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Salamander
The young golden-haired Amrica is thrilled at the prospect of becoming maid of honour to little Princess Mary. But on her way to the court of Henry VIII she suffers a vicious attack in London's underworld and is left with no memory of her former life.
Rescued by a mysterious French Comte still grieving for his own dead child, Amrica is given a new name in her new country. As Athena de Deverelle she enchants the court of France. Wooed by fortune hunters, feted by the King himself, Amrica must learn to bow before the royal command. For her destiny lies with the handsome adventurer, Hamish Mullally; secret negotiatior to Francis I.
Against a background of intrigue and brutal war in Europe, Hamish struggles to satisfy his master's ambitions while misunderstanding deepens between himself and Amrica. And when she is confronted with her true identity their chance of happiness seems lost forever...
Rescued by a mysterious French Comte still grieving for his own dead child, Amrica is given a new name in her new country. As Athena de Deverelle she enchants the court of France. Wooed by fortune hunters, feted by the King himself, Amrica must learn to bow before the royal command. For her destiny lies with the handsome adventurer, Hamish Mullally; secret negotiatior to Francis I.
Against a background of intrigue and brutal war in Europe, Hamish struggles to satisfy his master's ambitions while misunderstanding deepens between himself and Amrica. And when she is confronted with her true identity their chance of happiness seems lost forever...
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
About the author
Julia Fitzgerald
24 books6 followersPseudonyms: Julia Fitzgerald, Julia Hamilton, Julia Watson and Jane De Vere.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 13, 2026
Read: 4/6/26
Setting: Tudor France
Trope: amnesia, spy, second chances
Paperback 2.5 stars
This story had some interesting history, but very little romance. Such wasted potential!
Plot: An excited Amrica is on her way to Court to be a lady in waiting for Princess Mary. The family are staying at an inn while waiting for her father to return from France, but Amrica is bored. She sneaks out to go to the fair. While out, she is attacked in a London slum and left for dead. She is saved by a French Comte passing by the area. Amrica shares a striking resemblance to his late daughter, and in his grief, the Comte decides to make this poor waif his resurrected daughter.
Amrica, now Athena, awakens in France with no memory of her past. Luckily, her father is here to help. Apparently, she was raised in an English convent and her father has just brought her home for her debut. Slowly, Athena learns French and the ways of Court. She even allows fortune hunters to court her because it makes her Papa happy, until she learns it's one of his jokes. Turns out, the Comte is broke and Athena doesn't really have an inheritance. He thought it would be a funny joke to play on the men. This isn't the first time his jokes have landed him in trouble. The Queen Mother wasn't appreciative of his last prank and cut his income by half. Now, the Comte will have to make amends for his daughter's future happiness and he takes them to Court. Unfortunately, for Athena, she catches King Francis's eye.
Athena agrees to become the King's mistress to help her father financially. Lucky for her, Francis has trouble preforming. There's something angelic about the reluctant beauty that makes it hard for him to take advantage of Athena. So, a fake relationship continues for both their reputations until the King is ready to move on. When he does, he decides to marry Athena to his trusted foster brother, Lord Hamish.
Athena is not pleased with this news! She was warned early on that Hamish is a playboy and to stay far away from him. How can she trust a man like that? She has no choice. Athena doesn't know that Hamish is not all he appears to be. He takes Athena to his home in Ireland, but soon Francis needs him again. It's time for the Holy Roman Emperor to be chosen again and every king in the Europe is vying for the title.
While in France, Athena has a miscarriage and Hamish is warned by the midwife that Athena could die next time. Hamish has loved Athena for years and won't risk losing her. So Hamish knows what he must do! He withholds the truth from Athena and never sleeps with her again. Smart! The rest of the book is one misunderstanding after another between the couple. Luckily, for Hamish, a war breaks out between Frances and Spain, keeping him separated from Athena through most of the book.
So, will Athena ever figure out why her husband avoids her so diligently? It's obviously another woman! Then there is still the problem of Athena/Amrica's memory. Will she ever remember the family she lost in England?
Liked:
1. Athena was beautiful and sweet to everyone. Away from Hamish, she was a very likeable character.
2. Hamish had an interesting past that I wish the author explored more. He was very mysterious for the first half of the book, which I liked.
3. I liked the charming Comte! He was a grieving father, who took his second chance of happiness. He ended up being a favorite of mine!
4. The history was interesting and had me Googling a couple of times. Usually, when I read about this era it's through the English perspective, so this was different. The title Salamader was Francis's sigil given by his sister.
5. I appreciated that Hamish wouldn't sacrifice Athena's life for a heir. Something unheard of back then. My problem is that he didn't tell her the truth and allowed her imagination to go wild.
6. I'm glad she didn't become the King's actual mistress.
7. The first half of the book was great and unique
Dislike:
1. The romance was practically nonexistent. The couple were separated through most of the second half of the book and when they were together they fought. The relationship was just one boring misunderstanding after another with nothing solved.
