Showing posts with label Girl on the Golden Coin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Girl on the Golden Coin. Show all posts

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Top Five Reads of 2015

Hello out there historical fiction junkies! I did my post a little bit different this year and kept up with what I did last year for my top reads of the year. I made a video for you all and I hope that you all enjoy watching me in action. This year I picked out 5 of my favorites and not all of them are historical fiction there is a pretty good mix up of genre's. For more information on the novels I picked for my favorite 2015 reads be sure and scroll below for full descriptions and links to amazon.


In order of appearance:
An Heiress at Heart by Jennifer Delamere
"A youthful indiscretion has cost Lizzie Poole more than just her honor. After five years living in exile, she's finally returning home, but she's still living a secret life. Her best friend Ria's dying wish was for Lizzie to assume her identity, return to London, and make amends that Ria herself would never live to make. Bearing a striking resemblance to her friend, and harboring more secrets than ever before, Lizzie embarks on a journey that tempts her reckless heart once again . . .
A committed clergyman, Geoffrey Somerville's world is upended when he suddenly inherits the title of Lord Somerville. Now he's invited to every ball and sought after by the matchmaking mothers of London society. Yet the only woman to capture his heart is the one he cannot have: his brother's young widow, Ria. Duty demands he deny his feelings, but his heart longs for the mysterious beauty. With both their futures at stake, will Lizzie be able to keep up her façade? Or will she find the strength to share her secret and put her faith in true love"?


The Girl on the Golden Coin by Marci Jefferson
"Impoverished and exiled to the French countryside after the overthrow of the English Crown, Frances Stuart survives merely by her blood-relation to the Stuart Royals. But in 1660, the Restoration of the Stuart Monarchy in England returns her family to favor. Frances discards threadbare gowns and moves to gilded Fontainebleau Palace, where she soon catches the Sun King's eye. But Frances is no ordinary court beauty-she has Stuart secrets to keep and her family to protect. King Louis XIV turns vengeful when she rejects his offer to become his Official Mistress. He banishes her to England with orders to seduce King Charles II and secure an alliance.

Armed in pearls and silks, Frances maneuvers the political turbulence of Whitehall Palace, but still can't afford to stir a scandal. Her tactic to inspire King Charles to greatness captivates him. He believes her love can make him a better man, and even chooses Frances to pose as Britannia for England's coins. Frances survives the Great Fire, the Great Plague, and the debauchery of the Restoration Court, yet loses her heart to the very king she must control. The discovery of a dangerous plot will force her to choose between love for herself and war for her beloved country.
Debut author Marci Jefferson's Girl on the Golden Coin brings to life a captivating woman whose beauty, compassion, and intellect impacted a king and a nation".

Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran
"From the internationally bestselling author of Nefertiti and Cleopatra’s Daughter comes the breathtaking story of Queen Lakshmi—India’s Joan of Arc—who against all odds defied the mighty British invasion to defend her beloved kingdom.
When the British Empire sets its sights on India in the mid-nineteenth century, it expects a quick and easy conquest. India is fractured and divided into kingdoms, each independent and wary of one another, seemingly no match for the might of the English. But when they arrive in the Kingdom of Jhansi, the British army is met with a surprising challenge.

Instead of surrendering, Queen Lakshmi raises two armies—one male and one female—and rides into battle, determined to protect her country and her people. Although her soldiers may not appear at first to be formidable against superior British weaponry and training, Lakshmi refuses to back down from the empire determined to take away the land she loves.

