Book Review: THE KING'S CONCUBINE by Anne O'Brien

Dumped off at the doorstep of a convent as an infant, Alice Perrers belonged to no one. As she grew it became obvious that a nun’s life was not meant for Alice. Her first taste of another life came when the Fair Maid Joan of Kent came for an extended visit to the nunnery. Hand picked for her ugliness because Joan could not stand anyone competing with her beauty, Alice waited on the royal guests every request. Alice was quick to discover not only was Joan a vain woman she was also cruel and much later in life she would also know the depth of her true malicious character. When Joan departed the nunnery Alice begged to be taken with her. It was her only chance at escaping taking her holy vows to become a nun. Cruelly refused Alice took Joan’s advice and pushed herself to excel at her studies until one day she was unexpectedly hauled off to the city to become a merchant’s servant.

The life of a servant at least was an escape from the convent and her vows. Fate had always been overly cruel to her but her new master decided to elevate to the status of wife. A sham of a marriage gave Alice her new name Perrer’s and the first gift she ever received, a bride’s gift in the form of a big fat purse of silver. Never owning anything of her own in her whole life Alice took a chance and turned her new wealth into an investment in property. She had a bit of help from one of her husband’s advisors that was a savvy businessman. Her good fortune had turned to ill fortune when her husband suddenly became ill and died. When he died she lost everything except her secret investment. With no other choice Alice returned to the convent.

Miserable to the core Alice waited for her opportunity to escape. Graced by an unexpected royal visit to the convent. Alice expected another woman like the cruel Joan of Kent instead it was the ailing queen Philippa.  Alice was once again chosen to serve the queen. She was kind where no one else had ever been and when she left Alice again begged to be taken with her but she was refused. Alice fell into a deep despair until a man suddenly appeared to fetch her and take her to the beloved Queen.

The Queen in her kindness had elevated Alice to a new position as companion to the queen. Alice from the beginning had questioned her good fortune but as time passed on it was apparent that the Queen’s motives in bringing her to court were not entirely as innocent as it seemed. King Edward III was regal and handsome in his mid years he was adored by everyone. He was the war hero that had many heirs and was especially loved by his wife. Alice though had caught the king’s eye and since his ailing wife was further more unable to do her bedroom duties the king sought a lover with his wife’s blessing. Alice was Philippa’s pick for position of the king’s liaison. It was a dangerous path to take. Full well knowing the dangers she could face. Alice realized from that moment on her only ambition was to live a better life and if that happened to be by being the king’s whore than so be it.

4/5 Enjoyed this one but I felt in some areas it dragged. This was a tumultuous novel on Alice Perrer’s life that was full of court intrigue and I have to admit O’Brien’s Joan of Kent sure was an evil witch to Alice through out the years. I enjoyed seeing Joan through another perspective that was not a lovesick man. I would recommend this novel to historical fiction lovers alike because nothing beats rags to riches historical fiction novel.

FTC ~ this novel is part of my personal collection

R ~ Rating for sexual references and language

Amazon ~ THE KING'S CONCUBINE by Anne O'Brien

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~

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~

Sundays Art: Fairest Maid in the land Joan of Kent

Hello everyone! I just had to share my new piece I just finished. I was inspired by Karen Harper's "The First Princess of Wales". This is my Joan of Kent on her wedding day. I kept to how Karen described her in the book because it was best fitting.

My media on this was first regular pencil, and then color pencil. I finished her off with some

I am dying to ask if anyone out there has ever met anyone with striking violet eyes?

Book Review: THE FIRST PRINCESS OF WHALES by Karen Harper

Joan of Kent, her paternal grandparents were Edward "longshanks" and his second queen consort Marguerite. Her father Edmund was half brother to Edward II and brother in law to Isabella of France. Isabella was the beautiful French princess in the famous movie "Braveheart". Isabella stirred up all kinds of trouble in the kingdom. Siding with her lover Rodger Mortimer against her husband King Edward II. The mess Isabella had created would directly haunt Joan of Kent for the rest of her life.

