Book Spotlight: Renaissance Rivals by Karen Essex

 

Renaissance Rivals, the long-awaited sequel to the global bestseller Leonardo’s Swans, tells the story of the brutal rivalry between two of history’s most fascinating power women: Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, celebrated in her own lifetime as “The First Lady of the World,” and Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara, daughter of the infamous Pope Alexander VI and one of the most maligned women in history.

 

Before Maggie O’Farrell’s doomed duchess in The Marriage Portrait, there were the women who built the courts, forged alliances, and commanded works of artistic genius. In both Renaissance Rivals and Leonardo’s Swans, Essex invites readers to step back one generation into the glittering courts of Renaissance Italy, where beauty, intellect, marriage, and ambition could determine the fate of nations.

 

Buy Links:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdpO2E

For paperback orders: https://shop.karenessex.com  

This book is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

 

 

Karen Essex is the national and international bestselling author of RUN, DARLING, KLEOPATRA, PHARAOH, LEONARDO'S SWANS, STEALING ATHENA, DRACULA IN LOVE, AND BETTIE PAGE: LIFE OF A PINUP LEGEND. All feature iconic women—powerful women that seduced the world and ruled it.

Essex is also an active screenwriter and speaker, and an award-winning journalist. She divides her time between Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Europe. Her novels are published in twenty-nine languages.

Leonardo’s Swans, the prequel to Renaissance Rivals, was a runaway bestseller in Italy and won the prestigious Premio Roma for Foreign Fiction.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.karenessex.com

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

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

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/karenessex/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/karen-essex

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@karenessexwrites

Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/44OrSh5

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22528.Karen_Essex

Follow Karen’s Substack newsletter, History. Sex. Power: https://substack.com/@karenessex

If you enjoy powerful historical fiction, you’ll love Forgiving Nero. An award‑winning novel of betrayal, survival, and redemption set in ancient Rome. https://books2read.com/u/3GOMvQ

 

 

Spotlight on The Hearts of All on Fire by Alana White

 

Florence, 1473. An impossible murder. A bitter rivalry. A serpent in the ranks.

Florentine investigator Guid’Antonio Vespucci returns to Florence from a government mission to find his dreams of success shattered. Life is good—but then a wealthy merchant dies from mushroom poisoning at Guid’Antonio’s Saint John’s Day table, and Guid’Antonio’s servant is charged with murder. Convinced of the youth’s innocence and fearful the killer may strike again, Guid’Antonio launches a private investigation into the merchant’s death, unaware that at the same time powerful enemies are conspiring to overthrow the Florentine Republic—and him. A clever, richly evocative tale for lovers of medieval and renaissance mysteries everywhere, The Hearts of All on Fire is a timeless story of family relationships coupled with themes of love, loss, betrayal and, above all, hope in a challenging world.

Follow the tour HERE

Buy Links:

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Alana White

Alana White's passion for Renaissance Italy has taken her to Florence for research on the Vespucci and Medici families on numerous occasions.  There along cobbled streets unchanged over the centuries, she traces their footsteps, listening to their imagined voices, including that of her protagonist, Guid'Antonio Vespucci and his friends, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo, Lorenzo de' Medici.  

Alana's first short story featuring real-life fifteenth-century lawyer Guid'Antonio Vespucci and his favorite nephew, Amerigo Vespucci, was a Macavity Award finalist and led to the Guid'Antonio Vespucci Mystery Series featuring "The Sign of the Weeping Virgin" (Book I) and "The Hearts of All on Fire" (Book II). 

She is a member of the Women's National Book Association and the Historical Novel Society, among other organizations.  She loves hearing from readers, and you can contact her at her website, www.alanawhite.com.

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