Reluctant Queen · Mary Rose Tudor, the Defiant Little Sister of King Henry VIII

RELUCTANT QUEEN: TUDOR HISTORICAL NOVEL

One NOT about any of the six wives! Henry VIII had plenty of other relatives, most of whom, given his short-lived dynasty, and shaky right to the crown, the always insecure Henry had executed throughout his reign in order to secure his throne.

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be the little sister of infamous English king, Henry VIII?

Although the teenaged Mary Rose was his favourite sister (he even named his famous ship after her), his shifting alliances and ruthless desire to have his own way, made him push the young and lovely Mary into a hateful May to December state marriage with the ailing and ancient King Louis XII of France.

But, a reluctant Mary Rose, as strong-willed as Henry and passionately in love, for the first time, with champion of the lists Charles Brandon, didn't give in easily. Before agreeing to the match, after a relentless campaign to get her to say yes, by her loving brother, Mary Rose extracted a promise from Henry. A promise she was determined he would keep.

At the French court, Mary Rose was pursued by the witty, charming, but debauched Francis, Louis's heir, who, even at the young age of twenty, was a practised seducer.

Between the awful conjugal embraces of her sickly old husband and the persistent and unwanted attentions from Francis, Mary was in a desperately unhappy situation.

But then, her ailing husband died, and the lusty Francis was elevated to the French throne and absolute power.

Mary Rose thought her situation BEFORE her husband's death was difficult, but then she heard rumours of her kingly brother's plans for her future. And they did not include keeping the promise he made to her.

Trapped in an impossible situation, caught between a lustful Francis and the ruthless self-interest of her older brother, the spirited Mary Rose made a fateful decision aware, even as she did so, that she was taking her very life in her hands.