Medieval English

Colin O'Rourke is expanding Celtic Connections, his matchmaking business, to the UK and Ireland. However, its success is threatened before it opens its doors when a prominent UK gossip columnist publishes a slanderous article column about his company. The columnist agrees to retract her article...if he can successfully match her stubbornly-single niece. Eleanor Carberry is content with her life as a London bookshop owner. She has everything she needs―books, tea, and an aunt who is more like a mother. When her aunt asks Ellie to be the company's first client, to determine if the company ...

In the aftermath of the 1746 Battle of Culloden near Inverness, Arran MacLeod returns home, his face scarred from the conflict, causing even children to flee from him in fear. He discovers that his father has arranged his marriage to Rowena Munro, a local woman with impaired vision, in exchange for a substantial dowry and land. Rowena's companion, who accompanies her, instantly takes a dislike to Arran. Resistant to the idea of marriage, Arran is reluctant to be bound, especially to someone he faintly recalls as a lanky, unremarkable girl from his past. His frustration intensifies upon ...

Private investigator and former knight Crispin Guest faces his most complicated case yet when he witnesses a body fall from London bridge into the frigid River Thames. Though the man's death is declared a suicide, Guest sees evidence of foul play. His investigation leads him to Sir Thomas Saunfayl, an old acquaintance from his knighthood days. It seems the dead man was bargaining with Sir Thomas for the Spear of Longinus, the weapon used to pierce the side of Christ on the Cross, which grants invincibility to its owner.

In this edition, we hear, translated into modern English, 20-some tales, told in the voices of knight and merchant, wife and miller, squire and nun, and many more. Some are bawdy, some spiritual, some romantic, some mysterious, some chivalrous. Between the stories, the travelers converse, joke, and argue, revealing much about their individual outlooks upon life as well as what life was like in late 14th-century England.

Mankind puts its faith in many things - gods, kings, money - anything for protection from the worlds many dangers. When a cult springs up in neighboring Clonmel, promising to quell the recent attacks by lawless marauders, people flock to offer gold in exchange for protection. But this particular group, with which Halt is all too familiar, has a less than charitable agenda. Secrets will be unveiled and battles fought to the death as Will and Horace help Halt in ridding the land of a dangerous enemy.

Dragons, Knights, and Forbidden Love! This slow-burn romance has it all! They call him the Dragon Lord. The hero who killed the Dragon King, and Anna wants nothing to do with him...at least at first. Anna’s love got killed while fighting the dragons, and when the opportunity comes to leave the town of Willowfore and her broken heart behind, she takes it. She becomes the Dragon Lord’s assistant steward. While at first, she thinks his Lordship is cruel and unforgiving, she soon learns there is more to this man than meets the eye, but a difference in station keeps her from expressing her ...

Since ancient times, accounts of supernatural activity have mystified us. Ghost stories as we know them did not develop until the late 19th century, but the restless dead haunted the premodern imagination in many forms, as recorded in historical narratives, theological texts, and personal letters. The Penguin Book of the Undead teems with roving hordes of dead warriors, corpses trailed by packs of barking dogs, moaning phantoms haunting deserted ruins, evil spirits emerging from burning carcasses in the form of crows, and zombies with pestilential breath.

In the midst of the devastating Hundred Years’ War between France and England, Jean de Carrouges, a Norman knight, fresh from combat in Scotland finds his wife, Marguerite, accusing squire Jacques Le Gris of brutally raping her. A deadlocked court decrees a “trial by combat” that also leaves Marguerite’s fate in the balance. For if her husband loses the duel, she will be put to death as a false accuser. While enemy troops pillage the land, and rebellion and plague threaten the lives of all, Carrouges and Le Gris meet in full armor on a walled field in Paris.

When the novice Emma Thorgold goes missing from Godstow Abbey in the summer of 1353, the hunt is on throughout the Oxfordshire countryside. Bookseller Nicholas Elyot and scholar Jordain Brinkylsworth are anxious to help the girl, but her stepfather has other intentions. Why is he so determined to shut her away for life? Or worse? And will she be found unharmed?

