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Mar 05, 2010

Lauren rated it:

Between Two Queens loosely tells the story of Anne "Nan" Basset, who arrives at the court of King Henry VIII at the age of 16 with the hopes of serving as maid of honor to his third queen, Jane Seymour, and of catching a wealthy titled husband in the process. Nan and her sister Catherine compete for the position of maid of honor and the King selects Nan because she is very beautiful. Nan's position of Maid of Honor to Queen Jane doesn't last long, as the Queen famously dies shortly a More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 10, 2011

Tami rated it:

Ok, I'm not going to lie. I took me almost 1 year and 3 tries to finish this book. That enough should warrant this book at most 2 stars but surprisingly, I'll give it 4.

Plot

16 year old Anne "Nan" Bassett and her older sister, Catherine "Cat" Bassett are being shipped off to England from France. One of the girls will join Queen Jane Seymour's ladies-in-waiting/maid-of-honor. Nan, being the prettier and more flirtatious of the two, gets chosen but not More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Amanda rated it:

After reading the first book in Kate Emerson's Secrets of the Tudor Court series, I wasn't too excited about continuing the series, primarily because there are better Tudor novels out there and I didn't see the need to spend time reading the rest of Emerson's series. However, when I saw this book come through on Amazon Vine, I thought I'd give it another try -plus the cover was absolutely gorgeous.

Between Two Queens talks about the life of Anna "Nan" Bassett after she comes t More...

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Jul 24, 2011

Rachel rated it:

The premise of this book sounds interesting: a closer look at one of the minor figures in the Tudor period, Anne Bassett. Sadly, what follows does not seem to match at all. A one-night stand suddenly makes Anne Bassett Henry VIII's mistress, and this supposedly ambitious woman who wants to be queen and follow in the footsteps of Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour as maids-turned-queen flinches every time she gets anywhere close to that goal and then whines to herself later about not getting the job do More...

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Jan 05, 2010

Bookaholics rated it:

Secrets of the Tudor Court: Between Two Queens by Kate Emerson
Historical Romance-Jan. 5, 2010
4 stars

Between Two Queens is an interesting peek into the Court life of the Tudor reign as seen through the eyes of the brash and young Anne Basssett. Nan Basset was a real person and Kate Emerson does a wonderful job of bringing her to life.
From the moment Nan Basset is chosen as a Maid of Honor to Queen Jane she hopes to use her position to find a young, wealthy and we More...

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Mar 08, 2010

Marie Z. rated it:

I thoroughly enjoyed Between Two Queens – the first book I have read by Kate Emerson. I did not want to stop reading it ! I think that the cover could have been chosen more carefully – for me the cover choice would be more appropriate for a real romance sort of novel rather than the good historical novel that this book actually is.

The novel recounts the story of the two Bassett sisters, Nan (Anne) and Cat (Catherine).
The sisters parents, Honor Grenville and step-father Arthur P More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Rio (Lynne) rated it:

Even though I did not like Emerson's first novel The Pleasure Palace, I thought I'd try her again. This book left out the annoying pages and pages of dress and pageantry details that bored me in the first book. In this one Emerson paints a story about lesser known Nan Bassett who serves as a Lady in Waiting to 4 of Henry VIII's wives and Queen Mary. She is not very likable, but that is because her Mother made her that way. It was all about scoring titles and ignoring love. I did not like Emerson More...

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Mar 11, 2011

Shari rated it:

This is the second book in the Secrets of the Tudor Court series. This one tells the story of Anne (called Nan in this book) Bassett, a real woman who part of King Henry VIII's court. As the story opens, the ambitious Nan joins the court just as Queen Jane Seymour is about to give birth to the king's son. Nan hopes to use her position to advance herself and her family, but when the queen dies from complications of childbirth, Nan's plans are thrown into a turmoil.

Nan catches the eye More...

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Jan 10, 2011

Denise rated it:

This is historical fiction (though based on many real-life characters). I've read all of Kate Emerson's Tudor books now and I must admit this one was a better attempt at a more realistic character portrayal. Women in the 16th Century were considered worthy only by the families they came from and the potential marriage dowry they would bring. No dowry=no decent chance at marriage. So both sexes had it drummed into their heads from birth that their main goal in life was to make a "good" More...

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Mar 01, 2010

Barb rated it:

This is the first novel I've read by Kate Emerson and I found myself pleasantly surprised by the story and the writing. I have to confess I am one who often judges a book by it's cover and I didn't care for this one. So, if you have a similar reaction I would urge you not to judge this book by it's cover.

I enjoyed this story and appreciated that the author included a family tree, two maps and a list of historical characters as resources for her readers. It's clear that Emerson has d More...

11 comments like

Dec 21, 2009

Marie rated it:

In Kate Emerson's second installment in the Secrets of The Tudor Court series, Emerson brings to life the character she imagines as Nan Bassett. Called 'Nan' by her friends, there is not a lot known about Anne Bassett, this mistress of Henry VIII, except that he had courted her briefly. How far that went is unknown, but Henry seemed to be fond of her. The author takes this a bit further, and has Nan in the midst of Tudor court intrigues, as a maid of honor to Jane Seymour, albeit quite briefly d More...

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Mar 21, 2010

Svea rated it:

You can read my full review here: Full Review It is always refreshing to read a book set during the Tudor court without it being directly about one of King Henry VIII's Queens. Secrets of the Tudor Court, Between Two Queens focused more on the time in between the queens of England, hence the title. The author did a great job of portraying the vast personality differences with each queen. Nan was a very unlikable and most of her suffering she brought on herself, but I was still able to sympathize More...

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Dec 16, 2010

Rachel rated it:

I needed my Tudor fix and I am not familiar with the character of Nan Bassett, so I am thoroughly enjoying this story told from her point of view. The last half of the book was full of the Tudor intrigue and I could not put it down. As usual, since there are only about 6 names used in the 1500's, it was a bit hard to keep track of the various characters.
The author has a great mini biography section at the end where she lists and describes the various royals contained within the story.
More...

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Jan 02, 2011

Traci rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Feb 28, 2010

Eileen rated it:

I am absolutely enthralled with the Tudor period of history, from Margaret George's "Autobiography of Henry VIII" to "A Man for All Seasons," "Anne of the Thousand Days," and the entire Philippa Gregory series.

How have I missed Kate Emerson's "Secrets of the Tudor Court" until now. "Between Two Queens" is the second of her books about Tudor England. It follows a maid-in-waiting, Anne Bassett, as she flirts and hopes and tries to sna More...

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Sep 05, 2010

Melissa rated it:

Different from the original in the series--the only repeat character is really King Henry VIII. I didn't connect to Nan, the main character, nearly as well as I did with Jane Popnycourt from the 1st book in the series. In the beginning, Nan's naivety and youthful snobbish attitude toward Cat & Ned were annoying and frustrating. Fortunately for the book's 3 star rating, Nan improved as a character around page 100 and I enjoyed it more and more from there. The time in Tudor Court wasn't as int More...

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Mar 11, 2010

Stephanie rated it:

It's been a while since I've read a historical fiction on the Tudors. I, like many, am fascinated with the Tudor royal court. This book brought me right back into it. :) The author has done extensive research on the history and on the characters in her story. Most of them are real people from the time. At the end of the book she includes a "who's who" from the characters in her book. There is a brief description of most everyone in her story who was a real person, including their birth More...

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Jul 26, 2010

Mandy rated it:

I would give this 3.5 stars, if I could...
The second book in Kate Emersons "Secrets of the Tudor Court" series, Between Two Queens focus's on the life of Anne (Nan) Basset, a minor noblewoman who served in the households of several Tudor Queens.
The book opens with Nan and her sister, Cat, competing for a place as Lady in Waiting to Queen Jane Seymore. Nan catches the eye of King Henry and is chosen over her sister.
She's thrilled by the attention from Henry, and is attrac More...

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Mar 09, 2011

Ana rated it:

Secrets of the Tudor Court: Between Two Queens / 978-1-4165-8327-1

It seems you can hardly swing a cat these days without hitting some new artifact of Tudor historical fiction: between the Philippa Gregory novels (and the dozens of spawned similar novels) and the HBO series "The Tudors", people just can't seem to get enough of the seamy life of Henry VIII and his never-ending parade of wives and love affairs.

