Books like 'Royal Mistress'

Readers who enjoyed Royal Mistress by Anne Easter Smith also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

historical  medieval  royalty  military

  • The Autumn Throne by Elizabeth Chadwick

    The Autumn Throne by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    The Son She Loved. The Betrayal She Faced. The Legend She Became. The stunning conclusion to the Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogyImprisoned by her husband. Separated from her children. If King Henry II thought these things would push his queen into submission, he was wrong. Eleanor of Aquitaine refused to give into his tyranny. Freed by his death, she became dowager Queen of England...
  • The Land Beyond the Sea by Sharon Kay Penman

    The Land Beyond the Sea by Sharon Kay Penman

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Filled with drama and battle, tragedy and romance, Sharon Penman’s The Land Beyond the Sea tells the epic tale of a clash of cultures that will resonate with readers today.1172. The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as Outremer – the land beyond the sea.A young realm, Outremer was baptized in blood when the men of the First Crusade captured Jerusalem from the Saracens in 1099...
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  • The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick

    The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 33 ratings
    Following early beginnings as a knight in the English royal household and a champion of the tourneys, William Marshal's prowess and loyalty have been rewarded by the hand in marriage of Isabelle de Clare, heiress to great estates in England, Normandy and Ireland...
  • Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman

    Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    The long-awaited sequel to Sharon Kay Penman's acclaimed novel When Christ and His Saints Slept, Time and Chancerecounts the tempestuous marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II in a magnificent story of love, power, ambition-and betrayal. He was nineteen when they married, she eleven years his senior, newly divorced from the King of France...
  • The Wolf Hunt: A fast-paced, action-packed historical fiction novel by Tim Hodkinson

    The Wolf Hunt: A fast-paced, action-packed historical fiction novel by Tim Hodkinson

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    When you can't protect everyone, who will you save?AD 935.Einar Unnsson is destined to be great. He has already defeated the men sent to kill him by his father, Jarl Thorfinn, the 'Skull Cleaver'. Einar has a gift that makes him lethal in battle, a gift he needs now more than ever.Jarl Thorfinn is set on vengeance...
  • Iron and Gold by S.J.A. Turney

    Iron and Gold by S.J.A. Turney

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    The wolves of Odin land in Italy, and the tantalising scent of gold is in the air…AD 1043. Having escaped Constantinople with their lives – barely – but not their ship, Halfdan and the wolves of Odin are now mercenaries in the Byzantine army, sailing to Apulia in Italy to help retake territory from the Normans.But cracks are beginning to show among the tight-knit wolves...
  • Rex Regis by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

    Rex Regis by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

    Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    The saga of the Imager Quaeryt, Commander in the forces of Lord Bhayar, reaches a new climax as the great struggle to unify the continent of Lydar enters its final phase. Only the land of Khel remains uncommitted to Bhayar’s rule. Their decision could mean a lasting peace, or more conflict across an already war-ravaged realm...
  • To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick

    To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    A story of huge emotional power set against the road to Magna Carta and the fight to bring a tyrant king to heel. The privileged daughter of one of the most powerful men in England, Mahelt Marshal's life changes dramatically when her father is suspected by King John. Her brothers become hostages and Mahelt is married to Hugh Bigod, heir to the earldom of Norfolk...
  • The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick

    The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 31 ratings
    Eleanor of Aquitaine is a 12th century icon who has fascinated readers for 800 years. But the real Eleanor remains elusive. This stunning novel introduces an Eleanor that all other writers have missed. Based on the most up-to-date research, it is the first novel to show Eleanor beginning her married life at 13...
  • The Raven Banner by Tim Hodkinson

    The Raven Banner by Tim Hodkinson

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    ...
  • The Serpent King by Tim Hodkinson

    The Serpent King by Tim Hodkinson

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    The fight for vengeance has no victors...AD 936The great warrior, Einar Unnsson, wants revenge. His mother's assassin has stolen her severed head and Einar is hungry for his blood. Only one thing holds him back. He is a newly sworn in Wolf Coat, and must accompany them on their latest quest...
  • The Irish Princess by Elizabeth Chadwick

    The Irish Princess by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Ireland, 1160Aoife MacMurchada is just 14 years old when her father Diarmit, King of Leinster, is brutally deposed, and her family is forced to flee Southern Ireland into English exile. Diarmit seeks help from King Henry II, an alliance that leads him to the charismatic Richard de Clare, lord of Striguil, a man dissatisfied with his lot and open to new horizons...
  • The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper

    The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper

    Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars
    · 34 ratings
    She Survived Her Own Innocence, and the Treachery of Europe s Royal Courts Greed, lust for power, sex, lies, secret marriages, religious posturing, adultery, beheadings, international intrigue, jealousy, treachery, love, loyalty, and betrayal...
  • A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick

    A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    The early twelfth century is a time for ambitious men to prosper, and royal servant John FitzGilbert is one of them. But when the old king dies and his successor is appointed, John faces a terrible choice: he must join the rival faction-his enemies- or risk losing everything. His new wife helps him carry his burden, but his final choice will seal not only her fate, but those of his young children...
  • Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    A medieval tale of pride and strife, of coming-of-age in a world where chivalry is a luxury seldom afforded, especially by men of power.England, 1148---ten-year-old Brunin FitzWarin is an awkward misfit in his own family. A quiet child, he is tormented by his brothers and loathed by his powerful and autocratic grandmother...
    Categorized as:
    medieval  royalty  historical  audiobook
  • The Raven and the Rose by Virginia Henley

    The Raven and the Rose by Virginia Henley

    Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 28 ratings
    Her hair was black and silk against her ivory skin; her gray eyes burned with opal fire.  The love child of King Edward IV, Roseanna was pledged to her father's most prized warrior.  He was dark, strong, and commanding, and in the bedchamber, where he forced her to honor her marriage vows, she learned not to crave his intoxicating touch...
  • Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Two very different women are linked by destiny and the struggle for the English crown. Matilda, daughter of Henry I, is determined to win back her crown from Stephen, the usurper king. Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen and Matilda's stepmother, is now married to William D'Albini, a warrior of the opposition. Both women are strong and prepared to stand firm for what they know is right...
  • A Dish of Spurs by Robert Low

    A Dish of Spurs by Robert Low

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    In the space between nations, nothing is out of bounds.1542. For centuries the Scottish and English borders were known as the Debatable lands: wild, lawless, and the province of reivers, tight-knit robber families that roamed and pillaged the remote passes without fear...Fifteen-year-old Mintie Henderson has just seen her father murdered...
  • The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick

    The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 6 ratings
    Wales, 1093.The warm, comfortable family life of young Nesta, daughter of Prince Rhys of Deheubarth is destroyed when her father is killed and she is taken hostage. Her honor is further tarnished when she is taken as an unwilling concubine by King William's ruthless younger brother Henry, who later ascends the throne under suspicious circumstances...
  • Arucard by Barbara Devlin

    Arucard by Barbara Devlin

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 5 ratings
    WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE. It is the year of Our Lord 1307, and by papal decree, Templar Knight Arucard of Villiers is a hunted man. One of a handful of mariners to escape the Inquisition and Philip the Fair’s treachery, Arucard sets sail for England, where good King Edward II has outlawed torture...
  • The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty by G.J. Meyer

    The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty by G.J. Meyer

    Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    For the first time in decades, here, in a single volume, is a fresh look at the fabled Tudor dynasty, comprising some of the most enigmatic figures ever to rule a country. Acclaimed historian G. J. Meyer reveals the flesh-and-bone reality in all its wild excess...
  • The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner

    The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner

    Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars
    · 37 ratings
    Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne, has been for centuries an enigmatic figure shrouded in lurid myth. Was she the bereft widow of legend who was driven mad by her loss, or has history misjudged a woman who was ahead of her time? In his stunning new novel, C. W...
  • A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith

    A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith

    Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    In A Rose for the Crown, we meet one of history's alleged villains through the eyes of a captivating new heroine -- the woman who was the mother of his illegitimate children, a woman who loved him for who he really was, no matter what the cost to herself...
  • Désirée by Annemarie Selinko

    Désirée by Annemarie Selinko

    Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    The stunning, massively bestselling story of Napoleon's first fiancé First published in 1953, this riveting true-life tale comes to life in diary form, giving readers an inside glimpse at the young Napoleon and his family. Désirée is enchanted by the young officer, and he asks her to marry him. But he must leave for Paris, where he meets his eventual wife Josephine...
  • The Time of Singing by Elizabeth Chadwick

    The Time of Singing by Elizabeth Chadwick

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    US Title : For the King's Favor A captivating story of a mother's love stretched to breaking and a knight determined to rebuild his life with the royal mistress, For the King's Favor is Elizabeth Chadwick at her best. Based on a true story never before told and impeccably researched, this is a testament to the power of sacrifice and the strength of love...
  • The Chains of Fate by Pamela Belle

    The Chains of Fate by Pamela Belle

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 5 ratings
    The blood red tide of civil war ran deep over the land, and Thomazine became the man of a wife she would learn to hate for his perfidy. She married Dominic whom she could never love, believing her Francis to be dead. When she learned the truth ... that Francis lived, Thomazine rode north on a mission hung with the chains of fate...
  • Queen By Right by Anne Easter Smith

