What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I basically am looking for a book whose character is a queen or princess. She either maintains a secret relationship with or has romantic feelings for a servant/knight/peasant man (someone below royalty). Or vice-versa. It can be one-sided/unrequited at first or not. They can be main characters or not.

If possible, I would like strong characters. But I'd take all suggestions to judge for myself. I would prefer if there was an actual plot to the story and the romance was not the focal point... Political intrigue, fantasy or adventure would be great!

Thank you very much!

Any book about Queen Catherine Valois of England's marriage to her steward Owen Tudor would be what you're looking for. Jean Plaidy has written several books about her, is one of them.

The Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2.... Shadowmarch
There are four books and they are quite long but they have a lot of political intrigue etc.

J.V.Jones: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, beginning with The Thief, might suit you. I haven't finished it so I can't say for sure, but the romance isn't in the first book at all, showing up in the second. And there's lots of fantasy/adventure plot.

This is a side plot in Magician.

Jean Plaidy mentioned above has another one too Mary, Queen of France.

And Tad Williams also has this running through his Memory, Shadow, and Thorn trilogy, starts with The Dragonbone Chair

The plot of the Riyria series by Michael J. Sullivan (starts with Theft of Swords) does eventually get around to this, but not until the second book, I think. It does have plenty of political intrigue and fantasy adventure!

Sophie wrote: "The plot of the Riyria series by Michael J. Sullivan (starts with Theft of Swords) does eventually get around to this, but not until the second book, I think. It do..."

Second this series!

Thank you very much to everyone who's commented so far!
The only title I'm mildly familiar with is The Magician, so plenty of new findings for me :) Awesome!

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It just occurred to me that the Taran books, beginning with The Book of Three have this theme, too. They're kids books, but well written fantasy novels that I still enjoy rereading. Taran is a common boy - an assistant pig keeper in fact - and Eilonwy is a princess. Their relationship develops slowly over the series.

Also The Princess and the Goblin and its sequel, which are really kids books but still fun.

Since you said you'd consider anything. :)

Teri-k wrote: "It just occurred to me that the Taran books, beginning with The Book of Three have this theme, too. They're kids books, but well written fantasy novels that I still enjoy rereading. Ta..."

Thank you Teri! I actually find myself enjoying kids books more than some YA or even adult stories. Maybe because they're drama free, focus on actual plot points and set your imagination free.
Will definitely check them out.

How do you feel about fantasy? I seem to remember there's a side attraction of this sort in , but read it years ago and am not sure now... However, you'll get a strong heroine at least!

Nente wrote: "How do you feel about fantasy? I seem to remember there's a side attraction of this sort in , but read it years ago and am not sure now... However, you'll get a st..."

Love fantasy!! Thank you Nente! :)

For romance, I'd go with Princess :) Princess heroine, bodyguard/soldier/assassin hero. Very fun :)

Melanie wrote: "For romance, I'd go with Princess :) Princess heroine, bodyguard/soldier/assassin hero. Very fun :)"

I does seem fun! Thanks Melanie :)

The Winner's Curse and its sequel sort of fit. The girl is not a true princess but she is basically the equivalent in her country.

Here's one with a strong female lead who is a priestess and finds herself involved with a man of royalty she saves from death, very fun stuff but also very strong on other plot elements involving her town and his life as a royal.

I also highly enjoyed this one which was based on a real man who was a court jester. She's a lady that he is guiding from one place to another where she is to be married to her betrothed, but instead they become involved. High suspense, investing storyline along with romance.

Reader and Raelynx A princess and her friend/counselor. Some other books in the series also have class gaps.
Alanna: The First Adventure At one point in the series, the female knight hooks up with the prince.
The Ill-Made Mute A lush fairy-tale style fantasy. A girl and a king.
Ella Enchanted Prince and merchant's daughter
The Final Empire Thief and nobleman
Star of the Morning This series has a lot of relationships in which the characters feel as though there is a class gap (Though it's not always true).
The Blue Sword Really excellent book. Romance is only at the very end.
Seraphina Musician and prince, not sure if it works out in the end, though.
Lirael YA with an unusual premise.
The Princess and the Goblin Children's fairytale, princess and miner's son
The Privilege of the Sword Noblewoman and city brat

Thank you all for your recs! :) My wish list is getting so big!

