Fans of The Last Czars, a Netflix original series, will love this decadent look at one of the most intriguing monarchs in history… can become the greatest empress in history, Sophie will have to survive her social-climbing mother’s quest to put her on the throne of Russia—at any cost.
Imperial Court holds dangers like nothing Sophie has ever faced before. In the heart of St. Petersburg, surviving means navigating the political, romantic, and religious demands of the bitter Empress Elizabeth and her handsome, but sadistic nephew, Peter. Determined to save her impoverished family–and herself–Sophie vows to do whatever is necessary to thrive in her new surroundings. But an attempt on her life and an unexpected attraction threatens to derail her plans.
Alone in a new and dangerous world, learning who to trust and who to charm may mean the difference between becoming queen and being sent home in shame to marry her lecherous uncle. With traitors and murderers lurking around every corner, her very life hangs in the balance. Betrothed to one man but falling in love with another, Sophie will need to decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice in order to become the empress she is destined to be.
In a battle for the soul of a nation, will love or destiny reign supreme?
Fans of the hit TV show REIGN will devour this scandalous glimpse into the life of one of the most vibrant women in history. This series is complete with all three books available to read today.
Novels inThe Stolen Empire Series by Sherry D. Ficklin:
- Queen of Someday
- Queen of Tomorrow
- Queen of Always
- The Winter Queen
- The Hollow Queen
- The Broken Queen
Also, check out Sherry D. Ficklin’s Historical Romance The Canary Club
Fresh out of jail, “Bad Luck” Benny is desperate to care for his struggling family, even if that means once again landing on the wrong side of the law. Masie, the daughter of a wealthy gangster, has the voice of an angel and gun smoke in her veins. A pawn in her family’s bid for control of the city, she turns to an unlikely ally who might be the only person able to spring her from her gilded cage.
Two worlds collide in this compelling story of star-crossed lovers in gritty prohibition-era New York.
- The Canary Club
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Hated it. Too much negative political drama. Jot romantic at all!
Page turner
Interesting historical romantic theory on how Catherine’s young life might have influenced her older self.
I found it kinda boring. Others may like it, but it just didn’t do it for me.
Nice play on a historical event. I liked that it did not change the historical known truth but definitively was plausible.
Great read! Now I want to know more about Katherine
Have not finished it yet, but enjoying it very much. Can’t wait to read all of the series.
Very interesting story. A must read for history buffs.
This series was fantastic. I couldn’t put any of them down and wanted to keep reading.
3.5/5 stars
I struggled a bit starting my review on this, because I wasn’t completely enamored with it, and trying to put my finger on the problem, I skimmed through some of the other reviews.
Which made me feel something I never thought I would. I feel the need to defend a book, which I liked but not loved.
So, after skimming though the reviews after reading the book, I must says it’s rather funny. A lot of people say ‘don’t know anything about Russian history’ and then start listing what they hated about this book, which are mostly the most historicly accurate parts of this book.
Sophie (later Catherine the Great) did come to court by invitation of the empress Elizabeth, and her marriage to Peter was arranged (that’s how it went in those days, children of nobles were married off to eachother to create or strengthen alliances between countries).
That so many of the men at court turn their attentions her way is also understandable (and again, historically based, Catherine did have several lovers later in life), Sophie, after all is Emperess Elizabeth’s favourite choice, and engraceing themselves to her (or even winning her hart), mans gain of political power, when she becomes Emperess.
Also, knowing history and knowing what would happen (as in who would end up marrying whom etc), didn’t affect my enjoying the story. (Compare it to watching ‘Titanic’: you know the ship is going to sink but does it really affect how you’re enjoyng the rest of the movie?)
That being said, there were parts of the story that were just pushing it too far, like the repeated ‘call me Sophie’ when meeting new people. Not done.
And one thing that really bugged me: ‘Rina’. Not the character, but the name. The diminutive (pet name) for Ekatarina (as is her full first name) is either a form of ‘Katinka'(sometimes spelled with an ‘e’ instead of ‘i’), or ‘Katya’. It’s never shortened to ‘Rina’, especially not in the day and age the story is set.
Sophie seems to take some social liberties (like meeting men without a chaperone), but if you read some historical accounts, she’s not pushing it as far as one would believe, morality was not as rigid then as we now believe it was.
All in all, it’s a nice hitorical fiction, where the author has taken liberties on the romantic side, and in the modernicity of the language used, which in my opinion made it more accessible for people who are not history-lovers.
To all those who hated the storyline, I urge you to look up Catherine the Great’s history. You’ll be surprised, this is actually only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to amourous and political scheming.
Last remark: the money spend on producing the bonus videos would have been better spent on a professional editor. I cam across several typos (tables instead of stables, to instead of too, tour instead of your..)