Dissent rises in the kingdom of King Henry VIII of England. The king’s ongoing dispute with the papacy over a desire for annulment is about to incite the Reformation, and his next step is to appoint a new archbishop in order to obtain his long-awaited marriage to Anne Boleyn.
All crests that once bore the initials “H & K” are promptly replaced with an intertwining “H & A,” the first of many significant changes to come. The birth of the new royal couple’s first child, Princess Elizabeth, is followed by the death of Katherine of Aragon. New legislation decrees that any who dare commit an act against the king – or the kingdom’s newfound beliefs – will face extreme consequences. With her husband growing increasingly impatient, it becomes apparent that the only crime Anne could commit against her king would be to deny him a male heir.
As pressures rise in the kingdom, those who once found themselves in the king’s good graces foresee a somber end to their reign. This rich novelization of season two of The Tudors follows the complicated relationship between Henry and Anne through to its historically significant and dramatic conclusion.
Kapcsolódó könyvek
Philippa Gregory - The Other Boleyn Girl
Mary Boleyn catches the eye of Henry VIII when she is a girl of just fourteen. But her joy is cut short when she discovers that she is a pawn in her family's plots. When the capricious king's interest warnes, Mary is ordered to pass on her knowledge of how to please him to her friend and rival: her sister, Anne.
Anne soon becomes irresistible to Henry, and Mary must resign herself to being the other Boleyn girl. But beyond the court is a man who dares to challenge the power of her family to offer Mary a life of freedom and passion. If only she has the courage to break away - before the Boleyn enemies turn on the Boleyn girls...
(Harper, 2011)
Robin Maxwell - Boleyn Anna titkos naplója
Nem sokkal azután, hogy Erzsébet trónra lép, megjelenik nála egy titokzatos öregasszony, aki Boleyn Anna bizalmasa volt a tragikus sorsú királynő utolsó napjaiban. Egy bőrbe kötött könyvecskét ad át Erzsébetnek: Boleyn Anna titkos naplóját. Erzsébet királynő a napló lapjain ismerkedik meg édesanyjával, akitől kisded korában elszakították. Az amerikai írónő nagyszerű korrajzot nyújt Anglia legizgalmasabb korszakairól: VIII. Henrik és lánya, I. Erzsébet uralkodásáról. A magával ragadó történelmi regény témája örök: a szerelem és hatalom.
Susan Wiggs - Vows Made in Wine
As Lark, a member of the Reformed Samaritans, mended the wounds of handsome Oliver de Lacey, she had never felt so plain. But to the independent, roguish Oliver, Lark's delicate beauty was a conquest worth fighting for. From the author of Briar Rose and Circle in the Water.
Amanda Quick - Dangerous
At five and twenty, Prudence Merryweather knew very well tht risks a woman took by visiting a gentleman in the dead of night. But bearding the notorious Earl of Angelstone in his den was the only way to stop him from engaging her hot-headed brother in a duel. And that was why she found herself ushered into Sebastian's frobidding presence at three int the morning--and thoroughly kissed before dawn.
She was a country-bred innocent--and an intriguing experience for a man who dwelt more in the shadows than in the sunshine. Yet as her boldness drew Prue into one dangerous episode after another, Sebastian found himself torn between a raging hunger to possess her and a driving need to protect her. And the reckless beauty would soon need all the protection she could get...
Nicholas Evans - The Horse Whisperer
In the still of a snow-covered morning in upstate New York, a girl out riding her horse is hit by a 40-ton truck. Though horribly injured, both thirteen-year-old Grace Maclean and her horse Pilgrim survive. But the impact on their lives and the lives of those who love them is devastating.
Grace is the only child of a prominent New York magazine editor, Annie Graves, and her lawyer husband Robert. In a way which none of them at first understands, their destiny comes to depend upon Pilgrim's. So mutilated and traumatized is he that even the vet who saved his life now wishes he hadn't. Annie refuses to have him destroyed, sensing that if she does, something in Grace will die too.
She hears about a man in Montana, a 'whisperer' who is said to have the gift of healing troubled horses. Abandoning her job, Annie sets off across the continent with Grace and Pilgrim to find him. The man's name is Tom Booker and he lives on the Rocky Mountain Front, a place of daunting beauty. Here, under the massive Montana sky, all their lives are changed forever.