Superficially, "Between Two Queens" fits the mold well enough - slap More...

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May 10, 2011

Meagan rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Apr 08, 2010

Laura rated it:

Kate Emerson’s second book in her Secret’s of the Tudor Court series is set around Anne Bassett, known as Nan to her friends who desire’s nothing more than to marry a rich husband with a title (as one could best hope for in this era). Nan’s ambition manages to secure a place as one of Queen Jane Seymour’s maids of honour, chosen over her older sister and believes her life is now in motion, that she will now fulfil all her dreams. But Nan’s happiness doesn’t last for long – Queen Jane dies less t More...

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Feb 03, 2010

Robin rated it:

I enjoyed the first book in Emerson's Tudor Court series well enough so I picked up the second in the series to continue the journey. While the first book was okay this one really fell flat.

This story is about Anne (Nan) Bassett, a young woman who comes to Henry VIII's court not only hoping to be chosen as a maid of honor to Queen Jane but determined to find a husband, a wealthy one complete with a title. She eventually captures the eye of the king and hopes to use that as a way of a More...

3 comments like

Jan 18, 2011

Anna rated it:

The story begins in 1537, King Henry VIII is in the middle of his reign and married to his 3rd wife Jane Seymour. Nan (Anne) Bassett & her sister Cat (Katherine) arrive at court. One of them is to be chosen to be a maid of honor to Queen Jane. Nan soon learns that the Tudor Court is a dangerous place to live, with games and intrigue around every corner.

I have always enjoyed reading about the Tudor Court but this is the first time I've read anything about Anne Bassett or her connectio More...

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Feb 28, 2011

Melissa rated it:

With youth and beauty, Nan Bassett is chosen instead of her sister to be a maid of honor to the queen. Once inside the Tudor court, Nan has hopes of finding a husband with prestige and wealth. However, with King Henry taking an interest in her, Nan finds she could be in the running as the future queen of England. The overall story of Nan was enjoyable but the number of character's and politics involved was distracting.

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Mar 15, 2011

Thalia rated it:

book two does not disappoint. In fact it's a better story than book one, an improvement of both plot and character development. I love how the author takes real life people and fills in her own blanks to flesh out a minor historical figure. She does it much better here. There are still a few times when it's a little over reached and the ending...well it's too fairy tale...but overall a lovely little Tudor holiday. Now where's book #3?

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Nov 01, 2010

Rachel rated it:

I don't remember reading about Nan Bassett in all of the books I've read about the Tudor court, so this story was entirely new to me.

Well written and engaging, I enjoyed the story. I really felt Nan was too conniving, but she slowly (oh, so slowly!) learned that there was more to life than the acquisition of power, wealth, and status.

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Aug 15, 2010

Caroline rated it:

As Tudor mania shows no signs of abating, Kate Emerson is wise to stake a claim to a less-covered segment of time: the period between the death of Jane Seymour and the short marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves. She also makes a good decision by choosing a narrator who really lived during the time, but about whom we know fairly little - maid of honor Nan Basset. I will say that Nan begins the book as a rather difficult protagonist - she starts out as one of those saucy, short-tempered, ambi More...

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May 26, 2011

Hannah rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jan 13, 2011

Jodi rated it:

This was okay--liked that it had real historical characters but that was my draw back as well. Can't imagine a maid of honour for Lady Mary Tudor telling Katheryn Parr that she must be strong and marry King Henry VIII. Oh well. This is for entertainment and since it was a very fast read-- no harm done so to speak.

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Nov 29, 2010

Rebecca rated it:

Certainly this is yet another novel cashing in on the recent surge in fiction on Tudor England. This time, the heroine is actually someone who lived, Nan Bassett, a relation by marriage -- a very distant one -- to King Henry himself. She has arrived at court to be a maid of honour to the new queen, Jane Seymour, and Nan it seems can only focus on the pretty gowns, and the possibility of snagging a wealthy, titled nobleman for herself.

Indeed, the heroine harps incessantly on getting th More...

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