A Potpourri of Opinions

  Marvelous Molly Greeley Publication date: February 28, 2023 by William Morrow Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 5 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 Summary: 1547: Pedro Gonzales, a young boy living on the island of Tenerife, understands that he is different from the other children in his village. He is mercilessly ridiculed for the hair covering his body from head to toe. When he is kidnapped off the beach near his home, he finds himself delivered by a slave broker into the dangerous and glamorous world of France’s royal court. There “Monsieur Sauvage,” as he is known, learns French, literature, and sword fighting, becoming an attendant to the French King Henri II and a particular favorite of his queen, the formidable Catherine de’ Medici. Queen Catherine considers herself a collector of unusual people and is fascinated by Pedro… and determined to find him a bride. Catherine Raffelin is a beautiful seventeen-year-old girl whose merchant father has fallen on hard times and offers up his daughter to Queen Ca

  Coronation Year Jennifer Robson Publication Date: April 4, 2023 by William Morrow Paperbacks Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 5 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 Summary: The USA Today bestselling author of The Gown returns with another enthralling and royal-adjacent historical novel—as the lives of three very different residents of London’s historic Blue Lion hotel converge in a potentially explosive climax on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation. It is Coronation Year, 1953, and a new queen is about to be crowned. The people of London are in a mood to celebrate, none more so than the residents of the Blue Lion hotel. Edie Howard, owner and operator of the floundering Blue Lion, has found the miracle she needs: on Coronation Day, Queen Elizabeth in her gold coach will pass by the hotel’s front door, allowing Edie to charge a fortune for rooms and, barring disaster, save her beloved home from financial ruin. Edie’s luck might just be turning, all thanks to a young queen about her own age. Stella Donati

  A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower Patricia Bernstein Publication date: March 7, 2023 by History Through Fiction Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 5 👢👢👢👢👢 Summary:  Based on the true story of Winifred Maxwell, a Catholic in anti-Catholic England. Scotland, 1716 - Traveling alone through a frightful snowstorm, Bethan Glentaggart is desperate to get to London where her husband languishes in the Tower of London. As the date of Gavin's beheading rapidly approaches, Bethan has only her wits and her women friends to support her against King George. Will she be able to free Gavin? Will she even be allowed to see him? My Thoughts: Extraordinary story! Bernstein showcases a keen ability for storytelling in this debut novel. In what seems to be nothing short of unfathomable, Bernstein unveils the true tale of a woman who defied the odds to save her husband from the Tower of London. Although this book could very easily have fallen into a quagmire of facts, Bernstein ensured th

  The Castle Keepers Aimie K. Runyan, J'Nell Ciesielski, and Rachel McMillan Publication date: May 2, 2023 by Harper Muse Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 4 🍷🍷🍷🍷 Summary: Leedswick Castle has housed the Alnwick family in the English countryside for generations, despite a family curse determined to destroy their legacy and erase them from history. 1870. After a disastrous dinner at the Astor mansion forces her to flee New York in disgrace, socialite Beatrice Holbrook knows her performance in London must be a triumph. When she catches the eye of Charles Alnwick, one of the town’s most enviably-titled bachelors, she prepares to attempt a social coup and become the future Marchioness of Northridge. When tragedy and scandal strike the Alnwick family, Beatrice must assume the role of a lifetime: that of her true, brave self. 1917. Artist Elena Hamilton arrives in Northumberland determined to transform a soldier’s wounds into something beautiful. Tobias Alnwick’s parents have commiss