That girl is Matilda, daughter of Henry I, King of the English and Duke of Normandy. In time she would become Queen of the Germans and Romans, and Empress of the Holy Empire. From the dark forests and mighty castles of the German states of the Empire, to the Alps, northern Italy and Rome, Matilda will travel, at first the apprentice of power, learning from her husband, Heinrich, the Emperor. Through times of war and peace, loss and deepest sorrow, her story unfolds, leading her back to the place of her birth, and the promise of a throne. Child of Water is the first book in the series The Heirs of Anarchy, by G. Lawrence. The author's thanks are due to Julia Gibbs, proof reader of this work, and Consuelo Parra, the cover artist.

    Promise me, Eadgyth, you will always be that for my son.”Eadgyth’s happy childhood as the adored daughter of King Edward of the Anglo-Saxons came to an abrupt end at the age of nine, when her mother was cast away. Distraught at the rejection by her father, she learnt to keep her heart closely guarded.After ten years shut in a convent Eadgyth is commanded by her half-brother, King Athelstan, to go with her younger sister to the court of King Henry of Germany, where his son, the brave, young Otto will choose one of them as his wife.Indifferent to her fate, she travels to Saxony where she is welcomed by King Henry and his wife, the beautiful Queen Mathilda. As her friendship with the Queen grows Eadgyth warms to her new life, while her relationship with Otto, little more than a boy at seventeen, takes a turn she had not anticipated. Despite the ever present threat of war on the nearby Slavic front, Eadgyth dares to believe she can be happy.But beneath the surface of this contented family, tensions are building. Otto’s brothers harbour concealed ambitions, Mathilda’s love for her son seems strangely uncertain and Otto himself reveals an unexpected secret. And as Otto prepares himself to take the throne of Germany, the hostility boils over leaving Eadgyth facing a desperate struggle to hold her family together, terrified that yet again she could lose the man at the heart of it…

    

    

     Nesta was a consort to King Henry I, wife to Gerald of Pembroke and the captive-lover to Owain of Poweys. She is thought to be the original mother to the Tudor and Stuart Dynasties which Princess Diana and John F Kennedy are both descendants.

     The widowed Lady Elfrida has achieved the impossible. She’s ensured her twelve-year-old son has become king, despite the gruesome murder of his predecessor and half-brother. While many blame the king’s mother, she looks to two rival noblemen as the real perpetrators. Even with the reappearance of an unwelcome enemy on England’s shores, Viking warriors, who attack and threaten the safety and security of England, and specifically, the young king, the two noblemen are far from resigned to Lady Elfrida’s power. As her son takes the final steps to become king in actions as well as name, she’s increasingly isolated by the deaths of allies and the scheming ways of others, including the king. Resentful of her continuing influence, Lady Elfrida faces banishment from Court with both fierce determination and acquiescence. The King's Mother is the first part in a new trilogy. Suggested reading order: The Mercian Brexit (short story and prequel) The First Queen of England The First Queen of England Part 2 The First Queen of England Part 3 The King's Mother

     In January 1342, King Robert the Wise died. Ruler of one of the largest, wealthiest and most sophisticated kingdoms in Europe, he named as his sole heir his sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Joanna, or, if she died without issue, her thirteen-year-old sister Maria. Born in a male-dominated world in the passionate south of Italy, and surrounded by ambitious male cousins with an equal claim to the crown, will these sisters be able to maintain control over their kingdom? With only their wits, beauty, and the love of their people to aid them, Joanna and Maria, bound together by their strong love and fierce rivalry, are prepared to do anything to hold onto their beloved Kingdom. Start reading The Girl Who Would Be Queen by multi-award-winning author Jane Ann McLachlan today.

     It follows little "Vikki" from childhood as she blossoms into a formidable young woman who becomes queen, and falls in love with Albert, the cousin who will be her prince. The story begins with the intriguing circumstances surrounding the marriage of Victoria's parents, and her own birth. A fascinating novelisation of a great woman's life, The Little Victoria is set in Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and other royal residences. It lifts the curtain on the political intrigue, royal gossip, family feuds and romances that played a part in the destiny of the little girl who would one day be queen. Perfect for fans of the British Royal Family, historical fiction and TV historical dramas such as Victoria, War and Peace and Poldark.

     Mary stands firm against her father’s determination to destroy both her mother’s reputation, and the Catholic church. It is a battle that will last throughout both her father’s and her brother’s reign, until, she is almost broken by persecution. When King Edward falls ill and dies Mary expects to be crowned queen. But she has reckoned without John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, who before Mary can act, usurps her crown and places it on the head of her Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey. Furious and determined not to be beaten, Mary musters a vast army at Framlingham Castle; a force so strong that Jane Grey’s supporters crumble in the face of it, and Mary is at last crowned Queen of England. But her troubles are only just beginning. Rebellion and heresy take their toll both on Mary’s health, and on the English people. Suspecting she is fatally ill, and desperate to save her people from heresy, Mary steps up her campaign to compel her subjects to turn back to the Catholic faith. All who resist will face punishment for heresy in the flames of the Smithfield fires.

    This is a companion series and can be read independently of the Chronicles. The year is 1731 and in a small village in Cheshire, England, the Reverend Browne has determined the future of his young daughter Sarah. Her life will be dedicated to caring for him and his household affairs while he, acting as one of God’s chosen few, saves souls from the devil. Sarah dreams of a different future, one in which she will be happy and independent. As she grows older she starts to see glimpses of a tantalising world beyond her reach and longs one day to escape the drudgery of her life, to become part of it all and maybe even have her own business. However, a chance meeting leads first to joy and blossoming and then to the destruction of her whole world. It changes her life forever, forcing her down a path which is the very opposite of the glittering one she had hoped for, one for which she has to pay a terrible price to survive.

