Three Queens | June Book Club

Author Rebecca Connolly has done it again! I’ve featured works by this author a number of times in the past with her titles such as Under The Cover of Mercy and A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice, she’s a prolific writer of historical fiction, each one meticulously researched and engaging from the very first page.

This month, I’ve chosen her latest, Three Queens, for my June Book Club pick!

What do Abigail Adams, Queen Charlotte, and Marie Antionette have in common? They all lived during the same time period and had to navigate both public and private upheavals. While Queen Charlotte and Marie Antionette were indeed royal pen pals, and Abigail Adams had a chance to meet both under very formal circumstances, our author takes us on an imaginary journey where…

“The three women form an unlikely sisterhood, navigating revolutions, royal pressures, and personal losses as they shape their own legacies.

After the end of the American Revolutionary War, Abigail Adams crosses the Atlantic to reunite with her husband, John, after five long years apart. But she is unprepared for the glittering courts of England and France that are so different from her experience in the newly established United States. Undeterred, Abigail sets her sights on befriending the queens of Europe, believing their support is key to her nation's future.

In England, Queen Charlotte carries the weight of an empire on her shoulders. Her husband, King George III, battles a private madness, while political tensions rise and her eldest son schemes for power. Charlotte struggles to maintain order and propriety--while clinging to the solace she finds in her correspondence with her friend Marie Antoinette in France.

Revolution has gripped France, and Marie Antoinette must watch as her world crumbles. Vilified by the public and neglected by a king who refuses to see the storm coming, she faces growing unrest with dwindling allies. As tragedy strikes her family, she reaches out to her friends--Charlotte and Abigail--in a last attempt to find a path forward, possibly even escape.

The paths of these three women cross in unexpected ways in public, in private, and through letters. They forge a quiet sisterhood across borders and upheaval, each one facing love and loss, sweetness and strife, revolution and regrets.”

The sun is out, the day is long. Make yourself a tall glass of Bigelow iced tea, put your tiara on, your feet up, and give yourself a royal treat with Three Queens!

ORDER: Three Queens

Novel Threat | June Book Club

For the dad, grads, and any of you with a thirst for intrigue and espionage -with a touch of romance- I give you my June Book Club pick, “Novel Threat” by Traci Hunter Abramson.

In a world of covert codes, two CIA operatives must infiltrate a New York publishing house, where every word on the page could be a weapon.

Brandon Hale, a seasoned CIA case officer, contemplates walking away from the covert world of espionage to embark on a quieter path in publishing. But his plan takes an abrupt turn when a critical source within the Labyrinth terrorist organization is assassinated, leaving behind a cryptic message about a New York publishing house. Rather than submitting his resignation, Brandon finds himself going undercover at Monroe Publishing to stop the next terrorist strike against the US.

Kimber Seidel, a CIA finance officer with secret aspirations of becoming a novelist, enjoys a serendipitous encounter with a handsome book lover like herself on her way home from London. Though she cannot reveal her true employment to her new friend, Brandon Hale, she can't deny the instant spark that ignites between them. When Kimber's manuscript is unexpectedly shopped to Monroe Publishing as a pawn in the CIA's counterterrorism plot, Kimber must navigate the intersection of her literary dreams and her covert life as well as her deepening connection with Brandon.

Though each decoded message is leading Brandon and Kimber closer to the truth, it is also leading them into the line of fire, where the stakes are higher than anyone ever imagined.

June is the month of graduations, Father’s Day, weddings… and like every month on my calendar, one for reading! Pair all of them up nicely with the gift of “Novel Threat” a great early summer novel that will keep the reader on the edge of their picnic blanket!

Order: “NOVEL THREAT”

Under The Cover of Mercy | June Book Club

A beautiful book has come my way that I can’t wait to share with you this June!

“Under The Cover of Mercy”, by Rebecca Connolly.

It’s another from one of my favorite genres, historical fiction, and you’ll love this fast-paced novel about a nurse “on a mission of mercy and rebellion.” It’s set during the tumultuousness of WWI, and it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat - or lounge chair, or beach towel - where ever you devour your summer reading list.

You won’t want to wait to dig into the based on the true story novel of a nurse that risked charges of treason to help wounded Allied soldiers escape their German captors.

”November 1914

The Great War has come to Brussels, and Edith Cavell, Head Nurse at Berkendael Medical Institute, faces an impossible situation. She has sworn an oath to help any who are wounded, under whatever flag they are found. But Governor von Lüttwitz, the ranking German officer, has ordered her and her nurses to also stand guard over the wounded Allied prisoners of war and prevent them from escaping.

Edith feels that God called her to be a healer, not a jailer. How can she heal these broken boys, only to see them returned to the hands of their oppressors to be beaten again?

So when members of the Belgian resistance, desperate for help, bring two wounded British soldiers to her hospital in secret, she decides she will heal the soldiers, and then help smuggle them out of the hospital to freedom.

With her loyal friend and fellow nurse, Lizzie, by her side, Edith establishes her hospital as a safe house for the resistance, laboring tirelessly to save as many soldiers as she can. Working under the watchful eyes of the German army, Edith faces challenging odds as she fights to bring hope to her small corner of a war-torn world.

Based on a true story, Under the Cover of Mercy is the remarkable account of one woman who defied an entire nation in order to heal those who needed her help the most.”

Rebecca Connolly
photo credit: Sarah Schroering

I’m looking forward to many summer days in my garden with a stack of books to keep my company! “Under The Cover Of Mercy” will be the first of the season.

Get yours HERE.

I hope you’ll join me in your own garden, on your patio, or under the shade of a big tree in your neighborhood park.