Blog Tour: Under The Sword by Luv Lubker

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Under The Sword

The Rival Courts

by Luv Lubker

October 13th - 17th, 2025

Publication Date: July 14th, 2025
Publisher: Historium Press
Pages: 414
Genre: Historical Fiction

From acclaimed Victorian historical author, Luv Lubker, the author of "Under His Spell" comes the continuing romance of the Princess Royal Victoria and Frederick III of Prussia.

Join Queen Victoria's eldest daughter and her husband, future German Emperor Frederick III in this third installment of The Rival Courts family saga, as they climb the treacherous path to their dream of German unification in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.

In the calm after the storm, Vicky and Fritz have it all: a devoted marriage, a growing family, and the promise of a bright future. But Fritz's Uncle Karl lies in wait behind the scenes, hatching his newest plot. A shocking outcome of Vicky's Royal duties will bring fresh doubts to Fritz's heart, and his fatherhood.

As personal tragedy strikes and shakes them to their core, Fritz is forced to lead the largest battle history has ever seen. One which could change the face of Europe forever.

Vicky's best friend struggles to shield her daughters from the sinister force that seeks to control them. The youngest shares her grandfather's uncanny ability to know the truth behind others' motives. But can she see the truth in him? In such a dangerous world, what heroic role will this small child play?

Can they escape the danger and betrayal that lurks in every corner as they travel to the icy expanse of Russia, the peaceful Mediterranean shores, and the vast Eastern deserts?

Will Vicky and Fritz's love and marriage survive a mysterious illness, or will Uncle Karl's conspiracies tear them apart for good?

Fans of Clare McHugh's A Most English Princess, Mary Hart Perry's The Shadow Princess, and Daisy Goodwin's Victoria will be swept away by this gripping tale of love, war, and intrigue. With rich historical detail and deeply human struggles, Under the Sword, the third installment of The Rival Courts saga, brings to life the triumphs and tragedies in a fight against a nefarious trade which flourished in the shadows of the Royal court. A must-read for lovers of Victorian-era royal fiction.

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Luv Lubker

Luv Lubker began life in the Animal World, researching creatures great and small since before she can remember, and earning her degree in chicken psychology by age twelve. Not long after, she immigrated to the Victorian era, where she has lived half her life in close company with the Brontë sisters and made friends with Queen Victoria’s extended family, whom she now knows quite as well as her own kin.

Born in a cattle trough in the Appalachian Mountains, Luv currently resides in Texas’ Great Plains when visiting the modern world. When she isn’t writing or reading, she delights in preparing and savoring gourmet raw food with her family and exploring nature on long bike rides. Her special abilities include researching in seven languages and riding a unicycle since age seven.

Luv’s research delves into the unwritten stories that history left behind. Through unpublished letters, altered manuscripts, and deeply buried secrets, she reveals emotional truths concealed beneath the era’s refined exterior. Her novels give voice to the silenced, reveal what Victorians were taught to suppress and what their biographers chose to omit, tracing invisible scars that shaped lives, choices, and history itself.

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Book of the Week: Blood, Steel and Reputation by James Gault #HistoricalFiction #Medieval #RecommendedReading

Blood, Steel and Reputation

by James Gault

Two naive young men set out from 12th century England on a perilous journey toward knighthood “across the sea” in the land of the Normans and Angevins. This is their tempestuous tale of hardship, danger, and the search for power or patronage in a world teeming with deceit and changing alliances. 

Though maintaining a lifelong friendship, one courts the road through royal favour while the other looks to the law and business. Both espouse the qualities of loyalty, honour, and chivalry. One will rise to fill the nation’s highest office.

Based on real events, the story seeks to bring to life the tumult that prevailed during the Angevin era in England and Normandy between about 1154 and 1216 from the perspective of two knights. One of those knights is imagined, the other is loosely based upon the life of Sir William Marshall, arguably England’s greatest knight.

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Shining a bright Book Spotlight on The King's Intelligencer with Elizabeth St.John #BookOfTheYear #HistoricalFiction #MissingPrinces #RecommendedReading

* Book Spotlight *

The King’s Intelligencer

by Elizabeth St.John

London, 1674: When children’s bones are unexpectedly unearthed in the Tower of London, England’s most haunting mystery—the fate of the missing princes—is reignited.

