This book is highly rated on Goodreads so maybe my expectations were too high. Part of my issue with the book is that I've just spent the last few month reading through the Game of Thrones series and I felt that this book was kind of a poor imitation of that series. There is a character that seems to be a dead ringer for Tyrion Lannister and many of the elements seem to be very similar to the style of George R.R. Martin. I found some of the writing to be trite and I was irritated that so many characters had "catch phrases" i.e. Leonello with "Dio" and Carmella with "Santa Marta" and "Mouths closed and hands moving". Much of it just seemed corny to me, especially after reading the works of Diana Galbaldon and Phillippa Gregory in the past, which are of a similar genre. On a positive side, the book made me want to discover more about the Borgia family drama. In that respect, the author did bring me into the story.

I really enjoyed this book. I know the story of the Borgias, but this book looks at that time period from another perspective. Where I thought of Ms. Farnese as a scheming female that ensnared a Pope, this book presents her as a young woman dreaming of another life that was forced into the one she has. I liked the presentation of Rome and the Catholic Church too. If you like historical fiction, this book is well-worth reading.