Giveaway and Review - The Rose of York: Love and War (Book One) by Sandra Worth

History is always written by the victor. What if Richard III was not the hunch-backed, evil killer as depicted by his enemies the Tudors and the man who could not displease them, Shakespeare? What if he was just a man caught in a power struggle, that most of all wanted to marry his true love Anne and find justice for the common man? If you want to see Richard III from another point of view, I invite you discover the wonderful novel The Rose of York: Love and War.

The Rose of York: Love and War is the first novel of a trilogy written by Sandra Worth. Love and War follows Richard as a young boy escaping England with his brother George and Cousin Warwick (the Kingmaker) through his growth to a wise young man in his 20’s. Richard is a man caught in the terrible turmoil of the War of the Roses, which was literary of war of brother against brother and cousin against cousin.

As a young boy, Richard learns to become a knight while staying at his cousin Warwick’s. There he meets two important people in this life. The first is his beautiful cousin Anne, who will become the love of his life. The second is his cousin John Neville (Warwick’s brother), who is his mentor and like a surrogate father and brother.

I loved the vivid description throughout this book. From the storm at sea at the beginning, to the nail-biting Battle of Barnet, I was riveted and couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. I loved the historical detail. I am fascinated by this period of history and the book really brought the history alive. I am always a fan of a good love story and Richard and Anne’s love has elements of Cinderella and Romeo & Juliet. I loved it!

I think my secret favorite part of the novel though was John Neville’s story. I first learned of Sandra Worth through J. Kaye’s book blog. I read Lady of the Roses and The King’s Daughter and loved them both. Lady of the Roses was the love story of John and Isobel Neville through Isobel’s point of view. In Love and War, it was great to read the story from John’s point of view. John was a great romantic character and hero. The King’s Daughter is the story of Elizabeth of York, the Queen of Henry VII (and Richard III's niece). The Rose of York trilogy contains two other novels, The Crown of Destiny and Fall from Grace. I can’t wait to read them and find out the rest of Richard’s story.

The novel contains a great foreword at the beginning of the novel by Roxane C. Murph that gives you the details of the Wars of the Roses. There is also a great family tree that I referred to a lot during the story. Ms. Worth also has an author’s note at the end with more details. I liked all of this additional information and thought it was very helpful.

Overall, if you are a fan of historical fiction, or of a good story full of adventure, love, and heartbreak, you will love this novel! The latest reprint of this novel with the beautiful cover shown above, will be up for sale on amazon.com in January.

Book Source: Author Sandra Worth sent me a review copy. Thank-you very much. I loved it!

Giveaway Details:

Now for the details you are really looking for . . . Sandra Worth has been kind enough to send me two autographed copies of The Rose of York: Love and War as a giveaway. If you would like to enter this contest do any of the following:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway or post about it on your sidebar. (1 entry)

3. Become a follower or leave a comment that you already are a follower of this blog. (1 entry)

There are three ways to enter, but you can put all three entries as one comment.

I will be using random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to US and Canadian residents (Sorry!).

The deadline for entry is midnight, Friday December 18th (just in time for Christmas). Good luck!