Fiercely loyal to his older brother, Alaric McCabe leads his clan in the fight for their birthright. Now he is prepared to wed for duty, as well. But on his way to claim the hand of Rionna McDonald, daughter of a neighboring chieftain, he is ambushed and left for dead. Miraculously, his life is saved by the soft touch of a Highland angel, a courageous beauty who will put to the test his fealty to his clan, his honor, and his deepest desires.

Lovisa evaded capture for killing the prince in a tournament, but can she win the Orc King's heart and evade being shared by his savage men? Fleeing through a treacherous forest, Lovisa, a fierce female warrior, evades pursuit, seeking refuge in the Orc realm. Yet, her respite is short-lived as she falls into the clutches of the formidable Orc King. Now, ensnared in the heart of enemy territory, her survival and future happiness depend on strength, courage, and cunning amidst the savage horde. If you love steamy orc fantasy short stories with fiercely possessive Orcs, sassy maidens, and ...

Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization, they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task. As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.

The thousand-year-old Imperium era is drawing to a close, and the threat of war and violence hangs over the land. With no magic or wealth, Lansius has to face this new reality on his own. Well, mostly. The squire Stefi is at his side as he leaves his new home to march with young Lord Arte against the invaders. When Lansius is separated from Stefi and their liege, he faces his greatest challenge yet: taking command of a ragtag group of misfits as they battle to save their people. And as he reluctantly climbs the ranks of power, others flock to his banner seeking glory or safety.

Beginning with their introduction in the 11th century, and ending with their widespread abandonment in the 17th, Marc Morris explores many of the country's most famous castles, as well as some spectacular lesser-known examples. At times this is an epic tale, driven by characters like William the Conqueror, King John, and Edward I, full of sieges and conquest on an awesome scale.

He is a king, a warrior, the last hope of his people - and the chosen one of the sidhe...journey with Cade and Rhiann to a world of myth and magic in Dark Age Wales!

As one of the bastards born to the Stirling court, Sorley the Hawk has never known his mother or father. It's a burning quest he has devoted himself to uncovering at any cost. But as a roguish warrior who serves at the pleasure of the King, his prowess - both on the battlefield and in his bedchamber - is legendary. So when a flame-haired Highland lass sneaks into his quarters with a tantalizing proposition, he can't resist taking her up on her offer.

As the son of Edward de Wolfe, Henry III and Edward I’s greatest diplomat, Leonidas has been in the heart of England’s politics since the beginning of his career. An elite knight, Blackchurch trained and Kenilworth-educated, he is the pinnacle of the de Wolfe stable of knights, sons and grandsons and great-grandsons of the greatest knight of his generation, William de Wolfe.

Having recovered from the wounds of battle and having won for himself a fortune, a crew, and a longship, Thorgrim Night Wolf makes ready to leave the Viking town of Dubh-linn for the long journey back to his home in Norway. But the gods have other plans, and Thorgrim and his men wash up in the small Viking longphort of Vík-ló. Thinking themselves among friends, they soon learn that the opposite is true - that Grimarr Giant, the Lord of Vík-ló, has reason to want Thorgrim and his son, Harald, dead.

He took her as a trophy. She became his salvation When powerful Highland laird Caelan MacBraith claims Isla Drummond in a forced marriage meant to end a brutal clan feud, he expects silence and submission—not defiance. Promised to another man and raised to despise her enemy, Isla refuses to be conquered. But in the wilds of 14th century Scotland, passion is a more dangerous battlefield than any blade. As enemies become lovers, desire burns hotter than vengeance. But war, betrayal, and bloodlines won’t be silenced so easily—and Isla must decide if love is worth giving up everything she...

J.R.R. Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a ‘dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told’. And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, including the forging of the Rings of Power, the building of the Barad-dûr and the rise of Sauron.