Her mother's violent death left Marcelle at the mercy of her lecherous stepfather, until Thomas Mayhew, King's Messenger and attendant to the flamboyant court favourite Robert Carr, offers her protection, freedom . . . and love. But such perfect happiness is brittle, vulnerable. A mysterious royal lover, tawny-haired and passionate, leaves Marcelle with child. Kidnapped by the powerful Howard family, the baby is an innocent pawn in a deadly political game and Marcelle's desperate search for her son threatens her reconciliation with Thomas, her health, and her very sanity . . .
Enjoyed this one a lot more than I was expecting to. While some of the characters were drawn in very broad strokes the main ones did have different sides to them and the settings/scenes they were placed in interesting. The pace of the writing was good and it was a lot grittier/bloodier than the cover suggests!
Years ago I read 'Maggie' by Lena Kennedy. Don't remember too much about the story now but I do know I enjoyed it a lot and this one was just as enjoyable too. 'The Dandelion Seed' is more of an historical novel though (or I like to call them 'faction' - a story based around facts). Based in the era of James I tells of a young girl who's mother was murdered as a 'witchhunt' and she went on to have a baby who was kidnapped. A nice story but wasn't expecting the ending.