Category: Book Publicity

BLOG TOUR – Henry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine

On By TracyIn Blog Tour, Book Publicity, Historical Fiction, Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, Paranormal / Fantasy, Release Day Blitz, Standalone Title, Tracy's Reviews, Tudor Era (1485-1603), Women's FictionLeave a comment

Henry Tudor Must DieHenry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone (?)

Release Date: July 21, 2026

Once King Henry VIII set eyes on Jane Seymour, Anne Boylen’s days as queen were numbered, but what Henry didn’t realize was that Anne wasn’t the weak woman he believed her to be. Anne was a powerful witch and a member of the Hellebore Sisterhood, but without her spellbooks and her bloodletting knife, she is powerless – or so she thought. While awaiting her execution, Anne is visited by the last person she ever expected to see, the late Queen Catherine of Aragon. But Catherine “Lina” is not dead as everyone believes, she was saved by the Hellebore Sisterhood and has been sent to save Anne.

After performing the magic necessary to convince the world that she was executed, Anne is weak and at the mercy of Lina – a woman who should want her dead. Everything in Lina rages against helping the woman who was responsible not only for her own downfall, but the reason her daughter Mary was no longer heir to the throne. But when Princess Marguerite d’Angouleme, the sister of the French King and the leader of the Hellebore Sisterhood saved her from a life of exile, she couldn’t say no when the Princess asked her to save Anne. After nursing Anne back to health, the women travel to Spain and spend the next few years working for the Princess. But the rage and hatred for Henry is always simmering under the surface, so when Anne’s young cousin Catherine Howard, catches Henry’s eye, Anne knows the time has come and that Henry Tudor Must Die…

I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I started this book, but I have to say, this was one of the better Anne Boylen fictional retellings that I have read. I loved the idea of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boylen working together, I felt their pain, their anger and their rage, and rejoiced in their friendship and commitment to the sisterhood. For me, the story did drag in the middle, but the ending was great (although heartbreaking) and I loved the interactive “footnotes” throughout the story. Overall, it was an interesting fictional historical retelling with a magical twist, and I would definitely read another book by this author – in fact I have my fingers crossed for a story with Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

 

How to Meet Your Match on the Moors by Elizabeth Cole

On By TracyIn Book Publicity, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

How to Meet Your Match on the Moors: A Scottish Regency Romance (A Lady’s Guide to Scotsmen Book 2)How to Meet Your Match on the Moors: A Scottish Regency Romance by Elizabeth Cole

Tracy’s Rating: 3/3.5 of 5 stars

Series: A Lady’s Guide to Scotsmen #2

Release Date: April 21, 2026

Elspeth McGregor is stunned when her father announces that she it to be married in a matter of days to a man she has never met. He assures her that Struan MacInnes approached him for her hand and is anxious to marry her as soon as possible. Elspeth is an eternal optimist and is eager to make her marriage successful when she first sees her groom, she is surprised by his size and when she notices his scars, she is filled with compassion. She doesn’t understand why man who wanted to marry her, seemed determined to keep her at a distance, but Elspeth is a proverbial ray of sunshine and manages to worm her way into her new husband’s heart and gives hers to him in return. She believes that she has finally found her happily ever after, until she learns the truth of their marriage.

After years of war and months of recovery, Struan MacInnes wants nothing more than to return home to the highlands, but while in Edinburgh, he needs to find James MacGregor and insist that he repay the loan Struan made to him six years ago. But his meeting with MacGregor doesn’t go as planned and instead of getting his money back, he ends up with a wife. A very tempting and cheerful wife and no matter how hard he tries to keep her at an arm’s length, she manages to charm him just like everyone else who meets her. Soon he can imagine his life without her and is more determined than ever to keep her from learning of how their marriage came to be, but when truth comes out and she is hurt, it seems like any chance for happily ever after seems lost.

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this book – I loved the story right up until Elspeth learns the truth about their marriage and she changes – drastically. I completely understood her pain and anger, but she reacted completely out of character and seemed intent on targeting all that anger solely on Struan and seems to completely absolve her father from any wrongdoing. From that point on the story just seemed to fall apart for me, I felt that she was being irrational and while she had a right to be upset, she could have handled things differently. Eventually, they find their way to their HEA, but it took too long and I stopped caring. Overall, the book was okay, there is a lot of emotion, a bit of intrigue, steamyish love scenes, great secondary characters and it does end with a HEA, but it is not a book I would read a second time. This is the second book in the series, but I think the first book runs concurrently with this one, so I had no problem starting with this book.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *