Review + Giveaway: To Be Queen by Christy English

To Be Queen by Christy English
★★★★

Book Source: I received a copy from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Release Date: April 5th 2011

Setting: France 1132 – 1152

Book Synopsis: Taught by her father, the Duke of Aquitaine, how to be powerful in the midst of the ruthless politics of the court, Eleanor learned at an early age to inspire love and royalty in the people around her. Those lessons serve the fifteen-year old well when after her father’s sudden death she is crowned Duchess of Aquitaine and becomes the most eligible, sought –after woman in France.

Enamored of the young and beautiful Eleanor, King Louis VII claims her as his own, but the newly crowned monarch is easily manipulated by the Church and therefore bound to a way of life Eleanor does not believe in. Trapped in a loveless marriage and met with opposition at every turn, Eleanor fights to dissolve her estranged union with Louis and return to Aquitaine.

But Eleanor is soon charmed by the English upstart Henry of Normandy. If she can find the strength to leave her homeland behind, she may finally win the passion she has longed for and the means to fulfill her legacy as queen.

My Review: As some of you may already know Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of my favorite historical women of all time. In her second historical novel based on the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Christy creates a story where she brings the character of Eleanor to life. This story is told in Eleanor’s point of view where it begins when she is a fifteen-year old girl in her father’s court of love in the Aquitaine Duchy. We get to see Eleanor grow into a strikingly beautiful and strong willed woman, who later inherits her father’s lands after his sudden death while away on crusade. She later becomes Queen of France and becomes trapped in a loveless marriage to the overly pious King Louis VII. However, Eleanor sees her way out once she’s enamored by Henry of Normandy who is all man, so unlike Louis in every way!

I really enjoyed To Be Queen and I thought Christy English did an amazing job with telling Eleanor’s story during her earlier years as the Duchess of Aquitaine and Queen of France. However, I must be truthful by admitting I liked The Queen’s Pawn a lot more. I think this is because I find her marriage to Henry of Normandy who later becomes King of England so much more fascinating than her earlier years while she is still married to Louis VII. I don’t know what it is but I find Louis VII a true bore who couldn’t live up to both his manly duties as well as his duty as King of France. I commend Eleanor for high tailing it out of Louis’ court once she finally had the chance.

Please don’t let my preference for Eleanor’s later life as Queen of England to her younger years as Queen of France to sway you from picking up this book. It’s definitely worth the read especially if you’re not very familiar with Eleanor of Aquitaine. This in no way changes my opinion about Christy English as an author! I LOVED The Queen’s Pawn and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next!

Christy has so grasciously offered up 1 signed copy of To Be Queen to a lucky winner! This giveaway is only open to US residents & it ends April 6th. Here are the guidelines:

-You must me a follower of this blog through GFC follower.
-Leave your name and email address so I can contact you. If no email address is provided then you will not be entered into the giveaway.

-+1 entry if you're a new follower. Just tell me below in the comments that you are a new follower.

-+2 entries if you tweet, blog or facebook this giveaway. Please leave a link or else it wont count.

If you would to learn more about Eleanor of Aquitaine please click her to read an amazing post by Christy English where she discusses "Who is Eleanor of Aquitaine?"

Guest Post: Christy English discusses Who Is Eleanor of Aquitaine?

I am so honored and excited to bring an amazing guest post by Christy English, who is the author of The Queens Pawn and To Be Queen. She has so grasciously volunteered her time to be with us to today in order to discuss one of my favorite historical women of all time: Eleanor of Aquitaine! Make sure you stop by on Wednesday 23 to read my review of To Be Queen and also a chance to win a copy!

Who Is Eleanor of Aquitaine?

                      Guest Post by Christy English

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

Who is Eleanor of Aquitaine? Though this medieval queen has dominated my life over the last five years as I have written both THE QUEEN’S PAWN and TO BE QUEEN, I have discovered when talking to people less obsessed with medieval history, that some do not know who she is. I have had a few people say, “Oh, Elizabeth I? The Armada Queen?” and others ask, “Oh, you mean Eleanor Roosevelt?” So since we can not assume that Eleanor of Aquitaine is the by-word for everyone that she is in my own life, I would like to talk a little about her here.

We do not know what day Eleanor of Aquitaine was born. Historians are not even certain of the year. I believe however that Eleanor, Alienor in her native tongue, the langue d’oc, was born in the year 1122. Her father was William X, Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony, Count of Poitou. The Duchy of Aquitaine and all its adjacent lands stretched from the border of the Duchy of Burgundy in Eastern France to the Atlantic Ocean. The cities of Limoges, Poitiers, and Bordeaux were all under Eleanor’s father’s protection. And when Eleanor’s older brother died from a fever in 1130, Eleanor became Duke William’s undisputed heir.