Told from the unexpected perspective of Sita—Queen Lakshmi’s most favored companion and most trusted soldier in the all-female army—Rebel Queen shines a light on a time and place rarely explored in historical fiction. In the tradition of her bestselling novel, Nefertiti, and through her strong, independent heroines fighting to make their way in a male dominated world, Michelle Moran brings nineteenth-century India to rich, vibrant life".
The Sharp Hook of Love by Sherry Jones
"Among the young women of twelfth-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 Notre-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".
Prince Lestat by Anne Rice
"Old vampires, roused from deep slumber in the earth, are doing the bidding of a Voice commanding that they indiscriminately burn their kin in cities across the globe, from Paris to Mumbai, Hong Kong to San Francisco. Left with little time to spare, a host of familiar characters including Louis de Pointe du Lac, Armand, and even the vampire Lestat, must embark on a journey to discover who—or what—is driving this mysterious being".

Saturday, August 08, 2015

Book Review: GIRL ON THE GOLDEN COIN by Marci Jefferson

Frances Stuart lived the poor life of an exiled distant royal. Her life changed instantly when her cousin Charles II reclaimed his rightful throne and brought about the Restoration period in England. Whisked away by her cousin Madame Henrietta, Frances was brought into the French court by its leading lady. Madame was freshly married to the ruling Sun king’s secretly but not secretly gay brother Philippe.  Henrietta had her own secrets that Frances was privy to. She was in love with her married brother in law the king of France. A vicious love triangle arose and Frances found herself caught up in it when Louis turns his affections towards Frances. The sun king was no fool and Frances was a stunningly beautiful young woman but when she refuses to become his mistress Louis rains his full ire down on her and banishes her to England under his terms. Louis banished her to prove her loyalty to him by being his spy in England. She was commanded to seduce the notorious womanizer King Charles II. She had no choice, she had to go and do Louis’ bidding because she had lost her cousins love and there was nothing left for her in France.  It was time to move forward and onto England.

Though Frances was a Stuart she never knew England as home. She had always wanted to belong somewhere and growing up the poor exiled royal she was it had a tremendous impact on her childhood. Frances would need allies in the English court and she had found one in the Duke of Buckingham. Beautiful in every possible way it was inevitable that Charles would be enticed with her show of beauty and naivety. Charles took notice immediately and appointed her new luxurious rooms at Whitehall and a position in his new Queen’s household. He made sure she had everything she could ever want. With Charles’ favor came a whole new entourage of admires. Everyone that met Frances fell in love with her innocent ways except the king’s long time official mistress Lady Castlemain. She had already bore Charles a whole slew of recognized children. Lady Castlemains grip on the king was unnerving to Frances. To be successful in keeping her oath to Louis she had to devise a plan to run with her innocence charade and avoid sleeping with Charles at all costs because now she had grown close to his queen and had also promised her too she would not become his mistress. Frances and the queen had become fast friends and she promised that she would lead Charles to her bed after receiving stimulation from Francis’ bed. The queen needed to produce an heir to secure her position and Frances promised to help her.

Over time at court Frances went with the flow of the moment. At times she argued with Lady Castlemain, other times with the Duke of Buckingham. Her nights were filled with the company of her admirers but only Charles mattered to her. Things between them had progressed over time and she was his favorite darling of the court. Secretly she had always been working with Louis but Charles had that famous Stuart charm that wedged its way into her true heart. She developed deep feelings for him. But loving a king that already had slew of mistress’ to fight off and an innocent wife was too much for Frances. A moment of weakness and she found herself at a turning point in her life. Sacrificing the love of the merry monarch could have dire consequences. She could stay at court and take lady Castlemains place as official royal mistress. She could be one of many in a troupe of women that loved the merry monarch Charles II but would it be enough for Frances?

5/5 Loved it!!!! I read this one super fast because it engrossed me from the very beginning. An amazing break out novel from Marci Golden. It just makes me think wow if this is her first novel what will she write next? As you all know I love the Stuarts but never read France’s story because I wanted to save it for a really good book and The Girl on the Golden Coin was an amazing great novel. The style was like many of the heavy hitters of historical fiction and I expect and hope for many more great novels from Marci because she is defiantly now a new favorite.

R ~ Rating for sexual reference.

