HF Virtual Tours Book Review: To Die For

Author: Sandra Byrd
Title: To Die For
Publisher: Howard Books
Publish Date: Aug 9, 2011
Buy: Amazon
Review Copy Provided By: Historical Fiction Book Tours & the Publisher
Book Blurb: What would you sacrifice for your best friend? Would you die for her?

Meg Wyatt has been Anne Boleyn's closest friend ever since they grew up together on neighboring manors in Kent. So when twenty-five-year-old Anne's star begins to ascend, of course she takes Meg along for the ride.


Life in the court of Henry VIII is thrilling...at first. Meg is made mistress of Anne's wardrobe, and she enjoys the spoils of this privileged orbit and uses her influence for good. She is young and beautiful and in favor; everyone at court assumes that being close to her is being close to Anne.

But favor is fickle and envy is often laced with venom. As Anne falls, so does Meg, and it becomes nearly impossible for her to discern ally from enemy. Suddenly life's unwelcome surprises rub against court's sheen to reveal the tarnished brass of false affections and the bona fide gold of those are true. Both Anne and Meg may lose everything. When your best friend is married to fearsome Henry VIII, you may soon find yourself not only friendless but headless as well.

A rich alchemy of fact and fiction, To Die For chronicles the glittering court life, the sweeping romance, and the heartbreaking fall from grace of a forsaken queen and Meg, her closest companion, who was forgotten by the ages but who is destined to live on in our hearts forever.

Review: Tudor England is one of the most popular periods to write about it seems. I usually avoid this period, but this book looked fascinating so I had to jump on this tour and I wasn't disappointed.

Meg Wyatt is the BFF of Anne Boleyn. She is also the sister of Thomas Wyatt the poet. Sandra paints the friendship as a typical one between the girls, but she doesn't sugarcoat Anne's personality, which is very haughty.

But though the story revolves around Anne, the real heroine is Meg, whose life seems to run in Anne's shadow, but was truly a loyal friend....following Anne to the scaffold. Her own problems, an abusive father, loss of a childhood sweetheart to the priest hood and much more are overshadowed by Anne, but she takes it in stride.

This is a story of true friendship.

Any lover of historical fiction will gobble this book up. Definitely worth the read and a great addition to my collection of books that involve the Queens of England.

Rating: 5 flowers

Tour schedule:  http://hfvirtualbooktours.blogspot.com/2011/07/virtual-book-tour-to-die-for-by-sandra.html

Author Website/Ladies in Waiting Web Page: http://www.sandrabyrd.com/adults-ladies-waiting.php

Sandra Byrd's Blog: http://sandrabyrd.com/blog/

Sandra Byrd's FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/sandrabyrdwrites