Jean Plaidy's Stuart Saga, The Saga Breakdown

Jean Plaidy's Stuart Saga can be down right confusing and after much research I have broken the whole series down by isbn numbers, covers and even publication dates. What makes this series so complicated is the re-prints and the fact that all of Jean Plaidy's novels were released first in the U.K. then later in the US. There are numerous re-prints for each book because they have been very popular through out the past decades. The hardest part to figure out was the condensing of 3 books into one with a whole new title. I wrote this all out with the hope that someone else will be able to easily pick out which section of the House of Stuart they want to go to or which series of covers they want to start collecting.

I am proud to say I have read the whole saga from beginning to end and instantly fell in love with the "Stuart Charm". My favorite by far was the Charles the II's novels or as I read them combined into one "The Loves of Charles II". I hope that all my historical fiction lovers out there have the chance to read at least one of these richly portrayed Jean Plaidy novels because they are real historical fiction gems.

When I originally set out on the Jean Plaidy Stuart Saga endeavor I had had planned on adding every single cover art for every single novel in this saga. I found out the hard way that conflicting info and the overwhelming daunting task of making sure everything is correct, I have nixed the plan to include everything because the reality is that we are dealing with multiple releases in multiple formats spanning multiple countries. I decided to condense it down into my favorites the original releases then the three other publishers that reccently re-printed the series: Three Rivers Press, Crown Publishing, Arrow Books and Cornerstone Digital. I must note that I did not include the digital releases in publications list.

The original U.K. hardback releases of The Stuart Saga. Rare and usually expensive in good condition. Printed through out the 70's.

Three Rivers Press, beautiful novels to collect because the spine has a piece of the cover art and when you line them all up on a bookcase it shows all of the historical art. I would recommend collecting this set if you are also going to collect the other prints by Three Rivers like The Queen's of England series BUT....be for warned that if you do go with this set like I did many of these copies are very hard to get and if you order them on Amazon even though they show the Three Rivers Press version you WILL get Crown's version instead. I had a really hard time rounding all of these re-prints up especially "Murder Most Royal" but they are to die for on a bookcase. If you want to see mine all lined up check out this post on my Jean Plaidy collection. The Queens of England series is in this print and The Stuart Saga.

Crown Publishing, I have a mix of these ones I am missing the Mary Queen of Scots ones but I have "The Murder in the Tower" on to the end. I really do not like it that Crown chose to use the same cover art for "The Captive Queen of Scots" and "The Three Crowns". I really can not accept why they would do that but to me but it really throws a wrench in it for collectors because it is the most recent re-prints but it is like having a double copy. This set of re-prints really looks lovely on a shelf too like the Three Rivers prints because they made the spine very appealing. This publisher is also a good one for collecting The Tudors Series and the Lucreazia Borgia duo because they are the most recent re-prints

Arrow Books and Cornerstone Digital U.K. editions: this is where it gets complicated Arrow books published hard copies of "The Royal Road to Fotheringhay" and "The Captive Queen of Scots" but after that they stopped and Cornerstone Digital picked up the same style of cover art for the kindle aka digital versions of the rest of the series. I wish they would consider making hard copies of all of them but I doubt that will happen. Arrow books is really good to collect for other Plaidy series like

The Plantagenet Saga, Queen Victoria Quartet, Isabella and Ferdinand Trilogy, Catherine de Medici Trilogy.

Mary Stuart ~ Two Novels

• 1 "The Royal Road to Fotheringay" ~ ISBN 9780609810231, Originally Published 1955. Publications: 1968 hardback, 2004 paperback, 2007 paperback, 2010 paperback. Synopsis, Amazon, My Review

• 2 "The Captive Queen of Scots" ~ ISBN 9781400082513, Originally Published 1963. Publications: 1967 Hardback, 1967 paperback, 1965 hardback, 1969 "Fair Devil of Scotland", 1971 paperback, 1977 paperback, 2006 paperback, 2007 paperback. Synopsis, Amazon, My Review, Search my blog for more on Mary Queen of Scots

James I ~ One Novel

• 3 "The Murder in the Tower: The Story of Frances, Countess of Essex" ~ ISBN 9780307346216, Originally Published 1964. Publications: 1964 hardcover, 1971 paperback, and 1974 hardcover, 2010 paperback. Synopsis, Amazon, My Review Search my blog for more on James I

Charles II ~ Three Novels or One Combined Version

• 4 "The Wandering Prince" ISBN 9780330022415, Originally Published 1956. Publications: 1956 hardcover, 1969 paperback, 1971 hardcover, and 1972 paperback. Synopsis, Amazon, My Review

• 5 "Health Unto His Majesty" ISBN 9780330022835, Originally Published 1956. Publications: 1969 hardcover, 1969 paperback, 1972 hardcover, 1973 paperback, and 1992 hardcover. Synopsis, Amazon, My Review