    Queen By Right by Anne Easter Smith

    Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    From the award-winning author of A Rose for the Crown, Daughter of York, and The King’s Grace comes another masterful historical novel—the story of Cecily of York, mother of two kings and the heroine of one of history’s greatest love stories...
  • I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles

    I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles

    Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars
    · 41 ratings
    Publicly declared a bastard at the age of three, daughter of a disgraced and executed mother, last in the line of succession to the throne of England, Elizabeth I inherited an England ravaged by bloody religious conflict, at war with Spain and France, and badly in debt...
  • Queen of This Realm by Jean Plaidy

    Queen of This Realm by Jean Plaidy

    Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    In this "memoir" by Elizabeth I, legendary historical novelist Jean Plaidy reveals the Virgin Queen as she truly was: the bewildered, motherless child of an all-powerful father; a captive in the Tower of London; a shrewd politician; a lover of the arts; and eventually, an icon of an era...
    Categorized as:
    medieval  royalty  tudors  historical  length-long
  • Castile for Isabella by Jean Plaidy

    Castile for Isabella by Jean Plaidy

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Castile for Isabella covers the early life of the most significant of all Spanish monarchs: Isabella of Castile. Isabella is seen as a young girl,within a few steps of the throne; first in the care of an ambitious but unbalanced mother; later in the licentious court of her half-brother HenryIV; and at length ascending the throne, Ferdinand beside her...
  • A Marriage of Fortune by Anne O'Brien

    A Marriage of Fortune by Anne O'Brien

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    England, 1469. As the War of the Roses rages on, Margaret Paston knows that there is only one way to survive the loss of the Paston's family seat, Caister Castle: a fortunate marriage for one of her unruly daughters. A favourable match will change the future of her family overnight but a scandal will ruin the Paston name forever..
  • Murder Most Royal by Jean Plaidy

    Murder Most Royal by Jean Plaidy

    Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    One powerful king. Two tragic queens. In the court of Henry VIII, it was dangerous for a woman to catch the king’s eye. Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were cousins. Both were beautiful women, though very different in temperament. They each learned that Henry’s passion was all-consuming–and fickle...
  • The Chosen Queen by Joanna Courtney

    The Chosen Queen by Joanna Courtney

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    1066: A date that changed the course of history; a date that changed her life forever Love should be free - that is what Edyth Alfgarsdottir has always believed. As a young girl she witnessed Earl Harold standing barefoot in his handfast marriage to the beautiful Lady Svana and has yearned for her own love match ever since...
  • Princess in Peril by Rachelle McCalla

    Princess in Peril by Rachelle McCalla

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    When insurgents attack the king's motorcade, scattering the royal family, bodyguard Levi Granaldo has one goal—to protect the princess. Even though he knows Princess Isabelle distrusts him. On the run together, they flee to New York, to the shelter of a sanctuary established by Levi's father. But their safety can't last...
  • The Rose and the Shield by Sara Bennett

    The Rose and the Shield by Sara Bennett

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 7 ratings
    BLINDED BY PASSION Beautiful Lady Rose, the fiercely independent mistress of Somerford, reluctantly agrees to hire a bold Viking warrior, Gunnar Olafson, and his mercenaries to protect her undefended lands. But although Gunnar takes her breath away --- with his steel-hard muscles and eyes afire with undisguised yearning --- she dares not trust him. But Gunnar is not what he seems...
  • The Sixth Wife by Jean Plaidy

    The Sixth Wife by Jean Plaidy

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Dangerous court intrigue and affairs of the heart collide as renowned novelist Jean Plaidy tells the story of Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII’s six queens. Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Katherine Howard, was both foolish and unfaithful, and she paid for it with her life. Henry vowed that his sixth wife would be different, and she was. Katherine Parr was twice widowed and thirty-one years old...
  • The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Jeanne Kalogridis

    The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Jeanne Kalogridis

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    From Jeanne Kalogridis, the bestselling author of I, Mona Lisa and The Borgia Bride, comes a new novel that tells the passionate story of a queen who loved not wisely . . . but all too well. Confidante of Nostradamus, scheming mother-in-law to Mary, Queen of Scots, and architect of the bloody St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history...
  • I Am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith

    I Am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    Her life would be marked by scandal and suspicion, worship and adoration… At the tender age of fourteen, Livia Drusilla overhears her father and fellow aristocrats plotting the assassination of Julius Caesar. Proving herself an astute confidante, she becomes her father’s chief political asset—and reluctantly enters into an advantageous marriage to a prominent military officer...
  • The Cloister by James Carroll

