Monday, December 29, 2014

Mailbox Monday: Robin Maxwell and it Cosmetics

Virgin Prelude to the Throne by Robin Maxwell
"...a riveting portrait of Elizabeth I as a romantic and vulnerable teenager, dangerously awakening to a perilous liaison with the wrong man.

England, 1547: King Henry is dead. Elizabeth's half-brother, nine-year-old Edward, is king in name only. Thomas Seymour, brother to the ambitious duke who has seized power in this time of crisis, calculatingly works his way into Elizabeth's home in genteel Chelsea House. He marries Henry's widow, Catherine Parr, and uses his venerable charms and sexual magnetism to indulge his infatuation for young Elizabeth. Caught hopelessly under Thomas Seymour's spell, surrounded by kind friends and hidden enemies, Elizabeth can only follow her heart to ensure survival".

~L i z z i e~

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Happy Holidays

Happy holidays everyone! I made this pretty collage on Picmonkey to celebrate and to share with everyone. Feel free to take the image and do with it what you will consider it a present for all of my readers to celebrate the holidays and new year.

STAY CONNECTED WITH ME: 

Monday, December 15, 2014

Book Review: ADVENTURE TIME CRAFTS by Cartoon Network

This craft book is by far the cutest kids craft book I have ever read. My children are big fans of Adventure Time on Cartoon Network and they squealed with delight when they saw all of the fun crafts to do. This crafty book has everything from adorable finger puppets all the way to a Princess Bubblegum themed sweater. These adorable little crafts are sure to entertain your little craft fanatics for days. 

A M A Z O N ~  Adventure Time Crafts: Flippin' Adorable Stuff to Make From the Land of Ooo
G-Rating fun for the whole family
FTC- I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review, I received no compensation for this review.
More Info and Author Bio
~L I Z Z I E~

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Guest Post: Lady Karola and the Christmas Stranger by Robin Maxwell

Lady Karola and the Christmas Stranger by Robin Maxwell

Lady Karola Kent was possessed of a foul mood and a growling belly as she stole ghostlike through the icy basement halls of Greenwich Palace. She was tired of being always hungry, her lady mother the Master Elf of Deprivation. “What man will take a fat cow for a wife? I’ll tell you. A poor one. And you, my girl, are bait for a high duke. Don’t you dare put that in your mouth.”

Of course the dancing at Elizabeth’s court to celebrate Christmas Eve earlier that night had been delightful, but it was the feast table that had surpassed Karola’s wildest imaginings. The peacock cooked and re-
dressed all in all its feathers, dozens of mince
pies, head cheese with mustard, a great pile of
oranges, melons and apricots, stuffed boars’
 heads at each end of the table, marchpane 
gilded with gold leaf, gingerbread, sugar-plated
walnuts, pitchers of hot mulled wine and
syllabub...and puddings of every sort – plum
 with hard sauce was her favorite – had swum before her eyes in a phantasm of color and 
aroma to enrapture the soul. She’d felt her
 mouth watering and though horrified, had had 
to bring three fingers to her carefully painted lips to hide the smile.

Once the queen had taken the first bite and waved her white, famously long-fingered hands at the festooned lords and ladies of her Christmas table Karola had reached for a thick bit of roasted duck - the dark meat of the thigh and crisped skin of its tender groin dripping with savory oils - when she felt a stinging rap at her wrist.

“Grosse vache!” came a gravely whispered French threat from her left.

“Mother, I am eating the duck.” Karola was used to the nagging and regularly defied it. “And I will have pudding.”

But before the meat had reached Karola’s lips she’d felt so vicious a pinch at her waist that she’d jumped sideways, very nearly unseating the Duke of Kenilworth on her right. There had been no choice there after. Make a scandalous scene or nibble on a pigeon’s wing all night. And no plum pudding.