• 6 "Here Lies our Sovereign Lord" ISBN 9780449232569, Originally Published 1957. Publications: 1969 paperback, 1973 hardcover, 1975 paperback. Synopsis, Amazon, My Review

• 4,5,6 Combined "The Loves of Charles II" ISBN 9781400082483, Originally published in 1972 Published as a combined re-print in 2005, The one volume version of "The Wandering Prince", "Health Unto His Majesty", and "Here Lies our Sovereign Lord". Publications: 2005 paperback, 2005 paperback. Synopsis, Amazon, Search my blog for more on Charles II

Mary II and Anne Queen of Great Britain ~ Three Novels or One Combined Version

• 7 The Three Crowns: The Story of William and Mary" ISBN 9780307346247, Originally Published 1965. Publications: 1973 paperback, 1977 hardcover, 2010 paperback. Synopsis, Amazon, My Review,

• 8 "The Haunted Sisters" ISBN 9780307719522, Originally Published 1966, "Haunted sisters" was retitled "Royal Sisters: The Story of the Daughters of James II" for the most recent re-print 2011. Publications: 1977 paperback, 2011 paperback

• 9 "The Queen's Favorites" ISBN 9780307719515, Originally Published 1966, "The Queen's Favorites" was retitled "Courting Her Highness" for the most recent reprint 2011. Publications: 1978 hardcover, 2011 paperback. Synopsis, Amazon, My Review,

• 7,8,9 Combined "The Last of the Stuarts" ISBN 9780709161974, Originally Published 1965,  The one volume version of "The Three Crowns", "The Haunted Sisters", and "The Queen's Favorites". Publications: Published 1977 Hardcover. Synopsis, Amazon, Search my blog for more on Mary II, and Anne Queen of Great Britain

~Lizzie~

Mailbox Monday: Lives of the Mayfair Witches

Lasher by Anne Rice
"From the day her first Vampire Chronicle was published, critics and readers--readers by the hundreds of thousands--have been mesmerized by the writings of Anne Rice. And with the publication of The Witching Hour, she created for us yet another world and legend, and both the chorus of praise (see back of jacket) and the multitudes of her readers once more increased.
At the center: the brilliant and beautiful Rowan Mayfair, queen of the coven, and Lasher, the darkly compelling demon whom she finds irresistible and from whose evil spell and vision she must now flee. She takes with her their terrifying and exquisite child, one of "a brood of children born knowing, able to stand and talk on the first day."

Rowan's attempt to escape Lasher and his pursuit of her and their child are at the heart of this extraordinary saga. It is a novel that moves around the globe, backward and forward through time, and between the human and demonic worlds. Its many voices--of women, of men, of demons and angels, present and past--haunt and enchant us. With a dreamlike power, the novel draws us through twilight paths, telling a chillingly hypnotic sotry of occult and spiritual aspirations and passion".

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice 
"From the author of the extraordinary Vampire Chronicles comes a huge, hypnotic novel of witchcraft and the occult through four centuries.
Demonstrating, once again, her gift for spellbinding storytelling and the creation of legend, Anne Rice makes real for us a great dynasty of witches--a family given to poetry and to incest, to murder and to philosophy; a family that, over the ages, is itself haunted by a powerful, dangerous, and seductive being.

On the veranda of a great New Orleans house, now faded, a mute and fragile woman sits rocking . . . and The Witching Hour begins.

It begins in our time with a rescue at sea. Rowan Mayfair, a beautiful woman, a brilliant practitioner of neurosurgery--aware that she has special powers but unaware that she comes from an ancient line of witches--finds the drowned body of a man off the coast of California and brings him to life. He is Michael Curry, who was born in New Orleans and orphaned in childhood by fire on Christmas Eve, who pulled himself up from poverty, and who now, in his brief interval of death, has acquired a sensory power that mystifies and frightens him.

As these two, fiercely drawn to each other, fall in love and--in passionate alliance--set out to solve the mystery of her past and his unwelcome gift, the novel moves backward and forward in time from today's New Orleans and San Francisco to long-ago Amsterdam and a château in the France of Louis XIV. An intricate tale of evil unfolds--an evil unleashed in seventeenth-century Scotland, where the first "witch," Suzanne of the Mayfair, conjures up the spirit she names Lasher . . . a creation that spells her own destruction and torments each of her descendants in turn.

