American Rebecca (Bex) Porter seems to have won the lottery when Britain’s second-in-line to the throne, Prince Nicholas, falls in love with her. Of course, it’s not that simple, but it does make for fun reading in The Royal We. That novel ended with Bex and Nick married, but already engulfed in scandal. When The Heir Affair opens they are hiding out in remote Scotland, but ... Read More...
The Last Tudor
Just when I think I know all I need to know about the Tudors, Philippa Gregory writes another riveting piece of historical fiction about the family. And when her latest, The Last Tudor, ends I’m still thinking there should be one more book to come. I began The Last Tudor thinking it would be about either Henry’s only son, Edward or his cousins Mary and Elizabeth. I ... Read More...
Victoria: A Novel
In 1837, barely after turning eighteen, Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent became the queen of England. She stood a mere 4’11” tall and had led a life largely isolated from society. For modern day readers it is almost incomprehensible to imagine that a tiny teenager could rule one of the most powerful and widespread empires in the world. Thankfully, author Daisy Goodwin’s ... Read More...
The Royal We
If you have even the remotest interest in British royalty (and really, how could you not?!), specifically Will and Kate, then The Royal We is going to be mandatory reading—in the way that their wedding was mandatory viewing (who cares that I went without sleep that night- this was Will and Kate). Authors Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan take the royal romance on a fictional ... Read More...
The Fortune Hunter
Charlotte Baird has just become the heir to the Lennox family fortune and as she is unmarried she is now the most sought after young lady in England, despite the fact that she has no interest in dancing, needlepoint, horseback riding or even in being married (horrors!). Instead, she spends her days taking photographs—a new media that most find to be infinitely inferior to ... Read More...
The Shadow Queen
Louis XIV may have been a fascinating king but thankfully for readers, author Sandra Gulland prefers to focus on the woman behind the man. In The Shadow Queen, that woman is Athénaїs de Montespan, an aristocratic beauty who is able to pull the King’s interest away from his longtime mistress and claim him for herself. Forget the Queen, apparently she is too shy and ... Read More...
