Book picks similar to
His Castilian Hawk by Anna Belfrage


medieval
historical-fiction
historical
fiction

My One and Only Duke


Grace Burrowes - 2018
    The next, he's declared the long-lost heir to a dukedom. Quinn has fought his way up from the vilest slums, and now he's ready to use every dirty trick he knows to find the enemy who schemed against him.There was just one tiny problem...Jane Winston, the widowed, pregnant daughter of a meddlesome prison preacher, crosses paths with Quinn in jail. Believing his days are numbered, Quinn offers Jane marriage as a way to guarantee her independence and provide for her child. Neither thinks they'll actually have a future together.They were wrong.He's a wealthy gutter rat out for vengeance. She's a minister's daughter who must turn a marriage of desperation into a proper ducal union. Are they doomed from the start or destined for a happily-ever-after?

The Decadent Duke


Virginia Henley - 2008
    Lady Georgina?s four sisters have all married prominent dukes or earls, and much to her dismay and frustration, she is expected to make an even better match. Georgina?s mother has no doubt who her daughter should marry: Francis Russell, Duke of Bedford. The dull duke does absolutely nothing for Georgina, but despite her best efforts, she finds herself engaged to marry him. But Georgina cannot deny the passionate sparks between herself and a different man?John Russell, the duke?s younger brother...

The Fifth Knight


E.M. Powell - 2012
    But what begins as a clandestine arrest ends in cold-blooded murder. And when Fitzurse, the knights’ ringleader, kidnaps Theodosia, a beautiful young nun who witnessed the crime, Palmer can sit silently by no longer. For not only is Theodosia’s virtue at stake, so too is the secret she unknowingly carries—a secret he knows Fitzurse will torture out of her. Now Palmer and Theodosia are on the run, strangers from different worlds forced to rely only on each other as they race to uncover the hidden motive behind Becket’s grisly murder—and the shocking truth that could destroy a kingdom.

Fairchild


Jaima Fixsen - 2013
    They should have a son and if it can be managed, he should be handsome. Cleverness isn’t important. Daughters in limited quantities are fine so long as they are pretty. Bastards are inconvenient and best ignored. It's not a big problem, unless you are one. Unfortunately, Sophy is. Sick of her outcast role, she escapes her father’s house, only to fall from her horse during a spring storm. Injured, soaked, and shivering, she stumbles to a stranger’s door—Tom, a blunt edged merchant from a family of vulgar upstarts. Mistaking Sophy for the genuine article, he takes her in. Sophy can’t resist twisting the truth. Soon she’s caught in her own snare—and it might just be a noose.

Three Maids for a Crown


Ella March Chase - 2011
    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.

The Quest for Queen Mary


James Pope-Hennessy - 2018
    The series of candid observations, secrets and indiscretions contained in his notes were to be kept private for 50 years. Now published in full for the first time and edited by the highly admired royal biographer Hugo Vickers, this is a riveting, often hilarious portrait of the eccentric aristocracy of a bygone age. Giving much greater insight into Queen Mary than the official version, and including sharply observed encounters with, among others, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Duke of Gloucester, and a young Queen Elizabeth.

A Knight With Grace


Laurel O'Donnell - 2016
    She has no intention of wedding a cursed man, a man ostracized from the church, a man who would only doom any future children they might have to the fires of Hell. She prays for a knight to rescue her. Excommunicated and outcast for a horrible crime in his past, Sir William de Tracy searches for forgiveness. Marriage has never crossed his mind until Lord Willoughby commissions him to retrieve his fleeing daughter and honor the dying wish of his father by marrying Grace. But things are not as they seem. And when an assassin tries to kill Grace, William must choose between his soul and the woman he has come to love. Can William and Grace overcome their past and find the redemption and love both are so desperately seeking?

Letters from Skye


Jessica Brockmole - 2013
      March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.   June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn’t understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.

A Crimson Frost


Marcia Lynn McClure - 2009
    Long Monet had known that even her marriage would serve her people. Her husband would be chosen for her—for this was the way of royal existence. Still, as any woman does—peasant or princess—Monet dreamt of owning true love—of owning choice in love. Thus, each time the raven-haired, sapphire-eyed, Crimson Knight of Karvana rode near, Monet knew regret—for in secret, she loved him—and she could not choose him. As an arrogant king from another kingdom began to wage war against Karvana, Karvana's king, knights and soldiers answered the challenge. The Princess Monet would also know battle. As the Crimson Knight battled with armor and blade—so the Scarlet Princess would battle in sacrifice and with secrets held. Thus, when the charge was given to preserve the heart of Karvana, Monet endeavored to serve her kingdom and forget her secreted love. Yet, love is not so easily forgotten

The Flame of Resistance


Martin Lake - 2011
    But because he is only thirteen years of age the throne is given instead to the experienced warrior Harold Godwinson, a man who appears best fitted to defeat the forces preparing to invade the kingdom. When Harold is killed at the Battle of Hastings the great council of England ignore more experienced claimants and proclaim Edgar King. He marches out to meet the Norman army but his advisers desert him and he is captured. On Christmas Day 1066, William the Conqueror is crowned King. Eighteen months later, when a bitter nation rises up in resistance to the Norman conquerors, Edgar escapes captivity to lead the last armies of England in their fight for freedom. The hopes of a nation are placed on a youngster with little experience of life. His weapons are a fierce intelligence, dauntless courage and the loyalty of a handful of friends. Burdened with overwhelming hopes and expectations, mired in fear and treachery, Edgar begins a life-time of resistance to the Norman invaders. The Battle of Hastings is over. The Battle for England is about to begin.

Heart of a Knight


Barbara Samuel - 1997
    After an arduous exile to flee the darkness and danger sweeping her lands, Lady Elizabeth D'Auvers returns home to Woodell Castle, yearning only for her looms and her quiet life. To her astonishment, she finds the castle and farmlands thriving, thanks to Lord Thomas of Roxburgh, a knight errant whose size and strength offer protection to Elizabeth's castle and its people. Yet chilling thoughts trouble her mind--for there is something mysterious about this man.

The Lady's Slipper


Deborah Swift - 2010
    King Charles II has returned from exile, but memories of the English Civil War still rankle. There are old scores to settle, and religious differences threaten to overturn a fragile peace. When Alice Ibbetson discovers a rare orchid, the Lady’s Slipper, growing in a wood belonging to Richard Wheeler, she is captivated by its beauty— though Wheeler, a Quaker, is determined to keep the flower where God intended it to grow.

Silken Threads


Patricia Ryan - 1999
    Attacked and disabled by a broken leg, he rents a room in the humble home of Joanna Chapman, a silk merchant’s widow. Joanna, having learned not to trust handsome, charming devils like Graeham, lets him think her husband is still alive in order to keep him at a distance. Mindful of his mission—and the promised reward—Graeham tries to resist his feelings for Joanna, but the white-hot desire simmering between them cannot be denied.Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window

For My Lady's Heart


Laura Kinsale - 1993
    Reissue.

The Emperor's Conspiracy


Michelle Diener - 2012
    But as her involvement brings Charlotte to the attention of men who have no qualms about who they hurt, and as Edward forges a grudging alliance with the dangerous ghosts of Charlotte’s former life, she faces a choice: to continue living in limbo, or to close the door on the past and risk her heart and her happiness on an unpredictable future.