Charlotte de Sauve has one goal: to live quietly in her home town of Tours and succeed her father as Visountess of Tours. But the road to the title runs through the French court ruled over by Catherine de Medici. Catherine agrees to make Charlotte her father's heir, but only if Charlotte will agree to join Catherine's notorious spy ring, the Escadron Volont, or Flying Squadron. In order to fulfil her promise to Catherine, Charlotte reluctantly agrees to become mistress first to Henry of Navarre, the poor cousin and new husband of Charlotte's former friend, Margot Valois, known to history as Queen Margot. Catherine adds to Charlotte's woes when she orders her to become mistress not only to Henry of Navarre but Catherine's youngest son, the Duc of Anjou. Faced with juggling two powerful and jealous men at once, Charlotte must keep her wits around her, and do all that she can to secure the title for herself and the child she desperately needs to have to secure the succession. Can she please Catherine without losing her own soul? Could she find a way to play the court mistress game in a way that satisfies herself, without crossing the Queen? Based on the true story of Madame de Sauve, one of the most famous courtesans of the 16th Century, Charlotte's story is one of intrigue and class warfare, written large on the page of Renaissance France. Scroll up today to get your copy of Charlotte's story today.

Tells the history of the French Renaissance through the lives of its most prominent queens and mistresses.

The riveting true story of mother-and-daughter queens Catherine de' Medici and Marguerite de Valois, whose wildly divergent personalities and turbulent relationship changed the shape of their tempestuous and dangerous century. Set in magnificent Renaissance France, this is the story of two remarkable women, a mother and daughter driven into opposition by a terrible betrayal that threatened to destroy the realm. Catherine de' Medici was a ruthless pragmatist and powerbroker who dominated the throne for thirty years. Her youngest daughter Marguerite, the glamorous "Queen Margot," was a passionate free spirit, the only adversary whom her mother could neither intimidate nor control. When Catherine forces the Catholic Marguerite to marry her Protestant cousin Henry of Navarre against her will, and then uses her opulent Parisian wedding as a means of luring his followers to their deaths, she creates not only savage conflict within France but also a potent rival within her own family. Rich in detail and vivid prose, Goldstone's narrative unfolds as a thrilling historical epic. Treacherous court politics, poisonings, inter-national espionage, and adultery form the background to a story that includes such celebrated figures as Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Nostradamus. The Rival Queens is a dangerous tale of love, betrayal, ambition, and the true nature of courage, the echoes of which still resonate.

DIV This book tells the history of the French Renaissance through the lives of its most prominent queens and mistresses, beginning with Agnès Sorel, the first officially recognized royal mistress in 1444; including Anne of Brittany, Catherine de Medici, Anne Pisseleu, Diane de Poitiers, and Marguerite de Valois, among others; and concluding with Gabrielle d’Estrées, Henry IV’s powerful mistress during the 1590s. Wellman shows that women in both roles—queen and mistress—enjoyed great influence over French politics and culture, not to mention over the powerful men with whom they were involved. The book also addresses the enduring mythology surrounding these women, relating captivating tales that uncover much about Renaissance modes of argument, symbols, and values, as well as our own modern preoccupations. /div