Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. Today’s Linky will be hosted by Rose City Reader.

Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray (won at giveaway)

To Isis worshippers, Princess Selene and her twin brother Helios embody the divine celestial pair who will bring about a Golden Age. But when Selene’s parents are vanquished by Rome, her auspicious birth becomes a curse. Trapped in an empire that reviles her heritage and suspects her faith, the young messianic princess struggles for survival in a Roman court of intrigue. She can’t hide the hieroglyphics that carve themselves into her hands, nor can she stop the emperor from using her powers for his own ends. But faced with a new and ruthless Caesar who is obsessed with having a Cleopatra of his very own, Selene is determined to resurrect her mother’s dreams. Can she succeed where her mother failed? And what will it cost her in a political game where the only rule is win-or die?

World After by Susan Ee (purchased)

When a group of people capture Penryn’s sister Paige, thinking she’s a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels’ secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can’t rejoin the angels, can’t take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan (purchased)

TWO MEN WHO HATE EACH OTHER. ONE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION. A LEGEND IN THE MAKING.

A warrior with nothing to fight for is paired with a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm’s most valuable possessions. But it isn’t gold or jewels the old wizard is after, and this prize can only be obtained by the combined talents of two remarkable men. Now if Arcadias can just keep Hadrian and Royce from killing each other, they just might succeed.

The Rose and the Thorn by Michael J. Sullivan (purchased)

TWO THIEVES WANT ANSWERS. RIYRIA IS BORN.

For more than a year Royce Melborn has tried to forget Gwen DeLancy, the woman who saved him and his partner Hadrian Blackwater from certain death. Unable to get her out of his mind, the two thieves return to Medford but receive a very different reception — Gwen refuses to see them. The victim of abuse by a powerful noble, she suspects that Royce will ignore any danger in his desire for revenge. By turning the thieves away, Gwen hopes to once more protect them. What she doesn’t realize is what the two are capable of — but she’s about to find out.

Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton (purchased)

Some zombies are raised. Others must be put down. Just ask me, Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter.

Before now, I figured I could handle them Before now, she would have considered them merely off-putting, never dangerous. Before now, I had never heard of any of them causing human beings to perish in agony. But that’s all changed.

These creatures hunt in daylight, and are as fast and strong as vampires. If they bite you, you become just like them. And round and round it goes…

Where will it stop? Even I don’t know.

Medieval Women: A Social History of Women in England 450-1500 by Henrietta Leyser (bookmooch)

In Medieval Women, Henrietta Leyser celebrates the diversity and vitality of English women’s lives in the Middle Ages. Rather than picturing them as hiding in the shadows and dismissing them as either victims or slaves, her unique approach presents medieval women as clever, argumentative, influential and visible. Above all, she rescues these women from the deeply unflattering portraits drawn by nineteenth century Victorian historians

Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. Today’s Linky will be hosted by I totally paused!.

Fatal Majesty by Reay Tannahill (bookmooch)

In Fatal Majesty, critically acclaimed novelist Reay Tannahill immerses readers in the tragedy of Mary, Queen of Scots-but this is not a conventional retelling of a fascinating yet familiar tale. Eighteen-year-old Mary returns from the sophisticated French court to claim her throne in cold, backward Scotland. A gloomy reception proves least among the nave young monarch’s challenges: her arrival provides the opportunity for smoldering vendettas to explode and for intricate conspiracies to form and then unravel-intrigue besets her on every side. Mary’s self-righteous brother, James, seeks to rule in her place; her brilliant Secretary of State, Lethington, dedicates his energies to placing the Stuarts on the throne of England; and her cousin, Elizabeth I, dazzling and unscrupulous, fears Mary as a threat to her crown and to her life.

Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. Today’s Linky will be hosted by I totally paused!.

A Newfound Land by Anna Belfrage (for review)

It’s 1672, and Matthew Graham and his family have left Scotland. Having taken the drastic decision to leave their homeland due to religious conflicts, Alexandra and Matthew hope for a simpler, if harsher, life in the wilds of the Colony of Maryland.
Unfortunately, things don’t always turn out as you want them to, and the past has a nasty tendency to resurface at the most inappropriate moments. Both Matthew and Alex are forced to cope with the unexpected reappearance of people they had never thought to meet again, and the screw is turned that much tighter when the four rogue Burley brothers enter their lives.

