At the King's Command Book

This is a first read by Susan Wiggs. I thought the writing was good, however it did have its moments where I wanted to DNF because of bordem and constant bickering between the two major characters with no intense attraction. This story had me dragging to complete because I wanted to really know how it ended without jumping through chapters.

The plot is about the hero who has been hurt by his deceased wife having a thing for Henry VIII of all people...ugh!. Then waltzes in the heroine, who is Romanov and has been raised by gypsies and knows she is well above the hero's station. They are forced into a marriage because of the King's somewhat dislike of the hero. Thus enters the hero's big secret that was finally revealed to be more idiotic than his fascination with inventing things...duh... which I thought was his biggest secret.

I thought it was a bit far-fetched with some of the story and wondered why the King, being the tyrant that he was, never put the hero to death for overstepping his ground on several occasion and then the King doing a 360 with showing compassion close to the ending with the hero chasing off to rescue the heroine.

I also found the hero's fascination as an inventor of toys and other household items a bit much. Tudor era...I could be wrong but didn't think indoor plumbing and automatic candle lighting happened.

The story could have used a little bit more research and a lot more romance and intimacy that was sorely missing. Will I continue with the series? A big "NO" for this reader as I was not impressed with this first story.

2/5 Stars and that is being nice