Skip to main content

Ladies in Waiting

Ladies in Waiting is a YA historical fiction/romance novel by Laura L. Sullivan.

Three young women are entering the court of King Edward II’s scandalous court.

There’s Eliza whom her father wants married off to someone with power and privilege inside the royal circle, as despite their immense wealth they have no say in affairs of the country. Yet he’s held back and frustrated by a promise he made Eliza’s dying mother to let her choose her own husband.

Eliza, though, doesn’t have an interest in marrying at all. What she most looks forward to as she enter the Queen’s service as a lady in waiting is the nearness of other playwrights – which is exactly what she wants to be.

Beth has been groomed to, against her will, flaunt her beauty of face and form but keep her purity guarded fiercely by a willful, abusive mother that is determined to attach her daughter to someone that will lift them from their place of utter poverty. But she has dreams of true love, and escape from her cruel mother.

Zabby has always been a girl with a scientific, mathematical mind – and those skills lead to, almost accidentally, saving King Edward II’s life. Those days of closeness, of seeing behind the royal veil have led her to feel stirrings of something like love, something like obsession. Yet she is a lady in waiting to his new, sweet Queen Catherine and must resist her unseemly feelings.

Okay then! So it’s pretty obvious from the premise that Ladies in Waiting is essentially a soapy novel taking place in a historical time. That can be a lot of fun, when done right.

And though it is most definitely frothy, the continual switching of mental viewpoints between the characters, even sometimes including Queen Catherine, without organization or page break threw me off constantly. I had a hard time ever connecting to one character or really knowing what was going on when one second I was privy to one girl’s thoughts and the next second someone else’s. It was odd, to say the least.

Ladies in Waiting has a bit more of an edge than I was expecting. The king is embittered and has a twisted sense of right and wrong. Sometimes the book came across as a tad sleazy, though I know the time period and general behavior of many involved may be reflected rather realistically.

This was still a fast-paced read, though. And there’s more than enough drama to keep me at least semi-interested among the unfamiliar, discomfiting writing style. The storytelling did feel a little all over the place for me, though, and I was never particularly fond of any of the three girls. I also never outright disliked them, either.

Ladies in Waiting, for me, was a rather incomplete, dissatisfying novel overall – but certainly entertaining in its own way and sure to be enjoyed by many a sudsy-fan, yet I wouldn’t myself call it a necessarily fun book.

Which is really too bad. Check it out for yourself though, if this is the kind of book you usually go for!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Author Q & A - Jan Eldredge Stops By!

Next Wednesday y'all will be getting my oh-so-humble opinion of Evangeline of the Bayou , the Summer 2018 Kids' Indie Next List selection! (That means it was picked via booksellers at independent bookstores countrywide.) Until then, I have a Q&A with the Louisiana born and raised author herself: Jan Eldredge! (Don't forget to come back next week for my review!!) A Conversation with JAN ELDRIDGE Author of Evangeline of the Bayou 1) The glossary in the back of the book is so helpful! Where did you learn about all these creatures? Which creature from the book is your favorite? I have a small, but growing, collection of books about mythical creatures around the world. If I couldn’t find what I was looking for there, I researched library books, online websites, and the occasional documentary. Something that really surprised me as I started learning more about mythical monsters was the number of different cultures that share very similar

First Step: Admit You Have a Problem

Hi fellow Bibliophiles! I have been rather neglectful to this blog... instead continuing to stay buried in a book as I have during the holidays. I'm hopeful that most of you have been doing this too and can easily accept my apology. Have I been reading? Um, yeah! (Translation: duh.) Just haven't been able to pull myself away long enough to actually WRITE about what I'm reading. Lol. But that's me, a bibliophile, an addict, an addict who's fallen off the wagon and fully embraced her love of reading - especially with all this free time to do so!!! I've also been watching awesome holiday movies, eating yummy, but bad-for-me, food and hanging out with the people I love best! You too? I hope! ;) Anyway, I will return with a new book review next week, most likely on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for your patience and keep reading!!!

Promotion Celebration for Maximum Ride!!!

Do you love the series Maximum Ride ? How about James Patterson? Are you a huge fan of action-packed books? Well, I’m thrilled to bring to you an opportunity to stock up on some awesome reading!!! ENTER TO WIN A SET OF JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNERS! MAXIMUM RIDE – IF SHE LIVES, THE WORLD LIVES, IT’S THAT SIMPLE. Read “MAX” - the newest book in the bestselling Maximum Ride series. On sale in paperback 09/01/09! Still reeling from their most recent adventure, Maximum Ride and the rest of the flock must head out to sea to uncover the secret behind a brand new series of disasters—fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii, hundreds of ships are being destroyed. As if that weren’t enough, they’re also being tracked by a criminal mastermind with, oh yeah, an army of mercenaries. Can the flock save themselves and the ocean, and the world, from utter destruction? Now for the rules : The Maximum Ride: Max Promotion is open to legal US residents who are at least 13 years of age as of August 24, 200