The Welsh Gambit

The Tudor Throne #2

by Charity Bishop

Lady Anwen cannot forget, nor her brother forgive.

Since she killed Lord Meuric’s son in self-defense on a lonely Welsh road, and spent several months imprisoned and mistreated in his castle, Anwen has fought her nightmares. Alone and unable to bear a man’s touch, she unites with a local ‘witch’ to learn how to heal.

As Edward Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham, prepares for the autumn joust, he fears escalating tension between the locals and Lord Meuric’s brutal overseer, Beynon. His mood worsens when Sir Thomas Lovell, the king’s ruthless enforcer, arrives unannounced in search of a traitor.

As thousands flock to the tourney, death, superstition, denial, and treason come to a brutal conflict, as a child searches the castle for the bones of a lost maiden and uncovers a terrible secret…

Unknown Binding

About the author

Charity Bishop is an author of historical fantasy, magical realism, and Christian horror/suspense who has been writing stories since a rainy afternoon at age eleven sparked her lifelong obsession with narrative. Over the past three decades, she has crafted intricately researched novels set everywhere from Napoleonic France to the doomed decks of the Titanic, always exploring the complexities of human nature with a blend of intellectual curiosity, creative abandon, and surprising humor. When she's not diving deep into historical archives or battling her inner demons of self-doubt, Charity can be found sewing gowns for Monster High dolls, being owned by her beloved cats, and dreaming up the next world for her readers to explore. Her work stands against hypocrisy, the abuse of power, and the darkness in human hearts, while always leaving room for hope, redemption, and the kind of plot twists that keep you reading long past your bedtime.

Reviews

[Katie Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Welsh Gambit is the second book in Charity Bishop's The Tudor Throne series, which releases September 7th.  Charity gave me an ARC copy--a development which, let me tell you, I had long awaited, because Book 1, The Usurper's Throne, was fantastic and I NEEDED MORE. 

(I reviewed The Usurper's Throne here.)

And whew!!  *mops brow*  Was Book 2 ever a thrilling ride!  No wonder I finished it so fast . . .

The Welsh Gambit picks up pretty much where The Usurper's Throne left off. Everyone's still dealing with the fallout from Prince Arthur's death, both emotional and political. Wales, in particular, is in turmoil. So (naturally) that's where our new story is set.

Just like The Usurper's Throne, this is a vibrant, fast-moving novel, packed with a HUGE cast of colorful characters. So many characters, in fact, I figured I'd include this handy-dandy little list to help you keep track of them all:

Winifred:  Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Lady Anwen:  the Girl who Wouldn't Die
Edward Stafford:  "I only act like I know what I'm doing . . ."
Sir Thomas Lovell:  Human Blood Hound
Elizabeth Stafford:  Human Blood Hound, Jr.
Richard Pole:  "I came here to kiss my wife and quash traitors . . . and I don't see my wife."
Meg Pole:  Momma Bear Extraordinaire
Lady Tyrell:  "Life sucks. Change my mind."
Brother Elfric:  the Conflicted One
Iestyn:  "I didn't get no sleep cause of y'all, y'all never gonna sleep cause of me."
Beynon:  Medium-Functioning Psychopath
James Tyrell:  "Life sucks. Change my mind."

And this is what I adore about Charity's books, friends.  There are so many different characters, but none of them get short shrift. They're ALL given a chance to shine. They ALL jump off the page with their quirky and tormented and fierce and vivid personalities. I love them. (Except, y'know, for the ones I love to hate :-P)

I love, too, how many of them are women, dealing with women's unique issues. Pregnancy, rape, misogyny, arranged marriage, political dispossession . . . it's all here. And it's all taken seriously; never brushed aside in favor of the "more important" male-dominated world of politics and war. Lady Anwen's character arc, in particular, was STELLAR. No spoilers here, but plenty of cheers. <3

And I really liked how concentrated and "focused" the plot was! It's all taking place in this one small corner of Wales, within the space of just a month or two. Book 1 had a lot of traveling back and forth between far-flung parts of the kingdom--which made sense for its plot, obviously--but I really dig the tight coherent setting of Book 2. It builds up the tension, that's for sure  :D  Especially with angry peasants and angry nobles trapped in this tiny space and clawing at each other's throats. Good times.

And the atmosphere was BEAUTIFUL. So much fog and mist and strange eerie lights and witchy witchcraft. I am a fan. *grins*

I can't wait for Book 3!!!!

[Content: Medieval violence, both battlefield style and private murder style. Sexy scenes between a married couple. Continual mentions of rape and abuse, not shown.  I'd say mature teens and up.  (Please note, Book 1 has more adult content.)]

[Charity · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm proud to announce the release of the second book in my Tudor Throne series, The Welsh Gambit! Due to an Amazon delay, it took the Paperback a little longer to go "live" than the Kindle file, but both of them are now available! =)

This book follows some of the memorable characters from the first novel, The Usurper's Throne, into Wales for the Welsh Tourney.

Margaret Pole is on her way back from London, with the banker Grimaldi's threats ringing in her ears -- pay up, or he'll tell her husband, Sir Richard, the truth about her debts.

The Duke of Buckingham, Edward Stafford, wants to increase his personal army, even though King Henry has expressly forbade it -- and hopes the tourney will provide cover for him.

Lady Tyrell struggles to keep her head above water when the ruthless Sir Thomas Lovell places her estate under an attainder, and discovers her lord steward may be a traitor.

Lady Anwen is in recovery from the months of abuse she endured as Lord Meuric's prisoner, after the murder of his son. But she's forced to face her abusers each day, since his overseer, Beynon, challenges her at every turn.

They all come together for a joust that escalates into a murder, a witch-hunt, and a desperate search for a child, against a backdrop of ghosts, unresolved resentment, and life-altering circumstances.

I hope you enjoy it. :)

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The action in this book centers around a castle in Wales where Edward Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham, is preparing to host a tournament. The tournament means that lots of people get thrown together as they gather to watch or participate in the festivities. Friends and enemies alike mix in the crowds. A dead woman is said to haunt the castle, and several characters make it their mission to find her remains. Treason and envy and desire lie at the root of several other mysteries entwined throughout the story, keeping me on the edge of my seat through the last nine chapters.

Of particular interest to me was the Lady Anwen, who spent months as a tormented captive of Lord Meuric and his brutish protege Beynon. Though they never actually assaulted her virtue, they threatened to do so repeatedly. Anwen is now free, but traumatized. She breaks off her engagement to a wonderful young man named James because she cannot bear to be touched by anyone. Gradually, she finds healing for body, soul, and mind by learning new things and eventually confronting her tormentors.

But my favorite character was once again Sir Thomas Lovell, the sly, devious, but often honorable Enforcer. He spies and connives and bullies, and sometimes I want to slap him. But just when I think I'm done with him, he does something absolutely wonderful and then I'm a fan again.

Book one in the Tudor Throne series, "The Usurper's Throne," was one of my ten favorite reads of 2017. Book two, "The Welsh Gambit," is very likely going to be one of my top ten new reads of 2018. It's every bit as breathless and engrossing as the first book, and I read the last quarter of the book in one sitting because I just had to know what happened next!

Full disclosure: I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion, which I have given here.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit more on the "fiction" part of historical fiction than the first installment, this book is now more typical of the genre, taking known characters and events typical of the timeperiod and writing a rousing good story.

I continued to find the present tense distracting and the writing awkward and choppy. I had to pay very close attention to what was written, and often found myself rereading sections to make sure I understood. Some of that wasn't my fault - I found two instances where the wrong name is used to refer to a character in the middle of a scene. Also, the author's fondness for pronouns created unnecessary confusion, because many times "he" (for example) would be used multiple times in the same sentence to refer to different people. Who? And at least twice there were sentences that had completely different meanings when stripped of their context. It was unfortunate I had to read so closely because otherwise I may have overlooked these faults in the racing speed of the story.

Okay, so I did find the writing irritating (as you can tell by my rant) but I didn't take any stars off because it still was only a few times throughout the book and even though it was distracting, the story was still REALLY GOOD. Full of action and adventure and mystery and intrigue and a few sprinkles of romance and a fast-paced plot.

I found myself wishing the wordsmithing and editing was on par with the plot and character development, because then I could have given an unreserved recommendation to this book.

[Sarah Strozier]

I really enjoyed this book! I love well-researched historical fiction, and this is something Charity excels at. I didn't love the use of the present tense, it just made it a little difficult to be absorbed in the story. Overall, I really liked it and would recommend to anyone interested in that time period.