    The Cloister by James Carroll

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    From National Book Award-winning writer James Carroll comes a novel of the timeless love story of Peter Abelard and Heloise, and its impact on a modern priest and a Holocaust survivor seeking sanctuary in Manhattan. Father Michael Kavanagh is shocked to see a friend from his seminary days named Runner Malloy at the altar of his humble Inwood community parish...
  • Sweet Savage Heart by Janelle Taylor

    Sweet Savage Heart by Janelle Taylor

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    SHE TRIED TO ESCAPE HIM... Kidnapped when she was a child, eighteen-year-old Rana Michaels couldn't imagine any life other than her carefree existence among the Sioux. Then the white man Travis Kincade appeared in her camp, and the flame-haired beauty's peace was shattered forever...
  • Queen of Swords: An epic tale of a princess of the Crusades (Three Queens) by Judith Tarr

    Queen of Swords: An epic tale of a princess of the Crusades (Three Queens) by Judith Tarr

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Queen in all but name, one woman's battle to rule her kingdom, from the Court of Jerusalem to the battlefields of the Crusades to the glorious city of Byzantium. Melisende was the oldest daughter of Baldwin of Jerusalem, a princess of the Franks and, since she had no brothers, heir to the Crusader Kingdom. The crown would go to the man who married her, and after to her son...
  • The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile by C.W. Gortner

    The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile by C.W. Gortner

    Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    No one believed I was destined for greatness.   So begins Isabella’s story, in this evocative, vividly imagined novel about one of history’s most famous and controversial queens—the warrior who united a fractured country, the champion of the faith whose reign gave rise to the Inquisition, and the visionary who sent Columbus to discover a New World. Acclaimed author C. W...
  • Her Rebel Heart by Alison Stuart

    Her Rebel Heart by Alison Stuart

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 5 ratings
    (July 2015: Previously published as Claiming the Rebel's Heart) The first time they met, she tried to kill him... Deliverance Felton has been left to defend her home, Kinton Lacy Castle in a time of civil war. She can shoot and wield a sword as well as any man and anything she needs to know about siege warfare she has learned from a book...but no book can prepare her for what is to come...
    Categorized as:
    military  medieval  historical  length-short
  • The Courts of Love by Jean Plaidy

    The Courts of Love by Jean Plaidy

    Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    When I look back over my long and tempestuous life , I can see that much of what happened to me, my triumphs and most of my misfortunes was due to my passionate relationships with men...
    Categorized as:
    royalty  medieval  historical  length-long
  • THE VOW ON THE HERON (Plantagenet Saga) by Jean Plaidy

    THE VOW ON THE HERON (Plantagenet Saga) by Jean Plaidy

    Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Edward the Third had come to the throne through the conniving of his mother. He was but a boy. Even so, the Queen did not want him inquiring too deeply into the death of his father, who had been brutally murdered because of her and her lover, Roger de Mortimer.To distract Edward she allowed him to marry the lovely and gracious Philippa of Hainault, with whom he had fallen in love at first sight...
  • Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth

    Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    From the award-winning author of The King's Daughter comes a story of love and defiance during the War of the Roses. It is 1497. The news of the survival of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, has set royal houses ablaze with intrigue and rocked the fledgling Tudor dynasty...
  • The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot

    The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot

    Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Patient, perfect, and used to being first, Marguerite becomes Queen of France. But Louis IX is a religious zealot who denies himself the love and companionship his wife craves. Can she borrow enough of her sister's boldness to grasp her chance for happiness in a forbidden love? Passionate, strong-willed, and stubborn, Eleanor becomes Queen of England...
  • The Queen of Last Hopes: The Story of Margaret of Anjou by Susan Higginbotham

    The Queen of Last Hopes: The Story of Margaret of Anjou by Susan Higginbotham

    Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    A man other than my husband sits on England's throne today. What would happen if this king suddenly went mad? What would his queen do? Would she make the same mistakes I did, or would she learn from mine? Margaret of Anjou, queen of England, cannot give up on her husband-even when he slips into insanity...
  • Before the Crown by Flora Harding

    Before the Crown by Flora Harding

    Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Before the crown there was a love story… Windsor Castle, 1943As war rages across the world, Princess Elizabeth comes face to face with the dashing naval officer she first met in London nine years before.One of the youngest first lieutenants in the Royal Navy, Philip represents everything she has always been taught to avoid. Instability. Audacity. Adventure...
  • To Be Queen: A Novel of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christy English

    To Be Queen: A Novel of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christy English

    Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Chosen as one of the Top 10 Historical Fiction Novels of 2011 by the Pittsburgh Historical Fiction ExaminerThe author of The Queen's Pawn delves into the early life of the legendary Eleanor of Aquitaine in her new historical novel. After her father's sudden death, fifteen-year-old Eleanor is quickly crowned Duchess of Aquitaine and betrothed to King Louis VII...
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