Archive for Books

The Roots of Betrayal by James Forrester

Roots of Betrayal

ABOUT THE BOOK

1564, and Clarenceux has been entrusted to protect a dangerous document, containing a secret so powerful that it could challenge Queen Elizabeth’s legitimacy on the throne.

When the document goes missing, Clarenceux suspects an underground society known as the Knights of the Round Table. With England on the verge of a bloody conflict, Clarenceux’s determination to protect the Queen (and his own life) takes him from the dungeons in the Tower of London to the high seas (with a roguish captain inspired by the real Elizabethan adventurer Peter Carew).

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Book Review: The Kings Damsel by Kate Emerson

Title: The King’s Damsel
Author: Kate Emerson
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books; Original edition (August 7, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451661495
ISBN-13: 978-1451661491

ABOUT THE BOOK

The King’s Damsel is the story of Thomasine Lodge, maid of honor to Princess Mary Tudor, sent to the court of Mary’s father, Henry VIII, to spy on Henry’s new wife, the beautiful and deadly Anne Boleyn.

Handmaid. Spy. Mistress. Anxious to secure his own success at the glittering court of Henry VIII, heiress Tamsin Lodge’s ambitious guardian obtains her a position as maid of honor to young Princess Mary Tudor. Tamsin soon comes to love the neglected child, but in the Tudor court, not even a princess is secure. Mary’s father is besotted with the lovely Anne Boleyn, and the girl’s future has grown perilous. Plotting to be Mary’s eyes and ears, Tamsin joins Anne’s service, but the handsome silk worker who is her co-conspirator may be her undoing. While marriage with a merchant is unthinkable, she cannot resist Rafe Pinckney’s embraces. When Tamsin also attracts the lusty Henry, she must choose between loyalty and desire. . . . With Anne’s jealousy growing dangerous, can Tamsin survive the schemes and seductions that surround her?

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Before Versailles by Karleen Koen

  • Title: Before Versailles
  • Author: Karleen Koen
  • Paperback:400 pages
  • Publisher:Sourcebooks Landmark (September 1, 2012)
  • Language:English
  • ISBN-10:1402275900
  • ISBN-13: 978-1402275906

ABOUT THE BOOK

Before Versailles focuses on four intense months of King Louis XIV’s young life.  It’s the summer of 1661, and after the death of his prime minister, twenty-two-year-old Louis steps into governing France. He’s still a young man, and in a way quite inexperienced and shy, but also very determined, intelligent and headstrong.  He’s used to having anything and everything his heart desires—land, women—including his brother’s wife.

As the love affair between the two burns, it sets the kingdom on the road toward unmistakable scandal and conflict with the Vatican. He must face what he is willing to sacrifice for love. At the same time, there are other problems lurking outside the château of Fontainebleau: a boy in an iron mask has been seen in the woods, and the king’s finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, has proven to be more powerful than Louis ever thought—a man who could make a great ally or become a dangerous foe.

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