Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Painted Lady

Author: Maeve Haran

Narrator: Jilly Bond

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-17

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Frances Stuart arrives at the Restoration court to find her innocence and beauty are highly prized commodities, envied by the women and desired by the men.

Before long, King Charles II falls passionately in love with her and will stop at nothing to make her his mistress. But Frances is no conventional court beauty. She is determined to make her own choices in life and to be with the man she loves. Can she overcome the dangerous pitfalls of the King's obsession, the Queen's jealousy, and the traps set for her by the King's notorious mistresses, and make the life she wants for herself?

Members Reviews:

The model for Lady Britannia and a beautiful lady of iron will

A compelling and quick read very picturesque and evocative with rich dialogue. Brings the court of Charles II to life Too me seven days The story of Frances Stuart, who returns from poverty stricken exile in France to the court of Charles II in restoration England. Frances Stuart was such a great beauty that Following the war with the Dutch, Charles had a commemorative medal cast, in which her face was used as a model for Britannia; this subsequently became customary for medals, coins and statues. She continued to appear on some of the copper coinage of the United Kingdom until the decimalization of the currency in 1971

Charles II, used to getting his own way with women becomes infatuated with Frances who resists his advances who is herself in love with the king's cousin Charles Stuart Duke of Richmond and Lennox,

Her great friend and mentor Mall Villiers stands by her side and the totally malignant and vindictive Lady Barbara Castlemaine will stop at nothing to try and destroy Frances, as Castlemaine is insanely jealous of the king's affections for Frances.

I enjoyed this book.

The Lady Who Didn't Become Charles II's Mistress

Frances Stuart spent most of her young life in exile at the court of the dowager Queen Henrietta Maria. When Charles II is restored to his throne, Frances is sent home to England to become Lady in Waiting to the new Queen, Catherine of Braganza. At sixteen, Frances innocence and beauty are highly-prized amongst the decadent Restoration Court, but when King Charles falls passionately in love with her, she discovers to refuse a king leaves her open to suspicion as well as ridicule for false modesty and those by others and a target for nefarious seduction plans by those with ambition to win favour with the king.

Frances is also inconveniently in love with Charles, Duke of Richmond, and when he wife dies in childbirth, harbours the tiny hope that he might turn to her to be his next duchess. However Frances is penniless and with the eye of the king on her, no man dare pay court to Mistress Stuart, and The Duke of Richmond looks elsewhere for his next wife.

Set against the drama of the Great Plague and the Fire of London, The Painted Lady is a wonderfully colourful portrait of 17th century court life with some well known names given new life by Ms Haran. I especially loved the passion of Barbara Castlemaine as the King's long-term mistress.