Waiting on Wednesday: Gilt

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I’m eagerly anticipating. This week’s “can’t-wait-to-read” selection on Making the Grade is:

Gilt
by Katherine Longshore
Published by Viking Juvenile
Release Date: May 15, 2012
Author Website
Pre-order on Amazon

In the Tudor age, ambition, power and charismatic allure are essential and Catherine Howard has plenty of all three. Not to mention her loyal best friend, Kitty Tylney, to help cover her tracks. Kitty, the abandoned youngest daughter of minor aristocracy, owes everything to Cat – where she is, what she is, even who she is. Friend, flirt, and self-proclaimed Queen of Misrule, Cat reigns supreme in a loyal court of girls under the none-too-watchful eye of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.

When Cat worms her way into the heart of Henry VIII and becomes Queen of England, Kitty is thrown into the intoxicating Tudor Court. It’s a world of glittering jewels and elegant costumes, of gossip and deception. As the Queen’s right-hand-woman, Kitty goes from the girl nobody noticed to being caught between two men – the object of her affection and the object of her desire.

But the atmosphere of the court turns from dazzling to deadly, and Kitty is forced to learn the difference between trust and loyalty, love and lust, secrets and treason. And to accept the consequences when some lessons are learned too late.

Early reviews for this title are mostly positive, and I assume for good reason – I mean, just read that impressive description above! I admit to being a fan of historical fiction, so I may be biased, but the description of this book gives me great hope for the story contained with its pages. I also like that it is being told from the point of view of the “best friend” of Catherine, Queen of England. I can only guess the trouble she gets into! Personally, I can’t wait to visit this world of royalty and dark deception… (And look at that cover, so tantalizing!)