Book Review: The Queen's Vow by C. W. Gortner

Filled with political conflict, religious tensions, intrigue, and romance, The Queen's Vow by C. W. Gortner portrays the early life of the woman known to history as Isabella of Castile.

Barely a teenager, Isabella and her brother, Alfonoso, are taken from their mother's home to live under the watchful eye of their half-brother, King Enrique, and his conniving queen. When Isabella becomes a pawn in a plot to dethrone Enrique, she is suspected of treason and held captive. At the age of seventeen, she finds herself heiress of Castile and is plunged into a deadly conflict to secure her crown, while determined to wed the man she loves, Fernando, prince of Aragón.

Isabella and Fernando face difficult times: an impoverished Spain beset by enemies, the demands of the inquisitor Torquemada to punish relapsed conversos, and a declaration of war from the Moors. Isabella's resolve and courage are put to the test as she moves toward fulfilling her God-given destiny.

The Queen's Vow is such a superb book, I'm sorry I didn't read it sooner. I'm even more upset that it's finished, because I want to experience it all over again. Rich descriptions, stunning settings, and a fascinating plot filled with a host of historical figures spring to life through Gortner's masterful hand. While a bit of a slow starter for me, once the puzzle pieces were in place for Isabella to inherit the throne, I became totally engrossed. From the fights to secure her crown to wedding the man of her choosing at a time when women were not given the power to do so, Isabella proved a force to be reckoned with. Her deep faith and willingness to put herself in harm's way led to much admiration.

Reading The Queen's Vow also helped me to have a greater understanding of the origins of Gortner's earlier book, The Last Queen, which is about Isabella and Fernando's daughter, Juana, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country's throne.

What I was pleased to see with The Queen's Vow is that Gortner ends it at a what I would say a perfect place. After years of war and division, Isabella can look toward the future.

Highly recommended!


Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (July 2, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345523970
ISBN-13: 978-0345523976

I received a free hardcover version of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

This is the 11th book I've read for the following challenge:

Reading Now - The Queen's Vow by C.W. Gortner

Young Isabella is barely a teenager when she is thrust into danger. Suspected of treason and held captive, she treads a perilous path, until, at age seventeen, she finds herself heiress of Castile, the largest kingdom in Spain. Plunged into a deadly conflict to secure her crown, she is determined to wed the one man whom she has vowed to love yet is forbidden to her—Fernando, prince of Aragón.

As together they unite their two realms under "one crown, one country, one faith," Isabella and Fernando face an impoverished Spain beset by enemies. With the future of her throne at stake, Isabella resists the zealous demands of the inquisitor, Torquemada, even as she is seduced by the dreams of an enigmatic navigator named Columbus. But when a violent, treacherous battle against an ancient adversary erupts, it will test Isabella’s resolve, her courage, and her tenacious belief in her destiny . . . .

From the glorious palaces of Segovia to the battlefields of Granada and intrigue-laden gardens of Seville, The Queen’s Vow sweeps us into the tumultuous forging of a nation and the complex, fascinating heart of the woman who overcame all odds to become Isabella of Castile.

Read an excerpt at http://cwgortner.com/TheQueensVow.html#excerpt

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What's In Your TBR Pile?

My TBR Pile currently consists of 200 printed books and more than 400 free e-books. Thankfully, maybe only 30 of those are for book reviews I owe to authors. I'm definitely making headway on plowing through my pile. I want to be able to open The Book Connection to new requests next year.

Here are a few books I'll be tackling soon.

The John and Julia Evans Mystery Series by Linda Weaver Clarke

The Queen's Vow by C.W. Gortner

Dead Reckoning by Caitlin Rother

What's at the top of your TBR pile?

Summer Reading

Summer means summer reading. Here are a few books I'm excited about.

For Ava Whalen, a new marriage and a move to St. Simons Island means a new beginning. But what she doesn’t realize is that her marriage will take her on an unexpected journey into the deep recesses of her past that will transform her forever…

For as long as she can remember, Ava Whalen has struggled with a sense of not belonging, and now, at thirty-four, she still feels stymied by her family. Then she meets child psychologist Matthew Frazier, and thinks her days of loneliness are behind her. After a whirlwind romance, they impulsively elope, and Ava moves to Matthew’s ancestral home on St. Simons Island off the coast of Georgia.

But after the initial excitement, Ava is surprised to discover that true happiness continues to elude her. There is much she doesn’t know about Matthew, including the mysterious circumstances surrounding his first wife’s death. And her new home seems to hold as many mysteries and secrets as her new husband. Feeling adrift, Ava throws herself into uncovering Matthew’s family history and that of the island, not realizing that she has a connection of her own to this place—or that her obsession with the past could very well destroy her future.

No one believed I was destined for greatness.

So begins Isabella’s story, in this evocative, vividly imagined novel about one of history’s most famous and controversial queens—the warrior who united a fractured country, the champion of the faith whose reign gave rise to the Inquisition, and the visionary who sent Columbus to discover a New World. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner envisages the turbulent early years of a woman whose mythic rise to power would go on to transform a monarchy, a nation, and the world.

Young Isabella is barely a teenager when she and her brother are taken from their mother’s home to live under the watchful eye of their half-brother, King Enrique, and his sultry, conniving queen. There, Isabella is thrust into danger when she becomes an unwitting pawn in a plot to dethrone Enrique. Suspected of treason and held captive, she treads a perilous path, torn between loyalties, until at age seventeen she suddenly finds herself heiress of Castile, the largest kingdom in Spain. Plunged into a deadly conflict to secure her crown, she is determined to wed the one man she loves yet who is forbidden to her—Fernando, prince of Aragon.

As they unite their two realms under “one crown, one country, one faith,” Isabella and Fernando face an impoverished Spain beset by enemies. With the future of her throne at stake, Isabella resists the zealous demands of the inquisitor Torquemada even as she is seduced by the dreams of an enigmatic navigator named Columbus. But when the Moors of the southern domain of Granada declare war, a violent, treacherous battle against an ancient adversary erupts, one that will test all of Isabella’s resolve, her courage, and her tenacious belief in her destiny.

From the glorious palaces of Segovia to the battlefields of Granada and the intrigue-laden gardens of Seville, The Queen’s Vow sweeps us into the tumultuous forging of a nation and the complex, fascinating heart of the woman who overcame all odds to become Isabella of Castile.

When Julia’s brother announces that his dude ranch is haunted, she believes that someone is trying to sabotage his place and force him to sell. The mysterious happenings have to do with Superstition Mountain, the lost Dutchman’s goldmine, and the great Thunder God. Is it possible that the legend of the Thunder God is actually true? After a terrible thunderstorm, everyone begins to wonder. John and Julia quickly head to Mesa, Arizona and discover a few mysterious events. Will they find out who is behind these disasters before Uncle Kelly’s dude ranch is ruined? While Julia’s daughters, Sharlene and Faith, are busy helping their uncle save the ranch, April and Matthew are planning their wedding but everything seems to go wrong.

What books are you looking forward to reading this summer?