Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Book Listicle

It’s been four weeks since Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story released on Netflix, and the binge hangover is real. Luckily, we know the cure: we have multiple historical and royal romance book recommendations to tide you over until the next season of Bridgerton.

American Royals
By Katharine McGee
464 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781984830203 | Ember
When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren’t just any royals. They’re American. As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

Ash Princess
By Laura Sebastian
464 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781524767099 | Ember
Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. For ten years Theo has been a held captive by the Kaiserin her own palace. Then the Kaiser forces her to do the unthinkable and Theo realizes that surviving is no longer enough. But she does have a weapon: her mind is sharper than any sword. And power isn’t always won on the battlefield.

Fatal Throne
By M. T. Anderson, Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Lisa Ann Sandell, Jennifer Donnelly, Linda Sue Park, Deborah Hopkinson
416 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781984830333 | Ember
If you were one of King Henry VIII’s six wives, who would you be? Would you be Anne Boleyn, who literally lost her head? The subject of rumor and scandal like Catherine Howard? Or would you survive like Anna of Cleves? Meet all Henry’s queens–each bound for divorce or death–in this epic novel that reads like fantasy but really happened. Watch spellbound as each wife attempts to survive their unpredictable king as he grows more obsessed with producing a male heir. And discover how the power-hungry court fanned the flames of Henry’s passions . . . and his most horrible impulses. Brought to life by seven award-winning and bestselling authors, here is an intimate look at the royals during one of the most treacherous times in history, perfect for anyone fascinated by Britain’s Royal Family or Netflix’s The Crown.

Her Royal Highness
By Rachel Hawkins
304 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781524738280 | Penguin Books
Millie Quint is devastated when she discovers that her sort-of-best friend/sort-of-girlfriend has been kissing someone else. Heartbroken and ready for a change of pace, Millie decides to apply for scholarships to boarding schools . . . the farther from Houston the better. Soon, Millie is accepted into one of the world’s most exclusive schools, located in the rolling highlands of Scotland. Here, the country is dreamy and green; the school is covered in ivy, and the students think her American-ness is adorable. The only problem: Mille’s roommate Flora is a total princess. She’s also an actual princess. Of Scotland. At first, the girls can’t stand each other, but before Millie knows it, she has another sort-of-best-friend/sort-of-girlfriend. Princess Flora could be a new chapter in her love life, but Millie knows the chances of happily-ever-afters are slim . . . after all, real life isn’t a fairy tale . . . or is it?

Luck of the Titanic
By Stacey Lee
400 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781524741006 | Putnam BFYR
Valora Luck has two things: a ticket for the biggest and most luxurious ocean liner in the world, and a dream of leaving England behind and making a life for herself as a circus performer in New York. Much to her surprise though, she’s turned away at the gangway; apparently, Chinese aren’t allowed into America. But Val has to get on that ship. Her twin brother Jamie, who has spent two long years at sea, is there, as is an influential circus owner, whom Val hopes to audition for. Thankfully, there’s not much a trained acrobat like Val can’t overcome when she puts her mind to it. As a stowaway, Val should keep her head down and stay out of sight. But the clock is ticking and she has just seven days as the ship makes its way across the Atlantic to find Jamie, perform for the circus owner, and convince him to help get them both into America. Then one night the unthinkable happens, and suddenly Val’s dreams of a new life are crushed under the weight of the only thing that matters: survival.

Prince Charming
By Rachel Hawkins
320 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781524738259 | Penguin Books
Meet Daisy Winters. She’s an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair, a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who’s nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond. While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince’s roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown – and the intriguing Miles – might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself.

Queen Bee
By Amalie Howard
368 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593483503 | Joy Revolution
Lady Ela Dalvi knows the exact moment her life was forever changed—when her best friend, Poppy, betrayed her without qualm over a boy, the son of a duke. She was sent away in disgrace, her reputation ruined. Nearly three years later, eighteen-year-old Ela is consumed with bitterness and a desire for . . . revenge. Her enemy is quickly joining the crème de la crème of high society while she withers away in the English countryside. With an audacious plan to get even, Ela disguises herself as a mysterious heiress and infiltrates London’s elite. But when Ela reunites with the only boy she’s ever loved, she begins to question whether vengeance is still her greatest desire. In this complicated game of real-life chess, Ela must choose her next move: Finally bring down the queen or capture the king’s heart?

