Publisher: Romaunce Books
Publication Date: 31st May 2023
Genre:Historical Fiction
Summary:
King Henry II, exhausted from everlasting conflict with France and his sons rebelling against him finds love, solace, and passion after falling for the youthful beauty of Alys and makes her his mistress.
Henry II, now in his late 50s, exhausted from a lifetime of war remains one of the greatest Kings who ruled England. The founder of the ‘Devil’s Brood’, he and his advisors modernized England’s government and society and much more. But it was his jealous family life which caused his life to fall apart.
Alys was the timid 8-year-old daughter of the King of France when sent to England and ultimately forced into marriage with Henry’s violent son Prince Richard, but he ridiculed and rejected her. Within six years, Alys had developed into a ravishing beauty, who was suddenly appealing to the old King himself.
As they grew closer, Alys realised she could only save herself by becoming more powerful. She didn’t want to be a royal mistress like Rosamund, or a princess married to a violent and absent prince like Richard. No, her ambition was to become queen, to replace the formidable, feisty monarch, Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most beautiful powerful, and wealthy women in the world.
When a son, William, is born to old Henry and Alys, the young princess now has her life complete, but she needs desperately to succeed and protect him. England has become a maelstrom of baronial factions with Eleanor marshalling her sons, young Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, plus John who try overthrow their father and take possession of his empire. All want the right to rule their own lands, even before old Henry is dead.
Review:
Firstly thank you to Random Things Book Tours, Romaunce Books and Alan Gold for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book to review.
Firstly thank you to Random Things Book Tours, Romaunce Books and Alan Gold for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book to review.
I've had a spate of beautiful books to fill my shelves and this is another one of those, I really love the images used for the front and how Alys's name is nice and big on the front making it clear that she is the main focus of the book and the men are of a secondary nature in this retelling.
Now I love historical fiction, it's one of my favourite genres to read because I am a self-confessed history nerd! And oddly I have read a book recently with Alys featured in it so I did know about her and her place in English history. This book is clearly well-researched and I love the amount of detail he has woven into it, it's so cleverly written. It flows easily and I found the book so quick to read, mostly because I didn't want to put it down. Whilst we have had a lot of historical fiction from a female voice in recent years it's nice to hear one from further back in history. We usually get a lot from the Tudor and Stuart period so hearing from the Plantagents is a refreshing change, and also it's not a period that most people can name many female historical figures from, usually it's just Eleanor of Aquitaine because she was an unusual figure in history at this time.
Alys is an intriguing figure and her story is one I've enjoyed reading more about, and I love that this appears to be book one of a series so I can't wait to read what Alan Gold writes next.
Krystina xx
Now I love historical fiction, it's one of my favourite genres to read because I am a self-confessed history nerd! And oddly I have read a book recently with Alys featured in it so I did know about her and her place in English history. This book is clearly well-researched and I love the amount of detail he has woven into it, it's so cleverly written. It flows easily and I found the book so quick to read, mostly because I didn't want to put it down. Whilst we have had a lot of historical fiction from a female voice in recent years it's nice to hear one from further back in history. We usually get a lot from the Tudor and Stuart period so hearing from the Plantagents is a refreshing change, and also it's not a period that most people can name many female historical figures from, usually it's just Eleanor of Aquitaine because she was an unusual figure in history at this time.
Alys is an intriguing figure and her story is one I've enjoyed reading more about, and I love that this appears to be book one of a series so I can't wait to read what Alan Gold writes next.
Krystina xx
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