Sunday, 29 June 2025

✧ Book Review ✧ By Love Divided by Elizabeth St.John



The Lydiard Chronicles:
The Lady of the Tower,
By Love Divided,
Written in their Stars,
By Elizabeth St.John



Publication Dates: 2016 - 2020
Publisher: Falcon Historical
Genre: Biographical Historical Fiction

Duty, passion, and power collide in The Lydiard Chronicles, a gripping trilogy inspired by true events. Follow three courageous women—survivors, strategists, and storytellers—who defy the constraints of society to shape their family’s fate and England’s future. Their voices echo through time. Their legacy changed a nation.

The Lydiard Chronicles is an award-winning, best-selling historical family saga which brings to life the remarkable true stories of the St.John family. Spanning three compelling novels—The Lady of the Tower, By Love Divided, and Written in Their Stars—the series follows the legacy of resilient and intelligent women who lived as spies, courtiers, and diarists during England’s most turbulent century, navigating the quicksand of love and war, political upheaval, and personal sacrifice. 

Bound by fierce family loyalty and unforgettable love, the women of The Lydiard Chronicles defy the limits of their time with passion, courage, and unshakable independence. They endure captivity in the Tower of London, exile in the Louvre Palace, and the heart-wrenching divisions of the English Civil War—fighting not just for survival, but for their beliefs, their families, and the right to choose their own fate. Meticulously researched and vividly told, this epic saga reveals how these women created history from the shadows, leaving a legacy of resilience, defiance, and enduring influence.

Rooted in original diaries, letters, and family papers, The Lydiard Chronicles offers an intimate, biographical portrait of women who moved behind the scenes of power. Serving as trusted secret agents, military wives, and confidantes of kings, they were deeply engaged in the political and religious conflicts of their time. Through tragedy and triumph, the women of The Lydiard Chronicles shape their destinies—and the fate of a nation—in this richly researched and vividly told historical epic.

✧ Review ✧ The Lady of the Tower


Where do I even begin? This book really does tick all the boxes. Not only has the author taken her readers back in time to the Stuart period, but she has also brought back to life characters who have long since been dead. 


While the heroine of this story, Lucy St.John is a strong, brave and intelligent woman she has not had the best of starts, having lost both her parents she is belittled by his aunt Joan, who favours Lucy's sister Barbara over her. Joan does not just physically and emotionally abuse Lucy but she always makes sure Barbara outshines her, much to Barbara's delight. But things finally take a turn for the better when her brother, John announces that once he is wed he will return his sisters to their estates at Lydiard. Lucy could not be more delighted. However, her life will not be one of ease and pleasure if  Barbara has anything to do with it.


I hated Barbara with as much passion as I loved Lucy - she is arrogant and so determined to ruin her sister that she will stop at nothing. Lucy on the other hand is kind, intelligent and has an incredible strength to make the best out of the situations she finds herself in. When she finally marries, Sir Allen Apsley, who becomes the Lieutenant of the Tower of London, her life changes again. On entering the Tower of London, Lucy becomes a woman of great value and kindness, and I could not help but love her for her gentle ways and compassionate soul.


The Lady of the Tower is a page-turning novel that is so moving and so beautifully told that I found myself getting up early before work to read a couple of chapters. Then, I would look forward to coming home and spending the evening reading! 


Elizabeth St.John is not a new author for me, for I thoroughly enjoyed The Godmother’s Secret (which is another book that I highly recommend) and therefore I had high expectations for this novel, and thankfully, I was not disappointed. If you enjoy realistic and very emotional historical fiction based on the lives of real people, then you really must check out Elizabeth St. John's novels.


✧ Purchase Link ✧

Amazon 

Read with #KindleUnlimited

Elizabeth St. John


Elizabeth St.John’s critically acclaimed historical fiction novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England's kings and queens brings an intimately unique perspective to Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times.

Inspired by family archives and residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, Elizabeth spends much of her time exploring ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens. And encountering the occasional ghost. But that’s another story.

Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is the International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park, an English charity dedicated to conserving and enhancing this beautiful centuries-old country house and park. As a curator for The Lydiard Archives, she is constantly looking for an undiscovered treasure to inspire her next novel.

Elizabeth's works include The Lydiard Chronicles, a family saga set in 17th-century England during the Civil War, and The Godmother's Secret, which unravels the medieval mystery of the missing princes in the Tower of London. Her latest release, The King’s Intelligencer, follows Franny Apsley in the treacherous court of Charles II as she risks everything to uncover the dangerous truth behind the discovery of the princes’ bones.

