The Lady of Secrets by Susan Carroll

I received a galley of this novel from Edelweiss for review. This in no way affected my opinions.


The Lady of Secrets is the sixth installment of the Dark Queen Saga, a series I had no idea was ongoing. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this pop up.

The heroine of this was is Margaret Wolfe, who readers of this series will be familiar with. Now The Lady of Faire Isle, she is sought out by people who need her expertise in healing. She's sought out by one man in particular, who needs her to help lift a curse from the King of England. Once in England, she soon realizes that no one is telling the truth, and everyone is hiding something.

While I don't think this book was up to par with the rest of the series, I still liked it. I think what fell flat for me was I didn't care much for the hero, or the romance. And Meg, while a good heroine, fell short of the previous heroines. She was still a great heroine in her own right.

The first half of the book was great. Even though not a whole lot happened, I was still engrossed due to the writing. The characters were fantastic, I thought: the good, the bad, and the ones that hovered in the middle. Although, in the second half of the story, it lost something, and I'm not sure what. The climax of the story, while interesting, was disappointing in its effectiveness as the 'big event'.

Still, a good story. It was nice to see what happened to Meg.

The Silver Rose by Susan Carroll

At first, reading The Silver Rose, I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as the others in the series, but after finishing, I realized that this was probably my favorite of the series.

The Silver Rose focuses on the youngest Cheney sister: Miri. Miri is probably the most powerful of the Cheney sisters, due to her ability to communicate with animals, her gift for healing, and her ability to see the future. She's also a bit of a spitfire. Due to being the youngest, Miri no doubt had been seen as fragile, and she snaps at anyone who thinks she isn't strong enough to fight for what she believes in.

Miri unexpectedly teams up with witch hunter Aristide to help track down The Silver Rose, a witch who seems to be as evil as the devil himself, and who is giving women like Miri – a daughter of the earth – a bad name.

I thought I'd stop with the series with this book, seeing as how we're done with the stories of the three Cheney series, but I have to know what happens to one of my favorite side characters: Martin, who popped up in book two and I loved at first sight. His story seems to be just beginning.

The Silver Rose is, so far, the darkest of the series, and definitely the best.

See my review of the the previous two installments in this series here and here.

The Courtesan by Susan Carroll

Book #2 in The Dark Queen Saga, and wow! I loved it even more than the first book.

Taking place two years after the first book, we find Gabrielle Cheney, the middle of the Cheney sisters, a famous courtesan in Paris. As she seeks out the heart of Henry, the King of Navarre, her world is soon shook up with the reappearance of someone from her past; witch hunters in the area; and a few other nuisances.

Overcoming painful memories, Gabrielle gains confidence she hadn't had in years, but she soon gets into a mess with the lead witch hunter where there seems to be nowhere out.

So far, the character development in this series is just amazing. The progression of Gabrielle and her younger sister Miri has been most noticeable and brilliantly done.

The Courtesan was a breathtakingly paced book full of darkness, honor, intrigue and of course, magic.

The Dark Queen, the first book in the series, review is here.

The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll

I like fantasy in my historical fiction books, as long as it's not distracting. Just the right amount of fantasy will do it, and The Dark Queen had just the right amount.

Taking place during the French Renaissance, The Dark Queen tells the story of the Cheney sisters, daughters of the earth, most specifically the oldest Ariane, known as the Lady of Faire Island. Not only does she have a Comte perusing her hand in marriage, but a mysterious stranger has arrived on Faire Island, with strong evidence against Catherine de Medici for the death of the Queen of Navarre.

While Ariane tries to crack the evidence to prove how evil the Dark Queen is, she also finds her feelings about the Comte de Renard changing. Oh, and there's also a deranged witch hunter running around, which isn’t helping matters.

I like Ariane. She was a strong woman despite her feelings that she would never be as good a Lady of Faire Island as her mother. She eventually finds her strengths and even surprises herself when she meets Catherine face-to-face.

This was a fantastic historical fiction novel. It had everything: romance, action, intrigue and magic. After I finished with it, I had to dive right into the next book in the series, which is about the next Cheney sister Gabrielle, who we find out in The Dark Queen is haunted by a horrible memory.