HOT Historical Fiction September

9.1.2011 Lady of the English, Elizabeth Chadwick
Two very different women are linked by destiny and the struggle for the English crown. Matilda, daughter of Henry I, is determined to win back her crown from Stephen, the usurper king. Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen and Matilda's stepmother, is now married to William D'Albini, a warrior of the opposition. Both women are strong and prepared to stand firm for what they know is right. But in a world where a man's word is law, how can Adeliza obey her husband while supporting Matilda, the rightful queen? And for Matilda pride comes before a fall ...What price for a crown? What does it cost to be 'Lady of the English'?

9.1.2011 The Queen's Gamble, Barbara Kyle
Young Queen Elizabeth I's path to the throne has been a perilous one, and already she faces a dangerous crisis. French troops have landed in Scotland to quell a rebel Protestant army, and Elizabeth fears once they are entrenched on the border, they will invade England.
Isabel Thornleigh has returned to London from the New World with her Spanish husband, Carlos Valverde, and their young son. Ever the queen's loyal servant, Isabel is recruited to smuggle money to the Scottish rebels. Yet Elizabeth's trust only goes so far—Isabel's son will be the queen's pampered hostage until she completes her mission. Matters grow worse when Isabel's husband is engaged as military advisor to the French, putting the couple on opposite sides in a deadly cold war.
Set against a lush, vibrant backdrop peopled with unforgettable characters and historical figures, The Queen's Gamble is a story of courage, greed, passion, and the high price of loyalty. . .


9.1.2011 The Unknown Ajax, Georgette Heyer
A Georgette Heyer Regency romance that takes a close look at the smuggling trade of the period, full of humor, and with a scene of family bonding and theatrics that readers will remember forever.
When a Yorkshire cousin becomes heir to the noble Darracott name and fortune, he pretends to be the country bumpkin they're all expecting. Then a family crisis thrusts Hugo into the role of an unlikely savior, and the family farce begins to unravel. But not before Hugo establishes himself as the undisputed head of the family, and his beautiful cousin Anthea discovers she's met her match.

9.2.2011 Road from the West: Book I of the Chronicles of Tancred, Rosanne E. Lortz

You've heard of the Knights Templar, you've heard of Richard the Lionheart--now learn the story that started it all with the adventures of the First Crusade.

Haunted by guilt from the past and nightmares of the future, a young Norman named Tancred takes the cross and vows to be the first to free Jerusalem from the infidels. As he journeys to the Holy Land, he braves vast deserts, mortal famine, and the ever-present ambushes of the enemy Turks--but the greatest danger of all is deciding which of the Crusader lords to trust. A mysterious seer prophesies that Tancred will find great love and great sorrow on his journey, but the second seems intent on claiming him before he can find the first. Intrigues and passions grow as every battle brings the Crusaders one step closer to Jerusalem. Not all are destined to survive the perilous road from the West.

9.6.2011 The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, the Queen, and the King's Mother, Philippa Gregory, Non-Fiction Release
PHILIPPA GREGORY and her fellow historians describe the extraordinary lives of the heroines of her Cousins’ War books: Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford; Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV; and Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII.
In her essay on Jacquetta, Philippa Gregory uses original documents, archaeology, and histories of myth and witchcraft to create the first-ever biography of the young duchess who survived two reigns and two wars to become the first lady at two rival courts. David Baldwin, established authority on the Wars of the Roses, tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the first commoner to marry a king of England for love; and Michael Jones, fellow of the Royal Historical Society, writes of Margaret Beaufort, the almost-unknown matriarch of the House of Tudor.
In the introduction, Gregory writes revealingly about the differences between history and historical fiction. How much of a role does speculation play in writing each? How much fiction and how much fact should there be in a historical novel? How are female historians changing our view of women in history?
The Women of the Cousins’ War is beautifully illustrated with rare portraits and source materials. As well as offering fascinating insights into the inspirations behind Philippa Gregory’s fiction, it will appeal to all with an interest in this period.

9.13.2011 Sunrise of Avalon: A Novel of Trystan & Isolde, Anna Elliott
She is a healer, a storyteller, and a warrior. When Britain is faced with threats both old and new, the strength of her love may be the kingdom’s downfall . . . or salvation.
Their love has overcome endless obstacles. Never ones to shy away from danger, former High Queen Isolde and Trystan, a mercenary with a lonely and troubled past, have already endured a perilous journey to keep the underhanded Lord Marche from the throne of Britain. But now a new traitor lurks amongst the kings on Britain’s High Council—and just when they’ve realized the depth of their love for each other, a new danger calls Trystan from Isolde’s side to test the strength of their secret marriage vow. Only Isolde knows that she is carrying Trystan’s unborn child.
As Britain’s armies prepare for a final battle in which they will either turn back the tide of the invaders or see their kingdom utterly destroyed, Isolde must undertake yet another daring mission—one that will bring her even nearer to a secret that Trystan has kept for seven long years. As the clouds of war gather, Trystan and Isolde must once again fight to protect Britain’s throne. Together, they hold the key that can defeat the Saxon king, Octa of Kent, and Lord Marche. But the cost of Britain’s sovereignty may be their own forbidden love.
Based on the earliest written version of the Arthurian tales, Anna Elliott’s Sunrise of Avalon breathes new life into an age-old legend and brings the story of Trystan and Isolde to an unforgettable end.

9.26.2011 The Traitor's Wife: A Novel, Kathleen Kent

This novel was originally published under the title The Wolves of Andover.

In the harsh wilderness of colonial Massachusetts, Martha Allen works as a servant in her cousin's household, taking charge and locking wills with everyone. Thomas Carrier labors for the family and is known both for his immense strength and size and his mysterious past. The two begin a courtship that suits their independent natures, with Thomas slowly revealing the story of the role he played in the English Civil War. But in the rugged new world they inhabit, danger is ever present, whether it be from the assassins sent from London to kill the executioner of Charles I or the wolves-in many forms-who hunt for blood. At once a love story and a tale of courage, The Traitor's Wife confirms Kathleen Kent's ability to craft powerful stories from the dramatic background of America's earliest days.

9.15.2011 History of Ancient Britain, Neil Oliver
Who were the first Britons, and what sort of world did they occupy? In A HISTORY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN Neil Oliver turns a spotlight on the very beginnings of the story of Britain; on the first people to occupy these islands and their battle for survival. There has been human habitation in Britain, regularly interrupted by Ice Ages, for the best part of a million years. The last retreat of the glaciers 12,000 years ago brought a new and warmer age and with it, one of the greatest tsunamis recorded on Earth which struck the north-east of Britain, devastating the population and flooding the low-lying plains of what is now the North Sea. The resulting island became, in time, home to a diverse range of cultures and peoples who have left behind them some of the most extraordinary and enigmatic monuments in the world. Through what is revealed by the artefacts of the past, Neil Oliver weaves the epic story - half -a-million years of human history up to the departure of the Roman Empire in the Fifth Century AD. It was a period which accounts for more than ninety-nine per cent of humankind's presence on these islands. It is the real story of Britain and of her people.

9.27.2011 The Favored Queen: A Novel of Henry VIII's Third Wife, Carolly Erickson

From The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Wife of Henry VIII comes a powerful and moving novel about Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, who married him only days after the execution of Anne Boleyn and ultimately lost her own life in giving him the son he badly needed to guarantee the Tudor succession
Born into an ambitious noble family, young Jane Seymour is sent to Court as a Maid of Honor to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s aging queen. She is devoted to her mistress and watches with empathy as the calculating Anne Boleyn contrives to supplant her as queen. Anne’s single-minded intriguing threatens all who stand in her way; she does not hesitate to arrange the murder of a woman who knows a secret so dark that, if revealed, would make it impossible for the king to marry Anne. 

Once Anne becomes queen, no one at court is safe, and Jane herself becomes the victim of Anne’s venomous rage when she suspects Jane has become the object of the king’s lust. Henry, fearing that Anne’s inability to give him a son is a sign of divine wrath, asks Jane to become his next queen. Deeply reluctant to embark on such a dangerous course, Jane must choose between her heart and her loyalty to the king.

Acclaimed biographer and bestselling novelist Carolly Erickson weaves another of her irresistible historical entertainments about the queen who finally gave Henry VIII his longed for heir, set against the excitement and danger of the Tudor Court.
~Lizzie~

Today In History: Happy Birthday Elizabeth I

Happy birthday Elizabeth I aka "Gloriana". 478 years later and the people still love you. September 7th 1533 will always be your day.

