Good story, no depressing violence and no disgusting harem scene. I like the heroine Blaze Wyndham not just that she's beautiful but there's a substance in her character. And I think she's smarter than Skye, Miranda, Ronwyn and any of the heroine who ended up captured/sold to the east/harem, not only that she gained the attention and friendship of one of the most powerful man(Henry VIII)in Christendom at the time but was loved by a handsome and faithful man in Anthony Wyndham. Even the secondary characters are likable. This is a must read if you like historic romance with a touch of sensuality...

Meet Lord and Lady Morgan. They have a problem, eight beautiful, spunky daughters who they are too poor to dower for marriage. Oh whoa! What shall they do?

Meet Edmund Wyndham-he also has a problem. His wife is dead, and he has no heir for his vast estates. What shall he do? Go find a rich heiress to enrich him and his lands as a real man of the period would have done? Nope-Edmund, who apparently knows about inherited genetic traits, heads over to the Morgan's to get a wife because of Lady Morgan's extreme fertility MUST have been passed on to her daughters-and all he wants is a wife who doesn't squint.

Enter Blaze, the soon to be wife who has no real personality but it supposedly spunky and fun and sexy, and Anthony, Edmund's nephew and heir who is in love with Blaze inexplicably and also for some odd reason does not desire to inherit from Edmund.

Ah romance novels-nothing needs to make sense, the plots go on and on and on when a point of resolution has clearly been reached and so many exclamation points are used!!!!!! The fact that this novel has some stuff (badly written and researched stuff) about Henry VIII makes no difference-it's just a bad book and every character is annoying beyond belief.

Not recommended-two stars.

This was the first book I read by Bertrice Small, I was 16 at the time. Now, nearly 15 years later, I am still a huge fan of hers, and have all the books she has written. This book was so good, it got me 'addicted' to her writing. This book has great historical detail, and is written so well you can visualize the things you are reading about. If you haven't read anything by Bertrice Small, this is a great start. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical romance!

Am I the only reader who thought that Delight's punishment wasn't severe enough? (Spoilers)She plotted to kill her sister, with no remorse, and she didn't even get a slap on the wrist! Everyone felt sorry for her and she even gets to marry a wonderful guy! If I were Blaze, I would beat her black and blue! Other than that, I really enjoyed the book, as I do all Small's books.

This should have been a great story, but I don't enjoy reading about 30-40 year men who marry children. It may have been the norm in the era but, it is not romantic to me. Blaze was a great character however, I don't believe that a fifteen girl (which is how old Blaze is when she marries Edmund) could come off sounding so more mature no matter the time period or circumstances. Another thing that disturbed me was the language. A seven year old [is using bad language]. I'm appalled by this language. I wonder if this word was used then. I prefer romance between two people who are at least in the proximity of the same age because it is more believable.