Review: Lady of the Eternal City by Kate Quinn

 Elegant, secretive Sabina may be Empress of Rome, but she still stands poised on a knife’s edge. She must keep the peace between two deadly enemies: her husband Hadrian, Rome’s brilliant and sinister Emperor; and battered warrior Vix, who is her first love. But Sabina is guardian of a deadly secret: Vix’s beautiful son Antinous has become the Emperor’s latest obsession.

Empress and Emperor, father and son will spin in a deadly dance of passion, betrayal, conspiracy, and war. As tragedy sends Hadrian spiraling into madness, Vix and Sabina form a last desperate pact to save the Empire. But ultimately, the fate of Rome lies with an untried girl, a spirited redhead who may just be the next Lady of the Eternal City…

GoodReads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Books-a-Million * iTunes * IndieBound

~~~oOo~~~

REVIEW

You certainly had to think fast and move even faster if you wanted to keep your head in Hadrian's Rome.  If you were a woman, an extra piece was added to the puzzle - as women were not considered to have the 'constitution' necessary to perform great military feats nor anything that required a lot of thought and reason.  Even Sabina, Hadrian's Empress could be put do death on a whim from her moody husband.

And then there's Vercingetorix.  Aren't you glad he has a nickname of Vix?  That would be a mouthful to say more than once or twice.  And this is totally not related to anything, but can you imagine having to sign that name on a check?

Lady of the Eternal City is spiced with enough empirical bits of history to make this the kind of fiction that is fast becoming a favorite of mine.  We may never know completely about the everyday lives of everyday people from times past, but it is easy to get caught up in the action on and off the battlefield in Lady due to Ms. Quinn's wonderful storytelling.  I could 'see, hear and smell' the action; it's like I was part of the story.

This is one series where I truly regret coming in at the end, as it were.  Lady reads wonderfully as a standalone, but I confess to liking being able to put words and actions into historical context.  But all that means is that I get to go back and read the previous three installments of the Empress of Rome Series.

Sister and brother historical fiction fans, your library is incomplete without at least one of Ms. Quinn's books on your shelves.

~~~oOo~~~

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Kate Quinn is a native of southern California. She attended Boston University, where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance detailing the early years of the infamous Borgia clan. All have been translated into multiple languages.

Kate has succumbed to the blogging bug, and keeps a blog filled with trivia, pet peeves, and interesting facts about historical fiction. She and her husband now live in Maryland with a small black dog named Caesar, and her interests include opera, action movies, cooking, and the Boston Red Sox.

For more information visit Kate Quinn’s website and blog. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

~~~oOo~~~

Click on the logo to go to the books tour schedule, and if you enjoy historical fiction, you can apply to become a reviewer for HFVBT!  

(Disclosure:  I received an e-copy of this book from the author and publisher, via NetGalley and HFVBT in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.)