Becoming Josephine: A Novel / Heather Webb / 320 pages

  Who doesn't know about Napoleon's love for Josephine? But who was she really and how did she manage to catch the eye of someone who would become feared by the known world? Rose Tascher is from the island of Martinique and is sent to France to wed Alexandre de Beauharnais. She has visions of attending court with a handsome and attentive husband. Unfortunately this was not to be so. She did marry the handsome Alexandre but found herself abandoned for the next several years. Her sister in-law gave Rose the necessary courage to approach a judge to ask for a divorce. Even though the scandal would ruin her, Rose was determined to have a fresh start. She renamed herself Josephine and began her climb from the bottom of the social scale.
  With the French Revolution catching everyone with the tiniest connection to the royal family or the new Republic, Josephine was sent to prison to await her execution. It is from these months in the barest of conditions that Josephine finds out who she really is. After her release, she begins once again her climb back up the social ladder and eventually catching the eye of an uncouth general named Napoleon. This is quite a fun and quick read. Events are seen through new eyes. The open and legal gun running, the back stabbing even in the servant's quarters and the power of the tarot cards. One last thing, we find out the height of Napoleon is 5'6" and not the tiny man Looney Tunes has made him out to be. Entertaining story.

Six Degrees of Reading: Girl on the Golden Coin by Marci Jefferson, Empress of the Night by Eva Stachniak, The Shadow Queen by Sandra Gulland.

The Bad Queen / Carolyn Meyer / 420 Pages

This is the latest of Carolyn Meyer's Young Royals novels.  In this one, she chronicles the life of Marie Antoinette in a first-person journaling style. In the forward, Ms. Meyer says that she has used only real people and events in this novel, using many journals written from that time as background information.  I found it to be very believable and well-researched, which made it much more enjoyable to read.

Mistress of the Revolution/Catherine Delors/451 Pages

Forced to marry an abusive Baron instead of the man she loves, Gabrielle de Montserrat finds herself widowed and with a young daughter before she is seventeen.  Moving to Paris, she finds herself involved in the French Revolution and must escape death an imprisonment many times as a ci-devant Baroness.  She finds protection in her former lover, now a powerful judge in the new republic, and loses many friends and family members in the war. Catherine Delors does a magnificent job of portraying first a decadent and then a turbulent Paris in the late-1700's.  The characters are well-developed and very real.  The story is fast-paced and grabs you from the start. It is a very good read and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good historical read.