I love a good story about an already married couple who really need to work things out. Add an Elizabethan setting and I'm in! Frances wants more from a marriage and heads to court to rediscover herself. This becomes a chance for her and Henry to truly fall in love.

I liked the idea of the book but I could not connect with the characters. I could understand both sides and how they became estranged in the first place but for the times I could not understand why Francis fought Henry so hard when he made a true effort to reconcile. It is strange, I read this book a few months ago and I had a hard time connecting with the h Frances she seemed shallow to me. Yes I understood her wanting her relationship with her husband to change but when her husband realizes his mistakes she still wants nothing to do with him. The fact that she doesn't seem to want much to do with her remaining children also goes against her for me. I found it very difficult to connect with her but I liked the H. However I have read quite a few books since I read this and these characters still stuck with me all this time. The thing I liked about this story was that it was different. The H/h have been married a long time and had their children already before the book begins. I did like that.

I know it is a personal issue however and I could not find any real fault with the writing. The book is a well written story that will appeal to many who are looking for a light read.

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Courtly Pleasures story was a bit slow, but overall I liked it, it was a good well written story. Thanks to Netgalley, for ARC . My opinion was my own.

Could not get into "Courtly Pleasures," the main characters had no chemistry and no love lost or found between them. After being married for 10 years, they were still strangers. Seemed unrealistic that these two would fall in love. Did not finish.

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💋💋💋
Set in the reign of Elizabeth 1st , this is a brilliantly written story of a woman , Francis , who after 10years Of marriage and now aged 25 realises she needs to live her life even if only for a while , so she leaves her children and seeks her rarely seen husband in London .
Henry is shocked when his wife arrives at his rooms in Westminster and informs him she wants a separation, that she can’t stand to be used by him anymore and wants to become one of the Queens lady’s at the palace .
They agree on terms , but Henry wants to try to win her back , so ensues a wonderful series of masques where dressed as different people her courts his wife , showing her the sort of husband and lover he can be .
All’s not well in paradise though , someone is out to harm Francis , and Henry has his hands full in more ways than one .
I totally loved this book , it’s filled with history and events , with so much information and will keep the most avid history buffs happy .
Awesome characters with great chemistry and brilliantly descriptive scenes that make you feel as though your at the Elizabethan court yourself .
More please !

I received an Arc copy of this book from Netgalley, and chose to submit a review

I really liked Frances. I didn’t like Henry in the beginning for being such a lousy husband, but towards the end he improves a lot. Although I can’t be too mad at Henry, nobody showed him how to be a good husband. It is bittersweet that it took 10 years for them to finally want to get to know each other and confide in one another as a husband and wife should do.

*ARC graciously provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

This is Frances and Henry’s story. They were married when she was 14 and he was 15. The marriage was all about duty. She lost children. She was in a depression. Her mother suggested that she go to court. This a story of how Frances finds herself with the help of Henry. There were many twists and turns in their relationship. They make their marriage about love. I will definitely read more by this author.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. The story involves two people who were married at ages 15 & 14 and had no idea what marriage was about except to create children. At age 24 and after losing a second child Frances decides she has done her duty with three live children. She wants a separation to go to court to try and find herself. The book involves danger, attempted murder, flirtation and eventually love. It is a good read and I would recommend it.

I have been reading many novels from the Victorian era but I was pleasantly surprised by “Courtly Pleasures” which is set in the Elizabethan era. Ms Kane has presented a romance that is interwoven with the historical events surrounding St Bart’s massacre and has included many characters that were involved in the time period. I often wish that the author’s note actually appeared at the beginning of the novel, as this aspect was a particularly fascinating part of the story. The novel centres around Frances LeSieru who has joined Queen Elizabeth’s court, to escape her depression, after the loss of one of her twin baby girls. Having been married to Henry for ten years of which he has been largely absent, Frances also demands a separation from their marriage.
What made this novel different was that all appears to be lost between the couple who married at age 15. The story follows Frances and how she manages to overcome the depression that threatens to overwhelm her. Henry also has to revaluate how he has behaved over the past ten years if there is to be any chance to save his marriage. What evolves, is a courtship between two determined characters. Not only was there romance but the threat to Frances’ life, kept this story moving at a fast pace.
I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed the historical aspect of this book, this was a different time period than I usually read and it had some fascinating details. I also appreciated the romance of the story, hard to believe this couple knew so little about each other after 10 years old marriage,, but glad they found their way to each other.

Courtly Pleasures brings to us the difficulty of living at court and arranged marriages of the time period. Our sweet couple, Frances and Henry LeSieur have been married for ten years and have several children, both living and deceased. Frances has been dealing with the loss of two of her children by herself. Her husband lives at court and works for the queen, only coming home on occasion. Although married for ten years, they do not know each other, never spend time together and bed only to have children.

Ms. Spock, obviously, did her research as you can see in the authenticity of the book. Your heart breaks for Frances and Henry, marrying at the young ages of fourteen and fifteen. They were still children themselves. But, each did as they were told and as was expected of them. Until, ten years into their marriage, Frances decides she can no longer live that way. Frances goes to court to ask her husband for a separation. Henry did not know there was a problem. Again, he is living as expected, letting his wife raise their children and deal with ‘home’ issues.

Henry’s wake up call and tenderness towards his still very young wife is so endearing. Once he looks at her, truly looks at her, he realizes there is more to his wife than he ever knew. She appears to become a different person from they ‘child’ he married. She draws the attention of others, overhears a plot and holds her husband to his vow not to touch her, to let her decide her fate as long as she does not embarrass him.

I loved the growing connection between Frances and Henry and the care they had for each other. Ms. Spock allowed them to grow in trust, respect and love. All great aspects of any romance. As an author new to me, I look forward to more of Erin Kane Spock’s work.

Courtly Pleasures is a good historical with a great plot. I was hooked from the first

Courtly pleasures is a novel that revolves around a depressed, neglected but sensual wife and her husband. Her husband holds a reputed place at the queen's court and has many matters of the state to settle. However, he is slightly amiss in his duties towards his family. So, one day his wife decided to separate from him and make a new life for her at the court where she discovers flirting, passion , lust and more importantly her confidence and happiness. It was interesting to see how her husband tried to win her back. The novel has many explicit scene and will be enjoyed by erotica lovers . Its overall a good read, I have kept some stars because I found the pace a little slow for my liking and also I think that there should have been some more investment in characters development in the story.

I give a fair and honest review in return for this ARC. This book is well written and very much "of the time". The author has taken great pains to stick adhere to the era. Having said that, for me, this was too "period" and I found it a bit uninspiring and slow.

A story of a couple married at a young age, both too immature to know how to make a successful marriage. The discovery of who they really were as individuals made their new foundation stronger as they came to really know each other after 10 years of marriage. I enjoyed all their interactions but the flow from chapter to chapter was hard to follow at times. It was a good for a debut.