Kathryn: In/Court/Six

I love this book!!! It's the best. Any historical romance lover must have this book. I'm not really reading romance books and this is the reason why I eventually hooked up in historical romance. If such books will be elegantly written as this, then I will always find my self reading and reading more historical romance books! I like the Tudor England setting (i love european history) but the what makes this book totally a masterpiece is because of the characters. Man, I really love John de Gael, Baron Windsgeat. And I admired the courage and wit of Lady Kathryn. If you find this book, don't hesitate to get this one. I know it's hard to find it nowadays but if you find it, go and get it. You'll never be disappointed.

This book is the best historical fiction i have ever read. I am so upset that there isn't a sequel or at least aanother book like it. I have re-read this book so many times that i know it by heart.

I was about 14 or 15 when I first read this book; I checked it out from the local library several times, got in trouble with my mom because of the lurid cover, mourned when some other patron checked it out and never brought it back. Firmly believing that _Kathryn_ was The Best Book in the World, I searched for it high and low, and every time I went to a used bookstore, even many years later, I would at least cursorily scan the Romance section to see if I could find this. Thank the Gods for the Internet!Opening _Kathryn_ again was like sitting down at Ye Olde Pub with wonderful old friends--the savvy and ever-surviving Kathryn with her knack for keeping her head--literally--at Henry VIII's court, and John de Gael, the outrageously dressed, rakish pagan lord who delighted in being the only man who dared to argue with King Hal. Having sampled some very fine literature, I no longer hold with the opinion that _Kathryn_ is The Best Book in the World, but even as the years have made me more snobbish about prose style, they have also made me realize just how good _Kathryn_ truly is for its genre--I've read enough historical romances by now to realize that this is a gem among them.First of all, the romance between the leading characters is deeper and more realistic than that found in most romance novels. Most romance novels tell of whirlwind courtships, and end with a hasty wedding taking place while the couple is still in the first throes of infatuation. We never get to see how two people can grow older and wiser together. But Kathryn and John are different. They first fall in love as hormonal young people, but fate and the King separate them. We see them grow stronger through adversity; we smile at the new loves that show them joy again, and when they finally reunite as lovers, it is the triumph of two tenacious and passionate adults, not the whim of a couple of besotted kids. Second, the paganism (which mostly went over my head at 14) is done magnificently. What could have been saccharine and cheesy is instead mysterious, dangerous, and often tragic--think of British sacred/sacrificial king lore here. Finally, _Kathryn_ is notable for its fascinating glimpse into Henry's court. All of the historical personages come vividly alive in Abbey's hands. It was this book, long ago, that sent me off to the History section of the library to figure out what was real and what was fiction. I was heartbroken at first when I found no trace that Kathryn Chase had ever lived, but then I was sucked in by the real history, and to this day my friends tend to think I'm a total weirdo whenever Henry VIII comes up; no one can figure out why I bothered to learn all the little details.So, if you like historical romances, and if you can find a reasonably priced copy of _Kathryn_, don't hesitate to snap it up; it's hard to find these days. Then, pour yourself a glass of the beverage of your choice, find a comfy chair, and prepare to fall in love with Lady Chase.

If you find this book in a used book store, snatch it up and run away before anyone can get it. It has a very fresh and original style; not the gaggingly-sweet purple prose of many historical novels written more than fifteen years ago.Kathryn Chase is the granddaughter of a king and the niece of one of the most powerful men in England. She is also always under a cloud, for her royal blood in Henry Tudor's court makes her a target. When she falls in love with one of the most controvercial men in England, John de Gael, Baron Windsgeat, it becomes even more dangerous. For not only is John the Keeper of the God's Way, the priest of the Old Religion in England, but he has a secret that could destroy both their lives, and everyone around them...If you know Henry VIII's life and times, this is a fun romp through a slightly historically bent telling. I have found several other historical novels by "Valerie Vayle" and none of them have touched the power, humor, and beauty of this book. I join my voice to one of the other reviewers to cry, "Where are more Windsgeat books?!?!?!?!"

This is one of the most amazing historical fiction books I've ever come across.As a student of Briitsh history, I loved recognizing that Abbey somehow found an opening to insert a couple of fictional characters into a fascinating moment in history (in theory it shouldn't seem so easy, but it works very, very well). Can you imagine being in the court of all six of Henry VIII's Queens? Cool! From what I've been able to piece together, Anne Merton Abbey was a pseudomyn for a pair of writers who have also written as Valerie Vayle, Janice Young Brooks, Jean Brooks-Janowiak and Janet Brooks.  Currently one of them writes under the name of Jill Churchill. It's really a loss to the reader that they never followed up on the promise of a sequel to this book, or even with another non-related historical fiction.