    She was as aspirational as her brothers and craved the power and influence which could only be attained as the wife of England’s most powerful man. The fact that he already had a Queen did not deter her; she was focused, she was ruthless and she would let nothing stand in her way.This is the story of Jane Seymour and her rise from obscure country gentlewoman to royal consort.

    Thomas secures a place for Anne’s sister, Mary, at the prestigious court of Margaret of Austria, but fate has other plans, and Anne ends up taking her place.At thirteen, Anne yearns for adventure. However, unused to curbing her outspoken tongue and youthful curiosity, she discovers that life at Margaret’s court is not quite how she’d imagined. Experiencing love, loss, jealousy and fear, she soon realises that her future happiness lies in her own hands - and that she must shape her own destiny... The Falcon’s Rise is the first part of a two-part series, beginning the journey with the young Anne Boleyn growing into the woman who captured the heart of a king. Author Interview How did you first become interested in Anne Boleyn? I was always passionate about the history of England, and I first became interested in Anne Boleyn by reading the Tudor books my mother brought from the library. They were always about the six wives of King Henry VIII, but it was Anne Boleyn that captured my imagination when I read ’The King’s Secret Matter,’ by Jean Plaidy’. I was probably about 13 at the time. At the same age, I watched ‘Anne of a Thousand Days’ at the cinema and that was it. I was hooked for life. Of course, in those days, it was Geneviève Bujold, rather than Natalie Dormer in The Tudors, playing Anne. Did you uncover any interesting Tudor facts in your research? It was interesting finding out about people I knew nothing about such as Margaret of Austria and the Emperor. Is there one character in your historical novel that you particularly found interesting? It has to be Margaret of Austria. I knew nothing of her before I started my research, but she comes across as a delightful woman who despite her sorrows, was charming and amusing. I often read her poetry and truly like her. I’m also interested in Charles Brandon, admiring his ability to survive his secret marriage to the king’s sister and escape the Tower of London! What period of Anne Boleyn's life does this fictional history story cover? The book starts in 1497 and ends in 1514. However, I have set Anne's birth in May 1500. What is interesting is that she was born during the reign of the old King Henry VII - founder of the Tudor dynasty - and nine years before his son, Henry, ascended the throne. It had different fashions to how we imagine the later Tudor ones. I think the life-size models of Anne and her nurse in the gallery at Hever Castle illustrate this well. They are still in the medieval style. Is there a more in-depth interview with you and how you researched your books? Yes, its on TheAnneBoleynFiles website, just search for my name - Natalia Richards Any other thoughts? Looking at portraits of Anne Boleyn as a young woman, it is sad to think about the tragic end she came to. But it is not the end of her life that fascinates me, it is the beginning and the many questions it raises. What made her the woman she later became? Why did she attract Henry VIII in the first place and why write about Anne when she has been written about so extensively?

    Young John Hawkwood is forced to leave his home and seek a life in London. There he learns how to survive and, more importantly, how to fight. Leaving his life as an apprentice tailor he follows the army and King Edward to fight the Scots. He has a skill; he can not only use a bow, but he can use a sword and his mind. It is the start of a life of war for the young man.He fights first in the Low Countries at the battle of Cadzand before heading to Gascony to fight under the charismatic leader and cousin of the King, Lord Henry Plantagenet. As he fights so his skills improve and the novel follows his progress until he fights in the two great battles of 1346, Crécy and Neville’s Cross.This is just the start for John Hawkwood who will become, in the fullness of time, one of the greatest condottiere the world has ever seen, a man who, at the Battle of Castagnaro in 1387, shows the world that he was a great leader, too.

     E. Barrington tells the romantic history of the most beautiful and vivid of them all - his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Anne rises to fame when she captures the heart of King Henry. He is married to Katharine of Aragon, but she is six years his senior, and though she has provided him with sons throughout their marriage, they have all died. Henry is desperate for an heir, and he becomes captivated by the mysterious and shrewd Anne Boleyn. But Christian law stands in his way, and their courtship is put on hold as he battles those in power to gain a divorce from Katharine. And the moment Anne finally gets what she wants - the crown - is also the moment her downfall begins… Barrington’s classic novel portrays Anne as shrewd, lovely, ambitious, generous, disillusioned, and resolved to capitalize her beauty for her own ends. This is the story of Anne, but also of the days of Anne - when the question over a woman’s virtue was paramount in the great game of kings and kingdoms… E Barrington is a pseudonym of Elizabeth Louisa Moresby (1862 – 3 January 1931), a British-born novelist who became the first prolific, female fantasy writer in Canada. Her other historical novels include ‘Glorious Apollo: The Life of Lord Byron’, ‘Queen of Hearts: A Novel of Marie Antoinette’ and ‘The Laughing Queen: A Novel of Cleopatra’. Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent publisher of digital books.

    Since she was a child, Lucy Charlton has dreamed of working with her father in the family solicitor's firm. But a scandal shatters her dreams and, when her father disowns her, she finds herself on the streets, fighting for survival.Joe Hardy has returned to London after the Great War to find his life in tatters - his father is dead and his pregnant fiancée has disappeared. Then Joe learns he's unexpectedly inherited an old river house in Durham from a stranger called Margaret Lee. With nothing left for him in London, he makes arrangements to travel north and claim it.Lucy's determination has finally secured her a job as a legal secretary, campaigning for the rights of the poorest in society. As Joe arrives in her office to collect the keys to his new home, she promises to help him uncover information about his mystery benefactor. But before long, the past comes back to haunt them both, with shocking consequences...