, she gets blackmailed into being Henry VIII's mistress, then is cast aside when he falls for Anne Boleyn. Not wanting to leave Blaze helpless, the King wants to make a good marriage for her--and the perfect candidate is good old Anthony. She still hates him for causing Edmund's accident; he is angry at her for sleeping with the King, but the monarch's word is law, and they marry. The rest of the book tells the story of how these two people learn to get along, clear up all the misunderstandings, and love each other. _Blaze Wyndham_ is basically a good story, but there were a couple of things about it I didn't like. First of all, I hated the scene where Blaze viciously tells off her little daughter over a matter of bad embroidery. This doesn't sit well with the kindly Blaze we see throughout the rest of the book. Also, during her marriage to Anthony, there is a subplot involving a teenage villainess, which doesn't seem to serve much purpose except to add pages. It could have been done without. If you liked this book, and want to read other novels set in the reign of Henry VIII, I recommend Anne Merton Abbey's _Kathryn_ for a more compelling romance, or Philippa Gregory's _The Other Boleyn Girl_ for a darker look at the court.
Rating:
Summary: An OK Tudor-era romance
Review: _Blaze Wyndham_ tells the story of a young girl growing up in Tudor England. She and her huge family of little sisters have little hope of marriage, since her parents are too poor to dower even one of them, let alone the others. But word of her mother's fecundity has reached widower Edmund Wyndham, whose first wife died in the birth of a stillborn child after fifteen years of barrenness. Edmund needs an heir, and he needs a healthy and fertile wife to get one. He offers to marry Blaze without a dowry, and provide marriage portions to her sisters as well. The young girl objects, but decided to marry him to help her sisters. She soon falls in love with her kind and sexy husband, but she's not so sure about arrogant Anthony, his nephew, with whom she constantly bickers in that way that is shorthand for "Look out! Chemistry ahead!" Mostly comfortable in her new life, Blaze bears a daughter. Unfortunately, Edmund dies, Blaze blames Anthony for the accident that killed him, and Blaze's sister recommends that Blaze go to the royal court for a time to forget her pain. Instead, she gets blackmailed into being Henry VIII's mistress, then is cast aside when he falls for Anne Boleyn. Not wanting to leave Blaze helpless, the King wants to make a good marriage for her--and the perfect candidate is good old Anthony. She still hates him for causing Edmund's accident; he is angry at her for sleeping with the King, but the monarch's word is law, and they marry. The rest of the book tells the story of how these two people learn to get along, clear up all the misunderstandings, and love each other. _Blaze Wyndham_ is basically a good story, but there were a couple of things about it I didn't like. First of all, I hated the scene where Blaze viciously tells off her little daughter over a matter of bad embroidery. This doesn't sit well with the kindly Blaze we see throughout the rest of the book. Also, during her marriage to Anthony, there is a subplot involving a teenage villainess, which doesn't seem to serve much purpose except to add pages. It could have been done without. If you liked this book, and want to read other novels set in the reign of Henry VIII, I recommend Anne Merton Abbey's _Kathryn_ for a more compelling romance, or Philippa Gregory's _The Other Boleyn Girl_ for a darker look at the court.
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