Historical fiction is hit or miss with me. Authors fall into two categories -- those who deliberately misconstrue facts to mislead people about historical figures and those who downplay facts to create a more engaging story. Fortunately, Jody Hedlund is the latter author. She invents situations to further a story, without defacing reputations in the process. Her biggest sin? Making Martin more of a romantic than he was in real life. 
 Jody, I applaud you for that. Thank you for not being one of countless authors who slanders historical figures because they are dead and cannot defend themselves. 
 For fun, a few asides on the real Martin Luther. 
 He is rich fodder for a novel -- a controversial, antagonistic, sometimes self-contradicting and shocking figure. I hope to see more books about him. He and Katharina did not marry for love. By his own assertions, he was not even attracted to her. He married her for convenience. Martin was not a romantic. He was abrasive, obnoxious, and... uh, creative in his analogies. He loved Middle Ages scatological references. After Henry VIII (yes, the one with all the wives) took Martin to task in a book defending Catholicism, Martin responded with insults, including (my personal favorite) likening the king to a "strumpet in a tantrum." 
 Henry took it well, by having a tantrum. 
 The future bloated wife-killer then turned the correspondence over to Sir Thomas More, telling him to use "just as foul of language" back to Martin as Martin dished out. They assaulted one another in a rich tapestry of words that make modern mud-slinging politicians look tame. 
 Isn't history great?