Stacking the Shelves #33

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga @ Tynga’s Reviews.

For Stacking the Shelves, I take the opportunity to share what books I've bought, won or received for review. Click on the book cover to go to Goodreads and find out more information.The week gone...Plenty more rain for Sydney this weekend but I've enjoyed having a quiet weekend in.Over the past week I've posted reviews for a few books by Australian authors; Web of Deceit by Katherine Howell, Shallow Breath by Sara Foster and Room Service by Vanessa Stark. Sara Foster also stopped by the blog for a quick Q&A. I also posted a review for another Kowalksi novel by Shannon Stacey, All He Ever Dreamed.For Review: These two great books turned up during the week. I'll be reading and reviewing these in March.

1415. The Battle of Agincourt is over, and the young princess Katherine de Valois is the prize to be offered to Henry V of England. The innocent Katherine is smitten with Henry, but soon understands that her sole purpose is to produce an heir to unite England and France. When Henry leaves her a widow at the age of 21, Katherine is forced to resign herself to a quiet life as the Dowager Queen; her duty is to raise her son, the young King of England, and little more.

But Katherine is still young and passionate. Many desire her, and her hand in marriage is worth a kingdom. Setting aside those driven by ambition, Katherine falls in love with her servant Owen Tudor, and glimpses the happiness that love can bring. But their enemies are circling, all battling for power and determined to prevent their marriage. Katherine will have to fight to control her own destiny…In this compelling and beautifully written book, Anne O’Brien tells the story of the innocent young princess, Katherine de Valois, a pawn in a ruthless political game between England and France, and the woman who founded the most famous royal dynasty of all – the Tudors.

Dortchen Wild fell in love with Wilhelm Grimm the first time she saw him.

Growing up in the small German kingdom of Hessen-Cassel in early Nineteenth century, Dortchen Wild is irresistibly drawn to the boy next door, the young and handsome fairy tale scholar Wikhelm Grimm.

It is a time of War, tyranny and terror.  Napoleon Bonaparte wants to conquer all of Europe, and Hessen-Cassel is one of the first kingdoms to fall.  Forced to live under oppressive French rule, the Grimm brothers decide to save old tales that had once been told by the firesides of houses grand and small all over the land.

Dortchen knows many beautiful old stories, such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘The Frog King’ and ‘Six Swans’.  As she tells them to Wilhelm, their love blossoms.  Yet the Grimm family is desperately poor, and Dortchen’s father has other plans for his daughter.  Marriage is an impossible dream.

Dortchen can only hope that happy endings are not just the stuff of fairy tales.

So, that’s it for me. What books have you added to your shelves this week?