Royal Blood
By Aimée Carter
352 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593485897 | Delacorte Press
An American girl becomes the British Monarchy’s greatest nightmare in this thrilling new series where royal scandals just got deadlier. As the King of England’s illegitimate daughter, 17-year-old Evan Bright knows a thing or two about keeping secrets. But when she’s forced to spend the summer in London with her father and the royal family, who aren’t exactly thrilled she exists, her identity is mysteriously revealed, and suddenly the world is dying to know every juicy lie the press prints about her. After a fun night turns deadly and Evan becomes the primary suspect in a murder investigation, the escalating rumors and fallout threaten to tear her life apart. As she fights to uncover the truth about what happened, she discovers royal secrets that are even more scandalous than she imagined – secrets that could change the monarchy forever. And her own may be next.

Seraphina
By Rachel Hartman
528 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780385668415 | Penguin Teen Canada
A talented musician, Seraphina, joins the court in the Kingdom of Goredd just as a member of the royal family is murdered in suspiciously draconian fashion. Soon she is drawn into the investigation. While they begin to uncover a sinister plot to destroy the peace between humans and dragons, Seraphina struggles to protect the secret behind her musical gift, a secret so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

The Davenports
By Krystal Marquis
384 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593463338 | Dial Books
The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now it’s 1910, and the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love – even where they’re not supposed to. There is Olivia, the beautiful elder Davenport daughter, ready to do her duty by getting married . . . until she meets the charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight and sparks fly. The younger daughter, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love – unless it’s with her sister’s suitor. Amy-Rose, the childhood friend turned maid to the Davenport sisters, dreams of opening her own business – and marrying the one man she could never be with, Olivia and Helen’s brother, John. But Olivia’s best friend, Ruby, also has her sights set on John Davenport, though she can’t seem to keep his interest . . . until family pressure has her scheming to win his heart, just as someone else wins hers.

The Game of Hope
By Sandra Gulland
384 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780143187127 | Penguin Teen Canada
Paris, 1798. Hortense de Beauharnais is engrossed in her studies at a boarding school for aristocratic girls, most of whom suffered tragic losses during the tumultuous days of the French Revolution. She loves to play and compose music, read and paint, and daydream about Christophe, her brother’s dashing fellow officer. But Hortense is not an ordinary girl. Her beautiful, charming mother Josephine has married Napoleon Bonaparte, soon to become the most powerful man in France, but viewed by Hortense as a coarse, unworthy successor to her elegant father, who was guillotined during the Terror. Where will Hortense’s future lie? Inspired by Hortense’s real-life autobiography with charming glimpses of teen life long ago, this is the story of a girl chosen by fate to play a role she didn’t choose.

The Glittering Court
By Richelle Mead
432 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781595148421 | Razorbill
Big and sweeping, spanning the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court. Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the mysterious Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court. When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together, they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise–first, as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and later, when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor. But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands….

The Guinevere Deception
By Kiersten White
352 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780525581703 | Ember
Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot. To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

Violet Made of Thorns
By Gina Chen
368 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593427538 | Delacorte
Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased – and not always true – divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer – unless Violet does something about it. But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom – all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus. Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom – or doom them all.

Tundra Telegram: Books That Are Critical Hits

Hello, and thanks for joining us at Tundra Telegram, the column where we divine the subjects bom-barding readers, then spell out some lawfully good books to read.

Tomorrow, the long-anticipated movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will grace screens across North America. Starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page (from Bridgerton!) and Hugh Grant, the movie has it all: magic, adventure, an Owlbear! And fans of the iconic roleplaying game have high hopes – or at least hopes this film will be a better viewing experience than the 2000 film starring Jeremy Irons, Thora Birch, and Marlon Wayans!

