"Enormously satisfying...I'm grateful to Cullen for the pleasures of such a splendid read." -Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants . In 1559, a young woman painter flees a scandal involving one of Michelangelo's students, and is taken to the Spanish court, where she becomes the young queen's confidante and lady-in-waiting. Through her keenly trained eye, readers watch a love triangle unfold involving the queen, the king, and his half brother-a dangerous gamble that risks the lives of the queen and all those who keep her secrets. Lynn Cullen is the author of the young adult novel The Creation of Eve , as many acclaimed books for children. She lives with her husband in Atlanta, where she is at work on her next novel.