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Tales of the Rose: Part of the Order of the Rose
Five Star Review from Readers' Favorite for historical fiction!Tales of the Rose -
Three novels in one collection —
The Madness of Catalan- what would you do if everyone you loved was betrayed and killed?
The Courage of the Rose - family ties are tested as the leaderless Roses in London try to protect the Queen.
The Honor of the Rose - what sacrifice will the Last Command demand from Captain Godfrey and his grandson Geoffrey?
Readers have asked me why in The Hidden Rose, Anna attacked Mary, Queen of Scots, why she doesn’t believe in her own safety and why she is so determined to protect innocents. And lots of questions about her training.
The answers are here. (And a few more questions of course)
Three novels in one collection —
The Madness of Catalan- what would you do if everyone you loved was betrayed and killed?
The Courage of the Rose - family ties are tested as the leaderless Roses in London try to protect the Queen.
The Honor of the Rose - what sacrifice will the Last Command demand from Captain Godfrey and his grandson Geoffrey?
Readers have asked me why in The Hidden Rose, Anna attacked Mary, Queen of Scots, why she doesn’t believe in her own safety and why she is so determined to protect innocents. And lots of questions about her training.
The answers are here. (And a few more questions of course)
677 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 10, 2023
About the author
Abby Gordon
101 books46 followersAbby Gordon spent most of her free time in school writing stories. English teachers were thrilled, math and science not so much.
I'm focusing on two very different series and trying to tell outside stories to take a number. That doesn't always work, but I try!
Love in the Shadows is a contemporary series - heavy on the action - of all sorts, very spicy and detailed.
The Order of the Rose is an historical saga as two secret societies with very different goals struggle across Europe and time.
I'm focusing on two very different series and trying to tell outside stories to take a number. That doesn't always work, but I try!
Love in the Shadows is a contemporary series - heavy on the action - of all sorts, very spicy and detailed.
The Order of the Rose is an historical saga as two secret societies with very different goals struggle across Europe and time.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 19, 2024
It took me a while to complete this book — it’s not the sort of light beach read you can breeze through in an afternoon — it’s a long and quite heavy-going novel. It has been meticulously researched and clearly, the author has put a lot of thought into it. I enjoy historical novels and am not afraid of big books and this book should have been just my cup of tea. It both was and wasn’t.
I liked the story, it was engrossing and engaging. I liked the characters, although I was angered by what I felt was the pointless and unnecessary death of a main character. The author keeps within the framework of the period the novel is set in and I must give full marks for her attention to detail. No jarring modern slang or expressions to jerk the reader from the setting.
I wanted to give this book five stars. I am a very generous reviewer and will overlook much if the story grips me and I wrestled long and hard with my decision to only award four stars. There are a couple of reasons why I marked it down. Firstly, the main premise of the novel is the Order of the Roses. This was my first book by this author so I don’t know if the Order is fully explained in other books, but an explanation at the beginning outlining the origin and a brief history of the Order, along with help in understanding its terminology would have been incredibly helpful. As it was, I struggled to wade through all the root, leaf, stem, bud and rose phrases and couldn’t grasp their meaning. A simple page at the beginning helping the reader to understand would have saved me a world of frustration.
Secondly, there are a lot of characters in this book and I mean A LOT. Many of them have very similar names — I lost count of all the Megs, Meggies, Maggies, Margarets, Marys, Marias, and Marianas — and the author changes POV at the drop of a hat, sometimes even mid page she will headhop to another character. I was left floundering, not sure who was talking now and why we’d so abruptly jumped. Sometimes, I had no idea who the characters were and where they fit into the narrative. Again, a list of characters and which family they belonged to at the beginning of the book would have made my life a lot easier. As it was, I was constantly flipping back to try and see where we had swapped POVs and why. A simple Dramatis Personae would have at least been a reference guide to the many characters and how they figured in the plot.
These two additions would have upgraded my rating, as well as maybe the author making it clearer that the POV had changed from one character to another. There’s nothing wrong with multiple POV, at least, not in my opinion, but when there are so many it is essential to make it as clear as possible so that the reader can stay with it.
An interesting read for lovers of historical fiction with a medieval feel.
I liked the story, it was engrossing and engaging. I liked the characters, although I was angered by what I felt was the pointless and unnecessary death of a main character. The author keeps within the framework of the period the novel is set in and I must give full marks for her attention to detail. No jarring modern slang or expressions to jerk the reader from the setting.
I wanted to give this book five stars. I am a very generous reviewer and will overlook much if the story grips me and I wrestled long and hard with my decision to only award four stars. There are a couple of reasons why I marked it down. Firstly, the main premise of the novel is the Order of the Roses. This was my first book by this author so I don’t know if the Order is fully explained in other books, but an explanation at the beginning outlining the origin and a brief history of the Order, along with help in understanding its terminology would have been incredibly helpful. As it was, I struggled to wade through all the root, leaf, stem, bud and rose phrases and couldn’t grasp their meaning. A simple page at the beginning helping the reader to understand would have saved me a world of frustration.
Secondly, there are a lot of characters in this book and I mean A LOT. Many of them have very similar names — I lost count of all the Megs, Meggies, Maggies, Margarets, Marys, Marias, and Marianas — and the author changes POV at the drop of a hat, sometimes even mid page she will headhop to another character. I was left floundering, not sure who was talking now and why we’d so abruptly jumped. Sometimes, I had no idea who the characters were and where they fit into the narrative. Again, a list of characters and which family they belonged to at the beginning of the book would have made my life a lot easier. As it was, I was constantly flipping back to try and see where we had swapped POVs and why. A simple Dramatis Personae would have at least been a reference guide to the many characters and how they figured in the plot.
These two additions would have upgraded my rating, as well as maybe the author making it clearer that the POV had changed from one character to another. There’s nothing wrong with multiple POV, at least, not in my opinion, but when there are so many it is essential to make it as clear as possible so that the reader can stay with it.
An interesting read for lovers of historical fiction with a medieval feel.
March 17, 2026
Part 1
This is a great intro into the series. It introduces characters and invites you into their stories.
Part 2
This one felt rushed. Alicia's death - where she was literally cast aside as a dead body - felt very wrong. It feels like it's supposed to connect book 1 to ... something, but no one is sure what.
Part 3
Again, like part 2, this one felt disjointed. I understand it was giving the same story timeline, but from a different location's perspective, but it just..... it was choppy. You weren't sure who to follow, as it bounced between character POV's with little warning (sometimes from one sentence to the next).
The overall story is intriguing, and Book 1 solidified a desire to follow Root Anna's story a bit further. I'm hoping that future books will be more like book 1.
This is a great intro into the series. It introduces characters and invites you into their stories.
Part 2
This one felt rushed. Alicia's death - where she was literally cast aside as a dead body - felt very wrong. It feels like it's supposed to connect book 1 to ... something, but no one is sure what.
Part 3
Again, like part 2, this one felt disjointed. I understand it was giving the same story timeline, but from a different location's perspective, but it just..... it was choppy. You weren't sure who to follow, as it bounced between character POV's with little warning (sometimes from one sentence to the next).
The overall story is intriguing, and Book 1 solidified a desire to follow Root Anna's story a bit further. I'm hoping that future books will be more like book 1.
May 26, 2024
So very good!
Engaging from the first page!
A tapestry of characters, places and destinies coming toguether to a grand finale that is but the opening for the next chapter in the story. Will be reading next books in the series.
Recomended for historical fiction and adventure buffs.
Engaging from the first page!
A tapestry of characters, places and destinies coming toguether to a grand finale that is but the opening for the next chapter in the story. Will be reading next books in the series.
Recomended for historical fiction and adventure buffs.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews