Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mailbox Monday

It's time once again for Mailbox Monday, a weekly meme created for bloggers to share the books that arrived in their home over the previous week.  Mailbox Monday is a travelling meme and is being hosted in the month of May by Martha over at Martha's Bookshelf.

All books are my own purchases.   First two synopses courtesy of Chapters.indigo.ca, the third is courtesy of amazon.co.uk





Four Sisters All Queens by Sherry Jones

Rich in intrigue and scheming, love and lust, Sherry Jones's vibrant historical novel follows four women destined to sway the fate of nations and the hearts of kings. . . .

Amid the lush valleys and fragrant wildflowers of Provence, Marguerite, Eléonore, Sanchia, and Beatrice have learned to charm, hunt, dance, and debate under the careful tutelage of their ambitious mother-and to abide by the countess's motto: "Family comes first."


With Provence under constant attack, their legacy and safety depend upon powerful alliances. Marguerite's illustrious match with the young King Louis IX makes her Queen of France. Soon Eléonore-independent and daring-is betrothed to Henry III of England. In turn, shy, devout Sanchia and tempestuous Beatrice wed noblemen who will also make them queens.


Yet a crown is no guarantee of protection. Enemies are everywhere, from Marguerite's duplicitous mother-in-law to vengeful lovers and land-hungry barons. Then there are the dangers that come from within, as loyalty succumbs to bitter sibling rivalry, and sister is pitted against sister for the prize each believes is rightfully hers-Provence itself.


From the treacherous courts of France and England, to the bloody tumult of the Crusades, Sherry Jones traces the extraordinary true story of four fascinating sisters whose passions, conquests, and progeny shaped the course of history.


I, Iago by Nicole Galland

From earliest childhood, the precocious boy called Iago had inconvenient tendencies toward honesty, a failing that made him an embarrassment to his family and an outcast in the corrupt culture of glittering Renaissance Venice. Embracing military life as an antidote to the frippery of Venetian society, Iago won the love of the beautiful Emilia and the regard of Venice's revered General Othello. After years of abuse and rejection, Iago was poised to achieve everything he had ever fought for and dreamed of . . .

But a cascade of unexpected deceptions propels him on a catastrophic quest for righteous vengeance, contorting his moral compass until he has betrayed his closest friends and family, and sealed his own fate as one of the most notorious villains of all time.

Inspired by William Shakespeare''s classic tragedy Othello, a timeless tale of friendship and treachery, love and jealousy, Galland's I, Iago sheds fascinating new light on a complex soul, and on the conditions and fateful events that helped to create a monster.


Hereward by James Wilde

1062, a time many fear is the End of Days. With the English King Edward heirless and ailing, across the grey seas in Normandy the brutal William the Bastard waits for the moment when he can drown England in a tide of blood. The ravens of war are gathering. But as the king’s closest advisors scheme and squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the naked ambition of the Norman duke come to rest with just one man: Hereward...To some a ruthless warrior and master tactician, to others a devil in human form, Hereward is as adept in the art of slaughter as the foes that gather to claim England’s throne. But in his country’s hour of greatest need, his enemies at Court have made him outlaw. To stay alive – and a freeman – he must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to Flanders’ fields and the fenlands of East Anglia. The tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of legend, this is also the story of two mismatched allies: Hereward the man of war, and Alric, a man of peace, a monk. One will risk everything to save the land he loves, the other to save his friend’s soul...James Wilde’s thrilling, action-packed debut rescues a great English hero from the darkest of times and brings him to brutal and bloody life. 

In addition to the books above, I also purchased (as a Mother's Day gift to myself) all seven of the Harry Potter novels for my Kindle. 

That's it for me.  What did you get in your mailbox this past week?