Mailbox Mondays and Giveaway Winners Galore

A Royal Likeness by Christine Trent, signed and I could not help myself I am already into it 100 pages or so.

"As heiress to the famous Laurent Fashion Dolls business, Marguerite Ashby's future seems secure. But France still seethes with violence in the wake of the Revolution. And when Marguerite's husband is killed during a riot, the young widow travels to Edinburgh and becomes apprentice to her old friend, Marie Tussaud, who has established a wax exhibition. When Prime Minister William Pitt commissions a wax figure of Admiral Nelson, Marguerite becomes immersed in a dangerous adventure - and earns the admiration of two very different men. And as Britain battles to overthrow Napoleon, Marguerite will find her loyalties under fire from all sides. With a masterful eye for details, Christine Trent brings one of history's most fascinating eras to life in of a story of desire, ambition, treachery, and courage".

The Darling Strumpet: A Novel of Nell Gwynn, Who Captured the Heart of England and King Charles II by Gillian Bagwell

A thrilling debut novel starring one of history's most famous and beloved courtesans.

"From London's slums to its bawdy playhouses, The Darling Strumpet transports the reader to the tumultuous world of seventeenth-century England, charting the meteoric rise of the dazzling Nell Gwynn, who captivates the heart of King Charles II-and becomes one of the century's most famous courtesans.

Witty and beautiful, Nell was born into poverty but is drawn into the enthralling world of the theater, where her saucy humor and sensuous charm earn her a place in the King's Company. As one of the first actresses in the newly-opened playhouses, she catapults to fame, winning the affection of legions of fans-and the heart of the most powerful man in all of England, the King himself. Surrendering herself to Charles, Nell will be forced to maneuver the ruthless and shifting allegiances of the royal court-and discover a world of decadence and passion she never imagined possible".
 

The Tapestry Shop by Joyce Elson Moore

"The Tapestry Shop, by Joyce Elson Moore, is an historical novel based on the life of Adam de la Halle, a poet/musician who left behind a vast collection of secular compositions. While researching Adam's music, Moore discovered a little-known fact; the earliest version of the Robin Hood legend may have been Adam's play, Le Jeu de Robin et Marion. Because Adam was patronized by royalty, his play was probably performed in English courts, and would have changed, as legends do. In the retelling, Robin became an English hero, and Robin's companions became the Merry Men.

The book draws the reader into the Middle Ages, where women joined the crusades and students held discourse on the Street of Straw, but the overriding appeal of The Tapestry Shop may be Adam's connection to the popular legend of Robin Hood, the celebrated outlaw who was immortalized in later ballads, and who continues to draw fans around the world to films that center on this elusive hero".

Prisoners in the Palace: How Princess Victoria became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel by Michaela MacColl

"Prisoners in the Palace -- London, 1838. Sixteen-year-old Liza's dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in an accident. Penniless, she accepts the position of lady's maid to young Princess Victoria and steps unwittingly into the gossipy intrigue of the servant's world below-stairs as well as the trickery above. Is it possible that her changing circumstances may offer Liza the chance to determine her own fate, find true love, and secure the throne for her future queen?

Meticulously based on newly discovered information, this riveting novel is as rich in historical detail as Catherine, Called Birdy, and as sizzling with intrigue as The Luxe".

Giveaway Winners!

Autographed Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross 

kaiminani

 

Blood and Silk by Carol McKay

lcbrower40
rlphilbr13
Check out Roberta's rocking I won post.
librarypat

Patty
lizzdmc

 

Penelope's Daughter by Laurel Corona

bitsyblingbooks

   

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

kmkuka

Congratulations to all the winners I hope you all enjoy the books!

Book Review: PRISONERS IN THE PALACE by Michaela MacColl

Due to hit bookstores October 13th. A exhilarating read that was a real page-turner. Pretty cover check, unique story check, author I have not read before check, famous historical person I have not read yet check, and this list is complete with all the factors that amount to good reads.

