Anne & Henry

June 15, 2015
Ius’s steamy modern version of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s tragic love affair creatively translates the wealth, power, and court intrigue of 16th-century England to the affluent Seattle suburb of Medina, Wash. Anne, an audacious new student at Medina Academy, doesn’t fit into Henry Tudor’s privileged world. She’s the outsider with a secret past, but he doesn’t care. He’s willing to risk losing his influential friends; family-approved girlfriend, Catherine; Ivy League future; and inheritance if it means he gets to be with Anne. She gives him “something to be passionate about,” and this obsession is mutual, as revealed through their angst-filled alternating perspectives. Ius (coauthor of Killer’s Instinct, writing as Dawn Dalton) does a better job presenting Henry’s side, but while the story’s setting may have changed, its trajectory does not, painting one of the star-crossed lovers as an unfortunate victim and the other as an incorrigible cad. There are plenty of wild parties, sexual tension, and schoolroom drama in this novel to entice readers who enjoy a good scandal. Ages 14–up. Agent: Mandy Hubbard, D4EO Literary Agency.