"There is no marvel in a woman learning to speak, but there would be in teaching her to hold her tongue"
— Elizabeth I
~Lizzy~

Hot Historical Fiction Catch up: August

8.1.2011 April Queen: Eleanor of Aquitaine, Douglas Boyd
"Recreating the turbulent life of one of the most exciting women in European medieval history, this biography reveals a peculiarly "modern" queen Eleanor of Aquitaine was the only person ever to sit on the thrones of both France and England. This account of the adventures of the extraordinary mother of Richard the Lionheart and King John takes us into the heart and mind of the woman who changed the shape of Europe for 300 years by marrying Henry of Anjou, making him England’s Henry II. Eleanor was a European with a continent-wide vision and a woman who rejected the subordinate female role decreed by the Church. Brought up in the comfort- and culture-loving Mediterranean civilization of southern France, she also refused to be a consenting victim of ethnic cleansing. Using French, Old French, Latin, and Occitan sources, this biography lays bare as never before Eleanor’s relationships and vividly brings to life the world she knew".


8.2.2011 In a Treacherous Court, Michelle Diener
An unconventional woman. A deadly enemy. A clash of intrigue, deception, and desire. . . . 1525: Artist Susanna Horenbout is sent from Belgium to be Henry VIII’s personal illuminator inside the royal palace. But her new homeland greets her with an attempt on her life, and the King’s most lethal courtier, John Parker, is charged with keeping her safe. As further attacks are made, Susanna and Parker realize that she unknowingly carries the key to a bloody plot against the throne. For while Richard de la Pole amasses troops in France for a Yorkist invasion, a traitor prepares to trample the kingdom from within.Who is the mastermind? Why are men vying to kill the woman Parker protects with his life? With a motley gang of urchins, Susanna’s wits, and Parker’s fierce instincts, honed on the streets and in palace chambers, the two slash through deadly layers of deceit in a race against time. For in the court of Henry VIII, secrets are the last to die. . . .Brilliantly revealing a little-known historical figure who lived among the Tudors, Michelle Diener makes a smashing historical fiction debut.

8.2.2011 Three Maids for a Crown: A Novel of the Grey Sisters, Ella March Chase
In the second novel from Ella March Chase, we meet sixteen-year-old Jane Grey, a quiet and obedient young lady destined to become the shortest reigning English monarch. Her beautiful middle sister Katherine Grey charms all the right people--until loyalties shift. And finally Lady Mary Grey, a dwarf with a twisted spine whose goal is simply to protect people she loves--but at a terrible cost.

In an age in which begetting sons was all that mattered and queens rose and fell on the sex of their child, these three girls with royal Tudor blood lived under the dangerous whims of parents with a passion for gambling. The stakes they would wager: their daughters' lives against rampant ambition.

8.2.2011 The Wild Rose, Jennifer Donnelly
The vast multi-generational epic that began with The Tea Rose and continued with The Winter Rose now reaches its dramatic conclusion in The Wild Rose.

London, 1914. World War I is looming on the horizon, women are fighting for the right to vote, and global explorers are pushing the limits of endurance at the Poles and in the deserts. Into this volatile time, Jennifer Donnelly places her vivid and memorable characters:

- Willa Alden, a passionate mountain climber who lost her leg while climbing Kilimanjaro with Seamus Finnegan, and who will never forgive him for saving her life.
- Seamus Finnegan, a polar explorer who tries to forget Willa as he marries a beautiful young woman back home in England.
- Max von Brandt, a handsome sophisticate who courts high society women, but who has a secret agenda as a German spy;
- and many others.

8.9.2011 To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, Sandra Byrd
To Die For, is the story of Meg Wyatt, pledged forever as the best friend to Anne Boleyn since their childhoods on neighboring manors in Kent. When Anne’s star begins to ascend, of course she takes her best friend Meg along for the ride. Life in the court of Henry VIII is thrilling at first, but as Anne’s favor rises and falls, so does Meg’s. And though she’s pledged her loyalty to Anne no matter what the test, Meg just might lose her greatest love—and her own life—because of it. 
Meg's childhood flirtation with a boy on a neighboring estate turns to true love early on. When he is called to follow the Lord and be a priest she turns her back on both the man and his God. Slowly, though, both woo her back through the heady times of the English reformation. In the midst of it, Meg finds her place in history, her own calling to the Lord that she must follow, too, with consequences of her own. Each character in the book is tested to figure out what love really means, and what, in this life, is worth dying for.
Though much of Meg’s story is fictionalized, it is drawn from known facts. The Wyatt family and the Boleyn family were neighbors and friends, and perhaps even distant cousins. Meg’s brother, Thomas Wyatt, wooed Anne Boleyn and ultimately came very close to the axe blade for it. Two Wyatt sisters attended Anne at her death, and at her death, she gave one of them her jeweled prayer book—Meg.

8.9.2011 Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: the History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians, Richard Sugg
Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires charts in vivid detail the largely forgotten history of European corpse medicine, when kings, ladies, gentlemen, priests and scientists prescribed, swallowed or wore human blood, flesh, bone, fat, brains and skin against epilepsy, bruising, wounds, sores, plague, cancer, gout and depression.
One thing we are rarely taught at school is this: James I refused corpse medicine; Charles II made his own corpse medicine; and Charles I was made into corpse medicine. Ranging from the execution scaffolds of Germany and Scandinavia, through the courts and laboratories of Italy, France and Britain, to the battlefields of Holland and Ireland, and on to the tribal man-eating of the Americas, Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires argues that the real cannibals were in fact the Europeans. Medicinal cannibalism utilised the formidable weight of European science, publishing, trade networks and educated theory. For many, it was also an emphatically Christian phenomenon. And, whilst corpse medicine has sometimes been presented as a medieval therapy, it was at its height during the social and scientific revolutions of early-modern Britain. It survived well into the eighteenth century, and amongst the poor it lingered stubbornly on into the time of Queen Victoria. This innovative book brings to life a little known and often disturbing part of human history.

8.10.2011 Becoming Marie Antoinette: A Novel, Juliet Grey
This enthralling confection of a novel, the first in a new trilogy, follows the transformation of a coddled Austrian archduchess into the reckless, powerful, beautiful queen Marie Antoinette.

Why must it be me? I wondered. When I am so clearly inadequate to my destiny?

Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother’s political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon.

Before she can journey from sunlit picnics with her sisters in Vienna to the glitter, glamour, and gossip of Versailles, Antonia must change everything about herself in order to be accepted as dauphine of France and the wife of the awkward teenage boy who will one day be Louis XVI. Yet nothing can prepare her for the ingenuity and influence it will take to become queen.

Filled with smart history, treacherous rivalries, lavish clothes, and sparkling jewels, Becoming Marie Antoinette will utterly captivate fiction and history lovers alike.

~Lizzie~

Today In History: Loosing Robert Dudley

Sept 4th 1588 Robert Dudley left this life for the after life. Anyone who knows me knows that Robert is by far one of my favorite historical people besides Charles II. Why you ask? He was romantic and a bad boy all rolled into one. He loved his Queen Elizabeth I like no one else could and he even suffered with her before she was queen when no one else could help them. Their story is so tragic and maybe in another life they would have been together the way fate wanted them to be. Alas what is meant to be is meant to be and Elizabeth was meant to be not just any queen but Glorianna herself. When Robert died Elizabeth was not with him. She was devastated when she received his last letter to her. She did not come out of her room for days.

Dudley always "remained at the centre of [Elizabeth's] emotional life", as historian Susan Doran has described the situation. He died shortly after the Spain's Armada was defeated, and after Elizabeth's own death, a note from him was found among her most personal belongings, marked "his last letter" in her handwriting.

This video I found on YouTube of a British TV Series that I think aired some years back. Either way this really reminds me of Robert and what today we would call his "swagger". Here is the shows info BBC The Virgin Queen


Amazon
A Favorite of the Queen: The Story of Lord Robert Dudley and Elizabeth I (A Novel of the Tudors)
The Uncrowned Kings of England: The Black History of the Dudleys and the Tudor Throne
The Queen's Bastard: A Novel of Elizabeth I and Arthur Dudley
~Lizzie~

Book Review: THE TUDOR THRONE by Brandy Purdy and Giveaway

It was raunchy, sexy, and downright wild in all the right places, man I love the Tudors. Brandy Purdy really is coming in to her groove with The Tudor Throne here. Some readers however might not be able to overlook things like complete historical accuracy. If complete historical accuracy is a must in your readings then Brandy Purdy is just not the author for you. Purdy’s novels fall for me into this new type of genre being thrown around in the book world called “historical entertainment”. I feel that in that area of historical fiction authors take more liberties with the actual historical events. A prime very popular example is Carolly Erickson which I enjoyed her novels also. Brandy does take liberties yet I still felt I was left with a feeling that the novel was well written, and since I have read every spin on the Tudors I could ever shake a stick at, I admit I like a wild off the wall pure fun read every once in a while.