Matters are further complicated by the strained relations between colonists and the Susquehannock Indians. When Matthew intercedes to stop the Burleys from abducting Indian women into slavery he makes lifelong – and deadly – enemies of them all.

Once again Alex is plunged into an existence where death seems to threaten her man wherever he goes.

Will Matthew see himself – and his family – safe in these new circumstances? And will the past finally be laid to rest?

The Strangled Queen by Maurice Druon (purchased)

The King is dead. Long live the King.

Philip IV is dead and his great kingdom is in disarray. It seems the fatal curse of the Templars is plaguing the royal house of France.

His son has been enthroned as Louis X; but with his disgraced wife Marguerite imprisoned in the Chateau Gaillard for her adultery, Louis can produce no heir with which to secure the succession. But neither can he marry again while she lives…

The web of scandal, murder and intrigue that once wove itself around the court of the Iron King continues to draw in his descendants, as the destruction of his dynasty continues apace.

Mage’s Blood by David Hair (purchased)
Most of the time the Leviathan Bridge lies deep below the sea, but every twelve years, when the tides sink and the Moontide comes, it is revealed – linking Eastern and Western continents. At first, traders went back and forth across the bridge, but then the Rondian Empire – hell bent on ruling the East – sent its first two Crusades, and its mage-led armies pillaged their way across the new world. Now the Third Crusade is mustering, and this time the peoples of the East will fight back. But for all these massing powers, it is three ordinary people – a failed mage, a market girl and a jaded mercenary – who will determine the fate of the world.
 
 
The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts (bookmooch)

The Montgomery brothers have been the talk of Boonsboro ever since they decided to renovate the old Inn into an intimate and handsome new Bed and Breakfast. Beckett and Owen have both found love in the process, but what of Ryder, the third Montgomery brother? Can the Inn Boonsboro weave its magic one more time…?

Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. Today’s Linky will be hosted by I totally paused!.

William Rufus by Frank Barlow (won at AwesomeBooks)
William II, better known as William Rufus, was the third son of William the Conqueror and England’s king for only 13 years (1087-1100) before he was mysteriously assassinated. In this vivid biography, here updated and reissued with a new preface, Frank Barlow reveals an unconventional, flamboyant William Rufus — a far more attractive and interesting monarch than previously believed. Weaving an intimate account of the life of the king into the wider history of Anglo-Norman government, Barlow shows how William confirmed royal power in England, restored the ducal rights in France, and consolidated the Norman conquest.A boisterous man, William had many friends and none of the cold cruelty of most medieval monarchs. He was famous for his generosity and courage and generally known to be homosexual. Licentious, eccentric, and outrageous, his court was attacked at the time by Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, and later by censorious historians.

Nordic Gods and Heroes by Padraic Colum (bookmooch)
Rich selection of age-old legends concerning the gods and goddesses who dwell in Asgard, their problems with the mischievous Loki, the exploits of Odin and Thor, the story of Sigurd, the winning of Brynhild, the twilight of the gods and more. Enhanced with over 40 atmospheric illustrations by Willy Pogany.

Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. Today’s Linky will be hosted by Book Dragon’s Lair.

The King’s Grave: The Search for Richard III by Philippa Langley, Michael Jones (bought)
On 22 August 1485 Richard III was killed at Bosworth Field, the last king of England to die in battle. His victorious opponent, Henry Tudor (the future Henry VII), went on to found one of our most famous ruling dynasties. Richard’s body was displayed in undignified fashion for two days in nearby Leicester and then hurriedly buried in the church of the Greyfriars. Fifty years later, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, the king’s grave was lost – its contents believed to be emptied into the river Soar – and Richard III’s reputation buried under a mound of Tudor propaganda. Its culmination was Shakespeare’s compelling portrayal of a deformed and murderous villain, written over a hundred years after Richard’s death.

Now – in an incredible find – Richard III’s remains have been uncovered beneath a car park in Leicester. The King’s Grave traces this remarkable journey. In alternate chapters, Philippa Langley, whose years of research and belief that she would find Richard in this exact spot inspired the project, reveals the inside story of the search for the king’s grave, and historian Michael Jones tells of Richard’s fifteenth-century life and death. The result is a compelling portrayal of one of our greatest archaeological discoveries, allowing a complete re-evaluation of our most controversial monarch – one that discards the distortions of later Tudor histories and puts the man firmly back into the context of his times.

Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews (bought)
Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.

Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap…