Showing results by author "J. P. Reedman" in All Categories

In 15th century England, there are two cousins, both the daughters of dukes, both widowed young, both the mother of sons called Henry. Both are named Margaret Beaufort. One Margaret’s son will be a future King. The other one’s son will be an infamous rebel. The ‘other Margaret Beaufort’ is the daughter of Edmund, Duke of Somerset. Proud and temperamental, Edmund’s bitterest enemy is Richard, Duke of York. Rumours swirl about Edmund—Is he to blame for losing many English territories in France? Is he the true father of Queen Margaret’s baby son, Edward of Westminster? Tensions ...

A MAN WHO WOULD BE KING : The Duke of Buckingham and Richard III November 2 1483. As Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham stands on the scaffold of Salisbury Market Square, accused of high treason, he reflects on his life during the turbulent era of the Wars of the Roses. After the death of his grandfather, the old Duke, Henry (known as Harry) is sent to the court of the new King Edward IV and placed into the household of his Queen, Elizabeth Woodville. Harry, coming from a rich and noble line, is considered a “prize catch” for the Woodvilles, and soon he is forced, aged ten, to marry one...

I, Richard Plantagenet, The Prequels: The Coming of Age of Richard III Complete Edition containing books 1-3, THE ROAD FROM FOTHERINGHAY, A VOUS ME LIE, and CROWN IN EXILE The story of Richard III's childhood and youth, told in first person from his point of view. When Richard's father, the Duke of York, is killed at Wakefield his mother Cecily Neville sends the young boy and his brother George to Burgundy for their safety. Soon, however, their elder brother takes the throne as Edward IV and the children return to a very different England as royal princes. Richard is sent to the household ...

Daughter of a Scottish king and an Anglo-Saxon princess, Edith is sent to her Aunt Cristina, the Abbess of Romsey for her education. Cristina is harsh and unkind and tries to force Edith to wear a nun's veil, first as a disguise and then permanently, but Edith is enraged and tramples it on the ground. She begs her parents to move her from Romsey to the grand Abbey of Wilton and for a while Edith's life is calm and fulfilling--but then the suitors begin to come. Most fearsome of all is the King, William Rufus, with his fierce mismatched eyes, florid face...and evil reputation. More ...

I RICHARD PLANTAGENET: PART TWO LOYAULTE ME LIE. Sequel to Tante le Desiree but also a stand-alone book in its own right. 1483. King Edward IV is dead. The Woodvilles have the Great Seal—and the treasury. In the north Richard Duke of Gloucester receives word of his brother’s unexpected death from Lord Hastings, who advises him to get to London and take possession of the new young King. Riding into Northampton, Anthony Woodville, guardian of Edward V, is implicated in a plot to ambush Richard upon the road. He is arrested and Edward V taken into care by Gloucester and the flamboyant and ...

Sent into a convent at the age of six, Mary daughter of Edward I, decides to make the best of a bad situation. It soon becomes obvious she is never going to make a good nun! Never forgetting that she is a princess by birth, the feisty gambler travels around England, living the high life at daddy's expense, and acquiring numerous other bad "habits" ... including being linked romantically to the Earl of Surrey, John de Warenne. When her Father the King becomes ill and dies, the crown goes to Mary's brother Edward II and the travelling nun attends his disastrous Coronation, rubbing shoulders ...

In a world where loyalty is tested and power is fleeting, young Ela, only child of the Earl of Salisbury, finds herself swept out of England after the death of her father to the opulent courts of Richard Lionheart. Betrothed to William Longsword, the King's illegitimate brother, she navigates a life filled with danger and ambition. As King John’s tyranny looms, Ela's love for William and their growing family face relentless threats. When war strikes and William is presumed lost at sea, ambitious suitors circle like vultures. Will Ela’s unwavering spirit endure, or will fate tear them ...

In the tumultuous Tudor Era, Katherine Plantagenet finds herself caught between the shadows of her past and the uncertainty of her future. At just fifteen, she feels the weight of her lineage as Richard III's illegitimate daughter. Married to the Earl of Huntingdon, she fears rejection, haunted by memories of a carefree childhood at Sheriff Hutton Castle. As whispers of royal intrigue swirl around her, Katherine must navigate a world where loyalty is fragile and betrayal lurks behind every corner. Will she reclaim her place in a kingdom that sees her as a threat, or will her past define her...

Married to King Henry III at a young age, Eleanor of Provence navigates a world fraught with court intrigue and baronial wrath. A devoted mother, she defies the monks to care for her ailing son, future king Edward I. A loyal friend to family members, she incurs the jealousy of the nobles, the anger of the common folk. As Simon de Montfort's popularity rises and Henry's wanes, Eleanor must decipher friend from foe. Will her son Edward free his captive father at Evesham? Will Eleanor’s own legacy endure, or fade away like whispers in the wind? Today, Eleanor of Provence is lost to time, one...

I, RICHARD PLANTAGENET, PART ONE : TANT LE DESIREE (I have desired it so much) 1471 : THE BATTLE OF BARNET. He is eighteen. It is his first battle. He is wounded…he is Richard of Gloucester, the King’s youngest brother. With the Kingmaker slain, Richard and his brother Edward IV go on to ultimate victory at Tewkesbury. Old King Henry dies in ‘mysterious circumstances’ in the Tower and York’s claim is secure…Richard wants to marry Anne Neville, the Kingmaker’s daughter, but his brother George stands in his way and hides her in a London tavern… Not all the feuds are on the ...

Before there was a King called Richard III, there was a boy, Richard of the House of York, youngest living child of his large, royal-blooded family. A small, thin, nervous boy who witnesses the terror of the sack of Ludlow and is taken prisoner in its aftermath, along with his mother Cecily and two of his siblings. A child of eight sent for safety to a strange foreign land when his father is killed in battle and one of his brothers murdered, their heads spiked above the gates of York by the Lancastrian victors. A young boy raised to knighthood and a Dukedom by his eldest brother, the ...

In the turbulent clashes for England's throne, Eleanor Talbot finds herself newly widowed and entangled in a dangerous secret. After a clandestine marriage to Edward, the young, handsome, newly proclaimed King, she believes love can conquer all. But after the blood-soaked battles of Mortimer’s Cross and Towton, Edward's heart strays to another widow, the captivating Elizabeth Woodville, whom he also marries in a clandestine rite. A few months later, he announces her as his new queen. As Eleanor grapples with Edward's betrayal and seeks solace in her faith, her past threatens to unravel ...

Rosamund Clifford, one of the most famous royal mistresses of all time—concubine to Henry II, the first Plantagenet King. A young maiden ruled by a grasping father who will stop at nothing to promote his own cause with the King...even using his daughter's beautiful face and enticing body to gain high favour. A fearful girl taken by a mysterious messenger from Godstow nunnery to a Tower surrounded by a grotesque topiary labyrinth, where she must wait for the arrival of the master of the maze—not the Minotaur of ancient Greek myth but the bull-like Plantagenet King Henry. Drawn like a ...

In a world where honor and passion collide, red-haired Dangereuse de l'Isle Bouchard believes her marriage to Viscount Aimery is her greatest achievement. But everything changes when she encounters William, Duke of Aquitaine—his court a whirlwind of music and revelry. Drawn into a secret affair, Dangereuse finds herself abducted to Poitiers, living in a tower designed just for her. As tensions rise with William's vengeful family, she takes charge, orchestrating a marriage that will change history. Witness the rise of a granddaughter destined to become the fierce Eleanor of Aquitaine. Love...

In a world where bloodlines dictate fate, Eleanor of Brittany faces a grim reality. Once a prized bride, she becomes a pawn in a deadly game of power. Her dreams shatter when the marriage meant to secure her future crumbles, leaving her at the mercy of her uncle, the cruel and infamous King John. With her younger brother Arthur seeking vengeance and a throne he believes is rightfully his, they ally with France, igniting a brutal conflict. Captured and imprisoned in England, Eleanor's only crime is her royal lineage. Will she find a way to reclaim her freedom, or will her legacy be one of ...

A Vous Me Lie—I am Bound to You. (An early motto found in a book of Richard of Gloucester, later King Richard III.) Young Richard of Gloucester has returned to his brother King Edward’s court after training in the household of the Earl of Warwick. Quickly the young man finds himself caught up in court intrigues: the famous Smithfield Joust, the Woodvilles’ theft of Thomas Cook’s tapestries, the killing of the Earl of Desmond in dubious circumstances. He also is befriended by the older John Howard, and experiences his first tastes of love –which results in the births of his two ...

I, Richard Plantagenet, An Epic Novel of Richard III Complete Edition, updated and revised, containing parts 1 and 2, Tante Le Desiree and Loyaulte Me Lie. Richard III's story, told in first person from his point of view, using, where possible, Richard's actual words (in modern English.) From the battle of Barnet when Richard is only 18 through his marriage to Anne Neville, to unexpected kingship, betrayal by his 'friend' Buckingham...and the mystery of the vanished princes. Then it is on through the pain of the loss of his only legitimate son Edward, to the final deadly conflict on ...

In the shadow of Sandal Castle, betrayal runs deep. Richard, Duke of York, lies dead, and his son Edmund’s blood stains the cobbles of Wakefield bridge. The House of York crumbles, but young Edward of March isn’t finished yet. Driven by vengeance, he rises tall and fierce, ready to reclaim his family’s honour. As he battles Margaret of Anjou's Lancastrian army at Mortimer’s Cross, three suns blaze in the sky—an omen of change, a sign of the Three Sons of York. With the Crown of England at stake, will Edward rise from the ashes of loss or fall like his father? Blood will spill. ...

‘Small, very talkative, ready enough to do evil, shrewd and jocular, extremely cruel and daring.’ Orderic Vitalis on Mabel de Belleme. Mabel is the daughter of William de Belleme, known as Talvas, the Hard Shield, for his fierceness in battle…and at home. When William murders Mabel’s mother, he is expelled from his castle into exile—but Mabel follows him loyally, despite what he has done. As the Belleme fortunes gradually return, Mabel is married to an upstanding young lord, Roger de Montgomery, a close friend of the new Duke of Normandy—William, who will one day become the ...

Juliane Fitzroy is the illegitimate daughter of Henry I--one of his twenty-two bastards. When her father weds her to a young Norman lord, Eustace de Breteuil, she thinks she has done well in life for the daughter of a Saxon concubine. But Eustace wants a castle he cannot have. He starts hostilities with its castellan, Ralph Harenc, egged on by the dubious Amaury de Montfort. To keep the peace, King Henry orders a hostage exchange between Eustace and Ralph. Juliane's pretty young daughters for Ralph's son. In a drunken rage, fuelled on by Amaury, Eustace breaks the truce and blinds Harenc's ...