Duchess: A Novel of Sarah Churchill by Susan Holloway Scott

I really enjoyed this book. Not necessarily because it was well written, but because the main character was so determined.

This book, as the title suggests, is about the life of Sarah Churchill, a woman who lived in the late 1600's and early 1700's in England. She grew up at court and was determined to become far more than just a duke's mistress. So she set her eyes on John Churchill, a "dashing young military hero". Both of them had started their lives with nothing, as common folk. But neither of them stayed that way for long. John won his political and military battles over and over, while Sarah won the lifetime (nearly) friendship of Princess Anne, who eventually became queen. Over time they continuously moved up in the ranks, until eventually they gained a dukedom. Even after attaining this rank, Sarah was still not satisfied with sitting still and just enjoying it. She became very outspoken politically, despite the challenges of being a woman, and managed to make many friends and enemies. But she was always true to what she believed, and in the end, it all worked in her favor.

Avalon by Anya Seton

This book has nothing to do with Avalon, as you would think of it from books like The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, but it is still a pretty good book. It's set in the dark ages in England, when the Vikings were exploring and/or pillaging anything and anywhere. There are kind of two main characters, a prince named Rumon and a beautiful girl named Merewyn. It's not exactly a typical romance, as they manage to keep missing each other when it comes to love. The author seemed to be more interested in focusing on what really happened in that part of history, rather than changing history to make it a typical love story, which I greatly appreciate.