This book gives an interesting view of the work life of a psychiatric nurse in a county jail setting. The variety of inmates was good, and how they fared in that type of structure was revealing. The private life of the main character was not convincing, and took away from the main thrust of psychiatric nurses and inmates.

There are so many other world stories available for those of us who enjoy fantasy books. Anne Bishop has created other unique worlds before that pulled us in and were intoxicating to read. This book takes us to a world that has vampires, werewolves, and other creatures but it is they who rule the world now. And they do it with the idea of preserving Earth rather than destroying it. They hold the humans in check. Then a human with unusual abilities enters the scene, and the guardians of our Earth change their view of humans. I rarely read a book twice (there are just too many good ones I have yet to touch). This one I have read 3 times! I thoroughly enjoy living in the town with these characters.

First, the cover shows a woman's face covered with plastic, like she is murdered. That is NOT indicative of the plot of the book. I think seeing the cover may turn some readers off, and for the readers who are looking for a murder mystery, they will be unhappy.

It's about a plastic surgeon who owes his lucrative practice to referrals from an agent. This agent calls in his marker when one of his clients is caught up in an unfortunate situation and needs extensive plastic surgery. Because the agent and client wants to keep it out of the news and social media, the agent forces the doctor to care for this patient differently than he normally would. Succumbing to the pressure leads the doctor into undesirable avenues. On top of all this the doctor's marriage is in deep trouble.

I found the book interesting. Plastic surgery is so mainstream for the Hollywood workplace, and the interaction between the agent and the doctor seemed true to life. It brought up questions for how we see physical perfection and what we would do to achieve and keep it.

There was good character development in the doctor, his wife, and the patient. I liked the pacing of 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.

Not living in Europe, we got the capsule version of the French Revolution in school. This historical fiction book examines the French Revolution through the eyes of the French women. There are 6 different women with each telling their own story. Each story is written by a different female author, yet the book is cohesive. It holds together well. After reading this, you have a different appreciation of how life must have been for the people of France, both royalty and peasant.