Embroidering Her Truth
Embroidering Her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the Language of Power by Clare Hunter is .99c! This book jumped out at me because it’s an examination of how Mary, Queen of Scots used textiles, embroidery, and color to communicate and convey power. This book has a 4.13 star average on StoryGraph, and a 4.26 star average on Goodreads. It also won an award as Scottish History Book of the Year in 2022! Have you read this book?
I felt that Mary was there, pulling at my sleeve, willing me to appreciate the artistry, wanting me to understand the dazzle of the material world that shaped her.
At her execution Mary, Queen of Scots wore red. Widely known as the colour of strength and passion, it was in fact worn by Mary as the Catholic symbol of martyrdom.
In sixteenth-century Europe women’s voices were suppressed and silenced. Even for a queen like Mary, her prime duty was to bear sons. In an age when textiles expressed power, Mary exploited them to emphasise her female agency. From her lavishly embroidered gowns as the prospective wife of the French Dauphin to the fashion dolls she used to encourage a Marian style at the Scottish court and the subversive messages she embroidered in captivity for her supporters, Mary used textiles to advance her political agenda, affirm her royal lineage and tell her own story.
In this eloquent cultural biography, Clare Hunter exquisitely blends history, politics and memoir to tell the story of a queen in her own voice.
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The Forever Girl
The Forever Girl by Jill Shalvis is $1.99! This is book 6 in the Wildstone series, and features found family, a second chance romance, and, as usual, a large cast of interesting characters. It has a 4+ star average on Goodreads, and 3.96 on StoryGraph, where readers say it’s emotional, hopeful, and funny – sounds about right! Have you read this book, or the series?
USA Today Bestseller
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis does it once again with a heartfelt story of family, forgiveness, and secrets that have the power to change the course of more than one life.
When Maze returns to Wildstone for the wedding of her estranged bff and the sister of her heart, it’s also a reunion of a once ragtag team of teenagers who had only each other until a tragedy tore them apart and scattered them wide.
Now as adults together again in the lake house, there are secrets and resentments mixed up in all the amazing childhood memories. Unexpectedly, they instantly fall back into their roles: Maze their reckless leader, Cat the den mother, Heather the beloved baby sister, and Walker, a man of mystery.
Life has changed all four of them in immeasurable ways. Maze and Cat must decide if they can rebuild their friendship, and Maze discovers her long-held attraction to Walker hasn’t faded with the years but has only grown stronger.
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The Ward Witch
The Ward Witch by Sarah Painter is $2.49! The first thing I need to tell you is that this is book 1 of a series called Unholy Island, and one of the lead characters is an innkeeper there. This story is “set in the same world as the urban fantasy mystery books, Crow Investigations, but it is the start of a separate series,” so if you’re a fan of that series, hooray, there’s more! This book has a 4.26-star average on Goodreads, and 3.88 on StoryGraph, where readers say it is very mysterious. Have you read this one? (NB: book 2 of the series, The Book Keeper is also available, and the ebook is $4.99.
Mysterious, magical, and a little bit deadly… Welcome to Unholy Island.
Esme Gray runs the guest house and tends to the ethereal wards that protect the island. She’s sheltering from a terrible past and will do anything to stay safely hidden.
Luke Taylor has been searching for his missing twin for months, but has begun to believe that his brother might be dead. With his hope in tatters, a tip off leads him to a remote tidal island in the North Sea. It’s further out than the famous Holy Island, and far stranger.
Visitors shouldn’t be able to stay for more than two nights, so when Luke breaks this rule, the close-knit community is sent into turmoil. The residents of Unholy Island have secrets and they intend to keep them.
When Luke stumbles across one of the islanders dead on the shore, he finds himself under suspicion, made worse by his own troubles washing up on the tide.
Esme is drawn to Luke, but she doesn’t trust her own instincts. That’s not ideal for a witch — especially when there is a killer on the loose and a storm is rolling in…
The Ward Witch is the first book in a brand new contemporary fantasy series from the bestselling author of magical fiction, Sarah Painter.
*The Ward Witch is set in the same world as the urban fantasy mystery books, Crow Investigations, but it is the start of a separate series and can be enjoyed independently.
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It Had to Be a Duke
It Had to Be a Duke by Vivienne Lorret is $1.99! This is book 1 of The Liars’ Club series, and features a fake engagement. Amanda reviewed this one, and gave it a C, saying “There’s a lot of ‘eldest child managing the emotions of relatives or handling the family baggage’ with both main characters.” Amanda also mentioned some excellent side characters, including a cheeky reverend, and an heiress who likes inventing things. Sometimes I know y’all are looking for effervescent historicals to read, and this seems like it might fit the bill. Have you read this one?
USA Today bestselling author Vivienne Lorret launches a new series with a sparkling romance about a spinster, a duke, and a fake engagement that blurs the lines between enemies and lovers…
Verity Hartley always tells the truth. Well, mostly. However, when her snooty neighbor returns to their small hamlet to brag about having a grand Season, a plethora of ballgowns, and so many suitors that she cannot possibly decide which one to marry, Verity tells a lie. She claims to be betrothed. To a duke. Who happens to be her family’s sworn enemy. But what are the odds that he would ever learn of this one, little, harmless falsehood?
Magnus Warring, the Duke of Longhurst, is on the precipice of marrying an heiress to save his estate from financial ruin. At least, he was. Until he hears an unbelievable rumor that he is already betrothed. To the daughter of a liar, cheat, and swindler! Needing to protect his reputation, he hunts down the culprit. And when he finds the untamed beguiler, she has the audacity to ask him to lie for her. To pretend to be her fiancé!
One week, that’s all Verity needs. Then Magnus can return to his life. But nothing is ever that simple. Sometimes it doesn’t take that long to fall in love, even with the enemy.
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