“Prisoners in the Palace” sets the stage with miss Elizabeth Hastings. More well known as Liza, brokenhearted Liza found herself in a predicament not of her choosing. Liza’s somewhat well to do parents suddenly perished in a terrible freak accident leaving Liza alone in the world at age 17. The situation was dire; her family had been living in a luxurious hotel when the accident happened. The hotel threw Liza out and with held the families’ belongings for non-payment of the rooms. Liza had no choice and answered a call to Kensington palace to become a maid. How low she had sunk with the loss of her parents. Good thing Kensington was calling her name or else she would have had nowhere to go.

Aside form being a royal residence Kensington Palace was anything but a normal residence, which Liza started to figure out before she even actually got inside. Kensington had two teams in the house one was for the Princess Victoria the other was for her mother the Duchess, the Duchess had long time employed the vile Sir John Conroy who invented the “Kensington System”. The system was a strict and sometimes god-awful way of raising the princess to be prepared for her duties as the future Queen of Great Britain. In my mind it was a system put in place by her mother and Sir John to control of Victoria and keep her away from the lax morals of the court.

In the midsts of the Kensington household politics Liza shows up needing work. Since few outsiders were allowed in Liza was only permitted entry in because she spoke fluent German and the Baroness who was not only leader on Victoria’s team she was also her governess who loved her very much and need someone to spy on the Duchess and Sir John. Liza was needed to spy on there conveniently only spoken in German conversations. The Duchess and Sir John spoke in German to make sure no one knew what they were saying or planning. It is like they say, “If these walls could talk” funny they would speak German in Kensington and not English.

Liza found out fast that what happened behind closed doors in Kensington stayed in Kensington. What most people viewed as a normal royal household was anything but that for Victoria. Caught in the middle of so many political schemes Liza had to follow her own good sense and remain loyal to the only person who really mattered, the Princess Victoria. Having so much ridding on her position at Kensington Liza came face to face with the fact that to love and protect a princess meant putting herself into even more dire straights than she had been in before with the hotel.

4/5 A wonderful read that was fast paced enough for me and it helped it was a beautiful book. I really enjoyed the shot fast paced chapters, which the beginning of each one has a beautiful frame to decorate the text. Written from Liza’s perspective I found it pleasurable that Liza’s and Victoria’s journal entries were included. Besides being beautiful the story itself was fascinating and mysterious which really helped me devour the story. I have not previously read anything about Princess Victoria but this was a good starting point for me that I think others who are interested in Victoria could start at also. However I know this book has it’s far fetched moments and I would not recommend this book to the lover of reads that are historically on point with the facts because in reality Liza the maid never existed. I find that sometimes I like reads which are not exact and this one was a good climatic read about the princess who earned the peoples trust and is to date Great Britain’s longest ruling monarch.

PG-13 Rating for some violence

FTC: Book was sent to me by publisher

Amazon 

Prisoners in the Palace: How Princess Victoria became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel

Mailbox Mondays

Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl

"Prisoners in the Palace -- London, 1838. Sixteen-year-old Liza's dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in an accident. Penniless, she accepts the position of lady's maid to young Princess Victoria and steps unwittingly into the gossipy intrigue of the servant's world below-stairs as well as the trickery above. Is it possible that her changing circumstances may offer Liza the chance to determine her own fate, find true love, and secure the throne for her future queen?

Meticulously based on newly discovered information, this riveting novel is as rich in historical detail as Catherine, Called Birdy, and as sizzling with intrigue as The Luxe". 

 

 For The King by Catherine Delors, final hardback copy to die for beautiful

" Delors follows Mistress of the Revolution with a gripping historical that chronicles the efforts of a young police inspector to capture the men responsible for trying to kill Napoleon Bonaparte. After a botched assassination attempt on Napoleon kills several bystanders, chief inspector Roch Miquel races to find the men responsible. His investigation is hindered by corruption and jealousy among his colleagues in the police force, notably from Fouché, the stridently unsavory minister of police, who, in order to keep Roch under his thumb, imprisons Roch's father under false pretenses and threatens to have him deported. Meanwhile, Roch finds some comfort in his married mistress, Blanche Coudert, who has a very unfortunate secret that will harshly complicate Roch's already precarious situation. It's not a surprise that Delors's sympathies are with her hero, and his adversaries are depicted as satisfyingly despicable. Themes of class conflict, the messy process of change, and impossible love are nicely woven into the tense central plot of this fast-moving chase through the damp, rutted streets of turn-of-the-19th-century Paris".