2. The MC morphed into different people when together. Athena would turn into a shrew with zero self-esteem, who believed Hamish was sleeping with everyone. Then there's slow witted Hamish. He's supposed to be some ladies man, but he never seemed to know how to talk to his wife or know anything about women.
3. Athena is not reunited with her family until the end. This was a big mistake! It would have added actual drama to the plot instead of the redundant romance problems we got.
4. Ending felt rushed. We get 5 minutes of happiness with the couple before the story ends.
5. Hamish cheated on Athena once.
Conclusion: if the romance had been better, this could have been a great book. Instead, we got this long drawn out disappointment of a story
Setting: Tudor France
Trope: amnesia, spy, second chances
Paperback 2.5 stars
This story had some interesting history, but very little romance. Such wasted potential!
Plot: An excited Amrica is on her way to Court to be a lady in waiting for Princess Mary. The family are staying at an inn while waiting for her father to return from France, but Amrica is bored. She sneaks out to go to the fair. While out, she is attacked in a London slum and left for dead. She is saved by a French Comte passing by the area. Amrica shares a striking resemblance to his late daughter, and in his grief, the Comte decides to make this poor waif his resurrected daughter.
Amrica, now Athena, awakens in France with no memory of her past. Luckily, her father is here to help. Apparently, she was raised in an English convent and her father has just brought her home for her debut. Slowly, Athena learns French and the ways of Court. She even allows fortune hunters to court her because it makes her Papa happy, until she learns it's one of his jokes. Turns out, the Comte is broke and Athena doesn't really have an inheritance. He thought it would be a funny joke to play on the men. This isn't the first time his jokes have landed him in trouble. The Queen Mother wasn't appreciative of his last prank and cut his income by half. Now, the Comte will have to make amends for his daughter's future happiness and he takes them to Court. Unfortunately, for Athena, she catches King Francis's eye.
Athena agrees to become the King's mistress to help her father financially. Lucky for her, Francis has trouble preforming. There's something angelic about the reluctant beauty that makes it hard for him to take advantage of Athena. So, a fake relationship continues for both their reputations until the King is ready to move on. When he does, he decides to marry Athena to his trusted foster brother, Lord Hamish.
Athena is not pleased with this news! She was warned early on that Hamish is a playboy and to stay far away from him. How can she trust a man like that? She has no choice. Athena doesn't know that Hamish is not all he appears to be. He takes Athena to his home in Ireland, but soon Francis needs him again. It's time for the Holy Roman Emperor to be chosen again and every king in the Europe is vying for the title.
While in France, Athena has a miscarriage and Hamish is warned by the midwife that Athena could die next time. Hamish has loved Athena for years and won't risk losing her. So Hamish knows what he must do! He withholds the truth from Athena and never sleeps with her again. Smart! The rest of the book is one misunderstanding after another between the couple. Luckily, for Hamish, a war breaks out between Frances and Spain, keeping him separated from Athena through most of the book.
So, will Athena ever figure out why her husband avoids her so diligently? It's obviously another woman! Then there is still the problem of Athena/Amrica's memory. Will she ever remember the family she lost in England?
Liked:
1. Athena was beautiful and sweet to everyone. Away from Hamish, she was a very likeable character.
2. Hamish had an interesting past that I wish the author explored more. He was very mysterious for the first half of the book, which I liked.
3. I liked the charming Comte! He was a grieving father, who took his second chance of happiness. He ended up being a favorite of mine!
4. The history was interesting and had me Googling a couple of times. Usually, when I read about this era it's through the English perspective, so this was different. The title Salamader was Francis's sigil given by his sister.
5. I appreciated that Hamish wouldn't sacrifice Athena's life for a heir. Something unheard of back then. My problem is that he didn't tell her the truth and allowed her imagination to go wild.
6. I'm glad she didn't become the King's actual mistress.
7. The first half of the book was great and unique
Dislike:
1. The romance was practically nonexistent. The couple were separated through most of the second half of the book and when they were together they fought. The relationship was just one boring misunderstanding after another with nothing solved.
2. The MC morphed into different people when together. Athena would turn into a shrew with zero self-esteem, who believed Hamish was sleeping with everyone. Then there's slow witted Hamish. He's supposed to be some ladies man, but he never seemed to know how to talk to his wife or know anything about women.
3. Athena is not reunited with her family until the end. This was a big mistake! It would have added actual drama to the plot instead of the redundant romance problems we got.
4. Ending felt rushed. We get 5 minutes of happiness with the couple before the story ends.
5. Hamish cheated on Athena once.
Conclusion: if the romance had been better, this could have been a great book. Instead, we got this long drawn out disappointment of a story
January 6, 2013
Historical romance surrounding two people who are we'd who never met before their marriage. The combat of two strong personalities and the shadow of the hero's paramour having a negative impact on the fragile relationship. Add in interfering brother-in-laws.
Highly recommended to lovers of Johanna Lindsey and Teresa Medeiros.
Wish it was an eBook.
Highly recommended to lovers of Johanna Lindsey and Teresa Medeiros.
Wish it was an eBook.
July 20, 2016
Read while in jail. Actual rating: 1.1
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews