When Catherine de’ Medici was forced to marry Henry of Orleans, hers was not the only heart broken. Jeanne of Navarre once dreamed of marrying this same prince, but like Catherine her future must bend to the will of King Francis’s political needs. And so both Catherine and Jeanne’s lives are set on unwanted paths, destined to cross in affairs of state, love and faith, driving them to become deadly political rivals. Years later Jeanne is happily married to the dashing but politically inept Antoine de Bourbon, whilst the widowed Catherine continues to be loved by few and feared by many – including her children. But Catherine is now the powerful mother of kings, who will do anything to see her beloved second son, Henry, rule France. As civil war ravages the country and Jeanne fights for the Huguenot cause, Catherine advances along her unholy road, making enemies at every turn …

The unforgettable story of Marie Antoinette, from her pampered childhood in imperial Vienna, to the luxury and splendor of her days as Queen of France, to her tragic end upon the scaffold in the bloodbath of the Revolution...

With fifteenth-century Spain rent with intrigue and threatened by civil war, Isabella becomes the pawn of her half-crazed mother and a virtual prisoner at the licentious court of her half-brother, Henry IV. At sixteen years old, is she already fated to be the victim of the Queen’s revenge, the Archbishop’s ambition and the lust of the lecherous Don Pedro Girón? Numbed by grief and fear, Isabella remains steadfast in her determination to marry Ferdinand, the handsome young Prince of Aragon, and her only true betrothed.

Minella Maddox grew up on a great English estate. But as the schoolmistress' daughter, her place was not, and never could be, at beautiful Derringham Manor. And that is where the trouble started, for Derringham's young heir thought he saw in Minella just the kind of wife he wanted. But a dark and cruelly handsome French count, who always got what he wanted, thought she was just the kind of mistress he had to have. Not for nothing was he called the Devil on Horseback. Yet Minella's humble heritage was to prove more precious that titles and riches, for it freed her to follow her heart, leading her into adventures and dangers she had never dreamed of. It put her directly in the path of another woman's hatred, swept her up into the deadly terrors of the French Revolution and, finally, carried her into the arms of the great and powerful man she loved.

The young Princess Victoria, strictly confined within the boundaries of Kensington Palace, is being moulded for her awesome future as Queen of England. Surrounded by her dolls and closely guarded by her domineering mother and faithful governess, she slowly becomes aware of the bitter conflicts that surround her. The jealous and scheming Duke of Cumberland is a constant threat to her rightful accession … her mother’s sinister friend, Sir John Conroy, makes her uneasy … and the bickering between her mother and the king seems neverending. Growing up is proving difficult for the princess. She longs for her eighteenth birthday when at last she will be free to rule the nation as she pleases and to re-acquaint herself with the gallant Prince Albert.

France eagerly awaits the day the young King, Louis XV, comes of age and breaks free from the rule of his ministers. The country hopes Louis will bring back glory and prosperity to France. However, he is too preoccupied with the thrills of hunting and gambling to notice the power struggle going on in his own court. Soon, the King is introduced to the pleasures of mistresses and a succession of lovers follows. From the gentle persuasions of Madame de Mailley to her overtly ambitious sister, Madame Vintimille, France stands by and watches a King ruled by his women…

Albert is dead and the queen is preparing to spend the rest of her life in mourning. Yet the last years of her reign are to be momentous years. Palmerston, then Gladstone and Disraeli, govern her empire through the high noon of its heyday. The court at Windsor, Balmoral, Osborne or Buckingham Palace is perpetually shocked by the Prince of Wales, forever in pursuit of horses, women and scandal, the heady harbinger of Edwardian years to come.

Davina Glentyre's happy young life in Edinburgh was shattered by her mother's death and made even more unbearable by her father's sudden marriage to her new governess. Her one joy was her friendship with a poor but charming student, Jamie, whom her father forbade her to wed. When her father suddenly died from arsenic poisoning, the means, motive, and opportunity all pointed to Davina herself. Alone, she escaped to the colonies in Africa. But with the Boer War came danger and the return of dark secrets from the past that threatened her reputation and her very life.

Eleanor of Aquitaine remains as intriguing today as she has in centuries past. In The Courts of Love, the inimitable Jean Plaidy brings this fascinating queen to life, allowing Eleanor to tell the captivating story of her life and loves in this fictional “memoir.” Intelligent, independent, and beautiful, at age fifteen Eleanor was named Duchess of Aquitaine, the richest province in Europe. She became Queen of France upon marrying King Louis VII, but their tepid union ended when Eleanor met Henry II, the first Plantagenet King of England. Their tempestuous pairing produced many sons and daughters—two of whom would reign over England—and generated a legend unsurpassed. A majestic and sweeping story set against a backdrop of medieval politics, intrigue, and strife, The Courts of Love is filled with fascinating themes: love, passion, betrayal, loyalty, and heartbreak. This guide is designed to help direct your reading group’s discussion of Jean Plaidy’s unforgettable novel.

Queen Mary II started her life in the court of her uncle, the Merry Monarch, King Charles II. Charles’s England was a Protestant country with a great disdain for Catholicism. The people remembered the great persecutions Queen Mary I had enacted during her reign and would always be reluctant to accept another Catholic on the throne. Charles knew that under their father’s care, Mary and her sister, Anne, would be raised Catholic, since James was a practicing Catholic. In the interest of keeping the royal line Protestant, King Charles looked after the girls and even arranged Mary’s marriage. When Mary was fifteen she was married to her first cousin William of Orange, a stern and cold man. Mary moved to Holland to be with her husband, leaving behind her sister and her father, with whom she was very close, despite their religious differences. Mary spent her life torn between her duty as a daughter and her loyalty as a wife. After the death of her uncle Charles, her father became King James II, which proved to be an ephemeral reign as his religion was unpopular, and William of Orange had his ambitious sights set on the crown. Mary supported her husband in his deposing of her father, and although she was reluctant, was crowned queen with William ruling as king.