From the coffee plantations of Port au Prince, where the great Mayfair fortune is made and the legacy of their dark power is almost destroyed, to Civil War New Orleans, as Julien--the clan's only male to be endowed with occult powers--provides for the dynasty its foothold in America, the dark, luminous story encompasses dramas of seduction and death, episodes of tenderness and healing. And always--through peril and escape, tension and release--there swirl around us the echoes of eternal war: innocence versus the corruption of the spirit, sanity against madness, life against death. With a dreamlike power, the novel draws us, through circuitous, twilight paths, to the present and Rowan's increasingly inspired and risky moves in the merciless game that binds her to her heritage. And in New Orleans, on Christmas Eve, this strangest of family sagas is brought to its startling climax".~Lizzie~

Book Review: BLACKWOOD FARM by Anne Rice

Quinn Blackwood, a true Louisiana southern gentleman and heir to the vast Blackwood estate had a very unusual childhood. From as far back as he could remember he had a doppelganger spirit that no one else could see. Goblin as he called him, always had been a part of his life, which was eccentric to say the least. There was nothing typical about growing up at Blackwood farm. All of the Blackwood’s were filthy rich. The whole family had lived there for many generations even their servants had been with the family for generations. Raised by his loving grandpa Quinn could do or have anything he wanted yet his main focus was his other half Goblin. The family and servants patronized him but in his life only one person really understood him. Quinn’s equally eccentric aunt queen loved him like no one else could, she believed in his doppelganger even though she could not see him. Blackwood manor had a great family history to go along with the heritage home; it was not uncommon for a person to see some of the family ghosts roaming about the house. For Quinn though it was different from everyone else, he saw the ghosts and seemed to attract them.

In the backwater swamps that the Blackwood family owned was a legendary island called Sugar Devil Swamp. No one had ever seen it but Quinn’s great grandfather supposedly had gone there as a retreat for weeks at a time. It was also said at this time that he had built a secret house out there in the swamp. No one had ever dared find the island because it was legend that his elderly great grandfather on his deathbed had taken off and escaped to the island never to be heard from again. Quinn was determined to find the island and when he did he was shocked at what he had found. Finding the island was just the beginning. Crossing paths with a vengeful ghost from his great grandfathers past was terrifying enough but then he crossed the most terrifying and mysterious being he had ever seen; an immortal.

Quinn was not given a choice about becoming a child of the blood, stolen in the night from his eccentric life there was no going back on what happened to him. Immortal now and forever yet Quinn could not turn his back on the home and the people or spirits that loved him the most. He felt he had to return home especially to Goblin yet when he returned home he had found that Goblin had changed and now was becoming a great threat. Quinn did the most logical thing a blood child could do he reached out to none other than the brat prince himself, Lestat. It made perfect sense and since Quinn had read Lestat’s vampire memoirs he knew Lestat’s history with ghosts, spirits, witches and vampires. If anyone was going to be able to help Lestat was the only one with the know how to do it. Quinn’s only hope was teaming up with the notorious brat prince of New Orleans.

4/5 Enjoyed this one but for me it was lacking in the whole historical aspect I enjoy so much. But I must admit that what it lacked for me historically it made up for it in other paranormal ways. This is one of the few books I would not recommend to just anyone because in all honesty you really need to read the whole Vampire Chronicles to fully grasp all that’s going on in this novel. I also would recommend that you read Anne’s other series “The Mayfair Witches” because this novel is a cross over between the two series. I have not read the Mayfair series and found that I did follow the novel along quiet well but I think it would have been much better of a read if I had read the Mayfair series first.

X-Rating sexual encounters
FTC-this novel is from my personal collection

Amazon ~ BLACKWOOD FARM by Anne Rice
~Lizzie~

Book Review: BLOOD AND GOLD by Anne Rice

Marius child of the millennium, one of the oldest vampires in existence finally tells the story of his life. Stolen from his home at the height of the Roman era, Marius was given the dark blood by a captive druid vampire that was forced into living in a tree and only allowed to feed once or twice a year. Escaping the same fate as the druid vampire Marius was called to Egypt on a mission to save the mother and father of all vampires. The caregiver of the king and queen had given up all hope and took the king, queen, and himself into the sun to die. Little did he or anyone else know at the time that if he killed them it would mean instant death to the whole vampire species. Taking his king and queen Marius fled Egypt and instantly became the keeper of "those who must be kept”. The burden of caring for the king and queen would weigh heavily on Marius for centuries to come.

Marius had given the dark blood to his one time mortal love Pandora; both lovingly cared for the king and queen for centuries in Antioch. Their relationship took a dreadful turn when after a fight between the two Marius packed everything up including those who must be kept and fled. At the time Marius had been blinded by his anger and could not see that abandoning Pandora would cause him great pain in the centuries that were to come. Lost in his loneliness Marius was heartbroken that his glorious Rome had fallen. At this point he felt he had no other choice but to leave the beloved city he was born in and start over anew somewhere else.

