Review: Tudor Christmas Tidings

 I have been in a dreadful reading slump. How dreadful? I started Tudor Christmas Tidings back in early November and finally finished it on December 29. That dreadful. Is it the book's fault? Not entirely. I mean it's not bad, but it also didn't help my situation at all either.

This anthology kicks off with the late Blythe Gifford's Christmas at Court. I have enjoyed several of Gifford's full-length historical romances, she really had a way of infusing history into her romances that I always appreciated.  Unfortunately the short format here does her no favors. This story is mostly political intrigue not given enough room to breathe with a teaspoon of romance that never takes off because I never felt invested in the couple either separately or together.

The story is set after the young princes "disappear" and Richard III is King. Lady Alice is our heroine and her family is working in concert with a rebellion to have Henry Tudor (future Henry VII) claim the throne by marrying Elizabeth of York. Part of the scheme involves Lady Alice becoming betrothed to Sir John Talbot.

That's pretty much it and I confess I couldn't figure out why the Alice-John marriage was so reliant on whether Henry married Elizabeth. Also the whole "romance" consists of Alice and John not sure if they can trust each other because they have to act like they're loyal to Richard, even though they're not, but they also can't tell the other that because what if the other one IS loyal to Richard. The short word count means neither the romance nor the political intrigue have room to grow and it comes off convoluted. 

Final Grade = D

Secrets of the Queen's Lady by Jenni Fletcher was by no means perfect, but after slogging through politics it was nice to get back to a story that was mainly romance, even though Anne of Cleves is the main secondary character.

Pippa is a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves who has since been divorced by Henry VIII and living quietly in the country. Landing on their doorstep is Kit, a diplomat, who is delivering a message that Henry wishes for Anne to join the court for the Christmas holiday.  Kit met Pippa years ago and was besotted, despite the fact that she was married. Now widowed, he sees an opening, but he's unaware that despite what everyone may think, Pippa's marriage was not a happy one. Her husband became emotionally abusive due to her in ability to get pregnant.  Needless to say Pippa has no desire to marry ever again, and besides - Kit is 7 years younger than she is, and even though he's not the heir, his political animal of an older brother is determined that Kit do his familial duty. Marry well, keep the future Mrs. pregnant and squirting out babies.

Kit's a rather enlightened hero for the times, and while his lack of concern about being disowned by his family raised an eyebrow, it helps that he's not a fan of court, Henry's tendency to discard wives, nor his brother's machinations. Our Kit wants a different sort of life. Still, during this period family and loyalty were kind of, well, everything. Pippa is ready to tar and feather Kit with the same brush as her husband - which I can understand better here than in other romances because a woman's ability to procreate was pretty much her sole reason for existing during this time period (and future time periods...). It wasn't perfect but it was quick, readable and heavy on the romance.

Final Grade = B-

The anthology ends with His Mistletoe Lady by Amanda McCabe, which is set during that period when Queen Mary was "pregnant" and newly-wed to King Philip II of Spain. Catherine Greaves' father is currently in the Tower of London for his part in the failed Wyatt Rebellion. Catherine's mother came over from Spain with the former Queen, Catherine of Aragon, so the plan is to head to court and hopefully a sympathetic Queen Mary will allow them to see her imprisoned father. The Queen is sympathetic, as is Don Diego de Vasquez, a visiting courtier from Spain who has been sent to help ferret out other plots against the Queen - and turns out that Catherine's father is a double agent. He's Diego's contact on the inside and feeding him information. Oh, and Catherine nor her mother have any clue about any of this. For all they know, their husband and father is a traitor.

Of course these two crazy kids start to fall in love despite the drama and intrigue surrounding them, and there's a little suspense at the end to carry us home to the happy ever after. The story works so long as you don't think about what's going to happen shortly after these events - but I'm convinced it all works out for Diego, Catherine and her parents in the end. One imagines that once they find out the Queen's pregnancy is a "phantom" one, they hightail it back to Spain to live on Diego's lands populated with orange and lemon groves.

Final Grade = B

The last two stories were pleasant enough, but the whole reading experience overall was very much a slog. Certainly this time of year is challenging for a lot of us, but I also think the overt political threads running through all these stories was just not where my mind wanted to go right now. I probably would have been better served reading some cotton candy holiday fluff instead of the political machinations and shenanigans of the Tudors.  Your mileage may vary.

Lucky Number 7: Unusual Historicals for October 2020

September saw me talking about nine new unusual historicals. Here we are in October and I have seven. It’s like authors and publishers are maybe clueing into the fact that Wendy needs a mental vacation - because obviously an actual vacation ain’t happening anytime soon. So for now my rest and rejuvenation is just going to have to take the form of bygone eras. Here are the October releases that caught my eye: 

A House East of Regent Street by Pam Rosenthal 

The future looks bright for former sailor Jack Merion. His wartime heroics have won him influential contacts, and his good looks and flair for business are definite assets. With funds to invest, he's on the brink of financial success in the high-stakes world of Regency London. 

And buying the house in Soho Square is a can't-miss opportunity. Once a fashionable brothel, the property will yield a good income in commercial rents and a clear path to the respectable life Jack has never known. 

There's only one problem - another prospective buyer. With a dark past, a desperate future, and some unmistakable assets of her own, Miss Cléo Myles is a formidable obstacle, one that Jack would be wise to steer clear of. 

But instead, he proposes a bargain that's as scandalous as it is irresistible. Five afternoons. Five rooms. Uncountable pleasures... ...In a neighborhood that's seen better days. And a house that's seen everything except love.  

It’s been a while since we’ve had a new release from Rosenthal who wrote several well-received erotically lush historicals back in the day. I’m a sucker for a house party romance, and this puts an entirely different spin on it - with a hero determined to claw his way to respectability and a heroine with a past vying for the purchase of the same house in Soho Square. I’m expecting plenty of wit and naughty shenanigans afoot! 

The Vicar and the Rake by Annabelle Greene 

As a young man, Sir Gabriel Winters left behind his status as a gentleman, turning his back on his secret desires and taking a self-imposed vow of celibacy. Now a chaste hard-working vicar, his reputation is beyond reproach. But, try as he might, he’s never forgotten the man he once desired or the pain of being abandoned by his first love. 

Edward Stanhope, the Duke of Caddonfell, is a notorious rake, delighting in scandal no matter the consequence. With a price on his head, he flees to the countryside, forced to keep his presence a secret or risk assassination. When Edward finds Gabriel on his estate, burning with fever, he cannot leave him to die, but taking him in puts them both in jeopardy. 

With the help of a notorious blackmailer, a society of rich and famous gentlemen who prefer gentlemen, and a kitten named Buttons, they might just manage to save Edward’s life—but the greatest threat may be to their hearts. 

I’m a sucker for a vicar hero and when he’s paired with someone who has a highly dubious reputation I want the story in my eyeballs Right. Now. And I’m getting that plus a reunited/second chance trope as well? Happy day! This is Greene’s debut and the first in a series. 

If a Lady Lingers by Anna Harrington (Novella) 

WHERE THE HEART IS... 

Daisy Daring dreams of what she cannot have—a career as an architect like her famous father, yet society will never tolerate a woman architect. When her father falls ill, Daisy takes up his work herself in order to provide for her family. Soon, she isn’t just finishing his old floor plans and designs but creating brand new ones herself—all done secretly under her father’s name. The ruse works well. No one suspects…until Hugh Whitby walks into her life. 

Hugh Whitby isn’t taken seriously by society, his family…well, by anyone. He’s too loud and boisterous, too colorful, too impetuous, too…Whitby. So when he decides to build a new home for orphans, he seizes on this chance to prove himself by hiring the best architect he can. However, it’s not Elias Daring who greets him but his lovely daughter Daisy. For Whitby, it’s love at first sight, but for Daisy, the attention that Whitby draws is dangerous. If anyone discovers her secret, it would end her father’s career and her dream right along with it. No, best to stay away from him—in public, because she can’t help falling for his charms when they’re alone. 

When an unintended act of betrayal threatens all she holds dear, can they overcome the obstacles between them and learn that home really is where the heart is? 