Social Media Links:

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Thursday, 26 June 2025

✧ Book Spotlight ✧ The Dutch Muse: A Historical Art Mystery by Heidi Eljarbo

 


The Dutch Muse: A Historical Art Mystery
By Heidi Eljarbo


Publication Date: 17 June 2025
Publisher: Independently published
Pages: 270
Genre: Historical Art Mystery, Dual Timeline, Historical Fiction, Dutch Historical Fiction, Dual-timeline Fiction 

A ruthless thief leaves a private Dutch gallery with a coveted seventeenth-century painting. The owner lies unconscious on the floor. Art historian Fabiola Bennett is on vacation in Holland and takes on the case.

Amsterdam, 1973.

It’s late summer, and Fabiola and Pippa join their friend, Cary, for a few days of sightseeing, museums, and riding bikes around the beautiful city.

For the first time in her life, Fabiola feels a pang of jealousy, and rude comments from a gallerist make her doubt her own abilities.

Then, unexpectedly, Cary’s Dutch client, Lennard van de Hoek, is brutally struck down and a baroque portrait by Ferdinand Bol is stolen. Fabiola pushes aside her problems and jumps into danger without hesitation. The list of suspects is long, and with a cold-blooded criminal at large, they must constantly be on the alert.

Amsterdam, 1641.

Ferdinand Bol has completed his five-year training with Master Rembrandt van Rijn and is ready to set up his own studio. The future looks bright, and Ferdinand sets a goal to become a widely sought-after and, hopefully, prosperous master portraitist.

Just when Ferdinand’s career starts to flourish—and patrons and customers discover his exceptional talent—one of his models confesses she’s in deep trouble, and he drops everything to help her.

This is a fast-paced and captivating who-done-it set in the Netherlands—the fourth installment and a spin-off from the Soli Hansen Mysteries.

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Heidi Eljarbo


HEIDI ELJARBO grew up in a home full of books, artwork, and happy creativity. She is the author of historical novels filled with courage, hope, mystery, adventure, and sweet romance during challenging times. She’s been named a master of dual timelines and often writes about strong-willed women of past centuries.

After living in Canada, six US states, Japan, Switzerland, and Austria, Heidi now calls Norway home. She lives with her husband on a charming island and enjoys walking in any kind of weather, hugging her grandchildren, and has a passion for art and history. 

Her family’s chosen retreat is a mountain cabin, where they hike in the summer and ski the vast white terrain during winter.

Heidi’s favorites are her family, God's beautiful nature, and the word whimsical.

Author Links:

Sunday, 15 June 2025

✧ Book in the Spotlight ✧ Bess – Tudor Gentlewoman (The Elizabethan Series, Book #6) by Tony Riches


Bess – Tudor Gentlewoman
(The Elizabethan Series, Book #6)
By Tony Riches


Publication Date: May 2nd , 2025
Publisher: Preseli Press
Pages: 337
Genre: Historical Fiction / Tudor Fiction

Bess Throckmorton defies her notorious background and lack of education to become Queen Elizabeth’s Gentlewoman and trusted confidante.

Forced to choose between loyalty and love, duty and desire, will she risk her queen’s anger by marrying adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh without permission?

Entangled in a web of intrigue, from the glittering Palace of Whitehall to the cells of the Tower of London, Bess endures tragedy and injustice, becoming a resilient, determined woman, who takes nothing for granted.

Can she outwit her enemies, protect her family, and claim her destiny in a world where women are pawns and survival is a game of deadly consequences?

This is the true story of the last of the Elizabethans, which ends the story of the Tudor dynasty – and introduces their successors, the Stuarts.



This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.


Tony Riches


Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of Tudor historical fiction. He lives with his wife in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the lives of the early Tudors.

As well as his Elizabethan series, Tony’s historical fiction novels include the best-selling Tudor trilogy and his Brandon trilogy, (about Charles Brandon and his wives).

For more information about Tony’s books please visit his website, and his blog, The Writing Desk, and find him on social media.

✧ Book Review ✧ By Love Divided by Elizabeth St.John

The Lydiard Chronicles: The Lady of the Tower, By Love Divided, Written in their Stars, By Elizabeth St.John Publication Dates: 2016 - 2020 ...