Constantinople was proclaimed the new Rome and Marius went east with his king, queen, and two other ancient vampires to start all over. His new life in Constantinople did not go as well as he had planned. After a vampire drama fest once again Marius abandoned everyone but his king and queen and fled. Hiding the queen and king in a remote Italian mountain top crypt he spent decades alone. Once again victim to his own loneliness Marius was driven out of the crypt and found himself in full-blown renaissance Italy. The world had completely changed and it was completely to his liking. He found himself enthralled by the art of this new era. Marius was always a passionate artist in his heart of hearts and the idea came upon him that it was time to re-enter the mortal world as he once had done centuries ago in now ancient Rome.

Venice Italy breathed new passions into ancient Marius. He made a new life for himself with a beautiful home and filled it with new friends and servants. Bianca, beautifully mortal Bianca entranced him from the moment he met her. Marius truly loved Bianca but he also loved another named Amadeo. He rescued Amadeo from a brothel in Venice and brought him home to be educated with all the other boys he took under his wing. They would have many adventures together in Venice but like all good things they must come to an end. All would be ruined in one tragic day in Venice that almost took Marius' immortal life. Amadeo was stolen from him, Pandora was forever lost to him, and now Bianca was trying to hold it all together for Marius. For him nothing could or ever would be the same again but he could not just give up because the secret of those who must be kept must always be protected at whatever the cost even if it cost him everything and everyone he ever loved.

5/5 loved it! I finally got Marius' whole story even though I had to wait until book eight in the series to get it. It was well worth the wait though with an ending I never ever saw coming. I am really looking forward to reading "Pandora" even though it is technically part of the new vampire chronicles because it will give a whole new aspect to Marius' story. I would recommend this novel to history lovers alike because all of Anne's vampire chronicles focus not just on the vampires but the history of the era's in which they lived.

PG-13 for mild violence
FTC- this novel is part of my personal collection
Amazon ~ BLOOD AND GOLD by Anne Rice
~Lizzie~

Mailbox Monday: Leslie Carroll & Anne Rice

Releasing 9.2.2014 Inglorious Royal Marriages by Leslie Carroll
"It’s no secret that the marriages of monarchs are often made in hell. Here are some of the most spectacular mismatches in five hundred years of royal history....

In a world where many kings, queens, and princes lacked nothing but true love, marital mismatches could bring out the baddest, boldest behavior in the bluest of bloodlines. Margaret Tudor, her niece Mary I, and Catherine of Braganza were desperately in love with chronically unfaithful husbands, but at least they weren’t murdered by them, as were two of the Medici princesses were. King Charles II’s beautiful, high-spirited sister “Minette” wed Louis XIV’s younger brother, who wore more makeup and perfume than she did. Forced to wed her boring, jug-eared cousin Ferdinand, Marie of Roumania—a granddaughter of Queen Victoria—proved herself one of the heroines of World War I by using her prodigious personal charm to regain massive amounts of land during the peace talks at Versailles.

Brimming with outrageous real-life stories of royal marriages gone wrong, this is an entertaining, unforgettable book of dubious matches doomed from the start".

Pandora by Anne Rice
"Anne Rice, creator of the Vampire Lestat, the Mayfair witches and the amazing worlds they inhabit, now gives us the first in a new series of novels linked together by the fledgling vampire David Talbot, who has set out to become a chronicler of his fellow Undead. The novel opens in present-day Paris in a crowded cafe, where David meets Pandora. She is two thousand years old, a Child of the Millennia, the first vampire ever made by the great Marius. David persuades her to tell the story of her life.

Pandora begins, reluctantly at first and then with increasing passion, to recount her mesmerizing tale, which takes us through the ages, from Imperial Rome to eighteenth-century France to twentieth-century Paris and New Orleans. She carries us back to her mortal girlhood in the world of Caesar Augustus, a world chronicled by Ovid and Petronius. This is where Pandora meets and falls in love with the handsome, charismatic, lighthearted, still-mortal Marius. This is the Rome she is forced to flee in fear of assassination by conspirators plotting to take over the city. And we follow her to the exotic port of Antioch, where she is destined to be reunited with Marius, now immortal and haunted by his vampire nature, who will bestow on her the Dark Gift as they set out on the fraught and fantastic adventure of their two turbulent centuries together".
~Lizzie~

Book Review: I, MONA LISA by Jeanne Kalogridis

Lisa di Antonio Gherardini was born into a life of secrets layered upon even more secrets. At this time Florence Italy was ruled by the de’ Medici. Lorenzo the magnificent co ruled with his brother Giuliano during the golden age of the Renaissance. Before Lisa was born Giuliano de’ Medici was tragically murdered in the dumo. His tragic end sent Florence into instant turmoil. Giuliano’s murder would scar each and every person who loved him for the rest of his or her lives.  Stricken with the grief of his brother’s death Lorenzo hunted down his brother’s murders with a cruel vengeance. All of them except one was found and destroyed. “The pennant” was the man that gave the first lethal blow to Giuliano and only Lorenzo’s faithful artist Leonardo da Vinci saw the face of the man. Leonardo never forgot a face and had struck a deal with Lorenzo that should he find the elusive pennant he was to be left to live because Leonardo did not believe in capital punishment. The pennant was never found and yet even with Giuliano gone his death would continue to haunt all of Florence.

