The Borgia Mistress

In her third novel (after The Borgia Betrayal) featuring Francesca Giordano—court poisoner to the House of Borgia—Poole places her heroine in a new locale and in the midst of personal and global crises. Rodrigo Borgia has been named Pope Alexander VI, and he and his son, Cesare, are more at risk than ever from assassins and rivals. Alexander thus relocates the family from Rome to the fortified town of Viterbo, where they monitor several tense situations, including possible threats from the Spanish and from the Jews. While trying to protect the pope, Francesca wrestles with her own demons, including her affair with Cesare, her secret love for a betrothed man, her lingering questions about her own origins, her inability to solve a series of murders, and her growing dependence on opium. This historical is a sexy romp through the scandals of Borgia’s court, as well as an increasingly personal journey through Francesca’s dark side. True to its characters and historical facts, Poole’s novel immerses readers in a seductive Renaissance environment, full of danger and passion. Agent: Andrea Cirillo, the Jane Rotrosen Agency. (May)