Royal Blood by Rona Sharon took me by surprise as I didn’t read much about the book before beginning it. Normally I do not get into historical romances as I thought this work would be. I tend to bore easy with the old style languages. This book was a great surprise for me.

The setting is 1518 Tudor Court. King Henry VIII with his wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon is in the prime of their reign. The main characters are Princess Renee de Valois of France, a fierce young woman on a dangerous mission at the court of King Henry VIII, and Michael Devereaux who is the heir to the Earl of Tyrone, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Michael comes to court to fight during the annual celebration of the Order of the Garter and bring honor to his lord. After Michael makes his name by saving the King's life, and by triumphing at a series of jousts during the Garter ceremony tournament, Cardinal Wolsey decides to mentor him. When a series of brutal murders occur, Wolsey asks Michael to investigate. Although the paranormal is a major factor from early in the storyline, the supernatural really begins to play a much larger role during Michael's investigation.

Of course what is a romance novel without the romance? This was extremely well written into the story. It isn’t rushed as soon as they meet. The tension building was excellent and worth the wait! The chemistry between these two characters is perfect.

I was unsure at first about the vampire aspect to this book. I was surprised by it because as I said earlier, I didn’t read anything about this book like I normal do before reading. I didn’t think it would work at first especially in the time period this story takes place in but it is well written and I wasn’t disappointed.

I found this novel, its plots, and subplots, to be thrilling and extremely original. The amount of research she had to have done for this novel shows as most of the cast of characters were actual historic figures from the time period. The language used was easy to get used to because the storyline absorbs into the world quickly.



About the Author

In the summer of 2005, Rona Sharon left her career in the corporate world and hopped on a plane to New York City, determined to slam pitch her wickedly inspired first manuscript at the Writer's Digest Writers Conference prior to BookExpoAmerica.

A year later, her debut romance novel, MY WICKED PIRATE - a swashbuckling adventure in the grand style of CAPTAIN BLOOD - is published by Zebra and is followed in 2007 by ONCE A RAKE - the haunting story of a cavalry commander scarred in the Napoleonic wars.
In April 2009, Kensington Fiction is releasing ROYAL BLOOD - Rona's debut into the historical fiction genre. An epic novel of Renaissance Rome is scheduled for future release.
Rona lives on the Mediterranean Coast in sunny Tel Aviv, conveniently surrounded by thousands of years of history that nourish her plump Muse. She has a passion for European culture and traveling overseas, as well as an amazing family she can't live without. Her books have been translated to Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Japanese. Check out her website for more information!