The Queens Gamble by Barbara Kyle is the fourth installment of the Thornleigh family series. I have to be honest, I read the first but not the second or third but I had no trouble following along with the family dynamics from the second novel. The story is the fictional account of Isabel (Thornleigh) Valverde and her husband Carlos's part in the Scottish uprising (with the aid of the French) to try to gain the control of the English throne and oust Elizabeth I with Mary Stuart who they felt was the true Queen of England. The story is the continuing saga of the Thornleigh family along with notable figures of history, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Regent of Scotland, Marie de Guise, John Knox and Sir William Cecil. Barbara Kyle's combining of fact and fiction makes for a very exciting, suspenseful and wonderful read filled with real characters in this period of history. With authors like Barbara Kyle, I know why I love this period in history the most. For any fan of historical fiction and the England in the 1600's needs to have this book on their to be read stack, or on their shelf....