Today, I am pleased to welcome Janet Wertman to my blog as part of the blog tour for her latest novel, Nothing Proved. I would like to thank The Coffee Pot Book Club and Janet Wertman for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.
In Nothing Proved, I had the opportunity to explore the origin stories of many of Elizabeth Tudor’s attitudes and beliefs. I was especially interested in showing the experiences that made her suspicious of marriage, and there were (of course!) many, some of which she observed and some of which she actually experienced. The specter of a mate for whom she had no attraction (or for whom attraction had passed), the imputation of guilt from a husband’s treason, the shame of infidelity and indifference, these were all giants. But there was another important factor: the inevitable loss of autonomy and personal agency.
It might have been different had she never experienced control herself, but in 1549, she was given the rare opportunity to run her household as a femme sole, an unmarried woman answerable to no one but the monarch. She was able to experience a level of leadership that women could achieve only as widows pursuing their deceased husbands’ business. Unlike widows, Elizabeth had to face the added challenge of building her fief from scratch. And found she excelled.
This gave Elizabeth a bit of a “test run” of her reign. She learned how to arrange business and finances, how to hire and manage the people around her. She learned about different trades, she spoke to a wide variety of people with a full range of stations and religious beliefs. She had the chance to be sole arbiter, and it is hard to give up such power.
This obviously will come up in the second book in the series, What Love E’er Meant, which will focus on her marital choices. And while that will be a standalone story, I jumped at the chance to show in real time the experiences that would influence her later actions.
Blurb:
Danger lined her path, but destiny led her to glory…
Elizabeth Tudor learned resilience young. Declared illegitimate after the execution of her mother Anne Boleyn, she bore her precarious position with unshakable grace. But upon the death of her father, King Henry VIII, the vulnerable fourteen-year-old must learn to navigate a world of shifting loyalties, power plays, and betrayal.
After narrowly escaping entanglement in Thomas Seymour’s treason, Elizabeth rebuilds her reputation as the perfect Protestant princess – which puts her in mortal danger when her half-sister Mary becomes Queen and imposes Catholicism on a reluctant land. Elizabeth escapes execution, clawing her way from a Tower cell to exoneration. But even a semblance of favor comes with attempts to exclude her from the throne or steal her rights to it through a forced marriage.
Elizabeth must outwit her enemies time and again to prove herself worthy of power. The making of one of history’s most iconic monarchs is a gripping tale of survival, fortune, and triumph.
Buy Links:
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/bM8Vrk
Additional Buy Links:
Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nothing-proved-janet-wertman/1146831389
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/nothing-proved
Apple:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/nothing-proved/id6740549129
Author Bio:
By day, Janet Wertman is a freelance grantwriter for impactful nonprofits. By night, she writes critically acclaimed, character-driven historical fiction – indulging a passion for the Tudor era she had harbored since she was eight years old and her parents let her stay up late to watch The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R.
Her Seymour Saga trilogy (Jane the Quene, The Path to Somerset, The Boy King) took her deep into one of the era’s central families – and now her follow-up Regina series explores Elizabeth’s journey from bastard to icon.
Janet also runs a blog (www.janetwertman.com) where she posts interesting takes on the Tudors and what it’s like to write about them.
Author Links:
Website:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/janetwertmanauthor/
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/janet-ambrosi-wertman-b5531aa/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/janetwertman/
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/janetwertman.bsky.social
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/janetwertman
Book Bub:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/janet-wertman
Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Janet-Wertman/author/B01CUSMWFA
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2028387.Janet_Ambrosi_Wertman
A princess born to a king and his second wife lost her title and legitimacy when her father decided that her mother, Anne Boleyn, needed to die. Elizabeth Tudor knows the meaning of resilience as she survived her childhood during her father King Henry VIII’s reign. Now that her father is dead Elizabeth is at the mercy of her half-siblings Edward and Mary, plus any scheming man who wants to marry her and get closer to the crown. Can Elizabeth survive her siblings’ reigns or is she destined to be locked in the Tower to await her ultimate fate like her mother? Janet Wertman explores the life of Elizabeth Tudor in her latest series 
Adventures of a Tudor Nerd 