Today Mercedes Rochelle reviews Queen of Martyrs: The Story of Mary I by Samantha Wilcoxson. The author has very kindly offered a signed paperback copy as a giveaway.  To be in with a chance of winning this wonderful prize, simply leave a comment below or on our Facebook page.

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'God save the Queen! God save our good Queen Mary!'
When these words rang out over England, Mary Tudor thought her troubles were over. She could put her painful past - the loss of her mother and mistreatment at the hands of her father - behind her.
With her accession to the throne, Mary set out to restore Catholicism in England and find the love of a husband that she had long desired. But the tragedies in Mary's life were far from over. How did a gentle, pious woman become known as 'Bloody Mary'?

Forever condemned by her appellation “Bloody Mary”, Henry VIII’s eldest daughter always seems to get short shrift when talking about the Tudor world. Samantha Wilcoxson has tried to make up for this in her novel with the curious title “Queen of Martyrs”. Is she a martyr herself, or is she lording it over other martyrs, so to speak? It’s hard to say. Mary certainly seemed to feel like she was never quite loved enough, never quite strong enough or healthy enough or wise enough. 

She was constantly on the verge of a migrane which would condemn her to bed for a number of days. After her glorious entry into London, Mary was stunned that her popularity diminished so quickly—though even she seemed to understand that her unfortunate choice of husbands had something to do with it. But, true to her Tudor heritage, she was determined to have her way regardless of the consequences. That went for religion as well, though it was difficult for me to determine just what percentage of the population welcomed a return to the old faith. Never mind; it didn't matter. She knew best.

I was expecting more details about Mary's antipathy for her sister. In this novel, although the subject was broached, Elizabeth's dire situation didn't get all that much attention. Her release from the Tower was almost an afterthought. How much danger was Elizabeth in? Did she meet Philip while she was incarcerated? Since this book wasn't about Elizabeth, we'll have to go elsewhere to get an answer. The main concern here was Mary's unhappy marriage, her poor health, and her dependence on her cousin Reginald Pole—a bad influence, as far as I can see! 

I almost felt sorry for Mary’s misfortunes until she decided to overcompensate by burning more and more heretics when her policy fell short. It’s hard to justify those actions to a modern reader, and I would assume it wasn’t any easier to justify it to her contemporaries. No matter how hard she tried, she just didn't seem able to redeem herself. It was a sad story about a sad princess who didn't seem to learn from her mistakes. Maybe she was a martyr after all.

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About the Author: Samantha Wilcoxson is an American writer with British roots. When she is not reading or travelling, she enjoys spending time at the lake with her husband and three teenagers. The Plantagenet Embers series debuted with 'Plantagenet Princess, Tudor Queen: The Story of Elizabeth of York'. It has been selected as an Editors' Choice by the Historical Novel Society and long-listed for the 2016 HNS Indie Award. 'Faithful Traitor: The Story of Margaret Pole' is the second novel in the trilogy, continuing the story of the Plantagenet remnant in Tudor times. This novel has received 5-stars from Readers' Favorite and a Discovering Diamond award. The final installment in Plantagenet Embers, 'Queen of Martyrs', features Queen Mary I and her story of the counter-reformation in England. Some of the secondary characters of the Plantagenet Embers series are explored in novellas, including 'The Last Lancastrian' featuring Margaret Beaufort and 'Once a Queen' which focuses on the final decade of Elizabeth Woodville's life.
Links: Amazon; Facebook; Twitter; Blog

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. She lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.She is the author of The Last Great Saxon Earls trilogy.
Links: Website; Blog; Facebook page; Amazon page.

Mercedes Rochelle reviews THE QUEEN'S COURIER

 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: 16^th 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?

I came to this book with only a working knowledge of Scottish history, so I had a lot of catching up to do. Henry VIII, by this time close to the end of his life, wants to bring his niece Meg to the English court and use her as a lure to bring the young Earl of Lennox under his control. She is most willing, but is never sure whether she can trust the king’s word. Meanwhile, the English are on their way to invade Scotland in an attempt to weaken their Auld Alliance with France; Edinburgh is destined to bear the brunt of Henry’s brutal policy. Author Jen Black guides us through a very complicated scenario with smooth prose and a story that moves along nicely. The characters were drawn convincingly and I came to care what happened to our hero Matho Spirston. He tried so hard to keep his promises, yet was buffeted about by events beyond his control. That makes for a good protagonist!

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.

https://jenblackauthor.blogspot.com.

Friends of Jen Black page on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/jen.black.775

or JenBlackNCL on Twitter

Buy links for Queen’s Courier:-

https://tinyurl.com/y7oxq89d

https://tinyurl.com/yd6tyu9v

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.com

Blog:  http://www.HistoricalBritainBlog.com

Facebook: http://www.MercedesRochelle.net

Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/authorRochelle

GODWINE KINGMAKER available on Amazon US: http://a.co/iSZRrwC

GODWINE KINGMAKER available on Amazon UK: http://amzn.eu/3w1FcwF