Their fate was written in the cards—desire would seal it in fire.

In the twilight of Renaissance Florence, where Savonarola’s sermons stir revolt and the Borgias’ assassins move in shadows, a forbidden love ignites. Veronica Danti, a fiery gypsy bound by an unwanted marriage, meets the man foretold in her Tarot cards: Antonio di Fabiani, noble exile and reluctant combatant in a deadly game of power and passion. Amid the echo of cathedral bells and the secrets of courtesans and spies, their desire defies every command of man and Church. But in a city where betrayal masquerades as devotion, love may be the most dangerous revolution of all.

The Prince of Cups is a sumptuous tale of prophecy and peril, betrayal and belief, where destiny is drawn by starlight—and love dares to challenge fate.

 

 

From Publishers Weekly

Life in 15th-century Italy was no slice of panforte, at least as Feyrer portrays it in this strong debut romance. Reading her tarot cards, Mama Lucia tells her great-granddaughter Veronica not to worry: times may get tough (murder, betrayal, attempted rape), but there’s a tall, dark Prince of Cups in her future. So, despite all manner of Machiavellian intrigue (some provided by Machiavelli himself), everything will turn out well. Red-haired Veronica, a wild gypsy who loves books (and is clairvoyant to boot), is forced to wed an impotent simpleton. Her lascivious father-in-law keeps trying to deflower her, and followers of the Dominican reformer Savonarola threaten to stone her unorthodox family (including her Uncle Daniele, a homosexual painter). Meanwhile, courtier and self-made merchant, Antonio di Fabiani, is making his way from Lucrezia Borgia’s bed to Florence in order to sort out his various family tragedies. While dallying with a courtesan who doubles as a hit woman for Cesare Borgia, he spies Veronica, who’s disguised as a boy. Antonio fights against it, but Veronica is his destiny. There’s a long way to go, filled with decadent historical characters and lots of local color, before the lovers can ride off into the tramonto.