Ladies in Waiting

With this brilliant foray into historical fiction, Christy Award finalist Sandra Byrd delivers a fresh look at Anne Boleyn through the eyes of her lifelong friend Meg Wyatt. As Anne finds favor with Henry VIII, Meg basks in the glow of Anne's glory. But when Anne falls out of favor, the childhood friends are plunged into a maelstrom of slander and intrigue that tests the limits of their loyalties and puts their lives-and the lives of their loved ones-in grave danger.

Christy Award finalist Sandra Byrd has drawn favorable comparisons to New York Times best-selling author Philippa Gregory for her Ladies in Waiting novels. The second installment in the series transports listeners to King Henry VIII's court for a tale of intrigue featuring Henry's last wife, Kateryn Parr.

From the acclaimed author of To Die For comes a stirring novel told that sheds new light on Elizabeth I and her court. Like Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, Sandra Byrd has attracted countless fans for evoking the complexity, grandeur, and brutality of the Tudor period. In her latest tour de force, she poses the question: What happens when serving a queen may cost you your marriage--or your life? In 1565, seventeen-year-old Elin von Snakenborg leaves Sweden on a treacherous journey to England. Her fiance has fallen in love with her sister and her dowry money has been gambled away, but ahead of her lies an adventure that will take her to the dizzying heights of Tudor power. Transformed through marriage into Helena, the Marchioness of Northampton, she becomes the highest-ranking woman in Elizabeth's circle. But in a court that is surrounded by Catholic enemies who plot the queen's downfall, Helena is forced to choose between her unyielding monarch and the husband she's not sure she can trust--a choice that will provoke catastrophic consequences. Vividly conjuring the years leading up to the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots, Roses Have Thorns is a brilliant exploration of treason, both to the realm and to the heart.

Katherine Bingham's father has betrothed her to an older man she will never love. Yet it is better than continuing to live with the parent who believes her guilty of murder and being insane. Katherine picks marriage to the Duke of Ashton, George Fairfax, even if she knows her life will be miserable. However, when she stays with the Fairfax family before the wedding, she doesn't plan on falling in love with the duke's nephew, Nicholas. Destined for a lonely life, Nicholas wishes he wasn't in love with his uncle's soon-to-be bride. He must choose between his dying uncle's last wish to marry, and the woman who will make Nick completely happy. It will tear him apart if they can never be together, but fate has different plans. A flurry of accidents happen around the estate, and soon all accusing eyes turn to Katherine. When the incidents escalate to murder, suspicions expound and now everyone believes Katherine has gone mad. Will Nick love her enough to discover the truth?