Franny Apsley, trusted confidante to Charles II’s beloved niece and heir, Lady Mary Stuart, is caught up in the court’s excitement surrounding the find. Yet, as a dark family secret comes to light, Franny realises the truth behind the missing princes is far more complex—and dangerous—than anyone suspects. Recruited by her formidable cousin Nan Wilmot,  Dowager Countess of Rochester, to discover the truth behind the bones, Franny is thrust into the shadowy world of intelligencers. But her quest is complicated by an attraction to the charismatic court artist Nicholas Jameson, a recent arrival from Paris who harbours secrets of his own.

Pursued by Nicholas, Franny searches for evidence hidden in secret family letters and paintings, and uncovers a startling diplomatic plot involving Lady Mary, which causes Franny to question her own judgment, threatens the throne, and sets England on a course for war. With only her courage and the guidance of an enigmatic spy within the royal household, Franny must decide how far she will go to expose the truth—and whether that truth will lead to England’s salvation or her own heartbreak.

In a glittering and debauched society where love is treacherous and loyalty masked, Franny must navigate a world where a woman’s voice is often silenced and confront the ultimate question: What is she willing to risk for the sake of her country, her happiness, and her family’s safety?

A captivating historical novel of conspiracy, passion, and courage, The King’s Intelligencer is one woman's quest for a truth that could change the fate of a nation. A companion to the critically acclaimed best-selling novels The Godmother’s Secret and The Lydiard Chronicles, The King’s Intelligencer weaves together beloved characters and actual events to bring a suspenseful mystery to life.

Praise for The King's Intelligencer:

"The King's Intelligencer ... is an exceptional work of scholarship. With its rich historical context and captivating emotional narrative, this book will keep you hooked until the early hours of the morning. This novel is undeniably successful and strongly recommended for fans of this era."

~ Yarde Reviews & Book Promotion, Book of the Year 2024

"From the first page, I was entranced. The descriptions of the debauchery at court are delightful and portray a realistic view of life in those days...a marriage meat market to strengthen political and trade alliances. Franny is sorely tempted in her search for the truth to protect both her family and the monarchy, yet she retains her morals and ethics, and the reader cannot help but fall in love with her. Elizabeth St.John is up there among the very best historical writers of today."

~ Readers’ Favorite

"The King’s Intelligencer offers a much more engaging and understandable portrayal than some of the nonfiction books on the subject I’ve encountered.

St. John handles complicated dynastic relations well, with terrific scene setting. What I found particularly intriguing is that these characters are members on St. John’s own family tree, the manor where many of the discoveries are made the seat of her own family."

~ Historical Novel Society

Lost and Found

The Mystery of the Missing Princes in the Tower, Part II

The Bones in the Tower – Did Charles II Bury the Truth?

In 1674, workmen digging by the Tower of London’s White Tower made a chilling discovery: two children’s skeletons, some say wrapped in velvet, just where Sir Thomas More had predicted they had been buried. The bones were hastily declared the remains of the Princes in the Tower—Edward V and his younger brother Richard—who had vanished nearly two centuries earlier. King Charles II ordered them reburied in Westminster Abbey, a solemn act meant to close a wound in England’s past.

But was it the truth—or clever statecraft?

For Charles, still fighting to steady his throne after civil war, rebellion, and plague, the discovery was suspiciously convenient. Declaring the bones to be the princes laid the blame squarely on Richard III, villain of Tudor propaganda, and reinforced the Stuart dynasty’s claim to legitimacy.

But what if the bones weren’t the princes at all? What if their fate was far more complex—and dangerous—than the history books admit?

This is the question I explore in my companion novels:

• The Godmother’s Secret takes you back to 1483, when the princes disappeared, to imagine the shocking truth of what really happened.

• The King’s Intelligencer picks up in 1674, when the bones are discovered, creating a tale of espionage and royal secrets that could shake the Stuart throne.

What readers are saying:

• “Elizabeth St.John gives voice to forgotten women, weaving a story as vivid as it is emotional.”

• “A richly imagined mystery that feels as if it could truly have happened.”

• “Once you start reading, you’ll be transported right into the Tower’s shadowed corridors.”

