I really enjoyed this book. My curiosity about Axel had been piqued when I saw the film with Tyrone Power playing Axel...it left a lot to the imagination and this book fills in the gaps. The author portrays the court with great detail and makes her characters live. I heartily recommend this to all who enjoy Historical Fiction with a love story as a bonus.

For those of us who love Historical Fiction this is a good, richly detailed story about Catherine the Great. The author lets you "see" the events of Catherine's life and does very well insetting mood and character. Written in the 1st person it was a little offsetting at first but I thoroughly enjoyed it.