By the Kings Design, Christine Trent
By the Kings Design, Christine Trent
List: $15.00 | Sale: $10.50
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By the King's Design

Author: Christine Trent

Narrator: Marnye Young

Unabridged: 13 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/17/2023

Synopsis

Strong-willed Annabelle Stirling is more than capable of running the family draper shop after the untimely death of her parents. Under her father's tutelage, she became a talented cloth merchant, while her brother Wesley, the true heir, was busy philandering about Yorkshire. Knowing she must change with the times to survive, Belle installs new machinery that finishes twice the fabric in half the time it takes by hand. But not everyone is so enthusiastic.Soon, riled up by Belle's competitors, the outmoded workers seek violent revenge. Her shop destroyed, Belle travels to London to seek redress from Parliament. While there, the Prince Regent, future King George IV, commissions her to provide fabrics for his Royal Pavilion. As Belle's renown spreads, she meets handsome cabinetmaker Putnam Boyce, but worries that marriage will mean sacrificing her now flourishing shop. And after Wesley plots to kidnap the newly-crowned King--whose indiscretions are surfacing--she finds herself entangled in a duplicitous world of shifting allegiances.Painting a vivid portrait of life in the British Regency, Christine Trent spins a harrowing tale of ambition, vengeance, love, and complex loyalties against the dynamic backdrop of the early Industrial Revolution.This is a reissued version.By the King's Design is Book 3 in the Royal Trades series.

About Christine Trent

In addition to six novels and three short stories in the Lady of Ashes series, Christine Trent has written several historical novels about women in unusual professions, including The Queen's Dollmaker (a dollmaker to Marie Antoinette), A Royal Likeness (an apprentice to the great waxworker, Madame Tussaud), and By the King's Design (a draper to the Prince Regent).

Reviews

Goodreads review by Nikki on March 22, 2013

This book holds a special place in my heart as my first giveaway win. Pros: By the King's Design is very well detailed and researched. It establishes a real sense of the time period and richly portrays the story against a backdrop of historical facts. The beginning is excellent. It grabs your attenti......more

Goodreads review by Korey on November 19, 2017

I appreciated how dense with historical information this is. I didn't know how much I wanted to read about rampaging Luddites until now. I just wish all the descriptive language and historical exposition was in service of a tight, well constructed plot. After a strong start the middle of this book d......more

Goodreads review by Christy on February 07, 2012

This one is excellent.I really enjoyed the details of the rise of industry in the midst of Regency England. So much upheaval and suffering was going on while the beau monde waltzed and while the Prince Regent built his elaborate palaces. Annabelle Stirling is a charming heroine with courage and quie......more

Goodreads review by TJ on November 14, 2011

The rating should probably be a little higher but just didn't warrant a 4 star. The cover is beautiful, though! For a complete review, visit Affaire de Coeur magazine, hard copy or online at: [URL not allowed] February 2012 issue.......more

Goodreads review by Laura on February 29, 2012

This is the third book I read by historical novelist Christine Trent. Both The Queen's Dollmaker and A Royal Likeness were books that transported me back in history, making me see it through the eyes of strong heroines “with unusual professions”, as the author puts it. Yes, this is what I love the m......more

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