I love the Romanovs. I always have. And I have always through Rasputin was a fascinating personality. But for some reason I never thought to look past his surface, so I was very surprised to hear he had a family...and daughters! Silly to think that he wouldn't have, but there you go. This story was incredibly well thought out and researched and I very much enjoyed reading it. Maria, as a character, was so real. The conflict of loving her father but at the same time becoming disillusioned with him was portrayed wonderfully. And the entire story-line that included Sasha, their meeting, first betrayal, love, second betrayal and the ending (where I would like to believe you saw his true feelings) were all well mixed drama and romanticism. And it was also super interesting to read about what happened to all the characters after the revolution...Maria led a crazy life after her father's death! And the implication that she stole the files on the reality of Rasputin's death was both a fun ending and very thought-provoking. Very fun and well done.