To celebrate, we’re recommending picture books, middle grade titles, and YA that are the closest possible things to Dungeons & Dragons (without actually being official Dungeons & Dragons books). What does that mean? Elements of medieval fantasy are a must. And some dragons and/or dungeons would certainly help. But any group of adventurers on a fantasy quest sounds good to us! Get ready to roll the twenty-sided dice and try something new with one of our book recommendations!

PICTURE BOOKS

Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm’s The Evil Princess vs. The Brave Knight has a title that’s essentially a campaign. As an added bonus, it plays against type as it asks questions like: is the evil princess, who casts devilish spells, really that bad? Is the knight who valiantly battles dragons and rescues cats as chivalrous as they seem? And D&D is all about playing different roles!

The books Journey, Quest, and Return by Aaron Becker are great picture book accompaniments to Dungeons & Dragons, as well. Journey tells the story of a lonely girl who draws a door on her bedroom wall that takes her to a magical world where wonder and danger abound. Quest follows two kids who follow a misplaced king through an enchanted door into a fantastical adventure, and Return sends that girl back to a magic realm one final time. The three books are completely wordless, which fits well, as D&D encourages you to choose your own adventure.

You don’t need a Monster Manual to tell you that Dungeons & Dragons features a whole host of mythical creatures. That’s why If I Had a Gryphon by Vikki VanSickle and Cale Atkinson is a perfect recommendation, as it features everything from unicorns to hippogriffs and kelpies and the very funny and unforeseen drawbacks of having magical animals as a pet.

Forget Dungeons & Dragons; how about Jockeys & Dragons? Attack of the Underwear Dragon, written by Scott Rothman and Pete Oswald, follows Cole, the brave assistant to the great knight Sir Percival, who must face a terrifying Underwear Dragon on his own. The sequel, Return of the Underwear Dragon, reveals Cole and the Dragon’s conflict in the first book resulted from – spoiler alert – the Dragon’s inability to read signs. The second book chronicles young Cole’s attempt to teach his scaly friend to read – just like in D&D, the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

CHAPTER BOOKS & MIDDLE GRADE

One of the closest analogs to Dungeons & Dragons is Heroes of Havensong: Dragonboy by Megan Reyes. Four unlikely heroes – a boy-turned-dragon, his reluctant dragon rider, a runaway witch, and a young soldier – must save their world, and magic itself, from being destroyed? With Reyes as our DM, it sounds like a good time, with more campaigns adventures to come.

While the fantasy realms in D&D tend toward the European-inspired, Christina Soontornvat’s Thai-inspired The Last Mapmaker would make a perfect campaign. Sai is the young apprentice to a celebrated mapmaker who’s not who she pretends to be. (Must have incredible charisma stats!) Before long, she sets off on a sea voyage to the fabled Sunderlands – a land of dragons, dangers (maybe dungeons?), and riches beyond imagining.

Speaking of mapmakers, you may also want to seek out the graphic novel Mapmakers and the Lost Magic by Cameron Chittock and Amanda Castillo. A group of magical protectors long thought lost is rediscovered when young Alidade finds a secret door that leads to Blue, a magical creature called a memri who may help her protect the Valley from the merciless Night Coats! The second book, out this April, Mapmakers and the Enchanted Mountain, features Alidade and her new allies ready to restore the lost magic to the rest of the world outside the Valley.

To capture the ragtag group of adventures on a mythical quest feel, you also need to investigate Kelley Armstrong’s A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying. Over four books, ambitious monster hunter Rowan, her twin brother Rhydd, and a growing number of friends and fantastical beasts, fight to protect their homeland – and sometimes monsters – from untold danger.

Similarly, the heavily illustrated Max & the Midknights series by Lincoln Peirce (of Big Nate fame) features a girl who dreams of being a knight. And joined by a band of brave companions, she rescues hostages, battles trolls, and even faces an evil twin in misadventures a bit more comical than the average D&D campaign.

Not a lot of dungeons to be found in modern-day Brooklyn, but there are plenty of winged serpents in Zetta Elliott’s winning Dragons in a Bag series. The four books follow young Jax and friends Vikram, Kavita, Kenny, and more as they discover dragons and magic are real, and travel back and forth between a magical realm and a slightly-less-magical borough of New York City.