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This is a side plot in Baudolino by Umberto Eco, set in the decades leading up to 1204. The main character Baudolino falls in love with a young empress, the wife of the emperor Frederick who has taken Baudolino under his wing after buying him from his peasant family.

It's kind of a mix between historical fiction (actual historical events and people are referenced), fantasy, and adventure, but it's definitely literary fiction. There's a lot of talking and storytelling.

Lobstergirl wrote: "This is a side plot in Baudolino by Umberto Eco, set in the decades leading up to 1204. The main character Baudolino falls in love with a young empress, the wife of the e..."

Never read anything of the sort, so it sounds great! Thank you :)

Magic Casement by Dave Duncan it's an epic fantasy with romance elements :).

Anna wrote: "Magic Casement by Dave Duncan it's epic fantasy with romance elements :)."

Thank you, Anna, seems great! :)

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I've recently read Perdition and it literally contains relationship between queen and her champion knight, but I'm not sure if you would be interested, as it has kind of dystopian sci-fi setting:).

Valerie wrote: "The Winner's Curse and its sequel sort of fit. The girl is not a true princess but she is basically the equivalent in her country."

The Winner series just became my favorite trilogy! Thank you so much Valerie <3

Anna wrote: "I've recently read Perdition and it literally contains relationship between queen and her champion knight, but I'm not sure if you would be interested..."

I haven't been reading a lot of sci-fi lately, but when I'm in the mood for it I will definitely give this a try :) Sounds promising, thanks yet again!

Anya Seton wrote Katherine about a royal and his mistress. Along those lines look at books by Anne Easter Smith

All of these have some element of what you mention, though saying more than that might spoil them:

The Seer and the Sword
The Ordinary Princess
A Matter of Magic
Mara, Daughter of the Nile

The Far Pavilions This last one is a really long, epic historical fiction, but it's really good.

A kinda weird book but one with a romantic relationship blooming between a queen/princess and one of her underlings: The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling. It's the first book in a triad or trilogy and you won't see the romance really happen until when the characters reach puberty - though the author does foreshadow the fact of their relationship before then but just don't expect anything super heated to happen in the first book.

I must say that however weird this book and series is, it is one of the best I have ever read: It spans social classes as well as gender barriers, and Flewelling's writing is spot on too.

Irene wrote: "A kinda weird book but one with a romantic relationship blooming between a queen/princess and one of her underlings: The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling. It's the first book in a triad or trilo..."

Second this series. Such a wonderfully unique and captivating trilogy.

Irene wrote: "A kinda weird book but one with a romantic relationship blooming between a queen/princess and one of her underlings: The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling. It's the first book in a triad or trilo..."

Thank you so much, Irene! I think I've had this recommended to me or I found it somewhere because I remember the cover. But the plot seemed a bit weird and I've been postponing it. You just gave me something else to look forward to now :)

Lee Anne wrote: "All of these have some element of what you mention, though saying more than that might spoil them:

The Seer and the Sword
The Ordinary Princess
A Matter of Magic wrote Katherine about a royal and his mistress. Along those lines look at books by Anne Easter Smith"


Thank you both!! ^_^

Cinder is a retelling of Cinderella. Cinder is a cyborg, which means she hardly has any rights at all and belongs to her guardian, and of course she likes the Prince. But the romance definitely isn't the main plot, only part of it. I loved the whole series!
I also second Teri-k's suggestion. The Thief and its following three books are SUPER well written and captivating!

Princess Academy is an inspiring story, and a reverse of this trope. It's got an amazing plot, and definitely has a strong female cast. While the book centers around the impending arrival of the prince, it focuses primarily on self acceptance, a love of knowledge, and friendship.

Another series with the princess and a lower individual is the Ranger's Apprentice series, however it's an adventure novel, so the romance is slow going, but definitely worth the wait.

Kind of a stretch, but you may like The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. It's YA fantasy, though. The romance doesn't happen until farther into the story and isn't the whole plot. It's also a trilogy.

Also, Cinder is really good!

The Betrothed