Sebastian Faulks - The Girl at the Lion d'Or
On a rainy night in the 1930s, Anne Louvet appears at the run-down Hotel du Lion d'Or in the village of Janvilliers. She is seeking a job and a new life, one far removed from the awful injustices of her past. As Anne embarks on a torrential love affair with a married veteran of the Great War, The Girl at the Lion d'Or fashions an unbreakable spell of narrative and atmosphere that evokes French masters from Flaubert to Renoir.
Philippa Gregory - A másik Boleyn lány
A romantikus történelmi szerelmes regényeiről ismert szerző első magyar nyelven megjelenő regénye VIII. Henrik udvarába kalauzolja el az olvasókat. A fiatal király erőtől, tettvágytól duzzadó férfi, ám asszonya, Aragóniai Katalin nem tud életképes fiúnak életet adni. Henrik türelmetlenül áhítja a fiú örököst, s mivel Katalin nem képes eme vágyát beteljesíteni, figyelme a fiatal udvarhölgyek felé fordul. A helyzetet kihasználva, a Boleyn család mindent elkövet, hogy Henrik szeme a már férjezett Maryn (a kevéssé ismert másik Boleyn lányon, Anna húgán) akadjon meg. Mary végül is szerelmes lesz Henrikbe, az erős, hatalmas férfit látja Anglia legnagyobb emberében, a királyban. S bár vígan lovagolnak, vadásznak, táncolnak s szeretkeznek, Mary úgy érzi, becsapta és ő maga is megalázta szeretett királynéját, Katalint. Ez a lelkiismeret-furdalás aztán örökre ott marad szívében. Időközben az addig a francia udvarban nevelkedő Anna is hazatér. Mindenben segíti testvérét, de már nem testvéri szeretetből, hanem abból a meggyőződésből, hogy a családnak segít a legtöbbet, ha Henrik ágyasát istápolja. Mary először egy leány- majd egy fiúgyermekkel ajándékozza meg a királyt. Henrik boldog: lám, tud ő fiút nemzeni, hiszen nem rajta múlik. Mary azonban fáradt, kimerült, már nem is kívánja a királyt mint férfit: Henrik teste már nem fiatalosan ruganyos, és szeretőjére telepedve meglehetősen súlyos. Mary szeretőből anyává lett, valóságos anyatigrissé, akinek mindennél és mindenkinél fontosabb két királyi porontya. Elérkezett hát Anna ideje. Hihetetlen ambícióval és önbizalommal tör előre, célja nem kisebb, mint a király soron következő szeretőjévé, s majdan királynővé válni. Maryvel szembeszegülve harcol a király kegyeiért. És mint ahogy arról már történelemórán is értesültünk, a Boleyn és Howard családok leánykája valóban királyné lesz. Izgalmas, sok feszültséggel és félelemmel teli a történetben ez az időszak, a történetet sok-sok mellékszál teszi még érdekesebbé és színesebbé. A számos nyelven megjelent és nagy sikert aratott regényből előbb a BBC készített rendkívül népszerű televíziós sorozatot, majd Hollywood is lecsapott rá: neves sztárokkal készül a mozifilm, melyet idén karácsony előtt mutatnak be.
Susan Wiggs - The Maiden's Hand
Roguishly handsome Oliver de Lacey has always lived lustily: wine, weapons and women are his bywords. Even salvation from the noose by a shadowy society provides no epiphany to mend his debauched ways.
Mistress Lark's sole passion is her secret work with a group of Protestant dissidents thwarting the queen's executions. She needs no other excitement--until Oliver de Lacey drops through the hangman's door and into her life.
As their fates become inextricably bound together in a struggle against royal persecution, both Oliver and Lark discover a love worth saving...even dying for.
Kemény Zsigmond - Özvegy és leánya
,,A csillagfény és a holdsarló ezüstje megtört a sárgaréz páncélon, melyet a merész támadó viselt, kinek arcrostélya félig le volt eresztve... Sára menekülni törekedett a lovag karjai közül."
Mit adhat a mai olvasónak az Özvegy és leánya? Középkori leányrablás éjnek évadján, álöltözet, szerelmi öngyilkosság, életet mentő gyűrű, fejedelmi vadászkaland, félreértések végzetes sorozata, színes, Walter Scott-i történelmi tabló kiemelkedő fő- és mellékszereplőkkel, fordulatos cselekményszövés, a legszélsőségesebb túlzásokba eső monomániás "fantomanya", egy csipetnyi humor, irónia... íme egy vérbeli romantikus regény receptje.