Two centuries apart, both stories entwine around the same mystery: what happened to the princes, whose bones were really buried in the Tower—and who stood to gain?

If you’ve ever wondered whether Charles II buried more than bones, join me in uncovering the secrets hidden in Westminster Abbey.

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Elizabeth St.John

Elizabeth St.John’s critically acclaimed historical fiction novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England's kings and queens brings an intimately unique perspective to Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times.

Inspired by family archives and residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, Elizabeth spends much of her time exploring ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens. And encountering the occasional ghost. But that’s another story.

Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is the International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park, an English charity dedicated to conserving and enhancing this beautiful centuries-old country house and park. As a curator for The Lydiard Archives, she is constantly looking for an undiscovered treasure to inspire her next novel.

Elizabeth's works include The Lydiard Chronicles, a trilogy set in 17th-century England during the Civil War, and The Godmother's Secret, which unravels the medieval mystery of the missing princes in the Tower of London. Her latest release, The King’s Intelligencer, follows Franny Apsley's perilous quest to uncover the truth behind the sudden discovery of the princes' bones. In Charles II's court of intrigue and deceit, Franny must decide what she’ll risk—for England’s salvation, her family's safety, and her own happiness.

Connect with Elizabeth:

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Join us as acclaimed author Julia Ibbotson introduces Dr Anna Petersen and Lady Mildryth, female protagonists in her evocative new novel, Daughter of Mercia #DualTimeline #HistoricalFiction #RecommendedReading

Daughter of Mercia

Dr Anna Petersen Mysteries #1

by Julia Ibbotson

A brand-new Anglo-Saxon time-slip full of mystery and romance.

Echoes of the past resonate across the centuries as Dr Anna Petersen, a medievalist and runologist, is struggling with past trauma and allowing herself to trust again. When archaeologist (and Anna's old adversary) Professor Matt Beacham unearths a 6th century seax with a mysterious runic inscription, and reluctantly approaches Anna for help, a chain of events brings the past firmly back into her present. And why does the burial site also contain two sets of bones, one 6th century and the other modern? 

As the past and present intermingle alarmingly, Anna and Matt need to work together to solve the mystery of the seax runes and the seemingly impossible burial, and to discover the truth about the past. Tensions rise and sparks fly between Anna and Matt. But how is 6th century Lady Mildryth of Mercia connected to Anna? Can they both be the Daughter of Mercia?

For fans of Barbara Erskine, Elena Collins, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley and Christina Courtenay.

Praise for Daughter of Mercia:

“Ibbotson’s prose immerses you in the vivid world of the Anglo-Saxon era, richly layered with sensory detail that brings both the past and present timelines to life. I could feel the atmosphere—the cold stone and the wind on the hills. Her writing weaves the two eras seamlessly, connecting people across time and creating a mysterious, slow-building tension that keeps you turning the pages.”
~ Alis Page, Reviewer, 5*

Who are Dr Anna Petersen and Lady Mildryth?

Daughter of Mercia is a timeslip / dual time novel with two main protagonists in each timeline. The two main characters I’ve chosen to tell you about are Dr Anna Petersen (in the present day) and Lady Mildryth (in the 6th century), both complex characters who are the spring-boards for the conflict and action of the novel as their lives intertwine. There are also two male main protagonists: Professor Matt Beacham and Theowulf who are crucial to the plot.

Dr Anna Petersen

Dr Anna Petersen is in her early 30s, an academic, a medievalist and expert in runology. She’s called out to an archaeological dig by her old adversary Professor Matt Beacham, an archaeologist, who wants her to help in interpreting strange runes on an ancient seax he has discovered in a weird burial on his dig site. This is the starting point of the story. However, Anna is a little hesitant as she has come across Matt previously during an inter-university session on WhatsApp, when she took an instant dislike to him, feeling that he was arrogant and unapproachable. But she’s really fascinated by the burial itself as well as the found artefacts, because there are two remains in the same burial site, one female and early medieval, and the other male and modern. She determines to go to the site to examine the unusual runes and hopefully find out more about the mysterious burial, although she’s haunted by the memory of the last dig she took part in, where a dreadful event took place.

Anna is essentially a strong character, clever, kind and caring, usually well able to stand up for herself in a man’s world, but feels that, in a moment of weakness, she has allowed herself to be taken advantage of, professionally and personally, by her erstwhile colleague, Tom. She is now struggling with being able to trust again and her life is now largely about self-preservation. She also holds a dark secret in her heart related to that experience and she finds it difficult to talk to anyone about it, other than her friend Susie. She wishes she could confide in her beloved mother, but as she is suffering from a terminal illness, Anna doesn’t want to worry her. As her father died long ago, Anna is her mother’s primary carer and the sole custodian of the historic family home and archives. It’s a lot for her young shoulders to bear! And it doesn’t help that Matt seems to blame her for the disappearance of their mutual colleague, Tom.

Lady Mildryth

Lady Mildryth is the young leader of the settlement and its region granted to her by her father, King Cnebba of Mercia. She is named the cūning (‘king’), a title given to male and female leaders although she feels that she must impress her father that she is undoubtedly equal to men, in particular to her brothers who have also been granted small ‘kingdoms’. She feels that she is constantly being spied upon and judged by her father and therefore, although she’s a strong leader, needs to convey an image of strength and wisdom at all times: whether it may be in her dealing with problems within the settlement, or in her image in the Witan council where decisions are made. She’s annoyed with herself when she thinks that she has fallen short of the ideal she has set for herself.

Mildryth needs to be the final arbiter of disputes, the wise head who decides the fate of erring subjects, the judge of appropriate punishments for misdeeds, and the leader who forms the strategy in terms of relationships with neighbouring settlements and of the advisability of battle. She wants nothing more than a peaceful and flourishing future for her people and that is what she sees as her role, not as a warring, blood-thirsty despot or a conquering dictator. Success for Mildryth is the unity of a settled community with plentiful harvests, food stored for harsh winters, and the development of cultural activities, such as the scōp (poet story-teller of historic heroic tales) and the glæman (for music and singing). She follows the new Christian faith but accepts that many of her people still hold to the pagan beliefs of old, and tries to accommodate both views. It’s important for her to maintain harmony in the community. Like Anna, it’s a lot for her young shoulders to bear! Yet, she is still a ‘child of her time’ and when the real challenge comes in the form of an almost unbelievable reality, can she take it?

It is Mildryth’s name that Anna interprets from the runes on the seax hilt in Daughter of Mercia, and thus begins the connection between the two women across the centuries. Both of them experience odd ‘visions’ of each other’s life and times, as Anna starts to discover more about Mildryth’s challenges: her domineering father, her position as leader, and her relationship to the stranger who appears in her settlement, whom she names as Theowulf. In more ways than one, Mildryth challenges the conventions of her time and as a strong, brave and determined young woman she has much in common with Anna. But little do either of them realise how much more they have in common than personality alone. As Anna talks to her bed-bound mother she finds out about her father’s family history and it reveals a whole new dimension to her investigation into the seax, the burial, and to Mildryth herself.

I hope that Daughter of Mercia is a gripping page-turning read, but also that it is thought-provoking and leaves the reader wondering! As one of my reviewers said: ‘I couldn’t stop talking about it for days’.

If you want to read more about Lady Mildryth’s period of history, I have a series (Living with the Anglo Saxons) on my blog at https://juliaibbotsonauthor.com

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Julia Ibbotson

Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of time. She is the author of historical mysteries with a frisson of romance. Her books are evocative of time and place, well-researched and uplifting page-turners. Her current series focuses on early medieval time-slip / dual-time mysteries.

Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language / literature / history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher. Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015, with a three-book deal from Lume Books for a trilogy (Drumbeats) set in Ghana in the 1960s.

She has published five other books, including A Shape on the Air, an Anglo-Saxon timeslip mystery, and its two sequels The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone. Her latest novel is the first of a new series of Anglo-Saxon dual-time mysteries, Daughter of Mercia, where echoes of the past resonate across the centuries.

Her books will appeal to fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, and Christina Courtenay. Her readers say: ‘Julia’s books captured my imagination’, ‘beautiful story-telling’, ‘evocative and well-paced storylines’, ‘brilliant and fascinating’ and ‘I just couldn’t put it down’.

Connect with Julia:

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