Customer Reviews

Much Ado About Love

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This book was a great read!! I loved the love-bewildered relationship between Ian and Olivia. I don't know about the rest of you, but I adore Shakespeare. To think that it could have been a girl as the legendary playwrite tickled me pink! When I read the bio for the book, I thought this would be a typical capture-captive story...but it's not! It's such a sweet story because Ian struggles so hard against loving Olivia, but ends up falling deeper in love than he'd ever dreamed of. The word play between the two was excellent: Olivia is one witty character. That's a key to what made this book so fun to read. Final word: If you enjoyed Shakespeare in Love, this is the book for you!

I saw this book in the book store and was intrigued by its premise that Shakespeare was really a woman. I bought it and came home, got onto amazon.com and scoped out the reviews of other readers, just to see what was good or bad about the book. Despite what some said, I decided to read it. I am glad I did!

Here is the low-down on the story:
After something in Shakespeare's latest play upsets the Queen, her best agent, Sir Ian Terrance, is sent to take the playwrite to the Tower. When, upon apprehending the man, Sir Ian discovers that not only is HE a SHE, but also the bastard daughter of the Queen, all hell breaks loose in Sir Ian's well ordered existance. Now Sir Ian is in a quandry for, as a young man of 19, he had been sent to do away with Olivia Tudor because she posed a threat to the Virgin Queen's throne, but he had allowed the 10-year-old Olivia to escape. Fearing retribution from his monarch for failing to do his job so long ago, Sir Ian must find a way to hide Olivia until he can decide what to do. However, Olivia has other ideas. She has speant her life knowing that she was a threat to the Queen, the mother she had never met, and had known that the day would come when she would be found and executed. Now that she was in the hands of the Queen's agent, she just wanted her first meeting with her mother and subsequent death to happen quickly. Thus begins a battle of wills, and words!

What made this book such a delight was the brilliant dialog. Ms. Martin really captured some of the wit of Shakespeare and it was so much fun to follow along! Add to that the little, and sometimes not so little, parallels between the plays of the bard and the plot of the book and you have a book that is not only fun to read but romantic as well!

In 1597 England, Queen Elizabeth demands that her agent Sir Ian Terrance bring in author William Shakespeare. Ian quickly learns that the growing popular playwright is actually a female, Olivia Tudor, the queen's bastard daughter, who he was supposed to kill years ago. What should have been "much ado about nothing" may prove deadly for the now too famous William and Ian.

He makes Olivia his prisoner, but Ian soon falls in love with her. As Ian struggles to tame the shrew, Olivia, feeling like an idiot filled with sound and fury, returns his love. However, someone else seems to know that Olivia is William and has Lady MacBeth plans to disrupt the court even if they kill Olivia in the process. With growing court intrigue and a deep love, the witches would foretell that this relationship would prove that all's well do not end well for everyone especially these two lovers.

This Elizabethan romantic romp places a gender twist on "Shakespeare in Love." The story line is fun and often amusing as the lead couple dual with lips (words and kisses) even as danger threatens to engulf them. Perhaps intrepid author Malia Martin should have chosen Marlowe in love so as to avoid comparison to the works of the greatest writer of all times and the recent award winning movie. Still, though requiring leaps of faith that a daughter of Elizabeth is the Bard, Ms. Martin provides a refreshing look at Elizabethan romance that will elate sub-genre readers.

Harriet Klausner

Malia Martin has changed my taste for historical romance! To take the creative twist of having one of the greatest playwrights in history and making him a woman is indeed imaginative! To take it a step further and make this playwright the illegitimate daughter of Queen Elizabeth is genius. Martin shows her true ability to weave a tale in this one. Sir Ian's stubborn loyalty to his Queen is challenged when he discovers the poor writer he's been ordered to bring to the Queen's prison tower is but a willowy woman with a tongue as sharp as a two-edged sword. True, her wit is that of a writer of plays, but Sir Ian is hard pressed to believe her and more than a little curious to find out who this woman really is. Beside, he cannot stand the thought of taking a woman to the tower. Instead, he takes her to his own quarters, hiding her until he can find out some information on his own. So begins the adventures of these two, first enemies, then friends, then lovers,on their journey to a destiny they can niether turn away from. The riotous banter between Sir Ian and the woman, who calls herself "Beatrice" is as sharp and comical as Shakespeare's own classic tale, "Much Ado About Nothing." Fresh and lively characters, earthy and robust romance. A delightful read!

To be or not to be--a woman? That was the question plaguing Sir Ian Terrance as he sought out the famous playwright. Little did Ian know the great "Will" was actually Olivia, a very lovely woman indeed. Would he uncover her secret to Her Majesty the Queen? This light, frothy book has its moments, just like Shakespeare's comedies. The characters are endearing, and Her Majesty is just as feisty as ever. If you want a different take on last year's hit Shakespeare in Love, perhaps this book will provide just the refreshing break.