When her father died, Eleanor was fifteen years old. She became duchess upon his death, and finished brokering her marriage to Louis VII of France herself, with the help of her faithful churchman, the Bishop of Limoges. Louis and Eleanor married in July 1137, and were married for fifteen years, producing only two living daughters. Eleanor of course was blamed for this, because at the time, the lack of a son was always the woman’s fault.

Eleanor did not let this deter her. She ruled France jointly with her husband, and rode on the Second Crusade with him in 1147. They returned to France in 1148, and after the birth of their second child, Eleanor knew with certainty that she wanted out of her marriage to the King of France.

King Louis VII of France

Eleanor’s First Husband

After years, she was able to arrange the annulment with Rome, and with the support of her husband, Eleanor was set free in the spring of 1152. Of course, she had a second husband waiting in the wings. Henry, the young Duke of Normandy.

King Henry II of England

Eleanor’s Second Husband

Henry of Normandy and Eleanor of Aquitaine married in May of 1152, and within two years Eleanor had given birth to one son and was pregnant with a second, all the time ruling as regent in Anjou and Normandy while Henry fought to regain the Kingdom of England. Henry succeeded in reclaiming his birthright which had been usurped by Stephen of Blois, and on December 19, 1154, Henry and Eleanor were crowned King and Queen of England.

King Richard the Lionhearted

Eleanor’s Favorite Son

Eleanor and Henry went on to have eight living children, three of whom, Henry the Younger, Richard the Lionhearted, and Prince John, all became Kings of England. Eleanor watched three of her sons crowned, and lived to the age of 82. For the last few years of her life, Eleanor retired to the nunnery she had founded at the Abbey of Fontevrault, where she died on April 1, 1204.

Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Tomb

Fontevrault Abbey

Taylor, thank you so much for hosting me today. TO BE QUEEN: A NOVEL OF THE EARLY LIFE OF ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE is available for pre-order and will be in bookstores on April 5. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451232305?ie=UTF8&tag=christyenglish-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0451232305

For those who want to know more about my adventures, readers can find me on my blog at http://www.christyenglish.com/ and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#%21/ChristyEnglish.

Review: The Queen's Pawn by Christy English

The Queen’s Pawn by Christy English

★★★★★

Release Date: April 2010
Source: Personal Copy
Setting: 1169 England

Synopsis: Nine year old Alais, Princess of France, is sent to England to marry Henry Plantagenet’s son, Prince Richard. Their betrothal was made in order to secure an alliance between France and England once and for all. 

Princess Alais of France is sent to live with the Queen of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was once married to Alais’s father, King Louis the seventh. Alias was brought up thinking Eleanor was wicked and evil for betraying and leaving her father.  Throughout her entire childhood she feared France’s mysterious Queen.  Unfortunately, Alais’s mother died while giving birth to her and her father gained only her, another daughter to be used as an innocent pawn shuffled around and played with for the benefit of others.

Upon meeting Eleanor for the first time, Alias for got her hatred for her. Eleanor was kind and she immediately looked upon Alias as her own daughter. Eleanor teaches Alias how to be a strong woman able to hold her own in the world of men. Once Alias develops her own ambitions, she wins the love of King Henry II and sacrifices her love for both Eleanor and Prince Richard. It doesn’t take long for Eleanor to view Alias as a threat, which changes everything that was once cherished between Princess and Queen.

Review: Eleanor of Aquitaine is easily one of my favorite women of history. She is so fascinating to study and to try and understand, which is why I just had to read Christy English’s book The Queen’s Pawn! Every book that I have read about Eleanor only briefly mentions Princess Alias. So it was nice to finally read and learn her life story.

The Queen’s Pawn showed Eleanor of Aquitaine in a totally different light then any book I have ever read about her, which is where I had a little problem with this book. It showed two different sides of Eleanor; one being loving and caring and the other being selfish, corrupt, and full of dark betrayal. No fault to the author, Christy was just staying true to Eleanor’s character. I just wasn’t ready to see Eleanor’s dark side where she was able to sacrifice her adopted daughter and the happiness of her beloved son in order to benefit herself.

This book was a real eye opener for me and I thank Christy English for that. I still love Eleanor and think she is the most fascinating women in history, but I have to face reality. In order to live in the world of royalty and not be brought down by others ambitions you have to be willing to make sacrifices even if it means betraying some of the most important people in your life.

Opinion: Overall, I LOVED this book! It was a great easy read full of passion, ambition, betrayal and revenge! I would recommend it to all book lovers’ not just historical fiction readers. The Queen’s Pawn was a great debut novel for Christy English and I can’t wait to read her next novel To Be Queen due to be released in early April.