Secrets of the Tudor Court »

D.L Bogan is a history major, aiming for a master's so that she might lecture one day. She is also a musician with classical voice training who has been playing keyboards and singing in bands since she was 18. She also enjoys reading, traveling, summer activities, spending time with family and friends, and researching her next novel! She makes her home in central Wisconsin.

When young Mary Howard receives the news that she will be leaving her home for the grand court of King Henry VIII, to attend his mistress Anne Boleyn, she is ecstatic. Everything Anne touches seems to turn to gold, and Mary is certain Anne will one day become Queen. But Mary has also seen the King's fickle nature and how easily he discards those who were once close to him...

Discovering that she is a pawn in a carefully orchestrated plot devised by her father, the duke of Norfolk, Mary dare not disobey him. Yet despite all of her efforts to please him, she too falls prey to his cold wrath. Not until she becomes betrothed to Harry Fitzroy, the Duke of Richmond and son to King Henry VIII, does Mary finds the love and approval she's been seeking. But just when Mary believes she is finally free of her father, the tides turn. Now Mary must learn to play her part well in a dangerous chess game that could change her life-and the course of history.

"A beautifully written story with wonderful attention to detail. I loved the book." -Diane Haeger, author of The Queen's Mistake

"Throbs with intensity as it lays bare the secret delights of Tudor court life and the sudden, lethal terrors. A tale of innocence and ruthless ambition locked in a love-hate embrace." -Barbara Kyle, author of The King's Daughter

Publishers Weekly

In the midst of a nearly inexhaustible supply of Tudor historicals, Bogdan's debut views the troubled court of famously lusty Henry VIII through the eyes of Mary Howard, the daughter of the powerful and fearsome duke of Norfolk, whose resolve to get as close to Henry as possible means offering up his niece Anne Boleyn, moving on to niece Catherine Howard, and then finally Mary. When Mary refuses to give herself over, Norfolk's power slips and Mary's family is ruined. Still, she manages to find happiness, however short-lived, despite the suffocating intrigues of the court and her ever-present abusive and manipulative father. Readers familiar with the Tudor period will find little new save an unusually passive heroine (Mary's relationship with her father is at best abusive and at worst contains tinges of incest) and a tediously drawn-out story. Comparable historicals are rescued by powerful heroines who carry the day. Overall, this is a weak entry in a glutted genre. (May)