Mailbox Monday

Another Monday, Another Mailbox!! This is a feature where we all share with each other the yummy books that showed up at our doors! WARNING: Mailbox Mondays can lead to extreme envy and GINORMOUS wishlists!!

My week was a really great one book wise, how about you?

Young Bess:  The Girl Who Would Be Queen (Book 1)

by Margaret Irwin

Release Date:  March 1, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  This eloquent novel explores Queen Elizabeth's life as a child and teenager, opening just before Henry VIII dies and ending when she is nearly 20. Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Anne Boleyn, young Princess Elizabeth has become adept at dodging the constant political games and royal whims that ensure her situation is never secure. When her distant father, tyrannical King Henry VIII, dies, the future brightens for Elizabeth. She is taken in by Henry's last wife, Katherine Parr, whose new husband is Tom Seymour, the uncle of Elizabeth's brother, the new king. Seymour, however, is playing a risky game. Marrying a widowed queen is one thing, flirting with the king's daughter and second in line to the throne is another. As the adolescent Elizabeth finds herself dangerously attracted to him, tragedy looms ahead for her and her kingdom, and she is forced to face her future alone.

Pre-order at PTTP's Amazon Store

Shadow of the King (Book Three of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy)

by Helen Hollick

Release Date:  March 1, 2010

SYNOPSIS:   The final book in the most historically accurate Arthurian legend trilogy, The Shadow of the King is not just a wrap-up novel, but an engrossing story of its own.

Although Britain lies in an uneasy peace, Arthur Pendragon, King of Britain, sets sail for Gaul to defend territories there—leaving his country vulnerable and leaderless. When word comes that the Pendragon has fallen in battle, the powerful Council, headed by Arthur's power-hungry uncle, threatens to overthrow Gwenhwyfar and her young daughter. Gwenhwyfar is also opposed by Arthur's ambitious ex-wife Winifred, keen to advance her own son as rightful heir. But, unknown to Gwenhywfar, events abroad mean a far mightier battle for the Pendragon throne—and for the very future of Britain itself.

Pre-order at PTTP's Amazon Store.

Betrayal of the Blood Lily (Book Six of the Pink Carnation series)

by Lauren Willig

Release Date:  January 12, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  The heroines of Lauren Willig's bestselling Pink Carnation series have engaged in espionage all over nineteenth-century Europe. In the sixth stand-alone volume, our fair English heroine travels to India, where she finds freedom-and risk-more exciting than she ever imagined.

Everyone warned Miss Penelope Deveraux that her unruly behavior would land her in disgrace someday. She never imagined she's be whisked off to India to give the scandal of her hasty marriage time to die down. AS Lady Frederick Staines, Penelope plunges into the treacherous waters of the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, where no one is quite what they seem-even her husband. In a strange country, where elaborate court dress masks even more elaborate intrigues and a dangerous spy called the Marigold leaves venomous cobras as his calling card, there is only one person Penelope can trust...

Captain Alex Reid has better things to do than play nursemaid to a pair of aristocrats. Or so he thinks-until Lady Frederick Staines out- shoots, out-rides, and out-swims every man in the camp. She also has an uncanny ability to draw out the deadly plans of the Marigold and put herself in harm's way. With danger looming from local warlords, treacherous court officials, and French spies, Alex realizes that an alliance with Lady Staines just might be the only thing standing in the way of a plot designed to rock the very foundations of the British Empire...

Pre-order at PTTP's Amazon Store.

Mistress Shakespeare

by Karen Harper

Paperback Release Date:  January 5, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  As historical records show, Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton was betrothed to William Shakespeare just days before he was forced to wed the pregnant Anne Hathaway. Here, Anne Whateley takes up her pen to tell the intimate story of her daring life with Will. Obliged to acknowledge Will's publicly sanctioned marriage, Anne Whateley nevertheless follows him from rural Stratford-Upon-Avon to teeming London, where they honor their secret union, the coming together of two passionate souls. Persecution and plague, insurrection and inferno, friends and foes all play parts in Anne's lively tale.

Spanning half a century of Elizabethan and Jacobean history, and sweeping from the lowest reaches of society to the royal court, this richly textured novel tells the real story of Shakespeare in love.

Pre-order at PTTP's Amazon Store.

The French Blue

by Richard W. Wise

Release Date:  November 15, 2009

SYNOPSIS:  Between the years 1630-1668, the French gem merchant, Jean Baptiste Tavernier made six voyages to Persia and India. His true exploits by land and sea go far beyond the ink and paper exploits of fictional adventurers. Tavernier met and did business with some of the world's most powerful princes and romanced some of the most beautiful women. Sometime during his later voyages, Tavernier acquired a magnificent 116 carat blue diamond. Upon his return to France, he sold the diamond to Louis XIV, for the equivalent of 147 kilos of pure gold. The Sun King made him Baron of Aubonne. The remains of Tavernier s blue gem is known today as the Hope Diamond, but for the first 200 years of its history it was called simply The French Blue.

Buy at PTTP's Amazon Store.