Who doesn’t love short reads this time of year? Especially with, you know, life right now. Lady architect hiding behind her father’s name so she can do what she loves must tread carefully when a do-gooder hero with a flakey reputation comes calling. A smitten hero who falls hard and fast and a heroine with everything to lose - including her heart. 

Tudor Christmas Tidings by Blythe Gifford, Jenni Fletcher & Amanda McCabe 

Make Merry at Court 

…with three Tudor Christmas stories! 

In Blythe Gifford’s Christmas at Court, Sir John Talbot and Lady Alice’s secret betrothal must wait until Henry Tudor claims the throne. Next in Secrets of the Queen’s Lady by Jenni Fletcher, the lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves is unexpectedly reunited with a handsome—younger—diplomat at the palace’s festivities! And in His Mistletoe Lady by Amanda McCabe, Catherine seeks help from a mysterious Spaniard to free her father in time for Christmas! 

And so it begins. That time of year when Harlequin starts pumping out holiday romances and conspiring to separate me from my money. We rarely see Tudor set stories in Romancelandia and all three authors have written stories I’ve enjoyed in the past. An easy one-click for me. 

Temptation Incarnate by Isobel Carr (Novelette) (Kindle Unlimited)

An impossible challenge … Eleanor Blakely is all too aware that her reputation dangles by a very slender thread, unfortunately, she’s found herself in the midst of a delicious series of wagers with a consummate charmer, and she can’t seem to stop herself from saying yes to every wicked proposition. Whatever twist of fate has kept his best friend’s sister on the shelf is a mystery to Viscount Wroxton, but when the inveterate little gamester suddenly catches his attention, she’s entirely is too fascinating to ignore. The fact that she has five enormous brothers is hardly worth thinking about—she’s thrown down the gauntlet, and he has no intention of losing, whatever the cost… 

With a bonus short story, Three Courtesans, which was originally written as a blog post for the Twelve Days of Christmas (I got Three French Hens). 

Not quite a novella but longer than a short story, Carr gives readers a Best Friend’s Sister trope wrapped in decadent Georgian packaging. Plus there’s naughty gambling and a bonus holiday short story included. 

Restored by Joanna Chambers 

Eighteen years ago, Henry Asquith, Duke of Avesbury had to leave his kept lover, Kit Redford, in order to devote himself to raising his young family. Now, a lifetime later, his children are moving on and for the first time in years, Henry is alone. 

During a rare visit to London, Henry unexpectedly happens upon an old friend of Kit’s and learns that Kit did not receive the financial pay off he was entitled to when Henry left him. Instead Kit was thrown out of his home and left destitute. Horrified, Henry begs Kit to see him and allow Henry to compensate him. But Kit, who now owns a discreet club for gentlemen of a certain persuasion, neither needs nor wants Henry’s money. 

“Perhaps you should earn the money you owe me the way I had to earn it? On your knees, and on your back, taking my cock like a whore.” 

Kit thought he had put his old hurts and grievances about Henry behind him, but when he sees Henry again, he discovers that, not only is the old pain still there, so is the fierce attraction that once burned between them. When, in a moment of fury, Kit demands a scandalous form of penance from Henry, no one is more surprised than Kit when Henry agrees to pay it. 

As Kit and Henry spend more time together, they learn more about the men they have become, and about the secret feelings and desires they concealed from one another in the past. 

Henry realises he wants to build a future with Kit but can he persuade his wary lover to trust him ever again? And can two men from such different worlds make a new life together? 

OK, so this sounds like it could be a hot mess (y’all our Duke needs to grovel) but it also sounds deliciously angst-y. And Wendy cannot, will not, turn away from angst-y historical romance. Cross class, redemption, and second chance romance all rolled into one. I need this now. 

The Roman Lady’s Illicit Affair by Greta Gilbert 

Can she find freedom… 

In her lover’s arms? 