Lisa’s father was very strict and her mother was sick; her home life was anything but pleasant. On the verge of womanhood her mother told her of Giuliano’s murder and had taken her to the dumo where her mothers only link to the past still existed. All questions about her mothers ties to him were left unanswered because her mother was brutally murdered by the evil propaganda preacher Savonarola. Her father had been taken in by this fanatical preacher and truly believed his radical sermons. He had dragged her sick mother to one of these sermons to meet Savonarola and she had fallen into a fit during the service. God’s work held all accountability for murdering her mother. Lisa would never be able to forgive Savonarola or her father for not helping her mother and for pushing her into an early grave.  Lisa in that instant saw another side of her father she had never seen before.

Since Lisa’s father was a rich wool merchant his family had been employed by the de’ Medici for generations. It was her mothers final wish that Lorenzo be the only man to play matchmaker for Lisa and her future husband. She met Lorenzo in her finest gown and Lisa made introductions with some of Florence’s finest artists, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. After meeting all of these new fascinating people Lisa had a firm new conviction that she was ready for a new life far away from her fanatical father.

Lorenzo’s son named after his beloved uncle, Giuliano met Lisa at the end of her first visit to the de’ Medici household.  It was love at first sight and he wanted to ask for permission to have her hand but his father’s health was in rapid decline while the fanatical preacher Savonarola was quickly on the rise. All of Florence flocked to this mad man that was apparently an anti de’ Medici fraction. He was succeeding in turning Florence against the de’ Medici while Lorenzo lay dying.  Lorenzo’s eldest son Piero was going to struggle in taking over his father’s rule of Florence. Taking a dramatic hold on life Lisa and Giuliano married with out her fathers consent and barely two days a married woman all of Florence turned against anything de’ Medici. Piero was ousted and fled for his life and Giuliano had tragically died trying to find Lisa. With him gone there was no reason to live but live, as she must Lisa must find justice and the truth because it was all she had left.

4/5 Excellent story lines, I really enjoyed this one because it was a real mystery surrounding Mona Lisa’s mother all the way to the very end. I loved this one but I defiantly would not recommend this one to my readers that need historical accuracy because their were a lot of liberties taken here by the author.

R-Rating for violence

FTC this novel is from my personal collection.

Amazon ~ I, MONA LISA by Jeanne Kalogridis
~Lizzie~

Book Review: URBAN WATERCOLOR SKETCHING by Felix Scheinberger

What an awesome little book on my favorite two subjects sketching and watercolors. I found many useful tips in this book but I really enjoyed the history of paint. It was incredible to read about where all of the beautiful colors came from and where they come from now. I was really surprised that to make purple in ancient times it was made from “the secretions of a small sea snail” and to make “3.5 ounces of dye 100,000 snails sacrificed their lives”. This purple was also the same dye the Romans used to dye their togas. Even more interesting was the color green. Green used to be made with toxic “metal oxide such as copper oxide dissolved in arsenic”, which meant that if a artist happened to lick or chew his paintbrush it would have cost them their lives. Shocking I know but I guess that is why green is always associated with poison. My favorite little fact in this whole book was that Napoleon Bonaparte’s choice of wallpaper killed him in the end because it was green; all of the wallpaper was “treated with a dye that contained arsenic”. The history of paint really surprised me I had no clue that there was so much history there and that in modern times we really take for granted the beautiful selections of paints that we have available to us today.

5/5 This is a really neat book. It is really pleasing to the eye with all the unusual ink and watercolor artwork. I liked the art because it was different and it kind of reminded me of one of my own styles that I like to use. I also discovered that this book gave me a confidence boost and I realize now that it is okay to have an unusual style because it is mine and I should just let go more and let the paint do what it does. I would highly recommend this book to watercolor artist because it made me want to be my unusual self because being different has it advantages when it comes to art.

G-rating for all readers alike

FTC-this novel was sent to me by Blogging for Books for review. I received no compensation for this review.

Amazon ~ Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Storytelling in Color by Felix Scheinberger
For more on this book:
Urban Watercolor Sketching Press Release, More Info, Author Bio~Lizzie~

Mailbox Monday: Anne Rice

Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice
"With Pandora, Anne Rice began a magnificent new series of vampire novels. Now, in the second of her New Tales of the Vampires, she tells the mesmerizing story of Vittorio, a vampire in the Italian Age of Gold.
Educated in the Florence of Cosimo de' Medici, trained in knighthood at his father's mountaintop castle, Vittorio inhabits a world of courtly splendor and country pleasures - a world suddenly threatened when his entire family is confronted by an unholy power.

