My Lady Jane has been one of our most anticipated reads since we heard about it in late 2014. We’re so excited that we got to chat with Lady Jane Grey, King Edward VI, and Lord Gifford. We’ve got a fun giveaway for you too, but we’ll get right to the interview!
***INTERVIEW***
G: It isn’t cool for Man-Lords to fear anything. But I’ll admit, I fear enclosed spaces. And hay shortages. And ale shortages. And uneven terrain. And… battles. But that’s it.
J: Well, beheading, for one. I don’t like that.
E: As king, I fear nothing. I have people to do that for me. Except public nudity. And choking.
E: Well, it’s not her unfashionably red hair, although that can be charming, in some lights. I think my favorite thing about Jane is that she is just so unapologetically herself. She loves books–deal with it. She loves E∂ians. She wants to make the world better. And because of that I feel like she’s the only person who I can be totally myself around, too.
J: Once I do trust someone, it’s a pretty big deal. I will do anything for them, including but not limited to: 1. Putting aside my book to help them. 2. Riding across the country with a man-horse to save them. 3. Doing something I’m not good at (there are very few of these things, but I am only human, after all).
But getting to that point is difficult. There’s a series of tests they must go through: 1. Do they like to read? 2. How do they treat books? 3. Are they better at anything than I am?
G: She would describe me as: 1. Frustrating. 2. Enigma 3. Horse. I would describe her as: 1. Fierce 2. Smart. 3. Obsessedwithbooks.
G: Um… Horse?
E: The most majestic of all creatures–a lion. No wait, that was my father. An eagle, the most stately of all birds.
J: In an ideal world, I would be any animal I wished. I read in a book called E∂ians and the Thousand Year History of Shapeshifting: volume seventeen that–
G: & E: Please stop.
J: Husbands are notoriously bad at understanding a wife’s desires to further her education and possess a library consisting of every book that’s ever been written. So there was that. And the state of his nose. God’s teeth, but his family has unfortunate noses.
G: She is highly principled, intelligent, and… what’s it called when a woman believes in equal rights?
E: There seems to be this idea propagated in certain sources (cough, history books) that I was some fragile, sickly wussy boy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Until I was fifteen I was the picture of health–I loves all things involving sports or swords. I played a mean game of medieval tennis. My bout from the mysterious illness that popped up when I was sixteen was not at all my fault.
***The Swoony 5***
G: *snickers*
E: Well, this is rather uncomfortable. We’re medieval men. We don’t have underwear in the clearest sense of the word. There was an unfortunate fashion trend with codpieces my father was really into, but. . .
G: *snickers*
G: Spending my days as a horse, I’ve had so much practice in nibbling. So yes, I’m a great kisser.
E: WHAT’s MY FAVORITE BOOK? G gets a great question about being a good kisser, and I get, WHAT’S MY FAVORITE BOOK?! My favorite book is, How King Edward VI Was The Greatest Kisser of All Time, Volume Three, by Gracie McTavish.
G: Hay. Over easy.
G: Have you ever wanted to be with a man who could sleep standing up? Have you ever cursed the fact that your loved one has just the two legs? Have you ever wanted your man to be… hairier? I think that answers the question.
E: Nothing’s swoonier than a crown, right? I’m the very definition of rich and powerful. But I should also add that I’m willing to be vulnerable. I can talk about my feelings. And I’m a good listener.
***About the Authors***
Their group is made up of Brodi Ashton (author of the EVERNEATH series and DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY), Cynthia Hand (New York Times bestselling author of the UNEARTHLY series and THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE), and Jodi Meadows (author of the INCARNATE and the ORPHAN QUEEN series). Between the three of them, they’ve written thirteen novels, a bunch of novellas, a handful of short stories, and a couple of really bad poems, but this is the first time they’ve taken a stab at writing a book together. They’re friends. They’re writers. They’re fixing history by rewriting one sad story at a time.
***About the Book***
My Lady Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows Also by this author: The Afterlife of Holly Chase, Incarnate, Asunder, The Orphan Queen
Published by HarperTeen on June 7, 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Retellings
Pages: 512
Goodreads Buy the Book
Edward (long live the king) is the King of England. He’s also dying, which is inconvenient, as he’s only sixteen and he’d much rather be planning for his first kiss than considering who will inherit his crown…
Jane (reads too many books) is Edward’s cousin, and far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately for Jane, Edward has arranged to marry her off to secure the line of succession. And there’s something a little odd about her intended…
Gifford (call him G) is a horse. That is, he’s an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated). Every day at dawn he becomes a noble chestnut steed—but then he wakes at dusk with a mouthful of hay. It’s all very undignified.
The plot thickens as Edward, Jane, and G are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, our heroes will have to engage in some conspiring of their own. But can they pull off their plan before it’s off with their heads?
You can read the prologue of My Lady Jane on the Lady Janies’ site.
***GIVEAWAY***
Good luck, Pretties. Have you checked out this awesome book yet?
If I could rewrite the story of any historical figure, I’d rewrite Queen Victoria’s probably.
Marie Antoinette , thank you for the chance!!!!!
That’s a really interesting question! I think Joan of Arc would make a great heroine, ’cause she’s kind of a bad ass!