In the Tudor throne the novel is split between the two fractions. One part of the novel is Elizabeth I and the other Elizabeth’s oldest half sister Mary I. In the beginning of the novel readers follow sweet Mary as she goes from the doted on princess “marigold” of the Tudor court to the banished bastard of the unwanted wife Catherine of Aragon. Mary became a sad soul and one shining light in her life became her baby sister. Their relationship had its ups and its downs and even as Mary later regained the Tudor throne for catholic fraction she still failed to gain the people of England’s love. She always was so bleak even in the few glory moments she had because next to the future Elizabeth I, Mary would always be as dull as an old penny next to a shining dime like Elizabeth.

Elizabeth also loved her older sister even though she suffered real hardship for her ties to Mary. Mary did love her but that does not mean that she trusted her completely. They were of course of two different faiths Elizabeth the church of England and Mary a diehard Catholic. It was the same turmoil with her younger brother Edward and when Edward became king Mary had many problems with the path her brother chose. It drove a wedge between the siblings and when Henry VIII died it would cause problems for the years to come. Elizabeth was sent to live with her father’s last wife Catherine Parr after his passing. Catherine was beautiful, educated and still so young that she surprised her step daughter with a fly by night marriage to Thomas Seymour. Naughty Thomas Seymour would touch Elizabeth like no other and one of the biggest dangers of being around the Tudors is keeping your head even if the other Tudor was your own sister.

⅘ I think Brandy really impressed me this time around. I was extremely entertained with this novel but did not find it line crossing or to outlandish. I enjoyed “The Boleyn Wife” with its creepy Anne Boleyn ghost but I feel The Tudor Throne is done in a much better form. I have a feeling that Brandy’s next novel is going to be even better. I feel that this one was a bit wilder but...it still had the perfect mix of lust and history that was still very somewhat believable. I would love to recommend this novel to readers who have enjoyed authors like Carolly Erickson previously because if complete historical accuracy is a must then Prudy is be a no fly zone for you.

• FTC~this novel was sent to me by the publisher for review. I do not get paid for my reviews.
• R-Rating for graphic sexual references.

The Giveaway

The giveaway is for one finished paperback copy. Giveaway ends September 11th 2011 at midnight west coast time. The giveaway is for one autographed copy and open to US Only
For 1 entry enter your name and email
For 2 entries be a follower and say so in the form
For 3 entries share this and add a real link to where you shared it.

Amazon
The Tudor Throne
The Boleyn Wife
The Confession of Piers Gaveston
Vengeance Is Mine: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Lady Rochford--the woman who helped destroy them both.
~Lizzie~

THREE MAIDS FOR A CROWN Author Ella March Chase: IN THE SHADOW OF THE AXE THE SISTERS OF LADY JANE GREY

"In the second novel from Ella March Chase, we meet sixteen-year-old Jane Grey, a quiet and obedient young lady destined to become the shortest reigning English monarch. Her beautiful middle sister Katherine Grey charms all the right people—until loyalties shift. And finally Lady Mary Grey, a dwarf with a twisted spine whose goal is simply to protect people she loves—but at a terrible cost.

In an age in which begetting sons was all that mattered and queens rose and fell on the sex of their child, these three girls with royal Tudor blood lived under the dangerous whims of parents with a passion for gambling. The stakes they would wager: their daughters' lives against rampant ambition".

In stores as of August 2nd 2011, check it out on Amazon: Three Maids for a Crown: A Novel of the Grey Sisters 
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IN THE SHADOW OF THE AXE: 

THE SISTERS OF LADY JANE GREY by Ella March Chase

“Lady Jane Grey had sisters and one of them was a dwarf!” I don’t even think I bothered to say ‘hello’ when I called my critique partner, Susan Carroll, with the news. Susan is used to calls like this. We still laugh over the story of the time I called her at midnight to tell her that when Charles II was a boy he took a stick of wood to bed with him like a binkie. If researching is a forest, I’m the kid that’s always wandering off of the path chasing a pretty butterfly (or a grisly one, in some cases. It is Tudor England!)

In my defense, I was ‘on task’ when I discovered my beloved Grey sisters. While researching Queen Elizabeth’s ladies for my first historical novel, The Virgin Queen’s Daughter, I stumbled across the delicious historical tidbit that Katherine and Mary Grey served as Queen Elizabeth’s Maids of Honor. Even more interesting: Elizabeth hated them-- understandable since the Greys tried to knock Elizabeth and Queen Mary out of the succession. But the Grey sisters had even more drama to offer: In the years prior to Elizabeth mounting the throne, Katherine and Mary Grey waited on ‘Bloody Mary’. The whole time Lady Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London, all through Jane’s trial and after she was condemned Lady Katherine Grey was serving as a Lady of the Bedchamber, attending to Queen Mary’s most intimate needs. As England’s outrage over the queen’s proposed marriage to Philip of Spain grew, Katherine would have witnessed the unrest. She was attending Queen Mary during the Wyatt rebellion and could hear the cannon fire of the rebel army across the Thames in Southwark. Queen Mary’s household knew the Grey sisters’ father was involved in the plot. Imagine what it would have been like to be trapped behind palace walls at the mercy of the Queen your father is determined to overthrow.

Lady Jane Grey Preparing for Execution by George Whiting Flagg

 Once the rebels were defeated Katherine and Mary had to know that monarchs could not afford to be merciful when it came to threats to the crown. Look what happened to the de la Poles and the Plantagenet princes in the tower. Katherine and Mary Grey must have expected they would share Jane’s fate. I couldn’t stop wondering: What would it have been like to wait upon the woman who had your innocent, sixteen year old sister beheaded? What would it have been like to live under the stigma of a father who died a traitor? How did their experiences mold them? All three Grey sisters showed courage when it counted most. All three took hold of the reins of their own destinies in the end—even the ill-fated Jane.

Lady Catherine Grey

What I discovered about these three sisters captured my imagination and my heart. The question I hear most often since the release of Three Maids for a Crown is why do we hear so little about Katherine Grey and almost nothing at all about ‘Crouchback Mary’? My guess is that Jane’s story is so tragic writers can’t resist focusing on it: a studious girl used by ambitious parents then left to suffer the consequences of their treachery. Her execution seems like such a natural ending for a book. Yet that only gives us one perspective. I wanted to explore what living through such traumatic events might have been like for all three sisters, how circumstances beyond their control affected their relationships and future decisions. Jane was a brilliant scholar, serious and religious. Katherine Grey charmed everyone she met. A noted beauty, she was frustrated by the fact that her devout sister shunned court pleasures. During Elizabeth Tudor’s reign many foreign powers believed Katherine Grey had a better claim to the crown than Anne Boleyn’s bastard. (Henry VIII himself had declared both his daughters illegitimate). In her time at court Katherine would risk everything for love and commit a sin so grave Elizabeth would never forgive her for it. Commit that sin not once, but twice.

Lady Mary Grey

Lady Mary Grey, the all but forgotten sister, intrigued me most of all. What must it have been like to be of royal blood, yet an outcast because of her deformity? How did Mary feel about living in the households of her royal Tudor cousins? Considering what befell her sisters, how did Mary Grey ever have the courage to seize a love story of her own?

Perhaps it was fate that led me to these three women from another time when I needed them most. In a time of great personal upheaval—both dark and bright-- their courage and determination to stay true to their own inner compass inspired me, encouraged me. The lessons they taught: To grasp every drop of happiness that you can and never take love for granted. Especially the love of your siblings. They are your first friends, your first rivals. They know your faults, share your history, know you in ways no one else ever can. In the best of times and the worst of times that love is one of the forces that will carry you through storms to the other side.
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For more on Ella March Chase check out her website. 

Thank you Ella for the lovely guest post on the three Grey sisters. I encourage Tudor lovers out there to check out this amazing novel and explore a new prospective on the Tudor court of England.
Amazon