From that moment she’d refused to speak to her mother who was altogether unperturbed by the ruin of her daughter’s evening. “What excitement!” she kept exclaiming as they returned with all the other single ladies to their rooms in the Greenwich’s east wing. The duke – a grieving widower of two weeks – had shown more than a seat-mate’s interest in Lady Karola’s company. Mother hadn’t been at all concerned that the “company” was the powdered skin of her daughter’s thigh. A marriage proposal was next. Now in their chamber as her mother unloosed the stiff stomacher Karola sagged, then gasped the first full breath of the evening. It was then she felt the gnawing in her belly and heard her stomach growling loudly.
“Good,” her mother said as she pulled her daughter’s nightgown over raised arms. “Just what I like to hear.”

By three bells Karola, though lying in the canopied dark within flannel and goose down, was shivering with hunger. She’d slipped snake like from the bed shared with her mother and on bare feet – with just a thin brown wool cloak for cover – hurried from the room with no one the wiser.

The corridors were blessedly empty. They’d been housed on the third level far from the queen’s rooms, so nary a guard was prowling these halls. She boldly lifted a torch from its sconce and held it before her, striding forward as though on an important royal mission. At each stairway she made her way down a flight of stone steps, these somehow colder on the tender skin of her feet than the rock slab corridors. The kitchen never seemed so far before! She thought. At this moment Lady Karola Kent knew she would risk her title, her very maidenhead for a decent meal.

In the dark basement she saw a dim light fanning softly out a wide archway. A few low voices and bursts of laughter floated to her ear on the powdery air. Of course. The bakers. They were first in the kitchen every morning. Bread for the whole court had to be made. They would all see her.

She didn’t care.

She strode single-mindedly through the archway and nodding politely to the white- aproned bakers – women at the tables with their fists sunk into yeasty dough and men shoving huge, heavy-handled trays of round loaves into the ovens. Karola knew her way around this long, narrow kitchen. All the queen’s waiting ladies did. She walked its length past a second arched doorway to the end where stood a wooden cabinet.

She gulped at the thought of its contents - leftovers of the day. Those last most succulent morsels of the night’s meal that had not been eaten at the tables or given as alms to the poor. These were called “The Pleasure of the Queen,” but Karol knew the title was ridiculous. The stick-thin queen has pleasures, she thought but they lay not with food. They “lay” elsewhere. The plates were therefore royal leftovers that were never eaten.

A waste, thought Karola who now placed her torch in an empty sconce and opened the double doors to reveal the shelves groaning with covered dishes. The covers could not disguise the fragrances wafting up around her head, making the tiny hairs in her nose stiffen in delight. Undaunted by the many pairs of bakers’ eyes that were certainly boring into her back Karola began to lift the covers one by one. The fish terrine, the spiced aspic, the boar’s tongue. The duck.

It was there, an entire half-bird lying flat on its cut side, the plump leg bursting through its skin. There, below the leg, Karola thought, was the thigh. There was no hesitation. She reached out and pulled off the leg. She was momentarily paralyzed, contemplating the operation necessary for separating the thigh from the duck’s torso. It would be messy. Greasy. Delicious.

“I like the thigh, too.”

Karola swiveled so violently towards the archway that the leg flew from her hand. Not a moment later the blind kitchen dog was snuffling his way towards the treasure. She was afraid to look up, even though the voice was decidedly not her mother’s. It was deep and melodious and hid a laugh behind
 every syllable. When she did glance 
up, feigning boredom to cover her
 mortification, she saw a sight that 
wholly unnerved her.

He was a Nordic man with a
 rectangular face, pale wiry mustache
 and a short, not-altogether-kempt
 beard. An unlit pipe jutted from 
between sensuous lips. He had, Karola
 was sure, the bluest eyes she had ever
seen, glinting with far too much light for this dim, flour-dusted kitchen. He wore an incongruous green wool jacket and breeches, all trimmed in ermine, and carried over one brawny shoulder a textile bag in a Mohammetan weave, looking too large and too heavy for a single man’s effort. It bulged in all directions with confounding angles and curves. What was in there? she wondered.

“Who are you?” she demanded instead, surprising herself again with a new found brazenness.

He didn’t answer. He simply regarded her with a steady eye. Karola opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. She had already gone too far in disgracing herself. She would wait, ladylike, for a reply.

“If I tell you my name,” he finally said in a soft growl Karola suddenly imagined she could easily come to love, “will you find me the plum pudding?”

She felt her bottom lip drop open and a little “uh” slip from her throat. She held his gaze which proved utterly disquieting. “All the plum pudding may be eaten. I haven’t found it yet.” Karola thought, but could not be sure, that she heard the green-suited man groan. She looked around her stealthily. “If I had,” she continued, “I would be eating it myself right now.”

“Go on then. Find it.”

He was giving her an order! As though he knew her. Why, this was no gentleman. He might be a new kind of fool in that suit, with the Turks bag. Yet she was compelled in a strange warm way to obey him. All he was asking for was a pudding.

Karola lifted one cover after another, coming up with delight after delight, but the man’s grunts of rejection drove her onward. On the bottom shelf was a tiny plate covered not with silver but an overturned bowl. She lifted it and her own gasp of pleasure elicited a whoop of joy from the man who was, all of a sudden, at her side.

But when they both looked down all joy fled. There was hardly a morsel left of the plum pudding. A mere dollop, though it was a drip with hard sauce.

“Here,” Karola said politely, “`tis yours. It was what you sought. What you asked for.”

Again he was silent. This was a man, she realized, who thought before he spoke, so unlike the courtly oafs she endured every day and whom – if her lady mother had her way – Karola would marry, bed and bear children for.

“I think you should eat it,” he finally said.

“If you don’t eat it, Karol replied, a rogue smile taking custody of her lips, “then you won’t be obliged to tell me your name.”

He considered that. “You wanted that plum pudding. You’ve been thinking about it all night.”

“How could you possibly know that?” she said, suddenly alarmed.

He smiled now, a slow graceful upward twirls of the lips revealing straight white teeth. “I know what is in peoples’ hearts,” he said.

She felt prickles on her arms under the brown cloak. What kind of thing was that to say? she thought.

“You’re cold,” he said simply, turning from her and the plate of plum pudding. He set his bag on the floor next to him and went rooting around in its largeness. She watched the long blonde hair swirling about his neck and shoulders and heard him muttering softly to himself, “I know you’re in there. Show yourself.”

Who on earth was he talking to? Karol thought. Was he a simpleton? A madman? Well, the bakers were still there at the other end of the kitchen.

“Ho! There you are!” she heard, and turned to see the man pulling from the sack a robe the likes of which Karola had never seen, nor ever imagined. It was woven haphazardly with strands of cloth of gold and the finest ribbons of white wool cloth and silk, even strips of cream nubby cotton like novice nuns wore. The inside, she could see now, was lined – like the trim of the green suit – in ermine.

“I think this will fit you,” he said and held it open wide.

It was a cloak fit for a queen, she thought. Well, mayhap a faerie queen. She turned her back to him and held her breath. Then a soft heaviness enveloped her shoulders and cradled her arms. She exhaled a too-emphatic sigh, but the pleasure of it was so great she was beyond caring.

Once she had repossessed herself Karol turned. She expected to find the stranger smiling delightedly down on her grateful expression. What she saw instead was the man depositing the single morsel of plum pudding between his fingers into his mouth. He held her eyes as he chewed, swallowed and sighed with unutterable contentment.

“Nicholas,” he finally said, licking his lips with unabashed gusto. “My name is Nicholas.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you Robin for the lovely short story just in time for the holidays. For more on Robin check out her new children's books TROUBLE IN TOYLAND and AUGIE APPLEBY'S WILD GOOSE CHASE. They would make excellent stocking stuffers for kids.
~L i z z i e~

Thursday, December 04, 2014

Marie Antoinette Inspired Home Decor Ideas

This is for all of you ladies out there that love Marie Antoinette's lavish style. I have been working on decorating my bedroom in what I would call a little bit of MA flare. It is a hard design concept but one that can be managed if you start with the right colors. Here are some beautiful ideas from Better Decorating Bible, in their posts they have mastered the look I have been aiming for "Modern French Regency" or "Boudoir Style Decorating" which could not be more fitting for my personality. One really helpful thing that BDB have added is the color band at the bottom with the colors for the entire room. My favorites from their posts are below but check out the links for more home decor ideas!