Desperate for a divorce from her violent, adulterous husband, Vita runs away to the Roman Baths, where she is brought face-to-face with forbidding, handsome slave Ven. In him she finds an instant connection and ally. Yet to escape with their lives, they’ll have to resist their burning chemistry! And as Vita realizes that their freedom comes at a high cost, she might have to make an impossible choice… 

As readers I don’t think we talk enough about power dynamics in romance, especially in historicals. It’s how authors navigate through and around them that I find interesting - in eras where women lacked options and agency. Well here we have a story about a Roman slave and a desperate woman fleeing a violent husband. It could end up being problematic, it could end up being awesome - I won’t know until I try. 

What unusual historicals are you looking forward to this month?

Review: Rumors at Court

I'm a small handful of librarians inhabiting the planet who does not have an undergraduate degree in English.  No, mine is in history - and I spent the better part of four years working on a concentration in British history.  This being said, I'm fairly hopeless when it comes to anything prior to the Tudors.  I like reading medieval romances, but medieval history never captured my imagination in the same way that, say, the Victorian era did.

Which is why I appreciate how Blythe Gifford writes about the time period.  She has this way of infusing her stories with the history without 1) writing dull textbook treatises or 2) hopelessly confusing the reader.  While reading Rumors at Court, I'll admit, I ran off to Wikipedia early on to brush up on the Duke of Lancaster's timeline but after that I sunk right into the story and let it carry me away.

Valerie of Florham is a widow and she thanks God for that fact.  Hers was not a happy marriage.  Her husband was abusive and was not faithful.  Adding insult to injury, she failed to conceive - and a child is something Valerie so desperately wants.  Her husband's death means she has been summoned to London where the Duke of Lancaster (now calling himself My Lord of Spain) has wed Constanza of Castile.  The Duke was hopelessly in love with his first wife, Blanche, but his second marriage is strictly strategic.  He knows he is unlikely to ever sit on the throne of England and our boy has ambition.  So he weds the exiled Constanza which gives him a claim to the throne of Castile.  All he has to do now is wage a war to take it.

This would be where Sir Gil Wolford comes in.  She served the Duke faithfully fighting in France.  He is a trusted knight, and has the Duke's ear.  He was also Valerie's husband's commanding officer and he wishes to meet the widow to return something she gave her husband before he rode off into battle.  A small scrap of beautiful silk.  Imagine his horror when he meets Valerie and she spurns the silk.  Um, yeah.  She gave her husband no such thing.  So here's poor Gil, offering back the token to the wife that some mistress gave her husband.  Oopsie doodle.

What follows is a story about two people who lack agency - because, to be frank, very few people had agency during this time.  If you weren't at the mercy of the Court, you were at the mercy of the Vatican.  Valerie lives in fear that the Duke will decree she take another husband and given the dumpster fire that her first marriage was, she's not exactly in a rush.  All she wants is to go home, to tend her small garden, to work the land.  Gil is a man who has a home, but it's one he spurns.  His family's history is unsavory to the point of ugly.  He's damaged goods.  It's what has driven him to be a fierce warrior, that blind hope that people will forget what blood runs through his veins.  His greatest wish?  To take Castile for the Duke and live there permanently - a land where nobody knows his name.

We all know where this is going, right?  The Duke eventually decrees that Valerie and Gil will marry.  Valerie resigning herself to be controlled by yet another man, and fearful because her only memories of marriage are horrid.  Gil wants a family, desires a wife, and he is attracted to Valerie.  But she's a puzzle, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in an enigma - and he has no idea how to reach her.

Secondary storylines come into play surrounding the Duke, his mistress Katherine (a friend of Valerie's) and Constanza, who is pregnant by the Duke when this story opens.  As Gil prepares for war, Valerie is making herself indispensable to Constanza, and looking for a way to return to her home - even as it seems inevitable that she will marry Gil and end up in Castile.

There's a nice mix of external and internal conflict to this romance, but even with all the drama surrounding court life, this is a quiet story.  Valerie and Gil are both characters with deep insecurities and fears who must learn to trust and be open with each other.  Gil is a fearsome knight with a fearsome reputation, but his gentleness with Valerie make this a movingly sweet romance.  And Valerie, with Gil's understanding, has to learn to find her voice.  Gil makes decisions over the course of this story that will break her heart, but as they come together, as they learn to trust, Valerie and Gil find their way to each other and carve out their own path to happiness.

