I don’t see many books set in the Elizabethan period. For some reason, we jump directly from the medieval to the Regency (or perhaps the Georgian) periods. I’d like to see more – it seems like a nice change of pace.
Fool’s Paradise by Tori Phillips
(1996, Elizabethan) 3/1/09
Grade: 3.5
Lady Elizabeth Hayward is desperate to escape an unwanted marriage, so she heads off to her godmother, Queen Elizabeth. She is rescued by Richard Tarleton, the queen’s jester, and the two set off on a road trip to Hampton Court, disguised as the jester and his apprentice. But is there any hope for a future between a lady fair and a bastard fool?
This was a charming road romance that gave an interesting glimpse into Elizabethan England. Tarleton was a fun character, someone who never takes life seriously, and who has a lover in every town, but never knew love before meeting Elizabeth. The story was a bit meandering in the first half of the book (there was a lot of back and forth about “the love that could not be”), and then at the end, the plot becomes almost too complicated. But the charm of the characters carried through, and overall it was an enjoyable read.
This is the second book I’ve read by Tori Phillips, and both of them had a nice, light-hearted charm that was very appealing. I’ll have to check my TBR pile for more books by this author – I don’t think she’s writing any more, but she wrote quite a few for Harlequin Historicals.
Karen Wheless
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