• Announcement: The Chalice (The Crown #2) by Nancy Bilyeau

    And the winner of The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau is….. Kara (follows on Twitter @Shamstress) The winner will be notified via email. Thank you to everyone who entered and a huge thank you to the publisher for making this giveaway possible!

  • Giveaway: The Chalice (The Crown #2) by Nancy Bilyeau

    The Chalice is the second book in The Crown series, and though it is part of a series, this book could easily be read as a stand alone. Joanna is a nun in the Tudor period who is  fighting against a deadly prophecy that implies she is the ‘one who will come after’ and restore the Catholic faith in England. Will Joanna embrace her destiny or continue to fight against it and what will happen to those that she loves? Will she destroy everything she holds dear to escape the prophecy? Thanks to the publisher, I am ecstatic to be able to offer a paperback copy of The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau for…

  • Special Feature: Paperback Release: The Chalice (The Crown #2) by Nancy Bilyeau

    Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing Nancy Bilyeau’s thrilling historic fiction novel The Chalice! I am excited to announce Touchstone Books is now releasing The Chalice in paperback!  (On-sale March 18, 2014; $16.00 paperback; 978-1-4767-0866-9; Touchstone Books). I am also posting a giveaway for the paperback novel so check my giveaway posting for details! The Chalice is the second in Bilyeau’s The Crown series. In The Chalice, Bilyeau returns to the story of Joanna Stafford, a young aristocratic nun whose cloistered way of life came crashing down when King Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries.

  • Review: Queen Elizabeth’s Daughter by Anne Clinard Barnhill

    Mary Sheldon has grown up in the glittering court of Queen Elizabeth I. Mary is an orphan and as a young cousin to the Queen, she is taken in as a ward and raised at court. Over the years, the Queen has groomed Mary for a prestigious marriage, perhaps to a prince to secure an alliance. Mary has been taught by the best tutors and has even serves on Queen Elizabeth’s council meetings. She is well prepared to be in a prestigious marriage but she longs for love. The Queen’s ideal match would be a prince or at the very least, an Earl. Edward, the Earl of Oxford, would make…

  • Review: The Queen’s Dwarf by Ella March Chase

    In the court of King Charles I, his homesick bride, Henrietta-Maria, longs to be back in the comfort of her French court. To distract herself she has created a kind of sideshow to entertain herself with. The Royal Menagerie of Freaks and Curiosities of Nature is a collection of sorts that consist of a giant, two other dwarfs, a rope dancer, an acrobat, animal trainer, and a special dwarf dubbed Lord Minimus. Lord Minimus is actually Jeffery, a dwarf who has been trained by one of the most dangerous men at court, the Duke of Buckingham, to be a spy. The Duke of Buckingham has taken Jeffery from his meager existence…

  • Special Feature: The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau Book Blast

    I read The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau last spring and it was one of my favorite reads of the spring! I am thrilled to be part of this book blast for the release of The Chalice in the UK! Not only is it a fantastic read but Bilyeau herself is a wonderful author! I had the privilege of interviewing her while I was part of the blog tour last spring. If you are looking for something different, suspenseful, mixed with some romance then be sure to pick up The Chalice today! Check out the book blast for other tour stops!

  • Review: His Last Mistress by Andrea Zuvich

    The illegitimate son of King Charles II is nothing more than a treacherous rake with nothing to look forward to except war and whoring. For James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth life doesn’t get much better than drinking, fighting, and whoring…..but after many years of meaningless sex and one too many hangovers, Monmouth knows there must be something more to life. Sweet and innocent Lady Henrietta Wentworth has been brought up the way that every respectable girl at court should be…..virtuous. For a woman in Tudor England virtue is the most treasured of things next to position and wealth. Without her virginity a woman’s reputation and marriage prospects are ruined. For…

  • Guest Post: His Last Mistress by Andrea Zuvich

    If you haven’t already had a chance to check out my review of His Last Mistress by Andrea Zuvich, then be sure to do so, it’s a quick read full of love and history! Zuvich graciously agreed to talk about some of the things that make the Duke of Monmouth such an endlessly fascinating historic figure in this weeks guest post! So without further ado please welcome Andrea Zuvich to The Lit Bitch!

  • Special Feature: STARZ Debuts The White Queen

    Red and White roses unite! Tonight is the big night! STARZ debuts their original series, The White Queen based on Philippa Gregory’s  bestselling series, The Cousins’ War. Be sure to tune in, Saturday, August 10th at 9pm ET/PT to catch the first episode! The show stars Max Irons, Janet McTeer, James Frain to name a few. If you are a fan of the Cousins’ War series, the next book, The White Princess, released on July 23 and is a thrilling novel to read as a stand alone or as part of the series. Here is what the press is saying about The White Queen original drama and novel:

  • Review: The Queen’s Vow by C.W. Gortner

    One country. One faith. One crown. That was the vision of Isabella I of Castile and her husband King Ferdinand of Aragon. Together they reigned for over thirty years, working tirelessly to unite a country that was constantly at civil war. We first meet Isabella at her humble beginnings. Her father the King of Castile has just died and his son from his first marriage, Enrique, is to inherit the thrown. Enrique and his advisers quickly remove Isabella, her brother Alfonso, and her mother from court. They are given a small country house with little to no resources and are basically forgotten about. Until one day when Enrique finally has…