Today Mercedes Rochelle reviews THE QUEEN'S COURIER by Jen Black.
The author has offered a paperback copy as a giveaway to a winner in the UK or an ebook to anywhere else in the world. To be in with the chance of winning a copy of this fabulous novel, simply leave a comment below or on the blog itself. The winner will be drawn on 4th April 2018.
Good luck!
Against a background of political intrigue and Tudor violence, love is not easy to find or sustain. The Queen Dowager of Scotland repudiates it and for Matho and Meg the struggle is made more difficult by an outbreak of war between England and Scotland. Disaster looms for them all.....
The
messenger nodded. “All the lords who swore loyalty at Grenesyde in
January were present, my lady, except my lord of Lennox. But they
couldna agree wi’ one another. If my Lord Arran suggested something, my
Lord Angus found fault wi’ it, and if he didn’t, then my Lord Bothwell
piped up an argument. The Cardinal strode out in a temper. Lords shouted
across the table. The Clerk Register said he’d never seen anything like
it, and neither Ballenden nor Lauder could restore order.”
There it is in a nutshell: 16th
Century Scotland—a country fatally torn between conflicting interests.
This novel brings us into that difficult time when there was no king on
the throne and no one strong enough to keep chaos at bay. On the one
hand, the French Queen Marie de Guise is desperately trying to protect
the baby princess Mary; on the other hand, the regent James Hamilton,
Earl of Arran is feuding with the Earl of Angus and everyone else, as
far as I can tell. There seems to be little cohesion in the country and
lots of questionable loyalties while Henry VIII of England strives to
bring ambitious nobles into his sphere. While all this is going on, our
protagonist, Matho Spirston—courier, sometimes spy and general helpful
servant—keeps finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. At
the beginning he is obliged to accompany (and protect) the spirited Meg
Douglas partway south as she journeys to the English court; he gets
caught up in her lustful advances, even though his heart belongs
elsewhere. But Meg’s heart really belongs to the unscrupulous Mathew
Stewart, Earl of Lennox, whose introduction in the novel was not
flattering. I wondered whether they deserved each other, and was this a
real love match?
About the author:
Jen lives in the lovely Tyne valley between Hexham and Newcastle
in north east England, a stone’s throw from the Roman Wall and with a castle
that dates from the 1100’s round the corner. Writing and photography are her
main interests and walking her Dalmatian Tim twice a day keeps her fit. She has
a degree in English Language & Literature and managed academic libraries
for a living. Her father’s family have been traced back to the 1700’s on the
Welsh and English border—a place she has never been, but her maternal
grandfather worked in Skye, so if ever there’s time, perhaps there’s more to
learn on that score.
Friends of Jen Black page on Facebook
or JenBlackNCL on Twitter
Buy links for Queen’s Courier:-
About the Reviewer:
Born
and raised in St. Louis MO, Mercedes Rochelle graduated with a BA in
Literature from University of Missouri. She learned about living history
as a re-enactor and has been enamored with historical fiction ever
since. A move to New York to do research and two careers ensued, but
writing fiction remains her primary vocation. Her first four books are
historical novels about 11th century Britain and events surrounding the
Norman Conquest. Mercedes now lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her
husband in a log home they had built themselves.
Website: http://www.MercedesRochelle.
Facebook: http://www.MercedesRochelle.
GODWINE KINGMAKER available on Amazon US: http://a.co/iSZRrwC
GODWINE KINGMAKER available on Amazon UK: http://amzn.eu/3w1FcwF
Another Family Line, always exciting to to discover and read.
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