In the midst of this upheaval, Vittorio is seduced by the vampire Ursula, the most beautiful of his supernatural enemies. As he sets out in pursuit of vengeance, entering the nightmarish Court of the Ruby Grail, increasingly more enchanted (and confused) by his love for the mysterious Ursula, he finds himself facing demonic adversaries, war and political intrigue.

Against a backdrop of the wonders - both sacred and profane - and the beauty and ferocity of Renaissance Italy, Anne Rice creates a passionate and tragic legend of doomed young love and lost innocence'.~Lizzie~

Book Review: A TRIPLE KNOT by Emma Campion

Joan of Kent was born in a tumultuous time in medieval England. The regent queen Isabella as a wrongfully accused traitor to the crown executed her father. Upon her fathers death Joan became a ward of her uncle King Edward III. Growing up with her royal cousins it was clear that even at a tender age her cousin the heir to the throne prince Edward was madly in love with Joan. Edward wanted Joan to be his queen but his parents had other ideas for his future. Headstrong as Edward and Joan both were Edward could not be swayed from his devotion to Joan. This made things complicated for the king and queen and they decided the best plan of action was to make Joan unavailable for Edward by marrying her off but Joan had her own plans for the future.

Joan fell head over heels in love with Thomas Holland the moment they met. He was a young man clearly below her station. He was one of the king’s respectable knights and he lived his live by the value of his honor. Her uncle King Edward had proposed a marriage for Joan and to thwart his plans she took her life into her own hands and married Thomas in secret with the help of their friends. Her Family would hear nothing of her secret marriage to Thomas and forced her into a new marriage to a man she would never love. Her heart would always belong to Thomas and now they were not only separated but also fighting for validation of their clandestine marriage. For over a decade Joan Fought off her forced husband and she never gave up hope that someday Thomas would be successful in petitioning the papal courts to rule their marriage valid. Thomas' battle was a hard fight that seemed to never end. To add more urgency to their battle Joan's current living situation had taken a violent turn for the worse. Her forced husband was extremely bitter that Joan could never love him. All throughout her husbands bitterness, the young Prince Edward had become the great hero of Crecy and Poitiers. He had never wavered in his love for Joan, which now meant Joan had three men fighting over her yet she only wanted one.

It took ten long agonizing years to get a papal ruling, the Pope had ruled in Thomas' favor and Joan's second marriage was declared void instantly. Joan married Thomas again and immediately they secreted off to his country manor to start their new lives together far far away from the intrigues of court. Blissfully happy they had four children in no time and Thomas continued his service to the king even though his health was rapidly deteriorating. With Thomas' health on the decline Joan prepared for the worst, she was loosing her Thomas. When the worst time of her life had set darkness upon her none other than Prince Edward stepped out of the shadows right back into her life. He helped Joan pick up the pieces that had become her. Edward always had a darker side to him and through out the years Joan noticed that mixed with his passion he had been capable of anything if it meant that he could have her all to himself. Losing the love of her life Joan found the courage to live and maybe even love again.

5/5 LOVED this novel and what a spin on Joan of Kent. I never anticipated where the story was going yet after I read the author's notes on how she came to her conclusion I decided it does make sense. I would highly recommend this novel to medieval historical fiction lovers because Joan of Kent Is one of my favorite medieval ladies to read about because they could not have even invented a better story than the real one Joan Lived.

R-Rating for violence
FTC- this novel was sent to me by the publisher for review. I received no compensation for this review.
For more on Emma: check out her site www.EmmaCampion.com, Facebook as https://www.facebook.com/CandaceRobb and Twitter https://twitter.com/CandaceMRobb .
Amazon: A Triple Knot by Emma Campion
~Lizzie~

Upcoming Release: The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory

The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory Releasing~ 9.9.2014

"This is the story of deposed royal Margaret Pole, and her unique view of King Henry VIII’s stratospheric rise to power in Tudor England. Margaret Pole spends her young life struggling to free her brother, arrested as a child, from the Tower of London. The Tower – symbol of the Tudor usurpation of her family’s throne – haunts Margaret’s dreams until the day that her brother is executed on the orders of Henry VII. Regarded as yet another threat to the volatile King Henry VII’s claim to the throne, Margaret is buried in marriage to a steady and kind Tudor supporter—Sir Richard Pole, governor of Wales. But Margaret’s quiet, hidden life is changed forever by the arrival of Arthur, the young Prince of Wales, and his beautiful bride, Katherine of Aragon, as Margaret soon becomes a trusted advisor and friend to the honeymooning couple. Margaret’s destiny, as an heiress to the Plantagenets, is not for a life in the shadows. Tragedy throws her into poverty and rebellion against the new royal family, luck restores her to her place at court where she becomes the chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine and watches the dominance of the Spanish queen over her husband, and her fall. As the young king becomes increasingly paranoid of rivals he turns his fearful attention to Margaret and her royal family. Amid the rapid deterioration of the Tudor court, Margaret must choose whether her allegiance is to the increasingly tyrannical king, Henry VIII, or to her beloved queen and princess. Caught between the old world and the new, Margaret has to find her own way and hide her knowledge of an old curse on all the Tudors, which is slowly coming true . . ."