Kemény képzelete a történelmi Erdélybe, Rákóczi György fejedelem korába röpíti olvasóit. Az Özvegy és leánya egyszersmind ragyogóan megrajzolt, színes körkép a korabeli Erdélyről, fordulatos kalandregény és megható, tragikus végkifejletű, ugyanakkor elgondolkodtató szerelmi történet.
Sarah MacLean - Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart
There is no telling where a scandal might lead...
She lives for passion.
Bold, impulsive, and a magnet for trouble, Juliana Fiori is no simpering English miss. She refuses to play by society’s rules: she speaks her mind, cares nothing for the approval of the ton, and can throw a punch with remarkable accuracy. Her scandalous nature makes her a favorite subject of London’s most practiced gossips… and precisely the kind of woman the Duke of Leighton wants far far away from him.
He swears by reputation.
Scandal is the last thing Simon Pearson has room for in his well-ordered world. The Duke of Disdain is too focused on keeping his title untainted and his secrets unknown. But when he discovers Juliana hiding in his carriage late one evening – risking everything he holds dear – he swears to teach the reckless beauty a lesson in propriety.
She has other plans, however; she wants two weeks to prove that even an unflappable duke is not above passion.
Sarah MacLean - One Good Earl Deserves a Lover
The second in the incredible new Rules of Scoundrels series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean. Lady Philippa Marbury is odd. The bespectacled, brilliant fourth daughter of the Marquess of Needham and Dolby cares more for books than balls, flora than fashion and science than the season. Nearly engaged to Lord Castleton, Pippa wants to explore the scandalous parts of London she's never seen before marriage. And she knows just who to ask: the tall, charming, quick-witted bookkeeper of The Fallen Angel, London's most notorious and coveted gaming hell, known only as Cross.
Like any good scientist, Pippa's done her research and Cross's reputation makes him perfect for her scheme. She wants science without emotion - the experience of ruination without the repercussions of ruination. And who better to provide her with the experience than this legendary man? But when this odd, unexpected female propositions Cross, it's more than tempting . . . and it will take everything he has to resist following his instincts - and giving the lady precisely what she wants.
Sarah MacLean - A Rogue By Any Other Name
What a scoundrel wants, a scoundrel gets . . .
A decade ago, the Marquess of Bourne was cast from society with nothing but his title. Now a partner in London’s most exclusive gaming hell, the cold, ruthless Bourne will do whatever it takes to regain his inheritance—including marrying perfect, proper Lady Penelope Marbury.
A broken engagement and years of disappointing courtships have left Penelope with little interest in a quiet, comfortable marriage, and a longing for something more. How lucky that her new husband has access to such unexplored pleasures.
Bourne may be a prince of London’s underworld, but he vows to keep Penelope untouched by its wickedness—a challenge indeed as the lady discovers her own desires, and her willingness to wager anything for them . . . even her heart.
Loretta Chase - Mr. Impossible
Blame it on the Egyptian sun or the desert heat, but as tensions flare between a reckless rogue and beautiful scholar en route to foil a kidnapping, so does love, in the most uninhibited and impossibly delightful ways.
Mary Jo Putney - The Bargain
First published as The Would-Be Widow in 1989, this intoxicating Regency has been rewritten by Mary Jo Putney to give the story and characters greater depth. Now titled The Bargain, it will charm readers old and new with its unlikely and outrageous romance...
To keep her fortune, a beautiful heiress impulsively weds a penniless officer dying of wounds received at Waterloo. But when the blasted man hasn't the grace to die, she suddenly finds herself with a healthy, vibrant husband who wants to renegotiate the terms of their bargain--and ultimately possess the heart of his bewildered bride...
Juliet Grey - Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow
A captivating novel of rich spectacle and royal scandal, Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow spans fifteen years in the fateful reign of Marie Antoinette, France’s most legendary and notorious queen.
Paris, 1774. At the tender age of eighteen, Marie Antoinette ascends to the French throne alongside her husband, Louis XVI. But behind the extravagance of the young queen’s elaborate silk gowns and dizzyingly high coiffures, she harbors deeper fears for her future and that of the Bourbon dynasty.
From the early growing pains of marriage to the joy of conceiving a child, from her passion for Swedish military attaché Axel von Fersen to the devastating Affair of the Diamond Necklace, Marie Antoinette tries to rise above the gossip and rivalries that encircle her. But as revolution blossoms in America, a much larger threat looms beyond the gilded gates of Versailles - one that could sweep away the French monarchy forever.
Elizabeth Hoyt - Lord of Darkness
When Strangers In The Night
He lives in the shadows. As the mysterious masked avenger known as the Ghost of St. Giles, Godric St. John's only goal is to protect the innocent of London. Until the night he confronts a fearless young lady pointing a pistol at his head - and realizes she is his wife.
Become Lovers...
Lady Margaret Reading has vowed to kill the Ghost of St. Giles - the man who murdered her one true love. Returning to London, and to the man she hasn't seen since their wedding day, Margaret does not recognize the man behind the mask. Fierce, commanding, and dangerous, the notorious Ghost of St. Giles is everything she feared he would be - and so much more.
Desire Is The Ultimate Danger
When passion flares, these two intimate strangers can't keep from revealing more of themselves than they had ever planned. But when Margaret learns the truth - that the Ghost is her husband - the game is up and the players must surrender... to the temptation that could destroy them both.
Philippa Gregory - Wideacre
Wideacre Hall, set in the heart of the English countryside, is the ancestral home that Beatrice Lacey loves. But as a woman of the eighteenth century she has no right of inheritance. Corrupted by a world that mistreats women, she sets out to corrupt others. Sexual and wilful, she believes that the only way to achieve control over Wideacre is through a series of horrible crimes, and no-one escapes the consequences of her need to possess the land. Sweeping, passionate, unique: 'Wideacre' is the novel which brought Philippa Gregory to bestselling fame and is the first of the trilogy which continued with 'The Favoured Child' and concluded with 'Meridon'.
Julia Barrett - The Third Sister
A novel that continues what Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" began. In "The Third Sister," Julia Barrett faithfully evokes Jane Austen's style, characters and ambience to tell just what happens when the youngest Miss Dashwood meets two eligible suitors: the kind and earnest George Osborne and the very dashing and overly bold Lt. William du Plessy. Which man will she choose? Which man will she love? The gentleman or the scoundrel?
Amanda Quick - Crystal Gardens
Evangeline Ames has rented a country cottage far from the London streets where she was recently attacked. Fascinated by the paranormal energy of nearby Crystal Gardens, she finds pleasure in sneaking past the wall to explore the grounds. And when her life is threatened again, she instinctively goes to the gardens for safety. Lucas Sebastian has never been one to ignore a lady in danger, even if she is trespassing on his property. Quickly disposing of her would-be assassin, he insists they keep the matter private. There are rumors enough already, about treasure buried under his garden, and occult botanical experiments performed by his uncle - who died of mysterious causes. With Evangeline's skill for detection, and Lucas's sense of the criminal mind, they soon discover that they have a common enemy. And as the energy emanating from Crystal Gardens intensifies, they realize that to survive they must unearth what has been buried for too long...
Jennifer Blake - Őfelsége kegyelméből
Isabel, Cate és Marguerite, a három nővér mostohaapjuk példáján már fiatalon megtapasztalja, hogy a XV. századi Angliában a férfiak kegyetlenül bánnak a feleségükkel, ezért elhatározzák, hogy soha nem mennek férjhez. Isabel, a legidősebb grácia elterjeszti a Graydon-átok hírét, miszerint akik szerelem nélkül próbálják házassággal magukhoz láncolni a Graydon hölgyeket, hamarosan életüket vesztik. Az átok működni látszik, több reménybeli vőlegény távozik a túlvilágra, mielőtt belekóstolhatna a házasélet örömeibe.
A király parancsának azonban nem lehet ellenszegülni, így Isabel minden tiltakozása hiábavaló, kénytelen feleségül menni Randall Braesfordhoz, a jó kiállású, ám törvénytelen származású lovaghoz.
A menyegzőt követően a férfi olyan szenvedéllyel ismerteti meg Isabelt, amelyről a lány még csak nem is álmodott korábban, és az is kiderül, hogy a nemesi vérnél a nemes szív előrébb való.
Cselszövésekben és összeesküvésben nincs hiány, s miközben Rand a becsületéért kénytelen harcolni, Isabel ráébred, mit is érez valójában a férje iránt.
„Jennifer Blake joggal érdemelte ki olvasói csodálatát és tiszteletét. Tudják, hogy az élvezetek világa vár rájuk az író könyveinek lapjain.” – A Romance Review