Book Spotlight: Mistress of Dartington Hall by Rosemary Griggs

 

1587. England is at war with Spain. The people of Devon wait in terror for King Philip of Spain’s mighty armada to unleash untold devastation on their land. 

 

Roberda, daughter of a French Huguenot leader, has been managing the Dartington estate in her estranged husband Gawen’s absence. She has gained the respect of the staff and tenants who now look to her to lead them through these dark times.

 

Gawen’s unexpected return from Ireland, where he has been serving Queen Elizabeth, throws her world into turmoil. He joins the men of the west country, including his cousin, Sir Walter Raleigh, and his friend Sir Francis Drake, as they prepare to repel a Spanish invasion. Amidst musters and alarms, determined and resourceful Roberda rallies the women of Dartington. But, after their earlier differences, can she trust Gawen? Or should she heed the advice of her faithful French maid, Clotilde?

 

Later Roberda will have to fight if she is to remain Mistress of Dartington Hall, and secure her children’s inheritance. Can she ever truly find fulfilment for herself?

 

 Buy Link:

 Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4jjOZk

  

Author and speaker Rosemary Griggs has been researching Devon's sixteenth-century history for years. She has discovered a cast of fascinating characters and an intriguing network of families whose influence stretched far beyond the West Country. She loves telling the stories of the forgotten women of history — the women beyond the royal court; wives, sisters, daughters and mothers who played their part during those tumultuous Tudor years: the Daughters of Devon.

Her novel, A Woman of Noble Wit, set in Tudor Devon, is the story of the life of Katherine Champernowne, Sir Walter Raleigh’s mother. The Dartington Bride, follows Lady Gabrielle Roberda Montgomery, a young Huguenot noblewoman, as she travels from war-torn France to Elizabethan England to marry into the prominent Champernowne family. Mistress of Dartington Hall, set in the time of the Spanish Armada, continues Roberda’s story. 

Rosemary is currently working on her first work of non-fiction — a biography of Kate Astley, childhood governess to Queen Elizabeth I, due for publication in 2026.

Rosemary creates and wears sixteenth-century clothing, and brings the past to life through a unique blend of theatre, history and re-enactment at events all over the West Country. Out of costume, Rosemary leads heritage tours at Dartington Hall, a fourteenth-century manor house that was home of the Champernowne family for 366 years.

Author Links:

Website: https://rosemarygriggs.co.uk/

Twitter / X: https://x.com/ragriggsauthor

Facebook: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladykatherinesfarthingale

Instagram: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/griggs6176/

Threads: Threads: https://www.threads.net/@griggs6176

Bluesky: BlueSky:  https://bsky.app/profile/ragriggsauthor.bsky.social

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Rosemary-Griggs/author/B09GY6ZSYF

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21850977.Rosemary_Griggs

 

 

Book Spotlight: Bess – Tudor Gentlewoman by Tony Riches

 

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.

 Buy Link:

 Universal Buy Link: https://mybook.to/BESS

 This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

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.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.tonyriches.com/

Blog: http://tonyriches.blogspot.co.uk/

Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/tonyriches

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyriches.author/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyriches.author/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tonyriches.bsky.social

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Tony-Riches/author/B006UZWOXA

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5604088.Tony_Riches

 

 

 

Book Spotlight: The Dartington Bride by Rosemary Griggs. Audiobook narrated by Rosemary Griggs.

 

Follow the tour HERE

1571, and the beautiful, headstrong daughter of a French Count marries the son of the Vice Admiral of the Fleet of the West in Queen Elizabeth’s chapel at Greenwich. It sounds like a marriage made in heaven...

Roberda’s father, the Count of Montgomery, is a prominent Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion. When her formidable mother follows him into battle, she takes all her children with her.

After a traumatic childhood in war-torn France, Roberda arrives in England full of hope for her wedding. But her ambitious bridegroom, Gawen, has little interest in taking a wife.

Received with suspicion by the servants at her new home, Dartington Hall in Devon, Roberda works hard to prove herself as mistress of the household and to be a good wife. But there are some who will never accept her as a true daughter of Devon.

After the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Gawen’s father welcomes Roberda’s family to Dartington as refugees. Compassionate Roberda is determined to help other French women left destitute by the wars. But her husband does not approve. Their differences will set them on an extraordinary path...

 

Buy Links:

 Universal Buy Link: https://rosemarygriggs.co.uk/books/2/The%20Dartington%20Bride/

Author and speaker Rosemary Griggs has been researching Devon’s sixteenth-century history for years. She has discovered a cast of fascinating characters and an intriguing network of families whose influence stretched far beyond the West Country and loves telling the stories of the forgotten women of history – the women beyond the royal court; wives, sisters, daughters and mothers who played their part during those tumultuous Tudor years: the Daughters of Devon.

Her novel A Woman of Noble Wit tells the story of Katherine Champernowne, Sir Walter Raleigh’s mother, and features many of the county’s well-loved places.

Rosemary creates and wears sixteenth-century clothing, a passion which complements her love for bringing the past to life through a unique blend of theatre, history and re-enactment. Her appearances and talks for museums and community groups all over the West Country draw on her extensive research into sixteenth-century Devon, Tudor life and Tudor dress, particularly Elizabethan.

Out of costume, Rosemary leads heritage tours of the gardens at Dartington Hall, a fourteenth-century manor house and now a visitor destination and charity supporting learning in arts, ecology and social justice.

Author Links:

Website:https://rosemarygriggs.co.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RAGriggsauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladykatherinesfarthingale

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/griggs6176/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@griggs6176

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ragriggsauthor.bsky.social

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rosemary-Griggs/author/B09GY6ZSYF

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21850977.Rosemary_Griggs

 

Spotlight on Tony Riches, author of ESSEX - Tudor Rebel (Book Two of the Elizabethan Series)

 

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, is one of the most intriguing men of the Elizabethan period. Tall and handsome, he soon becomes a ‘favourite’ at court, so close to the queen many wonder if they are lovers.

The truth is far more complex, as each has what the other yearns for. Robert Devereux longs for recognition, wealth and influence. His flamboyant naïveté amuses the ageing Queen Elizabeth, like the son she never had, and his vitality makes her feel young.

Robert Devereux’s remarkable true story continues the epic tale of the rise of the Tudors, which began with the best-selling Tudor trilogy and concludes with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

 

Buy Links:

This novel is free to read with a #KindleUnlimited subscription.

Universal Link 

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¸.•*´¨)✯ ¸.•*¨) ✮ ( ¸.•´✶

Tony Riches
Fun Facts
(Stuff you may or may not already know!)

 I grew up in the Ngong Hills of southern Kenya and used to ride a zebra.

My nickname at school was ‘The Milkybar Kid’ because I was a blond, spectacle-wearing boy, and the other boys would never tire of shouting his catchphrase, “The Milky Bars are on me!”)

I flew in a Hercules heavy transport plane which suffered a bird strike and had to make an emergency landing when the engine failed.

 Hercules C130 (Wikimedia)

My wife and I were sailing in the Bristol Channel in August 2004 and survived the Boscastle storm, with twenty-five-foot waves crashing over our yacht. (The storm destroyed the lower town and most boats in the harbour.)

I was shortlisted for the first Amazon Storyteller Award, and presented with a large bottle of Champagne – which remains unopened to this day!

Amazon Awards

Tony Riches

Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of best-selling Tudor historical fiction. He lives in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the history of the Wars of the Roses and the lives of the early Tudors. Tony’s other published historical fiction novels include: Owen – Book One Of The Tudor Trilogy, Jasper – Book Two Of The Tudor Trilogy, Henry – Book Three Of The Tudor Trilogy, Mary – Tudor Princess, Brandon – Tudor Knight and The Secret Diary Of Eleanor Cobham.

Connect with Tony 

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