A commoner turned noble. A Queen cast aside. A lady half forgotten. A court filled with lies. Marietta: A half-elven commoner, abducted and forced into marriage with an elven lord. Valeriya: A Queen without power, undermining the husband she loathes for the legacy she craves. Elyse: A lady with untold potential, determined to remain unseen. In Enomenos, everyone is equal. In Syllogi, the elves rule over all. When war breaks out between them, Marietta finds herself at the center of the conflict in the elven city-state of Satiros. She must make a choice: fight for her freedom or fight for her people. When Queen Valeriya first learns of Marietta, she digs into her past. What she finds is a weapon to wield against the court-and a chance to dethrone the King. Elyse is thrust from the shadows and into the light when the King learns of her innate ability to control magic. Her life grows more complicated when a flirtatious foreign lord fights for her love. All three soon discover their choices shape the future of Satiros. Who can they trust, and which lies will be the most devastating of all? If you love books with royalty and aristocracy, elves and humans, and strong female leads, then you will love this adult fantasy romance book. A Queen's Game blends royalty, fantasy, romance, and political intrigue for an unforgettable story that will leave you guessing until the end.

"Sarah Gristwood has written a masterpiece that effortlessly and enthrallingly interweaves the amazing stories of women who ruled in Europe during the Renaissance period."--Alison Weir Sixteenth-century Europe saw an explosion of female rule. From Isabella of Castile, and her granddaughter Mary Tudor, to Catherine de Medici, Anne Boleyn, and Elizabeth Tudor, these women wielded enormous power over their territories, shaping the course of European history for over a century. Across boundaries and generations, these royal women were mothers and daughters, mentors and protégées, allies and enemies. For the first time, Europe saw a sisterhood of queens who would not be equaled until modern times. A fascinating group biography and a thrilling political epic, Game of Queens explores the lives of some of the most beloved (and reviled) queens in history.

A desperate set of games that ends in death, new found life, or shame has led Ember DelGado of the House of Inferno down a path of unfathomable prospects. Dragged from the trench that her family was cast into years ago, will she sink or swim when thrown into the shark tank that is the life of a noble woman?

For fans of The Red Tent and The Dovekeepers, India Edghill breathes new life into the biblical story of Vashti and Esther with her signature historical richness, epic scope, and sweeping romance. You may know part of the story already, but you only know what history has passed along. The story of how Vashti, Queen of Queens, the most beautiful woman in all the empire, defied the king her husband and so lost her crown. The story of how Ahasuerus, King of Kings, commanded that the most beautiful maidens be sent to his court so he might choose a new queen. And you may know how he set the queen's crown upon the head of the virtuous and beautiful Esther, and how Queen Esther herself defied both king and law to save her people from a treacherous fate. What India Edghill brings us in Game of Queens is the story of power and treachery, blood and deception, bravery and romance that surrounds the court of Ahasuerus and brings to life two of the most celebrated female heroines in all of history.

"Who is the most outrageous--Trixie Mattel or Divine? Who is the funniest--Coco Peru or Lily Savage? Enter the world of huge hair, sparkling make-up, glitter galore, fake eyelashes, and ... the fine art of the tuck and tape, with Game of Queens! Pitch queen against queen from across the carnival court of drag, from the female impersonators who pioneered drag performance in the 1970s up to the superstars of the scene today."--Publisher's website

National Bestseller “A well-researched and well-told epic history. The Dark Queens brings these courageous, flawed, and ruthless rulers and their distant times back to life.”--Margot Lee Shetterly, New York Times-bestselling author of Hidden Figures The remarkable, little-known story of two trailblazing women in the Early Middle Ages who wielded immense power, only to be vilified for daring to rule. Brunhild was a foreign princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet-in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport-these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms, changing the face of Europe. The two queens commanded armies and negotiated with kings and popes. They formed coalitions and broke them, mothered children and lost them. They fought a decades-long civil war-against each other. With ingenuity and skill, they battled to stay alive in the game of statecraft, and in the process laid the foundations of what would one day be Charlemagne's empire. Yet after the queens' deaths-one gentle, the other horrific-their stories were rewritten, their names consigned to slander and legend. In The Dark Queens, award-winning writer Shelley Puhak sets the record straight. She resurrects two very real women in all their complexity, painting a richly detailed portrait of an unfamiliar time and striking at the roots of some of our culture's stubbornest myths about female power. The Dark Queens offers proof that the relationships between women can transform the world.

At the heart of every bee hive is a queen bee. Since her well-being is linked to the well-being of the entire colony, the ability to find her among the residents of the hive is an essential beekeeping skill. In QueenSpotting, experienced beekeeper and professional “swarm catcher” Hilary Kearney challenges readers to “spot the queen” with 48 fold-out visual puzzles — vivid up-close photos of the queen hidden among her many subjects. QueenSpotting celebrates the unique, fascinating life of the queen bee chronicles of royal hive happenings such as The Virgin Death Match, The Nuptual Flight — when the queen mates with a cloud of male drones high in the air — and the dramatic Exodus of the Swarm from the hive. Readers will thrill at Kearney’s adventures in capturing these swarms from the strange places they settle, including a Jet Ski, a couch, a speed boat, and an owl’s nesting box. Fascinating, fun, and instructive, backyard beekeepers and nature lovers alike will find reason to return to the pages again and again. This publication conforms to the EPUB Accessibility specification at WCAG 2.0 Level AA.