Also heavy on the dragons and not so much the dungeons is the Dragon Storm series, written by Alistair Chisholm and illustrated by Eric Deschamps.  Each book is about a youth inducted into a secret league of dragonseers, The Guild, where they train to bond with their dragons and summon their power. Just imagine the party if those dragonseers joined together in a quest!

The subtitle of the Dungeons & Dragons movie is Honor Among Thieves, and we can think of no better comparison than the thrilling Thieves of Shadow series by Kevin Sands. Starting with Children of the Fox, the books feature a motley band of five young thieves, each with their own special skill, hired to steal a guarded treasure from the most powerful sorcerer in the city. From that initial heist, the five criminal friends learn over and over again that you do not mess with magic!

A book series that reflect the fun of roleplaying with a bunch of your friends is Chad Sell’s The Cardboard Kingdom graphic novels. A bunch of neighborhood pals transform ordinary cardboard into fantastical homemade costumes and environments as they explore conflicts with friends, family, and more in their ongoing games of imagination (which are more like LARPing than D&D, granted). A third book, Snow and Sorcery, will be in stores this fall!

And if that’s not an adorable enough adventure for you, there’s Kitty Quest and Kitty Quest: Tentacle Trouble by Phil Corbett. Yes, it’s the fun, swashbuckling adventure filled with monsters and wizards you expect from a graphic novel fantasy, but our two adventurers – Woolfrik and Perigold – are two bumbling kittens who don’t know as much about monster hunting as they should!

YOUNG ADULT

If Dungeons & Dragons is about one thing, it’s about epic journeys where friends and allies are made along the way and in Rachel Hartman’s Tess of the Road (set in the same world as her Seraphina series), Tess – headed for a nunnery against her will – sets out on an uncertain journey across the Southlands, disguised as a boy. She runs into an old friend who is a quigutl – a subspecies of dragon – and they travel the road, making many memorable stops (and friends). The follow up, In the Serpent’s Wake, sees Tess on a similar quest on the sea, to find the last World Serpent.

The graphic novel Witchlight by Jessi Zabarsky takes the D&D tropes of magic and journey, but with a focus centred on queer women. Lelek is a witch who kidnaps a peasant girl Sanja (who is quite good at swordfighting). The duo grow more entangled and friendly as they travel together on a hunt for the missing half of Lelek’s soul – the source of her true magical abilities.

But there are few YA series more about dragons than Christopher Paolini’s classic Inheritance Cycle series. First written when amateur swordsman Paolini was just a teen himself, the books follow poor farm boy Eragon who stumbles upon a dragon egg and – as you might expect – is soon swept into a world of magic, battle, and intrigue. And Paolini fans are in luck, as the author just announced a new book set in the world of Alagaësia, Murtagh, which sees the fan favorite dragon rider and his dragon Thorn in a quest to outwit a dangerous witch.

Kristin Cashore’s Graceling Realm series is great as each book is set in the same shared magical world, but only loosely connected – with some characters appearing in more than one book, but books also taking place in different eras. So, whether you start with the story of Fire, a princess with mind-control powers in a kingdom on the brink of war, or the recent Seasparrow, which follows the (much later) Queen Bitterblue’s sister and spy on a sea quest, you still get a satisfying, self-contained fantasy epic.

Over three pulse-pounding books, the Ash Princess series by Laura Sebastian chronicles the deposed princess Theodosia’s battle to raise an army and reclaim her kingdom from the murderous Kaiser (who killed her mother – this isn’t a spoiler; it’s literally on the jacket copy). Besides the trappings of medieval fantasy, what makes it a great D&D chaser is that Theodosia’s greatest weapon is – as it is with any D&D player – her mind.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t also recommend what Buzzfeed called “one of the best fantasy series of the last decade”: Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes. In four titles, readers follow unlikely allies – rebel spy Laia and soldier for the Martial Empire Elias – as they gather allies in their fight against tyranny and encounter magical jinn and deadly warriors. (The book covers even look like D&D art!)

Sally forth, fellow adventurers!