I really did not like this book and it is one of the few books that I have not kept reading. Perhaps, it just isn't my cup of tea.

Pierre is an orphan at a monastery in Reims, France, 1640. For an orphan, he is doing pretty well for himself; Pierre has food, clothing, shelter and is receiving an education. However, he has a deep desire to find out where he came from. Pierre's best friend, Armand and his cousin, Marie hatch a plan to do just that. Suddenly, Pierre's outlook changes. With the pilfering of his records, Pierre discovers that he is much more than a penniless orphan, he is related to nobility. With this information, Pierre and Armand plan an escape from the monastery with the help of Marie and attempt to get Pierre to his family in England where he will be safe. Meanwhile, Pierre's cousin, Henri has also just learned of Pierre's existence. With Pierre now in the way, Henri would be bumped from inheritance. With the meddling of the ferocious Cardinal Richelieu, Henri is sent on a mission to meet his long-lost cousin and make sure that he does not find his way to his inheritance.


The French Orphan had a bit of everything that I enjoy in historical fiction: an unlikely hero, a lot of political intrigue, a big adventure, a good sense of place and a touch of romance. Pierre's escape and further escapades kept me intrigued and excited. I enjoyed finding out just how they would get out of each sticky situation. Marie quickly became my favorite character. she was often the one with the best ideas and was able to get the boys out of trouble; even though they kept saying she had a 'pretty little head.' There was also a bit of comedy as the group kept narrowly escaping Pierre's cousin, Henri. There is definitely a lot going on in this book and it takes some focus to keep everything straight. I did enjoy getting to know France under Louis XIII a little better. I would recommend readers who have a comfort level with sex and sodomy as there are many scenes where this will come up. I also had a hard time deciding on an audience for this book as there are many sex scenes, but simpler language and many instances of non-time period language such as 'cool' meaning good. I guess I would place this in the new-adult genre to match the ages of the characters as well. There was also some rambling in the narration of facts that the reader was already aware of that could have been cut out in order to make the reading more fluid.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.