Medieval English

Inside The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women, a fascinating book about life during medieval times, you will discover tantalizing true stories about medieval women and a myriad of historical facts.

The Plantagenet queens of England played a role in some of the most dramatic events in our history. Crusading queens, queens in rebellion against their king, queen seductresses, learned queens, queens in battle, queens who enlivened England with the romantic culture of southern Europe - these determined women often broke through medieval constraints to exercise power and influence, for good and sometimes for ill.

THE PRESENT Successful matchmaker Brianagh O’Rourke believes in happy-ever-afters – just not her own. Though she thrives on helping her clients find the partner of their dreams, her own dreams remain firmly in her head, not in her life. She's fine loving only her business–at least, that's what she tells herself when she agrees to her lackluster boyfriend's proposal. THE PAST Laird Nioclas MacWilliam has big problems: His power-hungry, exiled father wants him dead, his clan is pressuring him to marry to secure a strong alliance, and he's been betrothed to the mystical O'Rourke daughter...

The first time Thomas MacGowan saw Elizabeth Douglas, he thought that she was a princess. To the son of the castle blacksmith, the daughter of the powerful lord of Douglas might as well have been. Despite their differences in rank, they become inseparable - until Thom confesses his love, and the humiliation of realizing that Elizabeth has never considered him a potential suitor drives him to battle. Elizabeth is devastated.

In The Temple and the Lodge, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh reveal the survival and evolution of a world-changing order through the birth of the Masonic lodge. Recounting the brutal events in the 14th century that led to the sudden disappearance of the Knights Templar - a powerful military and banking order founded in 1119 and active in the Crusades - the authors document the Templars' reappearance in the court of excommunicate Scottish king Robert the Bruce.

Jorah Mallon-Garth, medieval warrior and alpha of the Varkash wolf pack, seeks a human bride who will do his bidding.... Lady Isolde Merrell is pretty but altogether too plump to be noticed when her beautiful younger sister is around. In desperation she douses herself with a lust potion to snare the attentions of returning warrior Jorah Mallon-Garth, who has just completed three years soldiering for the Crown. Suddenly she finds herself wedded and bedded by the alpha male of the Varkash pack and bound for the Winterlands!

For more than a decade, while the First War of Scottish Independence rages, fierce warrior Conall MacGregor has dreamed of the revenge he will have against the man who robbed him of his family and home. To this end, he abducts the daughter of his enemy, hoping to force a marriage and reclaim what is rightfully his. He has no idea that the stubborn lass will turn his world upside-down, and that he will be the one held captive.

Hallowmas 1144. With the harvest festival approaching, Gareth has returned from fighting in the south, hoping for a few months of peace with Gwen before the birth of their first child. But when an innocent foray to the beach turns up the murdered body of Prince Hywel's long lost cousin, a woman thought to have run away with a Dane five years earlier, it is Gareth and Gwen who are charged with discovering her killer.

As the youngest of the Sinclair Jewels, Pearl has made a place for herself among her clan, serving her people and doing her best to care for those who need help. Unlike her sisters, she has no interest in ever leaving her family. But when she's forced to choose between an unwanted marriage or taking holy vows, she makes a fateful mistake. If she can't stay with her clan, she'll become a nun. But once her sire tasks the Hound to escort her to the abbey, Pearl is forced to admit two things: she never wanted to take holy vows and her fascination with the Hound can no longer be denied.

Richard "Roi" de Lohr is the second son of Richard the Lionheart's champion, Christopher de Lohr. Roi was raised in the finest homes and with the finest training. Emerging as a powerful and intelligent knight, he married the woman he wanted and enjoyed the life of prestige he had earned. When his wife gave birth to a son, Roi's life was complete. Until tragedy strikes. When Roi's wife dies in childbirth with their second child, he is devastated. But he's a de Lohr, and de Lohrs don't crumble. He raises his son alone, proud that the lad promises to take his place among the great de Lohrs.

Highland laird Conor McTiernay had always dreamed of an enduring love. But the reality of women who desired him only for his title and lands made him swear off marriage forever. That is until he first set eyes on the Englishwoman his men found hiding in the forest. But would she prove to be yet another beguiling seductress?

When Fiona Hay offers Angus Gordon her virtue in exchange for a dowry for her sisters, she so intrigues the rogue that he demands a higher payment: She will be his mistress. Thus begins a battle of wills and sensual delights. Destiny soon draws the ardent lovers into the turbulent court of King James. But soon the king's political schemes force Fiona away from the man she loves...and into the arms of a wild and passionate highlander, The MacDonald of Nairn. Will this coldhearted and callous betrayal forever destroy Fiona's chance at happiness?

The Brothers York is the story of three remarkable brothers, two of whom were crowned kings of England and the other an heir presumptive, whose antagonism was fueled by the mistrust and vendettas of the age that brought their family to power. The house of York should have been the dynasty that the Tudors became. Its tragedy was that it devoured itself.

Commander Torin Gray is known among the Bruce's most elite Highland warriors as Shadow because of his prowess at infiltrating any English stronghold and discovering its weaknesses before bringing the king's army to its doors. After watching the English massacre his family when he was a boy, he vowed revenge on them all, one stronghold at a time. For him, the Scottish War of Independence is personal and he will not be stopped. But nothing could have prepared him for the beautiful outlaw he's about to face, or how bravely she draws him out of the shadows and into the light.

Lenora Montmayne leads a charmed life as the most beautiful woman at King Wymer's court, surrounded by admirers. And then disaster strikes. The red pox sweeps the summer palace at Caer-Lyones, and Lenora's fair face falls victim to its ravages. Without her looks, what does Lenora have left to her? If ever there was a knight the crowd loves to hate, it's Garman Orde. Even his own family despises him. Then one night a heavily veiled lady offers him an extraordinary bargain. And he finds out that Lenora Montmayne was never just a pretty face.

Alexander Cameron may have won the highborn English beauty in a duel, but not even the lure of long-forgotten desires could keep him from his meeting with destiny. He had no choice but to carry his reluctant bride off to the Highlands, to a world of ancient blood feuds and a brewing rebellion - a world where fiery passion and breathtaking courage would prove that even legendary warriors could lose their hearts.

Micheil Ramsay is determined never to settle down. But when he rescues Diana of Drummond and brings her to Edinburgh to snare a husband, he finds himself swayed by her beauty, her bossiness, and her bravery. Now he finds himself in the position of trying to help the object of his affection woo another man.

The new king of Camelot wears no shining armor: Arthur and his knights have fallen and a new king rules. In the darkest forest: A scared, forsaken youth has become the most powerful - and feared - man in the world. Ruthless and unrestrained, Kerrigan has long ceased to be human. In the heart of London: A spirited peasant mired in drudgery, Seren dreams of becoming her own woman, but never expects that by fleeing her fate, she will meet her destiny.

John Gaunt was the son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV, and the sire of all those Tudors. He has had pretty bad press: supposed usurper of Richard II’s crown and the focus of hatred in the Peasants’ Revolt, as they torched his home, the Savoy Palace. Helen Carr paints a complex portrait of a man who held the levers of power on the English and European stage, passionately upheld chivalric values, pressed for the Bible to be translated into English, and patronized the arts.

Imagine you could travel back to the 14th century. What would you see? What would you smell? More to the point, where are you going to stay? And what are you going to eat? Ian Mortimer shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived. He sets out to explain what life was like in the most immediate way, through taking you to the Middle Ages. The result is the most astonishing social history book you are ever likely to read: evolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail.