What a well needed dose of Italian Renaissance fiction this was for me. What a clever little writer Ms Haeger is. This book is very formulatic. Poor girl meets rich boy, attraction is there, sparks fly, he finds away to get her alone and eventually wears down her walls of saintliness and thus they become lovers though no one wants her to be in his life because he's "propery of politics". This is the story of Raphael Sanzio, an artist considered on par with Renaissance greats like Michaelangelo and Da Vinci (both of which make cameos in the story), and his mistress, the baker's daughter, Magherita Luti.

Yet while the story is formulatic the passion of the art and the love between out couple is intense and beautiful. I was prepared to give this book a solid 3 stars because it's writing was lovely, fluid, the story was well rounded but because it was typical (albeit historically accurate). The ending, however, the heart wrenching-ness of it is was got this book it's fourth star. It's this part of the book that made it wonderful, it doesn't just tug on your heartstrings, but rips at them not just with Raphael's side of the story, but also with Margherita's side and what makes it even more incredible is you know what will happen to these characters in the beginning. It was brillant writing and I will definitely be reading more of Haeger's work in the future.