With the unexpected introduction to George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham, Frances Theresa Stuart, the lovely, but penniless young Royalist in King Louis XIV's court took her chance to ask him. Frances is not only beautiful, but intelligent and could pull together from little whispers what her fate could be. She knew what her mother expected of her, but she knew that was not the path that could save her and her family.

Now with the restoration of King Charles II after the end of Cromwell and the Puritan rule, Frances is anxious to go to England. It is 1660 and her beloved older cousin, Princess Henriette Anne is unhappy to marry the brother of King Louis as she is in love with the King himself. It is a situation that has Frances walking a very dangerous tightrope, fraught with conflicting family dynamics and unexpected dangers. As Frances unintentionally captures the King's attention, he is determined to bed this untouched and beautiful virgin. What can Frances do? How will her cousin react?

GIRL ON A GOLDEN COIN is the fascinating debut novel by Marci Jefferson about Frances Stuart, "Le Belle Stuart", the darling of Kings and whose image that not only became the face of Britannia but also graced British coins for centuries. With her vivid descriptions of French court life in 1660, Jefferson instantly pulls you into the story and the danger and dynamics of the times. Life can change with just one glance.

I love historical fiction, although I had not been as familiar with the Restoration period as I am with The Tudors and other times in British history, and I thoroughly enjoyed GIRL ON A GOLDEN COIN. I found Jefferson's writing easy to read and the plotting spellbinding with its undertones of danger from family loyalties to the background court intrigue and shifting political alliances.

Jefferson has done an awesome job in bringing all this larger than life, but relatively unknown to many characters to vivid life. Frances is a very likeable heroine (as well as in real life beloved by many) with the intelligence and inner strength to know when to be obedient and when to make her own way. One of the Jefferson's strengths is depicting the tensions, dynamics and love between the many strong willed characters, such as the Queen Mother, Henriette, the protestant Lady Castlemaine (King Charles' official Mistress) and Queen Catherine, Charles' young Portuguese bride and Frances.

If you like historical fiction or just love an intrigue tale of romance and suspense, I heartily recommend that you check out Jefferson's book and go back to the seventeenth Century to the glittering and bejeweled courts of two powerful Kings and a chance to meet the GIRL ON A GOLDEN COIN!