false 16183 22 In the autumn of 1558, church bells across England ring out the joyous news that Elizabeth I is the new queen. One woman hears the tidings with utter dread. She is Amy Dudley, wife of Sir Robert, and she knows that Elizabeth's ambitious leap to the throne will draw her husband back to the center of the glamorous Tudor court, where he was born to be. Elizabeth's excited triumph is short-lived. She has inherited a bankrupt country where treason is rampant and foreign war a certainty. Her faithful advisor William Cecil warns her that she will survive only if she marries a strong prince to govern the rebellious country, but the one man Elizabeth desires is her childhood friend, the ambitious Robert Dudley. As the young couple falls in love, a question hangs in the air: can he really set aside his wife and marry the queen? When Amy is found dead, Elizabeth and Dudley are suddenly plunged into a struggle for survival. Philippa Gregory's The Virgin's Lover answers the question about an unsolved crime that has fascinated detectives and historians for centuries. Intelligent, romantic, and compelling, The Virgin's Lover presents a young woman on the brink of greatness, a young man whose ambition exceeds his means, and the wife who cannot forgive them. 3459181 book 2004 The Virgin's Lover total:8280|5:1325|4:2939|3:2976|2:853|1:187| 8280 29202 11401 798 1 4 false true Mon Aug 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 28 09:04:07 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 10 18:33:35 -0700 2008 ...more...]]> 2 5 false true Thu Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 20 14:37:56 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 19 17:26:32 -0700 2008 First Instinct Review:
Elizabeth: Waaaaa! I can't rule England without you!
Robert: Come my Sweet! I shall pet you and stroke you and rule you and call you George.
Elizabeth: Ooo, Lord Robert!
Me: Shut the hell up!

With A Little More Thought:
The verdict after...more...]]> 5 3 false false Sun Jul 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 15 16:05:19 -0800 2008 Mon Jul 28 10:59:23 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat Feb 02 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 25 19:21:23 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 19:23:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue May 29 02:31:26 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 13 00:59:14 -0700 2007 The Other Boleyn Girl. Her past two books have just not been quite up to par with her first one. While I still enjoyed the The Virgin's Lover I was far from impressed because I know what Philippa Gregory has the capability of doing.
...more...]]> 2 3 false false Sat Apr 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 24 05:40:51 -0800 2008 Sat Apr 19 09:32:36 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jul 20 19:56:11 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 27 14:48:36 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 04 12:39:13 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 01 05:57:04 -0800 2008
I was disappointed in the way Queen Elizabeth was portrayed. Gregory shows Elizabeth as an...more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 17 14:46:52 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 00:13:56 -0700 2007 The Queen's Fool.

I love just about anything to do with Queen Elizabeth I, and a historical novel of her romance with Robert Dudley was intriguing, to say the least. However...

The nov...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Mar 08 06:47:20 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 08 09:37:02 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 12 08:52:19 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 08:52:39 -0800 2009
At the time of Queen Mary's death, the young princess had yet to act in a significant role on the great stage o...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Dec 13 18:37:32 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 18:37:53 -0800 2008
The writing was still beautiful, as always, but the story line, th...more...]]> 3 0 false true Mon Jul 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 10:42:38 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 11:24:25 -0700 2009
As I mentioned in my review of The Queen's Fool, Gregory is a hit or miss author with me. And this book is a definite miss.

It's a fascinating true life saga: Elizabeth Tudor sits on an insecure throne, unmarried, still in her twenties and thus ripe fo...more...]]> 0 0 false true Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 21 08:47:15 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 08:54:35 -0700 2009 The story is basically about Amy (the wife) and her struggle...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 12:05:37 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 12:14:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 19:12:36 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 06:01:54 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Sep 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 12:38:53 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 11:54:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 08:10:13 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 06:31:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 06:16:21 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 08:22:39 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Tue Apr 21 05:25:41 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 06:27:24 -0700 2009 more...]]>