📚 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2021 Wrap-Up and 2022 Sign-Up 🏰

Hello fellow bookworms, after bidding so long to 2021, it is now time to wrap-up my reading for my second year taking part in the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, hosted by Marg of The Intrepid Reader. First things first, here's what I managed to read, in the order I read them: The Mother’s Day Mystery …

📖 The Tudor Crown by Joanna Hickson ⭐⭐

I absolutely loved Joanna Hickson's brilliant First of the Tudors, about the often neglected Jasper Tudor, but I was left wanting more! So I have been looking forward to this second historical fiction, The Tudor Crown by Joanna Hickson, which continues the same story from the point-of-view of Jasper's nephew, Henry Tudor. In September 1471, we …

📖 Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christopher Nicole ⭐⭐

Back at the beginning of July, I continued my summer reading with the first in a historical saga, Eleanor of Aquitaine by new-to-me author Christopher Nicole. Originally published in 1995 under the pen name of Alan Savage - I came across this, Endeavour Press' 2016 republication, on Netgalley. This book took me back to 1135 to meet Eleanor, …

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

After loving The White Queen about Elizabeth Woodville last year, I was very eager to continue reading Philippa Gregory’s popular Cousins’ War series. In which, Gregory retells the bloody rivalry between the Houses of York and Lancaster, what we now call the War of the Roses, through the eyes of the indomitable women caught up in it …

📖 Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen by Alison Weir (Six Tudor Queens #1) ⭐⭐⭐

Back in March, I finally got round to reading Six Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen, the first book in an ambitious six-book series from bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir, in which each novel will chronicle the lives of each of Henry VIII's six wives. In this captivating opening volume, Weir takes us back to 1501 …

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Since watching the BBC's wonderful adaptation, I have long wanted to read The White Queen, the first book in Philippa Gregory's popular Cousins' War series. Gregory retells the bloody history of the battles between York and Lancaster - what we now call the War of the Roses - through the eyes of the indomitable women caught up in …

📖 First of the Tudors by Joanna Hickson ⭐⭐⭐

Having previously enjoyed Joanna Hickson's Red Rose, White Rose about Cecily Neville, a figure torn between both sides in the War of the Roses, I was really looking forward to trying this, her newest historical novel, First of the Tudors. In this new novel, Hickson again takes us back to the War of the Roses, however …

Indiana Belle by John A. Heldt (American Journey #3)

Back in 2014, I read nostalgic romance The Mine from John A. Heldt's Northwest Passage series. Being at the end of a long, tiring term, I was in the mood for another cosy, easy read, so I picked up Heldt's Indiana Belle; a novel from his American Journey series. In this book we meet a doctoral student …

New Read: Kingmaker: Broken Faith

In September 2014 I read Kingmaker: Winter Pilgrims by Toby Clements; the first book in this War of the Roses trilogy. A gripping read which left our protagonists on a real cliff-hanger so I simply had to find out what happened next in the second book, Kingmaker: Broken Faith. We return to our apostates Katherine and …