The year is 1501. Europe’s fate rests in the hands of two monarchs at loggerheads.

Anne of Brittany orchestrates the perfect match for her only child by Louis XII, King of France. Her daughter will become the most powerful woman in Europe by marrying the future Holy Roman Emperor.

But when Louis abandons her wishes in favor of having their daughter marry his successor, Anne soon finds herself locked in a political struggle with the fate of Europe hanging between them. Things only get worse when Louis hatches a plan to conquer Italy.

Anne orders him to stay away from Italy, but Louis is determined to gain a foothold there for France. Joining Ferdinand of Spain in a secret pact to divide southern Italy between them, he plans to expand France's empire. But with rivals on all sides and allies he can’t trust, Louis soon discovers that the age of chivalry is over.

As lovers, Anne and Louis are alive with passion. As rulers, they are at each other's throats. Who will prevail?

Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is the love of King Louis XII of France’s life. Too bad he’s already married.While his annulment proceedings create Europe’s most sensational scandal of 1498, Anne returns to Brittany to take back control of her duchy that her late husband, Charles VIII, King of France, had wrested from her.

At age twenty-one, Anne is sovereign ruler of Brittany as well as Europe’s most wealthy widow. But can she maintain Brittany’s independence from France if she accepts Louis’ offer to make her Queen of France once more?

With Italian arrivals to the French court from Cesare Borgia to Niccolò Machiavelli, Anne and Louis’ story unfolds as the feudal era gives way to the dawn of the Renaissance. Their love for each other tested by conflicting duties to their respective countries, the two rulers struggle to navigate a collision course that will reshape the map of sixteenth-century Europe.

Book Two of the Anne of Brittany Series

It’s 1488, and eleven-year-old Anne of Brittany is thrust into a desperate situation when she becomes ruler of her duchy. Besieged on all sides, she eventually agrees to marry Charles VIII, King of France, to save Brittany from plunder.

A passionate relationship ensues as they unexpectedly fall in love. Yet Charles cannot shake the bad habits he brings to their marriage, and Anne cannot pull him out of his darkest depths of struggle.

Together, they usher the Italian Renaissance into France, building a glorious court at their royal residence in Amboise. But year after year, they fail to accomplish their most important aim: to secure the future of their kingdom.

As they pursue their shared dream, will an unexpected twist of fate change the fortunes of Anne and Charles, two of fifteenth-century Europe’s most star-crossed rulers?

From the vestiges of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe to the creation of Germany, the life of Anastasia Burkart reflects the momentous changes sweeping across her beloved Black Forest homeland. Based on Anastasia' purported diaries, this novel presents her life story, of a real woman who passed the family name down through the generations.

KIRKUS
“In this historical novel, Maynard uses stories passed down as family history to imagine the life of her great-great-grandmother Anastasia Burkart.

This first-person narrative focuses closely on Anastasia’s relationships and what it takes for her to survive. She is a compelling narrator, alert, practical, and shrewd.
Maynard touches on many relevant topics—religious divisions, smallpox inoculation, the guild system—within the context of the narrative, revealing substantial research and knowledge without burying readers in an excess of information. . . .

This engrossing and well-developed novel will appeal to fans of women’s fiction.

What would it have been like to live in the American Southwest during the great exodus out of the Four Corners area 800 years ago, long before European incursion? Set in the land of sage, sun, and sandstone, Soyala tells the story of the struggles of a woman and her family during a time of societal turmoil and personal tragedy.

"Soyala is a magnificent story, brilliantly imagined and skillfully executed on every level. The author’s intimate depiction of the lives of this small clan is immensely, both intellectually and emotionally." -Tom Hyman, author of Jupiter's Daughter" and "Seven Days to Petrograd."

“Soyala is an epic story spanning four generations, focusing on a woman enduring the historic exodus of the Ancient Puebloans from the land of cliff dwellings. The author’s lively, engaging, and plausible depiction of Soyala’s experiences provides insight into the most mysterious event in the pre-historic southwest.” -Jeffrey Mitton, Professor

Can London’s lady champion fight for love? As London’s undefeated women’s boxer, Bess Abbott has the scars—both inside and out—to prove it. But when one of her boxing students, Violet, needs protection, Bess Abbott’s rock hard heart cracks open. And when a handsome blacksmith comes along, giving her compliments and treating her, well, like a woman, Bess doesn’t know what to do. She’s on the ropes in the face of his affections. Os Worley was a child when he became an accidental stow-away. He grew up not knowing the family or the island that inflected his accent. His only memory of his mother is a head bent, hands working a stitch, a voice humming a melody. Now that he has his own foundry, and his own apprentice, he’s come to London to find the woman attached to this impression. His heart is already tempered and quenched, focused on his goal—but a lady boxer threatens to recast his love in her own image. As Os and Bess face off, will they toe the line or retreat to their corners?