Now if your crafty then you can get really creative and make your own one of a kind pieces for your home. I start by going thrift store hunting for really old unique pieces of furniture. Once I find the perfect item I start by sanding it down if needed then it is on to lots of spray paint. I got the idea for this little bedside dresser from this photo below and it turned out better than I could have imagined. 
My Inspiration
My Little Dresser
I hope that this post gives you all some inspiration on your own bedroom projects. I found that doing a little bit of decor research before hand really helps pull everything together in the end because once you have the image of what you want it is much easier to stick to a theme. If you want to check me out on Pintrest I have a whole board on home decor and Marie Antoinette you can check out.
This is not a sponsored post.
Historically Obsessed is now on YouTube!
~Lizzie~

Monday, December 01, 2014

Mailbox Monday: Georgia Bragg

How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg
"Over the course of history men and women have lived and died. In fact, getting sick and dying can be a big, ugly mess-especially before the modern medical care that we all enjoy today. How They Croaked relays all the gory details of how nineteen world figures gave up the ghost. For example:

It is believed that Henry VIII's remains exploded within his coffin while lying in state.
Doctors "treated" George Washington by draining almost 80 ounces of blood before he finally kicked the bucket.
Right before Beethoven wrote his last notes, doctors drilled a hole in his stomach without any pain medication.
Readers will be interested well past the final curtain, and feel lucky to live in a world with painkillers, X-rays, soap, and 911".

Adventure Time Crafts: Flippin' Adorable Stuff to Make from the Land of Ooo by Cartoon Network
"Adventure Time is more than just a cartoon and video game sensation-it's also a crafts phenomenon, which this first official project book brings home for creative, totally obsessed fans.

Fans of Cartoon Network's #1 show are gonna go nuts for these DIY projects featuring the strange, yet lovable characters of Adventure Time as you've never seen them before-stitched, stuffed, bedazzled, and even crocheted. For the first time, this licensed book brings together 20 projects to make at home, including Finn's iconic hat as well as jewelry, toys, home decor, costumes, and accessories. The projects are beginner-friendly, with a few challenges thrown in, and the book is chock-full of favorite characters and inside jokes from the show that fans will love. Algebraic"! 
~Lizzie~

Monday, November 17, 2014

Mailbox Monday

The Innocent by Posie Graeme-Evans
"The year is 1450, a dangerous time in medieval Britain. Civil unrest is at its peak and the legitimacy of the royal family is suspect. Meanwhile, deep in the forests of western England, a baby is born. Powerful forces plot to kill both mother and child, but somehow the newborn girl survives. Her name is Anne.

Fifteen years later, England emerges into a fragile but hopeful new age, with the charismatic young King Edward IV on the throne. Anne, now a young peasant girl, joins the household of a wealthy London merchant. Her unusual beauty provokes jealousy, lust, and intrigue, but Anne has a special quality that saves her: a vast knowledge of healing herbs. News of her extraordinary gift spreads, and she is called upon to save the ailing queen. Soon after, Anne is moved into the palace, where she finds her destiny with the man who will become the greatest love of her life -- the king himself".~Lizzie~

