I have read The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool and loved both of those novels. However, this novel just did not impress me at all. There was no likeable character throughout the whole book. They took Queen Elizabeth, who is usually considered one of the greatest ruler's of England and turned her into an insecure whinny girl. Robert and Amy Dudley's characters were very stagnant. Robert seemed focused on being the King the entire time and Amy was just sad and crazed half the time. The books is really boring all it talks about is who Elizabeth is flirting with or how she does or does not want to invade Scotland. Save your money and your time and read her other books.