Lady Lydia Somerset is an earl’s daughter. At the ripe age of twenty-five, she still wears the lavish gowns and dances the dainty steps of the haute ton as if she were pursuing a husband; but her goals are far more personal. Instead, she pursues her tormentors: the men who bet that taking a girl’s virginity--her virginity--really can cure a brothel’s plague. Her cousins and sister aid her, but no one can understand what it feels like to be helpless. Pugilism, England’s manliest pastime, is her only relief. Training in secret with a female boxer keeps her sane, but when her instructor is hired away by one of the men she is seeking to destroy, she is in a bind.
Her new teacher, a former prizefighter with a ready joke and a quick wit might do more than just correct her technique. John Arthur is made of money. A street kid who dazzled with his fists, he now impresses as a miracle worker on the London Stock Exchange. But a man can’t forget a boyhood spent in the gutter.

It is 1074, eight years after the Battle of Hastings changed the cultural and physical landscape of the country forever.
But England is about to be shaped by another legacy: one which is truly immortal.

Liebling of the Hall, Edith, knows the year will be cursed as soon as the yule block burns out prematurely. Nonetheless, when she meets a mysterious figure in the Fens who claims to be a changeling, she finds herself falling in love with him, ignoring the concern of her brother, Robert, and continuing to visit. But when her brother’s nemesis, Henry de Bois, kidnaps her on one of these visits, events are set in motion which will change England forever.
A gripping historical fiction with an astonishing twist!

"This has to be the cleverest book I have ever read. It has complex characters and an engaging story line. The final chapters are simply outstanding and pull everything together."
“The twist was written so wonderfully that I can’t believe how perfectly everything ties up together.”

The journey continues with Loyal, book five in The Orphan Train Saga. Percival's journey is one wrought with emotion when, after his mother dies unexpectedly, he finds his sheltered upbringing has left him lacking survival skills. Lucky for Percival, there are plenty of people to help educate him about the ways of the world.



After Percival is sent to Detroit via the orphan train, he is taken in by Louis Gianetti - a kindly Italian restaurant owner who wishes only to make his new son proud. A difficult task when previous mistakes put them both in danger from men who wish to strip them of everything they have.



Loyal will reunite the reader with past favorites such as Paddy, Mouse and the gang, and new characters, such as Big Joe, the boxer who helps teach Slim to use his legs to his advantage, and Mr. Thornton, who encourages him to use his brain to fight his battles.



Will Percival be able to use his education to see his mother's dream fulfilled, or will he succumb to the dark l

Action, loyalty, valor, and blood make Stewart’s series kicker in the Knights of the Air series a remarkable historical novel. When Lance Fitch joined the British RFC, he had nothing else but revenge on his mind. As he enters 100 Wing as an elite pilot on his commanding officer Arthur Wolsey’s request, the urge to destroy his enemies becomes stronger than ever. But the aerial war is both bloody and lethal, and to preserve his wing, Lance must learn to stay alive first. A fine blend of fictional and historical characters, with themes drawn from the Arthurian myths, the book displays Stewart’s flair for vivid imagery and his skill at weaving various narrative strands into an ingenious whole...A sharp and effective blend of WWI aviation action and adventure, a hefty dose of emotion and human drama, plus a dash of romance keep the pages flying. Finely written and vividly imagined, this is a complex, gritty novel delving into the brutalities of war. Stewart is an author to watch.BOOKVIEW

Haunted by her brother’s death, daredevil Lillian tests her courage by joining the Van Tassel balloon act with her sister Ruby. Together they risk their lives for fame and fortune by parachuting from smoke balloons throughout Australia, but the feisty Lillian struggles to choose between love and her perilous career. Determined to take control of the balloon circuit and provide for her children, Lillian travels to New Zealand only to clash with charlatans, showmen, and disgruntled crowds when her exhibitions fall short of their expectations. A cascade of betrayals and reconciliations culminate in one last-ditch ascent from which there is no turning back. Many years later, as Lillian relates her fanciful version of those events, she must find a deeper courage to reveal the truth about her past. Based on the real life of a strong and unconventional woman trying to make her name - a story of courage and ambition, and the consequences of secrets and lies.

Returning home from a conference, Elise, a young Belgian nurse, finds herself transported to 1706 in the Southern Netherlands. Upon learning that she can never return to her time, she reluctantly accepts to comply with society’s oppressive rules regarding her gender. Only two options are available for her life: marriage or joining a religious order. She wishes to pursue her nursing vocation, but she would need to become a nun and abandon her independence. Elise has many suitors, but none of them understand her dreams for a life of purpose–until she meets a dashing British officer. However, she is a commoner, and his aristocratic parents oppose their union.
Along her journey, Elise encounters multiple challenges testing her nursing skills. Something worse tests her courage. Extremists gathering support for their political ambitions accuse independent-minded women of witchcraft. Risking far more than her freedom, she must face them armed only with her capacity for compassion.