BEHIND THE BOOK RELEASED IN 2014 
"This is a novel which changed its nature, content and significance from when I started research until publication. Right up until the last stage of copy editing I was revising and adding material and characters to this dark story. I started it, thinking that it would be a relatively simple telling of the tragic story of Margaret Pole - daughter of George, Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville. George was the brother of Edward IV, probably drowned in a vat of Malmsey wine for treason against Edward and Queen Elizabeth. As the book progressed I discovered that Margaret was a central figure in the Tudor court, and probably actively involved in the endless conspiracies against the Henry VIII and his advisors. This hidden rebellion reached its peak in the uprising of the North called the Pilgrimage of Grace. The pilgrims won their aims of defending the Roman Catholic traditions and the return of the traditional advisors, but Henry reneged on his promises and sent his troops for a terrible persecution to men who held a royal pardon. Margaret, and her entire family, came under suspicion too and this novel moved far from the template of a persecuted heroine and became the story of a merciless murder of a family. Margaret's betrayer, and her defenders all come under the gaze of a king who was increasingly frightened and, I believe delusional. It's been a chilling and powerful book to write and the image of Henry VIII, composer of 'Greensleeves' beloved of primary school history, will never be the same again for me. He was a serial killer and this book traces his steps towards psychosis. THE BOOK OPENS IN 1499 England is under a Tudor king, Henry VII has two sons with Elizabeth of York which should have secured his line, yet his court is still filled with fear and suspicion. Plantagenet is a dangerous name to carry and the heiress Margaret Pole is swiftly married off to a staunch Tudor supporter, but her brother Edward's claim cannot be ignored. Henry executes him on Tower Hill, leaving Margaret to face a lifetime of uncertainly". Source: Philippa Gregory

For more on Philippa Gregory's book check out her really cool site that puts all the book in order by time periods 
Amazon ~ The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory
~Lizzie~

Mailbox Monday" Carolly Erickson, Posie Graeme-Evans, and more!

The Uncrowned Queen by Posie Graeme-Evans
"The thrilling climax to the trilogy that began with The Innocent and The Exiled brings Posie Graeme-Evans's bittersweet story of two lovers divided by the throne of England to its dramatic conclusion.
As England tears itself apart in the War of the Roses, Anne de Bohun lives far from the intrigues of cities and courts. Once King Edward IV's mistress, Anne has found safety with their son in Brugge. But now Edward himself is a hunted fugitive, and Anne's real father, King Henry VI, rules again from Westminster. Summoned by an enigmatic message from her lover, Anne is drawn once more to the passion, the excitement, and the deadly danger that Edward brings into her life. But now, the girl who was once a penniless servant has a child to protect and an inheritance to defend. Can she let her love for Edward threaten everything she has? Or will she need his help to protect her from the powerful enemy who means to destroy her?

Boasting an extraordinary heroine and intense, intersecting plots, The Uncrowned Queen is a dazzling and satisfying finale to Anne de Bohun's incredible story".

Rival to the Queen by Carolly Erickson
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Wife of Henry VIII comes a novel about the bitter rivalry between Queen Elizabeth I and her fascinating cousin, Lettice Knollys, for the love of one extraordinary man.

Powerful, dramatic and full of the rich history that has made Carolly Erickson’s novels perennial bestsellers, this is the story of the only woman to ever stand up to the Virgin Queen— her own cousin, Lettie Knollys. Far more attractive than the queen, Lettie soon won the attention of the handsome and ambitious Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, a man so enamored of the queen and determined to share her throne that it was rumored he had murdered his own wife in order to become her royal consort. The enigmatic Elizabeth allowed Dudley into her heart, and relied on his devoted service, but shied away from the personal and political risks of marriage.

When Elizabeth discovered that he had married her cousin Lettie in secret, Lettie would pay a terrible price, fighting to keep her husband’s love and ultimately losing her beloved son, the Earl of Essex, to the queen’s headsman.

This is the unforgettable story of two women related by blood, yet destined to clash over one of Tudor England’s most charismatic men".