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

New Release, In Stores Today! Prince Lestat by Anne Rice

"Prince Lestat by" Anne Rice
Released 10.28.2014
"The novel opens with the vampire world in crisis...vampires have been proliferating out of control; burnings have commenced all over the world, huge massacres similar to those carried out by Akasha in The Queen of the Damned... Old vampires, roused from slumber in the earth are doing the bidding of a Voice commanding that they indiscriminately burn vampire-mavericks in cities from Paris and Mumbai to Hong Kong, Kyoto, and San Francisco. As the novel moves from present-day New York and the West Coast to ancient Egypt, fourth century Carthage, 14th-century Rome, the Venice of the Renaissance, the worlds and beings of all the Vampire Chronicles—Louis de Pointe du Lac; the eternally young Armand, whose face is that of a Boticelli angel; Mekare and Maharet, Pandora and Flavius; David Talbot, vampire and ultimate fixer from the secret Talamasca; and Marius, the true Child of the Millennia; along with all the other new seductive, supernatural creatures—come together in this large, luxuriant, fiercely ambitious novel to ultimately rise up and seek out who—or what—the Voice is, and to discover the secret of what it desires and why...
And, at the book's center, the seemingly absent, curiously missing hero-wanderer, the dazzling, dangerous rebel-outlaw—the great hope of the Undead, the dazzling Prince Lestat..."
Amazon: Prince Lestat by Anne Rice
~Lizzie~

Monday, October 27, 2014

New Release: Victoria: A Life by A.N. Wilson

Victoria: A Life by A. N. Wilson
Released October 10.23.2014 ~ Non-Fiction
"When Queen Victoria died in 1901, she had ruled for nearly sixty-four years. She was a mother of nine and grandmother of forty-two and the matriarch of royal Europe through her children’s marriages. To many, Queen Victoria is a ruler shrouded in myth and mystique, an aging, stiff widow paraded as the figurehead to an all-male imperial enterprise. But in truth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was one of the most passionate, expressive, humorous and unconventional women who ever lived, and the story of her life continues to fascinate.
A. N. Wilson’s exhaustively researched and definitive biography includes a wealth of new material from previously unseen sources to show us Queen Victoria as she’s never been seen before. Wilson explores the curious set of circumstances that led to Victoria’s coronation, her strange and isolated childhood, her passionate marriage to Prince Albert and his pivotal influence even after death and her widowhood and subsequent intimate friendship with her Highland servant John Brown, all set against the backdrop of this momentous epoch in Britain’s history—and the world’s.

Born at the very moment of the expansion of British political and commercial power across the globe, Victoria went on to chart a unique course for her country even as she became the matriarch of nearly every great dynasty of Europe. Her destiny was thus interwoven with those of millions of people—not just in Europe but in the ever-expanding empire that Britain was becoming throughout the nineteenth century. The famed queen had a face that adorned postage stamps, banners, statues and busts all over the known world.

Wilson’s Victoria is a towering achievement, a masterpiece of biography by a writer at the height of his powers".

Book Review: DAUGHTERS OF THE NILE by Stephanie Dray

Cleopatra Selene, Queen of Mauretania co-ruled with her husband Juba II over their exotic lands. Named the resurrection by her mother Cleopatra magic had always been a part of their lives. Her mother had magical abilities and so did her little brother and her twin Helios. Cleopatra’s children had met death and destruction at the hands of their Roman captor Augustus Caesar.  Augustus’ obsession with Selene was deranged and she had fought him off in the previous two novels in this series but she could never truly be free of him because she now had a daughter forced upon her by him. Isidora was wholly accepted by Juba as his daughter but it was an unspoken truth behind her conception and paternity that was all done by the hand of the Emperor of Rome.

In this third installment of the “Cleopatra’s Daughter” series we pick up where the last novel left off. Selene is once more free of the emperor for a period of time. Juba and her are still at odds but we find them growing closer together through their past shred struggles. Selene opens her heart to Juba and they welcome a new prince to Mauretania. Name Ptolemy for his Egyptian heritage he is the light of his parents lives until the fateful day when Augustus called them back to Rome to ruin their family bliss back in Mauretania.

