What draws you to a historical fiction book cover? 

Welcome to my monthly historical fiction cover competition. I hope you find some new books and authors for your ‘must read’ list. If a cover interests you, just click on the link to learn more about the book.

My July winner is:

To Be a Queen by Annie Whitehead

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This cover works so well and captures your imagination immediately. There is a mystical quality to the image and colours used. As I happen to have read this book, I can assure you it lives up to its fabulous cover. Congrats Annie!

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One family, two kingdoms, one common enemy …

This is the true story of Aethelflaed, the ‘Lady of the Mercians’, daughter of Alfred the Great. She was the only female leader of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom.

Born into the royal house of Wessex at the height of the Viking wars, she is sent to her aunt in Mercia as a foster-child, only to return home when the Vikings overrun Mercia. In Wessex, she witnesses another Viking attack and this compounds her fear of the enemy. She falls in love with a Mercian lord but is heartbroken to be given as bride to the ruler of Mercia to seal the alliance between the two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

She must learn to subjugate her feelings for her first love, overcome her indifference to her husband and win the hearts of the Mercians who despise her as a foreigner and twice make an attempt on her life.

When her husband falls ill and is incapacitated, she has to learn to rule and lead an army in his stead. Eventually she must fight to save her adopted Mercia from the Vikings and, ultimately, her own brother.

To Be A Queen was Long-listed for HNS Indie Book of the Year 2016 and has been awarded an indie BRAG Gold Medallion.

To find out more, please click here

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As always, it was difficult to choose. Here are some other wonderful covers to tempt you!

Emperor Frederick II, called “enlightened” by historians yet decried as a despot by contemporaries, unleashes a civil war that tears the Holy Land apart. The heir to an intimidating legacy, a woman artist, and a boy king are caught up in the game of emperors and popes. Set against the backdrop of the Sixth Crusade, Rebels against Tyranny takes you from the harems of Sicily to the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, from the palaces of privilege to the dungeons of despair. This is a timeless tale of youthful audacity taking on tyranny―but sometimes courage is not enough….

To find out more, please click here

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A Duke can demand anything—except his wife’s love.

A chance meeting with a bereaved father makes Jeffrey, Duke of Gracechurch realise how hollow his own marriage and family life are. Persuaded to marry at a young age, he and his Duchess, Flora, live largely separate lives. Now he is determined to make amends to his wife and children and forge new relationships with them.

Flora does not know how to respond to her husband’s avowed change of heart. Her thoughts already turn to the future, when the children will have gone their own ways. Divorce would be out of the question, she knows, as she would be ruined socially, but no eyebrows would be raised at a discreet separation and, perhaps, even a new love.

Can Jeffrey break down the barriers between them and convince his wife of his sincerity? Flora must decide if she will hazard her heart and her hard won peace of mind for a prize of undreamt happiness.

To find out more, please click here