Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
The prompt for this was actually –
Books with the Word “[Insert Word Here]” in the Title (Choose a word and find ten books with that word in the title.)
But I decided to give myself a little more freedom and go for ‘royalty’, as I feel like I’ve read quite a few books I’ve really enjoyed recently that have different ‘royalty’ names in the title. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and although ‘Dukes’ aren’t always royalty, for the purpose of this post, I’m including them as such.
Top Ten Books With Royalty in the Title
The Foxglove King
Hannah F. Whitten
Genre: Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: March 7th, 2023
Review
When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.
Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.
Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, August’s ne’er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.
But the life she left behind in the catacombs is catching up with her. And even as Lore makes her way through the Sainted court above, they might be drawing closer than she thinks.
Chasing the Duke
Tracy Sumner
Genre: Historical (Regency) Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: December 7th, 2020
Review
An unwilling Duke and his defiant Lady must embrace a desire beyond reason to heal the wounds of the past.
She vows to never let herself fall in love again…
With her final season in the ton a surprising success, Lady Camille Bellington retires to her family’s Yorkshire estate for Christmas with a marriage proposal in hand. Beautiful and charming, but too independent for society, Camille has given up on the hope to marry for love. So she will marry for duty. The man of her childhood dreams hasn’t been home in three years, even to secure his dukedom, and her heart went with him. She’s not chasing a duke ever again.
The woman he desires is lost to him…
War hero Tristan Tierney, Duke of Mercer, returns to his ancestral home for the holidays to find himself burdened with a title and the woman he left behind betrothed to another. As he’s only seen death and destruction for years, he’s come to believe true love is a myth. His aloof demeanor veils his deepest unspoken desire, to possess Camille Bellington.
Childhood friendship gives way to something altogether more dangerous as two people give love a second chance.
In the Shadow of Queens: Tales from the Tudor Court
Alison Weir
Genre: Historical
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: September 30th, 2021
Review
Behind every great king stands a queen. And behind every queen, the whole court watches on…
Over the years of his reign, six different women took their place beside King Henry VIII of England as his wife and queen.
But the real stories of the six Tudor queens belong to those who lived among them. Played out in glittering palaces and whispering courts, these are tales of the people who loved and served these women, and those who lied and betrayed them.
Collected together for the first time, In the Shadow of Queens reveals thirteen startling stories from the Tudor court, told by those at the very heart of that world.
Girl, Goddess, Queen
Bea Fitzgerald
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age: Young Adult
Format: ebook
Published: July 20th, 2023
Review
To hell with love, this goddess has other plans…
Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying.
The real story is much more interesting.
Persephone wasn’t taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.
Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld’s annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core.
But consequences can be deadly, especially when you’re already in hell . . .
A Lady for a Duke
Alexis Hall
Genre: Historical (Regency) Romance
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: May 24th, 2022
Review
A lush, sweeping queer historical romance from the bestselling author of Boyfriend Material—perfect for fans of Netflix’s Bridgerton, Evie Dunmore, and Manda Collins!
When Viola Caroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood.
Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become.
As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again.
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven
Juno Dawson
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: May 31st, 2022
Review
Hidden among us is a secret coven of witches. They are Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. They protect crown and country from magical forces and otherworldly evil. But their greatest enemy will come from within.
There are whisperings of a prophecy that will bring the coven to its knees, and five best friends are about to be caught at the centre. Life as a modern witch was never simple … but now it’s about to get apocalyptic.
Prepare to be bewitched by Juno Dawson’s first adult series. A story of ancient prophecies and modern dating, of sacred sisterhood and demonic frenemies.
Sage and King
Molly Ringle
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: May 18th, 2021
Review
Zaya expected to be the irresponsible youngest prince his whole life. But when his two older siblings are killed by an unidentified magician, he finds himself crowned king of Lushrain—the end of his liberty as he knows it. As part of his training, he’s sent to Heartwood for a month, the house of the sages high in the mountains. There, to his shock, the sages tell him he must learn about magic—which is illegal to practice, but has nonetheless been among Heartwood’s secret studies for centuries.
They assign Col as his tutor, a charming young sage with unusually strong powers. Zaya abhors and distrusts magic, and Col absolutely doesn’t want the job of attempting to change the king’s mind. But in their lessons and debates, they grow closer and begin envisioning a future in which a sage and a king might make a harmonious couple.
But the assassin still roams, seeking to hurt Zaya, and the budding love affair may be crushed by the secrets that Heartwood—and Col—have kept about this killer.
Her Princess at Midnight
Erica Ridley
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: November 10th, 2023
Review
What if Cinderella fell for the handsome prince’s… sister? Cynthia lives a life of drudgery, toiling for her stepmother and stepsisters without receiving gratitude or pay. Every day is the same… until a royal retinue sweeps into town, inviting every unwed maiden to vie for the hand of the visiting prince.
The moment she lays eyes on the prince’s beautiful sister, Cynthia is smitten. She’s never been to a ball, and she’s determined not to miss this one. But when her family refuses to allow her to attend—not that Cynthia even has a gown to wear—it will take a miracle to escape the attic and catch the eye of the princess who holds the key to her heart!
Princess Broken
Mara Leigh
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: February 9th, 2023
Review
Four ruthless assassins vow to protect vampire princess, Anastasia Romanov, with their lives.
But the vampire syndicate boss who tried to kill her could be the least of the dangers she faces.
Ana’s life is threatened by mysterious dark forces from her past, while her newly awakened sexual desires put her heart on the line with not one, but four sexy vampire bodyguards who would kill for her.
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy
Age: Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: January 2nd, 2018
Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
Do you have any favourite books with royalty of some sort in the title? And what word/s did you use for this week’s prompt?
Unwrapping Words 