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1.0 out of 5 stars
Elizabethan Disappointment, May 16 2001
This is the second entry in the Ursula Blanchard series. In this outing, Ursula, a lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I, is hired by Robert Cecil to determine whether the Mason family is involved in a plot to overthrow the Queen. She is required to become a sewing and dance tutor to the Mason's unruly children, pick the locks on Mason's desk to read his correspondence, and report back to Cecil. By the middle of the book, the reader no longer cares, if she ever did, whether the Masons are involved in a plot or whether Ursula succeeds one way or the other. The author is incapable of moving the story along at any pace other than a snail's pace leaving the reader's mind to wander to other books waiting to be read. Ursula is not a sympathetic character, rather she is whining, self-centered, and in the wrong business. While she's trying to prove or disprove the Masons' involvement in an attempt to overthrow the Queen, she whines about not being with her husband who is in exile in France for the same offense. Finally, Ursula, it seems, can be placed in any time period and be perfectly happy. The reader, on the other hand, will not be. I really wanted to like this series because I love the Elizabethan period. But even the setting couldn't save this series for me. I was not enthusiastic about the first book in this series, To Shield the Queen, but decided to give the author and Ursula a second chance because I am particularly fond of the Elizabethan period. There will be no third chance.
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