AS TEMPESTUOUS AS THE TUDOR MONARCHS THEMSELVES, THE SECRETS OF THE TUDOR COURT SERIES HAS BEEN CALLED “RIVETING” ( BOOKLIST ) AND “WELL DRAWN” ( PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ). C harming. Desirable. Forbidden. Brought to court with other eligible young noblewomen by the decree of King Henry VIII, lovely Elizabeth “Bess” Brooke realizes for the first time that beauty can be hazardous. Although Bess has no desire to wed the aging king, she and her family would have little choice if Henry’s eye were to fall on her. And other dangers exist as well, for Bess has caught the interest of dashing courtier Will Parr. Bess finds Will’s kisses as sweet as honey, but marriage between them may be impossible. Will is a divorced man, and remarriage is still prohibited. Bess and Will must hope that the king can be persuaded to issue a royal decree allowing Will to marry again . . . but to achieve their goal, the lovers will need royal favor. Amid the swirling alliances of royalty and nobles, Bess and Will perform a dangerous dance of palace intrigue and pulse-pounding passions. Brought to glowing life by the talented Kate Emerson, and seen through the eyes of a beautiful young noblewoman, By Royal Decree illuminates the lives of beautiful young courtiers in and out of the rich and compelling drama of the Tudor court. Bess Brooke is sent to the court of King Henry VIII, where she momentarily captures the monarch’s attention. For a young woman, the aging, bloated king is repugnant, so she is relieved when he looks elsewhere for his next wife. However, life at court is very appealing, and she is grateful to become a lady-in-waiting, thanks to her mother’s connections. There she meets William Parr, the new queen’s brother. As a divorced man, Will has nothing to offer a virtuous woman until his former wife dies because only the king can remarry if the former spouse is still living. Bess tries to stay away even as her heart leads her to Will. Meandering their way through the maze of court life, Will and Bess strive for happiness, battling the whims of Henry VIII, King Edward, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and all who hope to gain power at their expense. Emerson captures the pageantry and the politics of the Tudor court, portraying real-life characters who negotiated turbulent times, and giving historical-fiction fans a first-rate read. --Patty Engelmann Kate Emerson was born in Liberty, New York, and attended Bates College and Old Dominion University. She currently lives in Wilton, Maine. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and other professional organizations. Emerson also writes a Scottish mysteries series as Kaitlyn Dunnett. She currently lives in rural Western Maine with her husband and three cats. Visit her at KathyLynnEmerson.com. 1 On the twenty-ninth day of January in 1542, twenty-six eligible young women sat at table in Whitehall Palace with King Henry. An additional thirty-five occupied a second table close by. We were arranged by precedence, with the highest-born maidens closest to the king. As the daughter of a baron, I was assigned a seat at the first table, but there were others of nobler birth between me and His Grace. From that little distance, King Henry the Eighth of England was a glorious sight. At first I could scarcely take my eyes off him. He glittered in the candlelight. Not only did he wear a great many jewels on his person, everything from a diamond cross to a great emerald with a pearl pendant, but the cloth itself was embroidered with gold thread. I pinched myself to make certain I was not dreaming. Everything at court seemed to sparkle, from the rich tapestries to the painted ceilings to the glass in the windows. I had arrived from Kent the previous day and was still in awe of my surroundings. I had lived in comfort for all of my fifteen and a half years, but this opulent level of luxury stunned me. Wondrous dishes appeared before me, one after another. When I tasted the next offering, I closed my eyes in delight. The sweet taste of sugar, combined with ginger and the tart flavor of an unknown fruit, exploded on my tongue. I sighed with pleasure and took another spoonful of this marvelous concoction. “Have you tried the syllabub?” I asked the woman seated beside me. “It is most delicious.” She did not appear to have eaten anything. Although she’d taken a piece of bread and a bit of meat from the platters the king’s gentlemen had brought around, she’d done no more than toy with the food. At my urging, she spooned a small portion of the syllabub into her mouth. “Indeed,” she said. “Most delicious.” But instead of eating more, she fixed her bright, dark blue eyes on me, examining me so intently that I began to feel uncomfortable under her steady stare. I reminded myself that I looked my best. My copper-colored gown was richly embroidered. My pale yellow hair had been washed only that morning. Barely two inches of it showed at the front