A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander
"Secrets prove deadly in this new novel from Tasha Alexander featuring Lady Emily Hargreaves. Some very prominent people in London are waking up to find their doorsteps smeared with red paint, the precursor to the revelation of a dark secret – and worse – by someone who enjoys destroying lives
Newly returned to her home in Mayfair, Lady Emily Hargreaves is looking forward to enjoying the delights of the season. The delights, that is, as defined by her own eccentricities—reading The Aeneid, waltzing with her dashing husband, and joining the Women’s Liberal Federation in the early stages of its campaign to win the vote for women. But an audacious vandal disturbs the peace in the capital city, splashing red paint on the neat edifices of the homes of London’s elite. This mark, impossible to hide, presages the revelation of scandalous secrets, driving the hapless victims into disgrace, despair and even death. Soon, all of London high society is living in fear of learning who will be the next target, and Lady Emily and her husband, Colin, favorite agent of the crown, must uncover the identity and reveal the motives of the twisted mind behind it all before another innocent life is lost".

The Atlas of Pern by Karen Wynn Fonstad
"Rear cover notes: "Pern, where firebreathing dragons and their human riders join to fight the threads that threaten to destroy all life! Here's the perfect companion and guide for Anne McCaffrey's beloved stories of the Dragonriders of Pern. Karen Wynn Fonstad brings out every detail of the world and history of Pern in fascinating graphics and lucent text. Tour the land whose very existence depends on the dragons and their riders! Detailed two-color maps showing every place and feature yet discovered on Pern; Follow F'lar's research as he learns how to predict Threadfall! Charts tracking the fall of Thread, the deadly spores that periodically ravage Pern; See the hatchling grounds where Jaxom impressed the white dragon Ruth! Schematics of the great Weyrs - the homes of the telepathic dragons and their riders; Visit Ruatha Hold where F'lar found Lessa, his future weyrwoman! Plans of the Holds, where most of the people of Pern live and work; And lots more covering all the books in the great series! The Atlas of Pern provides a spellbinding tour of the world where the harassed settlers from Earth fight to ovecome seemingly impossible odds and to carve out a new life for themselves and the future."

Atlantis Illustrated by H.R. Stahel
"Stahel illustrates Atlantis exactly in the proportions that Plato described it in his dialogues, Timaeus and Critias".
~Lizzie~

Up Coming Release "PRINCE LESTAT" by Anne Rice

I know what your thinking what does "The Vampire Chronicles" have to do with historical fiction? For me it has everything to do with historical fiction. My love for historical fiction started with this series by Anne Rice because Anne's vampires have something that "Twilight" and any other vampire series never had... history. The best part of this series is that you live and breath a vampires life from the beginning to present time. Anne has set her characters in my favorite time periods ancient Egypt, Renaissance Italy, Revolutionary France, Revolutionary America, and so many more. After retiring her series "The Vampire Chronicles" Anne Rice has decided to break out with a brand new second part to the series starting with this new release "Prince Lestat". The title itself is very suggestive of what may come to be for the handsome vampire Lestat.

The series includes Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, Tail of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, The Vampire Armand, Merrick, Blood and Gold, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle and if you want to go in another branch of the vampire's you can pick up The New Vampire Tales duo: Pandora and Vittorio the Vampire. Farther yet you can also check out The Vampire Companion by Katherine Ramsland.

 I would highly recommend this series to history lovers because this whole series focuses on the history of the era and if you can handle a bit of vampire gore then this is for you but keep in mind there are NO sparkly vampires here. The only thing that sparkles in Lestat is his personality. I can  not wait to read this novel but I am very disappointed to hear that Barnes and Noble had autographed pre-ordered copies up for sale for less than a few hours before they were all gone. Sadly I could not get a copy but I will wait in high anticipation for the 11th book in the series. I can not wait to see where Anne takes Lestat this time.

Releasing 10.28.14
"A stunning departure, a surprising and compelling return…From Anne Rice, perennial best seller, single-handed reinventor of the vampire cosmology-a new, exhilarating novel, a deepening of her vampire mythology, and a chillingly hypnotic mystery-thriller.
"What can we do but reach for the embrace that must now
contain both heaven and hell: our doom again and again and
again…" -from The Vampire Lestat

Rice once again summons up the irresistible spirit-world of the oldest and most powerful forces of the night, invisible beings unleashed on an unsuspecting world able to take blood from humans, in a long-awaited return to the extraordinary world of the Vampire Chronicles and the uniquely seductive Queen of the Damned("mesmerizing" -SF Chronicle), a long-awaited novel that picks up where The Vampire Lestat ("brilliant…its undead characters are utterly alive" -New York Times) left off more than a quarter of a century ago to create an extraordinary new world of spirits and forces-the characters, legend, and lore of all the Vampire Chronicles.

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 , The Vampire Chronicles
~Lizzie~