Final Grade = B

Secrets At Court

I know authors loathe the term "wallpaper historical," but I've always found it an apt description, assuming the term is used correctly.  For me, a book that is "wallpaper" is one with no clearly defined world building.  That is to say the author tells you the story is a medieval, but it lacks so much flavor that it might as well take place in Regency London, post-Civil War America, or on the moon.  When I read a historical romance I want the author to give me a story that is entrenched in the era they are writing about.  When I'm reading a medieval, I want a medieval thankyouverymuch.  Which is why I could kick myself in the teeth for not reading a Blythe Gifford book sooner.  Secrets at Court is very clearly a medieval - a darn good one at that.

Anne of Stamford knows how lucky she is, in theory.  Born with a lame foot and leg, she is well aware that her life could be spent either in a nunnery or begging in the streets.  Instead she is a lady in waiting to Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent.  Joan keeps her around for a couple of reasons 1) she has secrets Anne could expose and 2) being "lame" Anne is never really "seen" by most people.  That is to say Anne is pretty darn great at ferreting out court intrigues - and Joan has plenty of secrets, most of which involve her addiction to marrying men in secret.  Now she has fallen in love with Edward, the Black Prince, they marry in secret with Anne as a witness, and then after the fact try to get the Vatican's blessing.  The fly in the ointment?  Joan has been married before - twice.  The church having already untangled one of her messes.  The other is that Joan and Edward may be too closely related for the church to bless the union.  Well, no matter.  We're talking royalty after all, why should rules apply to them?  So Edward dispatches a knight, Sir Nicholas Lovayne, to deal with these few remaining minor details.

Nicholas is bloody well tired of dealing with the whims of his betters, but you cannot very well say no to a prince.  He just wants to get the whole mess sorted so he can pack his bags and head back to France, or Italy, or wherever the wind takes him.  Nicholas is a man with no ties, very few possessions, and has spent his life at war.  It's the way he likes it - until he meets Anne, a woman who intrigues him like no other.  But little does he know that the tempting Anne has entered into his orbit at the behest of her lady.  Because Joan has secrets that Nicholas can never, ever, be allowed to uncover.

There is no mistaking this story for a medieval.  It's a medieval down to the marrow.  There's the court intrigue, the politics, the incredible importance of the Vatican and the Pope, plus the keen sense of value placed on loyalty.  Loyalty was everything.  Loyalty either let you live or got your killed, depending on which side you were on (hopefully the winning one!).  Loyalty literally meant life or death - and the author does an excellent job of conveying all of this within the framework of her fictional story.

What I loved about the romance is that both Anne and Nicholas felt they were "lesser than" for entirely different reasons.  They are two lost souls who feel they are unworthy of love, marriage, and happiness - but for their own unique reasons:

Joan:

"A man might wed a plain woman for money or because she could help raise children and run the household.  He might bed a beautiful one for love or lust.  But a lame one was of little use to anyone.  Except, perhaps, to God."

Nicholas:

"The truth was, he had nothing to offer her, or any woman, but a strong right arm and a nimble brain.  All he had to show for thirty-one years on this earth was the horse beneath him and the armour on his back."

And when these two people get together?  When they succumb to their attraction?  You get beautiful moments like this one - where Anne literally teaches Nicholas to open his eyes and see - see the details all around him:

'You must promise me something.  You must do it for me.  When you leave, when you go back to France and Italy and the rest of the world, look at it twice as hard.  Look at it for yourself and then look at it for me.  Look at every leaf and stone and bit of coloured glass and every wave.  And know that I will think of you.  That I am here, imagining all the wonders the world holds.'

It's everything I want out of a good medieval.  It gives me the strong sense of time and place, with intriguing, damaged characters lugging around enough burdens to make them interesting.  If you love medievals this is a must read or if you just need a historical romance palate cleanser?  Look no further.  This is a very good story that will take you out of the Regency ballroom for a change.

Final Grade = B+