more 2010 releases


Poison:  A Novel of the Renaissance
by Sara Pool

Release Date:  August 3, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  Before the Tudors, there were the Borgias. More passionate.  More dangerous. More deadly. Meet them through the eyes of a “heroine” unlike any you have ever known.

In the simmering hot summer of 1492, a monstrous evil is stirring within the Eternal City of Rome. The brutal murder of an alchemist sets off a desperate race to uncover a plot that

threatens to end the Renaissance and plunge Europe back into medieval darkness.  Determined to avenge the killing of her father, Francesca Giordano defies all convention to

claim the position of poisoner serving Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, head of the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy. She becomes the confidante of Lucrezia Borgia and the lover of Cesare Borgia. At the same time, she is drawn to the young renegade monk who yearns to save her life and her soul.

Navigating a web of treachery and deceit, Francesca pursues her father’s killer from the depths of Rome’s Jewish ghetto to the heights of the Vatican itself. In so doing, she sets the stage for the ultimate confrontation with ancient forces that will seek to use her darkest desires to achieve their own catastrophic ends.

Pre-order at PTTP's Amazon Store.





The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance
by Jeanne Kalogridis

Release Date:  July 6, 2010

SYNOPSIS: Daughter of the Duke of Milan and wife of the conniving Count Girolamo Riario, Caterina Sforza was the bravest warrior Renaissance Italy ever knew. She ruled her own lands, fought her own battles, and openly took lovers whenever she pleased.

Her remarkable tale is told by her lady-in-waiting, Dea, a woman knowledgeable in reading the “triumph cards,” the predecessor of modern-day Tarot. As Dea tries to unravel the truth about her husband’s murder, Caterina single-handedly holds off invaders who would steal her title and lands.  However, Dea’s reading of the cards reveals that Caterina cannot withstand a third and final invader—none other than Cesare Borgia, son of the corrupt Pope Alexander VI, who has an old score to settle with Caterina. Trapped inside the Fortress at Ravaldino as Borgia’s cannons pound the walls, Dea reviews Caterina’s scandalous past and struggles to understand their joint destiny, while Caterina valiantly tries to fight off Borgia’s unconquerable army.

Pre-order at PTTP's Amazon Store.



by Kate Furnivall

Release Date:  June 1, 2010

SYNOPSIS: Russia, 1910. Valentina Ivanova is the darling of St.Petersburg’s elite aristocracy—until her romance with a Danish engineer creates a terrible scandal and her parents push her into a loveless engagement with a Russian count. Meanwhile, Russia itself is bound for rebellion. With the Tsar and the Duma at each other’s throats, and the Bolsheviks drawing their battle lines, the elegance and opulence of Tsarist rule are in their last days. And Valentina will be forced to make a choice that will change not only her own life, but the lives of those around her forever…

Pre-order at PTTP's Amazon Store.




by Erica Eisdorfer

Release Date:  August 3, 2010

SYNOPSIS: Susan Rose isn't the average protagonist: she's scheming, promiscuous, plump, and she is also smart, funny, tender, and entirely lovable. Like many lower-class women of Victorian England, she was born into a world that offered very few opportunities for the poor and unlovely. But Susan is the kind of plucky heroine who seeks her fortune, and finds it . . . with some help from, well, her breasts. Susan, you see, is a professional wet nurse; she breast-feeds the children of wealthy women who can't or won't nurse their own babies.

But when her own child is sold by her father and sent to a London lady who had recently lost a baby, Susan manages to convince his new foster mother, Mrs. Norbert, to hire her as a wet nurse. Once reunited with her son, Susan discovers the Norbert home to be a much more sinister place than she'd ever expected. Dark and full of secrets, its master is in India, and the first baby who died there did so under very mysterious circumstances. Susan embarks on a terrifying journey to rescue her son before he meets the same fate.

Pre-order at PTTP's Amazon Store.




by Cecelia Holland

Release Date:  August 3, 2010

SYNOPSIS: 1151: As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor grew up knowing what it was to be regarded for herself and not for her husband’s title. Now, as wife to Louis VII and Queen of France, she has found herself unsatisfied with reflected glory—and feeling constantly under threat, even though she outranks every woman in Paris. Then, standing beside her much older husband in the course of a court ceremony, Eleanor locks eyes with a man—hardly more than a boy, really—across the throne room, and knows that her world has changed irrevocably…

He is Henry D’Anjou, eldest son of the Duke of Anjou, and he is in line, somewhat tenuously, for the British throne. She meets him in secret. She has a gift for secrecy, for she is watched like a prisoner by spies even among her own women. She is determined that Louis must set her free. Employing deception and disguise, seduction and manipulation, Eleanor is determined to find her way to power—and make her mark on history.

Pre-order at PTTP's Amazon Store.



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8 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to Poison--it sounds really good. :)

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  2. The Scarlet Contessa sounds really interesting. Warrior chicks who kick butt is just way cool anyway. I am on the fence about The Jewel though hmmmm

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  3. OH! A new Kalogridis so quickly after the last one. Excellent.

    Also, already looking forward to the new Furnivall too.

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  4. Looks like quite a few good ones to look forward to.

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  5. Eleanor the Queen looks good. haven't read a Cecelia Holland in forever.

    Happy Holiday's Amy!!!

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  6. I am especially interested in the Eleanor book but several are going on my wish list.

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  7. What an excellent lineup of books! Can't wait to read them all.

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  8. Amy, it never stops to amaze me what wonderful & interesting titles you post, by TBR List certainly grows and grows like a tree everytime i take a look at your blog! Thank YOU!

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