Happy New Year!

Or at least, I wish the new year would hurry up and get here! Once the fall gets over I find myself in a 'lull' period, impatiently awaiting the books that I am looking forward to in the New Year. I find that more often than not I suffer from 'feast or famine' periods with my book purchases. I know that the book publishers do this on purpose, but it does not mean it is enjoyable!

So, what am I looking forward to in the New Year, you might be asking? The new Sandra Gulland book, the new Anne Easter Smith book, and the new Conn Iggulden book to name a few. Not to mention the next book in Ariana Franklin's series! Sandra Gullan keeps rereleasing the same books over and over again with different covers and styles, so it is about time that she came out with a new book. I think anyways!

Her new book is titled Mistress of the Sun. I wonder if she is nervous. The first three books she wrote were highly successful, but will this one match up is the question...

The author of the internationally acclaimed Josephine B. trilogy returns with another deeply enchanting historical novel, this one based on the life of an extraordinary horsewoman, Louise de la Vallière, the brave and spirited child of minor nobility who, against all odds, grows up to become one of the most mysterious consorts of France's King Louis XIV, the charismatic Sun King.

Set against the magnificent decadence of the 17th-century court of the Sun King, Mistress of the Sun begins when the eccentric young Louise falls in love with a wild white stallion and uses ancient magic to tame him. This one desperate action of youth shadows her throughout her life, changing it in ways she could never imagine.

Unmarriageable and too poor to join a convent, she enters the court of the Sun King as a maid of honour, where she captures - and then tragically loses - the King's heart. Mistress of the Sun illuminates, through the resurrection of a fascinating female figure from the dark corners of history, both the power of true love and the rash actions we take to capture and tame it.

Sandra Gulland's previous work brought Josephine Bonaparte magnificently to life in three immediately addictive bestselling novels. Beginning with The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., Gulland established an entirely new gold standard for the art of historical fiction. Mistress of the Sun - a riveting love story with a captivating mystery at its centre - is a welcome reward for all those who have waited so patiently for its arrival.

Then, FINALLY, I get a new book from Anne Easter Smith. Her first novel, A Rose for the Crown, was one of my favourite reads of 2006, so I am so excited to see her next effort. It is called Daughter of York.

Following A Rose for the Crown, Anne's new book, Daughter of York, tells the compelling story of Margaret, Plantagenet princess and sister of Edward IV and Richard III. Daughter of York also re-visits some of the characters from "A ROSE FOR THE CROWN," as we follow Margaret from the court of England where, as a pawn in Edward's political schemes, she is kept single until she is 22, when a Burgundian alliance is forged through her marriage to Charles the Bold, the new Duke of Burgundy.

Recently, I became a bit of a Conn Iggulden fangirl. I am just not always very interested in 'female' literature. Conn Iggulden is more compelling with his novel about Genghis Khan. I do not mind a bit of battle and bloodshed in my novels. I am so thrilled that he has a new book out so soon after I read the last one. I just hope that it does not suffer from second book problems!
I have not been able to find a description, though. This one comes out pretty soon into the New Year, so it will be a Christmas present for myself, that is for sure!

Lastly, I will mention Ariana Franklin. Her previous novel, Mistress of the Art of Death, surprised me because I did not think it would be my sort of novel. I loved it, though, and I cannot wait to revisit the characters!

Ariana Franklin combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the drama of historical fiction in the enthralling second novel in the Mistress of the Art of Death series, featuring medieval heroine Adelia Aguilar.

Rosamund Clifford, the mistress of King Henry II, has died an agonizing death by poison-and the king's estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is the prime suspect. Henry suspects that Rosamund's murder is probably the first move in Eleanor's long-simmering plot to overthrow him. If Eleanor is guilty, the result could be civil war. The king must once again summon Adelia Aguilar, mistress of the art of death, to uncover the truth.

Adelia is not happy to be called out of retirement. She has been living contentedly in the countryside, caring for her infant daughter, Allie. But Henry's summons cannot be ignored, and Adelia must again join forces with the king's trusted fixer, Rowley Picot, the Bishop of St. Albans, who is also her baby's father.

Adelia and Rowley travel to the murdered courtesan's home, in a tower within a walled labyrinth-a strange and sinister place from the outside, but far more so on the inside, where a bizarre and gruesome discovery awaits them. But Adelia's investigation is cut short by the appearance of Rosamund's rival: Queen Eleanor. Adelia, Rowley, and the other members of her small party are taken captive by Eleanor's henchmen and held in the nunnery of Godstow, where Eleanor is holed up for the winter with her band of mercenaries, awaiting the right moment to launch their rebellion.

Isolated and trapped inside the nunnery by the snow and cold, Adelia and Rowley watch as dead bodies begin piling up. Adelia knows that there may be more than one killer at work, and she must unveil their true identities before England is once again plunged into civil war . . .

All I can say is

Dear Santa,

It would be most wonderful if you could hurry up the next book release period because I would very much like to find out what happened next and I am not enjoying this whole 'waiting thing'! And, that is not even all the books I am looking forward to next year. If it could come just a little quicker I would be most happy!

Sincerely,

A Very Impatient Book Worm!