Never able to leave Selene alone for too long the Emperor does not just summon her to Rome he commands it and one does not just ignore the emperor of Rome before the common era. Forced to return to the land she stolen away to as a child Selene realizes his obsession with her will never end. Reaching a new height of disillusionment the emperor now has the audacity to think that her sweet little Ptolemy is his son. This is too far for Selene but she is already fighting off her mother enemy King Herod on one front and the disillusioned Caesar with his vile wife working against her in a dangerous struggle for power. Liva has already proved that she is capable of murder and if she were given the chance she would murder Selene in a heartbeat.

Selene had an edge against them all she had magic, the power of Isis and also a gifted daughter to help her navigate the treachery that now surrounded her whole family. Years of fighting had taken a toll on Selene and her son’s birth had its price she was getting older and she found herself more distant from Juba.  Juba was not just any man he was a scholar, a long time favorite of Caesar, and deep down inside he knew he had made mistakes with Selene yet he still loved her. Drawn together the couple could be unstoppable against Rome and anything else that came their way yet they found the hardest obstacle to conquer was the ocean between them.  Selene found she was still not ready to admit how much she truly loved this man she married and instead she chose to fight her battles alone like she always has. Fighting his way into her heart and her battles Selene cannot deny Juba forever.

4/5  I HATE HATE HATE HATE the Emperor; he is the vilest man ever to grace historical fiction. He is like the enemy that cannot die. It sure makes for good reads though. I fell in love with Selene’s daughter Isidora; she was like a combination of her mother and famous grandmother Cleopatra. I would recommend this to historical fiction lovers that do not mind a bit of fantasy in their history. I however would not recommend reading this as a stand-alone novel because you will miss too much of the history behind it all.
  • FTC ~ this novel was sent to me by the publisher for review. I received no compensation for this review.
  • PG-13 Rating for mild violence and sexual references.
  • Amazon: Daughters of the Nile by Stephanie Dray

~Lizzie~

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Kings, Queens, and Horses

Close up of "Queen of Hearts" mixed media
This beauty was a printed canvas my husband bought for me at the art supply store. In the pack it came with two pieces one with the queen of hearts and the other with the king of hearts. I used a variety on this as usual. From colored pencils, to water color pencils, ball point pens, and felt tipped pens. I just basically colored it, painted, high lighted, and then re-did the black. It took awhile to do both but it was worth it but now all I have to do is get them in frames.
"Queen of Hearts" mixed print media on canvas.

"King of Hearts" mixed print media on canvas.

Quick little sketch inspired by the "Dolce & Gabbana fashion show on Capri". Ink sketch with Prisma markers.

"Spotted pony love" ink sketch with Prisma markers.

I hope you all enjoyed my art work hopefully I will have more coming soon.
~Lizzie~

Monday, October 20, 2014

Mailbox Monday: Robin Maxwell

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell large print edition
"Entertainment Weekly wrote, "History doesn't come any more fascinating -- or lurid -- than the wife-felling reign of Henry VIII". Robin Maxwell re-creates this chapter in history to perfection in an exuberant and bawdy novel of lust, betrayal, love and murder.When the young Queen Elizabeth I is given her mother's diary, she discovers the truth about her lascivious and despotic father, Henry VIII -- and vows never to relinquish control to any man".~Lizzie~

Friday, October 17, 2014

Book Review: LITTLE BOOK OF BOOK MAKING by Charlotte Rivers

This is a cool little book it is a creative trigger for artists alike. From the anatomy of a book with folded and sewn bindings all the way to artists in Egypt, Brazil, Canada and even in my neck of the woods artist Monica Holtsclaw in Beaverton Oregon. This book is filled with artistic examples of page and covering treatments, which featured another local artist Scantron Press in Portland Oregon.  Experimental packaging art from Lime Rot in Seattle Washington and Hinged Strung Stitched in Portland Oregon.  I was told a long time ago once that Portland and Seattle are home to some of the most creative artists in the country making the two cities a hub for artistic minds. Now I can really see it thanks to this lovely little book. 

Not just a gallery of beautiful works of books this book also will teach you how to make your own books from the beginning. With sections covering tools, materials, how to make an instant, accordion, flag, dragon, carousel, secret message books and it does not stop there it goes on to cover a pamphlet, long, Japanese stab, Coptic, French link stitch, case binding, suminaga’s shi paper marbling, paste papers, frottage, natural plant dyeing, book cloth, woven covers, fabric covers, and pillow books. With a wealth of information this book will give any aspiring artist the knowledge to reach all of their creative dreams.

4/5 Loved this book with its beautifully crafted books that are art pieces all so unique. My favorites were all the ones that used maps in the bindings and also the intricate colorful ladder stitch, and last but not least a set of books shaped like pie slices. Every one of the featured books was beautiful making it hard to narrow down a favorite. I would highly recommend this book to all creative gurus because knowledge can be an inspiration.


~Lizzie~

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Book Review: VITTORIO THE VAMPIRE by Anne Rice

In this last novel of the “New Tales of the Vampires” series we are introduced to a new vampire Vittorio. Vittorio was a young boy on the verge of manhood during the 15th century Italy. His family ruled on high from their mountain top castle in northern Tuscany. His ideal life was shattered in one tragic night of murder. The family castle was invaded in the dead of night by what Vittorio would later find out is the ghastly Order of the Ruby Grail.  Every single man woman and child was murdered except Vittorio. He was the only one spared by the super natural killers. Vittorio fought valiantly to protect his little brother and sister but could not stop these freakishly strong killers from their mission of death.  Spared by the woman who had helped destroy his family Vittorio became obsessed with vengeance and finding out more about this supernatural woman Ursula and the Order of the Ruby Grail.

4/5 I enjoyed a brand new vampire and a new romantic one too! I wish Anne had written more of this branch of the Vampire Chronicles because I would read those too. This one was a short, fast paced read and I enjoyed it. I would recommend this one to historical lovers alike because it does not really tie into any of the other novels in the series, it defiantly can be read as a stand-alone novel.

~Lizzie~

Monday, October 13, 2014

Mailbox Monday: Diana Gabaldon & Elizabeth Chadwick

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
"The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life...and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives".

Lords of the White Castle by Elizabeth Chadwick FitzWarin, #2
"Westminster, 1184-- in the court of King Henry, playful competition is about to turn into something far more serious. Young courtier Fulke FitzWarin would not be an obvious companion for Prince John, but the boy from the Welsh Marches is there as a reward for his family's loyalty to the crown. The FitzWarins are as proud as they are true, and when Fulke is accused by John of cheating during a game of chess, he cannot help but respond. Thus begins a bitter rivalry that will resonate throughout their lives.
The FitzWarins dream of reclaiming their family estate and title, Lords of the White Castle. After this quarrel with Fulke, however, John's vindictiveness leads to Fulke renouncing his allegiance and becoming a rebel outlaw.

In romance, too, Fulke is no closer to fulfilling his heart's desire. A youthful dalliance means nothing compared to his love for the spirited Maude le Vavasour, but marriage in medieval England is more about alliance than about love, and Fulke can only watch helplessly as Maude's father arranges a more suitable match. After all, what can Fulke offer Maude apart from a lifetime on the run....

With all the intrigue and pageantry that bring the twelfth century vividly to life, this award-winning novelist spins us an irresistible tale of a deadly rivalry and an impossible love".
~Lizzie~

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

New Historical Fiction Release: The Sharp Hook of Love by Sherry Jones

In stores today! The Sharp Hook of Love by Sherry Jones
"Among the young women of 12th century Paris, Heloise d’Argenteuil stands apart. Extraordinarily educated and quick-witted, she is being groomed by her uncle to become an abbess in the service of God. But with one encounter, her destiny changes forever.
Pierre Abelard, headmaster at the Nôtre Dame Cloister School, is acclaimed as one of the greatest philosophers in France. His controversial reputation only adds to his allure, yet despite the legions of women swooning over his poetry and dashing looks, he is captivated by the brilliant Heloise alone. As their relationship blossoms from a meeting of the minds to a forbidden love affair, both Heloise and Abelard must choose between love, duty, and ambition.

Sherry Jones weaves the lovers’ own words into an evocative account of desire and sacrifice. As intimate as it is erotic, as devastating as it is beautiful, The Sharp Hook of Love is a poignant, tender tribute to one of history’s greatest romances, and to love’s power to transform and endure".

More From Sherry Jones:
~Lizzie~

Monday, September 29, 2014

Mailbox Monday: Sherry Jones and Posie Graeme-Evans

The Sharp Hook of Love by Sherry Jones ~ autographed ~ releases 10.7.2014
"Among the young women of 12th century Paris, Heloise d’Argenteuil stands apart. Extraordinarily educated and quick-witted, she is being groomed by her uncle to become an abbess in the service of God. But with one encounter, her destiny changes forever.
Pierre Abelard, headmaster at the Nôtre Dame Cloister School, is acclaimed as one of the greatest philosophers in France. His controversial reputation only adds to his allure, yet despite the legions of women swooning over his poetry and dashing looks, he is captivated by the brilliant Heloise alone. As their relationship blossoms from a meeting of the minds to a forbidden love affair, both Heloise and Abelard must choose between love, duty, and ambition.

Sherry Jones weaves the lovers’ own words into an evocative account of desire and sacrifice. As intimate as it is erotic, as devastating as it is beautiful, The Sharp Hook of Love is a poignant, tender tribute to one of history’s greatest romances, and to love’s power to transform and endure".
The Exiled by Posie Graeme-Evans
"In this windswept story set in the lusty fifteenth century, the enchanting Anne faces the challenge of raising her child in exile. Always resourceful, she flourishes as a merchant and is able to support her household. But the local businessmen aren't pleased about competing with a woman and her foes are multiplying around her, desperate to put her back in what they believe is her rightful place.

Anne has a secret that her enemies could use to destroy her. Her beloved son is the product of a passionate affair with the king, Edward IV, who knows nothing of his existence. If this information were to fall into the wrong hands, it could prove lethal for Anne and her child. She struggles to find peace in a world of duplicity and suspicion, where adversaries masquerade as allies, and someone very powerful wants her dead. Yet, despite the pressure of her enemies, what pains Anne the most is that she is unsure when or if she will see her darling Edward again".~Lizzie~

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Book Review: PANDORA by Anne Rice

The ancient vampire Pandora has lived for millenniums and finally tells her tale. Roman by birth during the height of the great Roman reign, Pandora was an anomaly in the world of men. She was educated, articulate, strong and not to mention beautiful. You can say she is defiantly the love of Marius’ life from the moment they met. They had first met as mortals and Marius had begged Pandora’s father to be allowed to marry her. Her father told Marius “you are destined to be a roaming historian” and he was deemed unfit for marriage. Marius and Pandora aka Lydia back then went their own paths but had never forgotten each other.

In a horrific turn of events Pandora is forced to flee Rome in fear for her life. Alone she is secreted away to Antioch to start a new life. With no family or friends to comfort her Pandora grieved terribly for her loss and ended up turning to the only comfort she could think of, the temple of Isis. Finding new friends with her goddess Isis she felt compelled to share her tragedy and the freakish dreams that had been plaguing her ever since she left Rome. The dreams were disturbing to the temple and they did not know what to make of them but they knew someone who might be the only person that could help her to understand them. The “mysterious mind reader” as they called him turned out to be none other than Pandora’s lost Marius. This was just the beginning of Marius and Pandora’s love that endured for millenniums. This time around there was no way Pandora would give Marius up and not with out a fight.

3/5 Not my favorite, it was really short and basically only gave the beginning of Pandora’s tale. I would not recommend this novel unless you have read “Blood and Gold” because the two novels really tie in together. And if you want the whole story you have to read them both.

R~ Rating for sexual references

FTC ~ this novel is part of my personal collection.
~Lizzie~
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