FTC ~ I won this book in an online giveaway.
Amazon ~ GIRL ON THE GOLDEN COIN by Marci Jefferson

Monday, May 11, 2015

Mailbox Monday: Margaret Campbell Barnes, Hermione Eyre, Marci Jefferson and Stieg Larsson

The Passionate Brood by Margaret Campbell Barnes
"In this compelling novel of love, loyalty, and lost chances, Margaret Campbell Barnes gives readers a new perspective on Richard the Lionheart's triumphs and tragedies. Drawing on folklore, Barnes explores what might have happened if King Richard's foster brother were none other than Robin Hood, a legendary figure more vibrant than most in authentic history. Thick as thieves as Richard builds a kingdom and marshals a crusade, the two clash when Robin Hood so provokes the king's white hot temper that Richard banishes him. The Passionate Brood is a tale of a man driven to win back the Holy Land, beset by the guilt of casting out his childhood friend, and shouldering the burden of being the lionhearted leader of the Plantagenets".

Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre
"At Whitehall Palace in 1632, the ladies at the court of Charles I are beginning to look suspiciously alike. Plump cheeks, dilated pupils, and a heightened sense of pleasure are the first signs that they have been drinking a potent new beauty tonic, Viper Wine, distilled and discreetly dispensed by the physician Lancelot Choice.
Famed beauty Venetia Stanley is so extravagantly dazzling she has inspired Ben Jonson to poetry and Van Dyck to painting, provoking adoration and emulation from the masses. But now she is married and her “mid-climacteric” approaches, all that adoration has curdled to scrutiny, and she fears her powers are waning. Her devoted husband, Sir Kenelm Digby – alchemist, explorer, philosopher, courtier, and time-traveller – believes he has the means to cure wounds from a distance, but he so loves his wife that he will not make her a beauty tonic, convinced she has no need of it.

From the whispering court at Whitehall, to the charlatan physicians of Eastcheap, here is a marriage in crisis, and a country on the brink of civil war. The novel takes us backstage at a glittering Inigo Jones court masque, inside a dour Puritan community, and into the Countess of Arundel's snail closet. We see a lost Rubens altarpiece and peer into Venetia’s black-wet obsidian scrying mirror. Based on real events, Viper Wine is 1632 rendered in Pop Art prose; a place to find alchemy, David Bowie, recipes for seventeenth-century beauty potions, a Borgesian unfinished library and a submarine that sails beneath the Thames.

The Girl on the Golden Coin: A novel of France Stuart by Marci Jefferson
"In 1660, the Restoration of Stuart Monarchy in England returns Frances Stuart and her family to favor. Frances discards threadbare gowns and goes to gilded Fontainebleau Palace, where she soon catches the Sun King's eye. But Frances is no ordinary court beauty-she has Stuart secrets to keep and her family to protect. King Louis XIV turns vengeful when she rejects his offer to become his Official Mistress. He sends her to England with orders to seduce King Charles II and help him form an alliance with England. The Queen Mother likewise orders Frances to become her son's mistress, in the interest of luring him away from the Protestant mistress he currently keeps. Armed in pearls and silks, Frances maneuvers the political turbulence of Whitehall Palace, but still can't afford to stir a scandal, determined to keep her family from shame. Her tactic to inspire King Charles to greatness captivates him, and the two embark on a tenuous relationship. Frances survives the Great Fire, the Great Plague, and the debauchery of the Restoration Court, yet loses her heart to the very king she must control. A startling discovery will leave her with no other choice but to break his heart, while the fate of England hangs in the balance. In the tradition of Philippa Gregory, Marci Jefferson brings to life a captivating woman whose beauty, compassion, and intellect impacted a king and a nation".

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
"Murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue combine into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.
Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption".

S T A Y C O N N E C T E D W I T H M E :
S U B S C R I B E ~ T W I T T E R  ~ F A C E B O O K ~ I N S T A G R A M ~ G O O G L E +
~L I Z Z I E~