In the beginning of Joan's early life she was raised at her family's estate of Lidell. The execution of her father mysteriously and swiftly haunted her family, her mother became a raving recluse and could not stand the sight of her own daughter. Who sadly was a constant reminder of the tragic loss of Joan's father Edmund of Woodstock. She grew up in solitude with her nurse Marta because her mother could not be around her, and her siblings were boys they did not stay at home where she was. She was given free rein to do as she pleased and did not have to awnser to anyone. She had a free spirit of a druid or a nymph of the woods. She constantly reminded me of a myth of the wood nymphs where a man would be lured to the woods and come across a beautiful woman who would run at the sight of a man and if caught would turn into a tree. The men being greatly disappointed would leave the tree and search again for that beautiful face in the woods usually to be lost forever in the forest. She loved to be in nature and it best suited her untamable spirit. Her quite beginning years at Lidell would come to a screeching halt when Queen Philippha sent for her to be raised at court with her cousins. Since her father was uncle to the current king Edward III of Windsor. It was only fitting for her to become the ward of the king and queen.

Upon her arrival at court, Joan being the forcefully independent young woman she was wondered away. In her wandering she by fate stumble upon some noise and went through a private door. Where she happened to see a spectacular site of a glorious man with one of his arms bound practicing his jousting skills. She unknown at the time was mesmerized by him in his full glory. After he took notice of Joan he stopped to ask her what she was doing there, she gave him some tart responses from her lightning quick silver tongue stating she was new to court and the new ward of the king and queen now. They separated not knowing each others names or titles, expecting to meet again at court, under more pleasant circumstances. Not knowing she had just me Edward "the black prince" she instantly felt the magnetic attraction between the two of them. Like a pulling at her soul. The wheel of fortune was turned towards them when they met but, could they make it when it was not?

Joan suffered at court even though she had found a kindred spirit in her sassy cousin the princess Isabella. Those two wild spirits together looked for trouble, and the trouble came from the king and queen. As her relationship with prince Edward deepened, the queen had grown tired of Joan's ways and plotted to keep her away from her son. Joan was secretly married off by the queen and was sent to live far away in France on her new husbands estate. But how doth' the wheel of fortune change bad to good, good to bad, and for Joan it seemed suck in bad.

She also had developed an extreme love and hate relationship between her and the prince. Which was quite amusing to read but at time I just wanted to reach into the book and slap "the fair maid of Kent" for all the brash things she said and did. The mystery's and secrets surrounding her own fathers treason execution would bring Joan to hate the people she loved. Causing fortunes wheel to spin out of control until it finally stopped. Denying her own destiny, she would defy them all even her own heart, until the fortune wheel stopped where it lay.

I gave this one 5/5 muses rating. Defiantly my new favorite. Even if it is defiantly is a chunkster at over 600 pages, which was so long. I loved it and bought it on Amazon.com used for a grand total of $4.81, the cost of shipping was more than the book itself! But it will be mine and it will on on my treasured book shelf where no one is allowed to touch.

"The daughter of a disgraced earl, she matched wits with a prince. It is the fourteenth century, the height of the Medieval Age, and at the court of King Edward III of England, chivalry is loudly praised while treachery runs rampant. When the lovely and high-spirited Joan of Kent is sent to this politically charged court, she is woefully unprepared for the underhanded maneuverings of her peers.

Determined to increase the breadth of his rule, the king will use any means necessary to gain control of France—including manipulating his own son, Edward, Prince of Wales. Joan plots to become involved with the prince to scandalize the royal family, for she has learned they engineered her father’s downfall and death. But what begins as a calculated strategy soon—to Joan’s surprise—grows into love. When Joan learns that Edward returns her feelings, she is soon fighting her own, for how can she love the man that ruined her family? And, if she does, what will be the cost?

Filled with scandal, court intrigue, and prominent figures of the Medieval Age, The First Princess of Wales has at its center a wonderful love story, which is all the more remarkable because it is true. Karen Harper’s compelling, fast-paced novel tells the riveting tale of an innocent girl who marries a prince and gives birth to a king".