The Fathergod Experiment — L.A. Taylor

A tale of treachery, betrayal, and conspiracy (imagine "The Tudors" meets "The X-Files"). Lilz Chantwell was raised in the nobility, but with her father banished and her mother dead, she has to hire herself out as a servant - and a servant to the Hasten family, no less, which is as ruthless as they come. With no one to rescue her, Lilz will have to use all of her wits to survive and succeed despite the Hastens, who have a tendency to poison anyone who opposes them. Not the least is Sir Jen Makeready, who is dead - and he's not the only one. In fact, anyone who challenges Fenne, the spoiled-rotten granddaughter of Nevan Hasten, Dych of Summerlea, seems to end up poisoned. In the middle of all this intrigue is Lilz, bond-servant to the Hasten family and to Fenne. Lilz gradually comes to realize there's a conspiracy behind all this â€" a secret kept by the royal family and their confidants for many years. If that wasn't bad enough, she and everyone else has to evade the king's spies: human, animal, and mechanical. Lilz finds herself always living on the edge, always feeling she's being watched, knowing that one wrong step could lead to her death or imprisonment. She manages to survive for years by her wits and by making friends with anyone who can help her. But will that be enough to escape the plots of the Hasten family, who have a grip on power and intend to keep it by any means necessary? Especially when she starts to uncover the conspiracy and the secrets kept by Makeready, the Hastens, and the royal family?