Blog Tour and Review: The Queen’s Pleasure by Brandy Purdy

First line: I told Kat to fetch a chair and be my dragon, to sit outside my bedchamber door and guard my lair after I was gone.

Synopsis: When young Robert
Dudley, an earl’s son, meets squire’s daughter Amy Robsart, it is love
at first sight. They marry despite parental misgivings, but their
passion quickly fades, and the ambitious Dudley returns to court. Swept
up in the turmoil of Tudor politics, Dudley is imprisoned in the Tower.
Also a prisoner is Dudley’s childhood playmate, the princess Elizabeth.
In the shadow of the axe, their passion ignites. When Elizabeth becomes
queen, rumors rage that Dudley means to free himself of Amy in order to
wed her. And when Amy is found dead in unlikely circumstances,
suspicion falls on Dudley – and the Queen…Still hotly debated amongst
scholars – was Amy’s death an accident, suicide, or murder? – the
fascinating subject matter makes for an enthralling read for fans of
historical fiction.

My thoughts: I love reading historical fiction, particularly those books set during The Tudor Period and I especially love anything having to do with Elizabeth I. I haven’t read anything by Brandy Purdy to this point and so I jumped at the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Queen’s Pleasure is a unique look at a time during Elizabeth I’s reign. It takes us into the romance between Elizabeth and Robert Dudley, told primarily through Amy Dudley’s eyes. Using Amy’s mysterious death as the focal point, the story is told from both Amy and Elizabeth’s points of view, allowing the reader to experience the story from both sides of the conflict.

Amy and Robert met when they were young and fell in love almost immediately. Very quickly, this love fizzles, and Robert soon becomes consumed with his quest for power once Elizabeth comes to the throne. Constantly relying on the fact that they [Robert and Elizabeth] had known each other since they were eight years old, Robert was certain that Elizabeth would marry him if Amy were out of the way. He managed to persuade Amy that she would be much more comfortable staying away from the court, while at the same time, indicating to the court and Elizabeth, that Amy wasn’t willing to come to court. As Robert started spending more and more time at court and less and less time visiting Amy, she tried to win his love back many different times, all to no avail. However, what she did not know was that Robert would then take her ideas and try to use them to win over Elizabeth. 

In telling her story, Brandy Purdy really makes Robert Dudley out to be the villain. He is treacherous, ambitious, and even conceited. He believes Elizabeth should marry him, and nothing should stand in the way. Elizabeth does love Robert, but not they way he wants her to and she considers herself already married – to England – and will let nothing and no one come between that. She plays with Robert, toying with his affections for no other reason that she thinks it’s fun. Amy is the tragic character in this story and her denial of what is going on was at times almost painful to watch. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more by Brandy Purdy. Have you read anything by this author and if so, what has been your favorite of her books?

If this is a book for you, be sure to enter the giveaway – 1 copy available to those in the US.

About the author: Brandy Purdy (Emily
Purdy in the UK) is the author of the historical novels The Confession of Piers Gaveston, The Boleyn Wife (The Tudor Wife), The Tudor Throne (Mary & Elizabeth), and The Queen’s Pleasure (A Court Affair). An
ardent book lover since early childhood, she first became interested in
history at the age of nine or ten years old when she read a book of
ghost stories which contained a chapter about Anne Boleyn haunting the
Tower of London.

For more information on Brandy Purdy and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE or her BLOG. You can also find her on FACEBOOK.

Also, be sure to check out all the other stops on the blog tour and follow the tour on Twitter (hashtag: 
#QueensPleasureVirtualTour).

I received a complimentary copy of The Queen’s Pleasure by Brandy Purdy from Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.

***UK readers: This book will be published until the title A Court Affair by Emily Purdy with the following cover: