The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby

Genre: YA Historical
Copyright: 2009
Pages: 297
Rating: 9
Where did the book come from?: I read about it somewhere and like the sound of it, so I purchased it from Book Depository.

I loved Alisa Libby's story about Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's 5th wife. It is a tragic story of a young girl of 15 who is used by her family, loved by a king and betrayed by her past.

One of the things made clear in this novel is the greed of the main players at court, the Howard's and the Seymour's. This poor girl never had a chance, the Seymour's wanted her dead so that Jane's son Edward would be King and as he was only 4 years old one of them would be the caretaker of the crown. These families would stop at nothing, they used their young beautiful woman like cattle, caring nothing for them and their young men as pawns. The court of Henry VIII was a dangerous place indeed! You would rather have been born a peasant in this time than be born into one of these families.

Henry died when he was 56 years old, which is quite a feat considering his ailments and ulcerated leg. He was a very old 49 year old man when he married Catherine Howard and she was a young and terrified girl. Yes she was seduced by the glittering jewels and beautiful gowns and her own stupidity got her beheaded, however Alisa Libby opens up a different side to Catherine than the brief accounts I've read of her before. She takes her out of the history books and into the real world, she gives her a heart and soul and fear. A fear she lives with every day.

I highly recommend this historical novel about Henry VIII's 5th wife, it takes you deep into the frightening world of the Tudor court.

Henry's 6 Wives:
Katherine of Aragon - married to Henry for 24 years, marriage annulled.
Anne Boleyn - married to Henry for 3 years, marriage annulled, beheaded two days later.
Jane Seymour - married to Henry for only a year, died a month after the birth of Henry's only son who died when he was 16.
Anne of Cleves - married to Henry for 6 months, marriage annulled and apparently never consummated.
Catherine Howard - married to Henry for just over a year, marriage annulled, beheaded 4 months later.
Catherine Parr - married to Henry for 3 1/2 years and was married to him when he died.

This month on Queen of Happy Endings you could win an autographed copy of Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran , the UK version or the US version and Blood Promise by Richelle Mead. Check this blog post for all the details to win Blood Promise and this blog post to win Cleopatra's Daughter. International entrants welcome.