I’ve been working on this project for a while, and I’m finally thrilled to announce that Eloise and the Queen is ready to pre-order!
Pre-order the e-book (scroll down for paperback info):
My Web store (releases Nov 17, a week before the vendors): https://geni.us/Xu9K
Amazon: https://geni.us/FVme
Kobo: https://geni.us/G2Wmdr
Google: https://geni.us/IZvsTBn
Apple (To come):
I am going to bring this out in both paperback and hardback as well, which will be available on release day (Nov 24) from the retailers.
You can pre-order the paperback or hardback from me, but in all honesty, it won’t be any faster. I have to drop ship from the printers, and they can be slooowww. Also I can only ship within the US, because shipping costs outside the US are way too high. You’ll save by ordering from a vendor in your country.
If you do wish to pre-order the paperback or hardback directly from me:
Paperback: https://geni.us/csGMri9
Hardback: https://geni.us/7rY50r
What Is It About?
Eloise and the Queen follows Elizabeth I from girlhood (story starts when she and the heroine, Eloise, are both fourteen), through the hardships and setbacks she endured as princess (house arrests, accusations of fomenting rebellions, a stint in the Tower, more house arrests) before finally becoming queen.
Eloise (niece of Elizabeth’s governess Kat Ashley) is Elizabeth’s personal seamstress, creating the beautiful gowns the princess wears throughout the years. Eloise is also Elizabeth’s confidant and later spy, keeping Elizabeth informed of what is happening while she is confined.
The books takes us through the accession of Edward VI, the machinations of the Seymour brothers, Mary’s rise, Jane Grey’s fall, Elizabeth as prisoner in the Tower, and her growing friendship with Robert Dudley.
I also introduce a romance between Eloise and one of Elizabeth’s gentlemen (James Colby, a fictional character, who is a close friend of Robert Dudley), but that romance has a twist (I can’t stop writing mysteries).
It is overall a historical novel, with elements of romance and mystery.
The Story Behind the Story
Long ago, I wrote a book called The Queen’s Handmaiden, at my publisher’s request when Tudor was all the rage. This followed another book I wrote for them: A Lady Raised High (a novel of Anne Boleyn).
By the time I finished and turned in the book, I think the publisher lost interest in all things Tudor. They cancelled the wives of Henry VIII series they’d been doing (he only got to have three wives), barely edited my book, and brought it out with no marketing whatsoever.
It went out of print very fast, which was good news (I didn’t think so at the time), and I was able to get the rights reverted to me.
Then it sat in my drawer for a very long time. I had so many other books to write, new series (like Shifters, Mackenzies, re-releasing the Captain Lacey series). Lots of exciting things happen in my career.
Every once in a while, I’d take out Eloise’s book, read it, and think—I need to revise this and republish!
A couple of years ago, I pulled it out *again*, and started the revision process, then sent it to my editor for close scrutiny.
Then it went back into the drawer, because still I had so many other books to work on (mainly the Kat Holloway series, but many others too!).
At long last, this year, I said, “I’m doing it!” I took out the book I’d already rewritten and had a deep dive edit on, and revised it yet again.
In the years since I wrote the first version and this one, my writing skills have vastly improved, plus there has been much more research done on Elizabeth I and the Tudor and Elizabethan eras, uncovering new facts and busting myths.
I’ve done more research this time around than I ever did for the first book!
Therefore, retitled it and am bringing it out as new (or new-ish). Also I grew so interested in the history that I will likely write another, continuing Elizabeth’s and Eloise’s journey through Elizabeth’s reign.
I hope you enjoy this book. I absolutely love it, and it has been a pleasure re-writing and revising it so it can have a new life.
More about Eloise and the Queen and also A Lady Raised High, can be found here:
https://jenniferashley.com/jennifer-ashley-books/ladies-of-tudor-england/
I’ll have an excerpt of Eloise once it’s been proofread.
If you have read all the way to the end, thank you! LOL I hope you enjoy the book.
I’m working on more in all my series (in the middle of writing Captain Lacey right now).
Take care and have a good rest of your week!
Writing from My Heart 