Jeanette of Kent Books in Order

The Jeanette of Kent duology follows Joan of Kent – here called Jeanette – from impetuous teenager at the start of the Hundred Years’ War to a woman whose choices shape the English crown. The Royal Rebel covers her stormy youth, while The Crownless Queen explores the costs and compromises of life lived close to the throne.

In The Royal Rebel England declares war on France and Jeanette, cousin to King Edward III, travels overseas with the royal court for the first time. Away from home she falls in love with Thomas Holland, a skilled household knight, and the two marry in secret despite knowing the match will be fiercely opposed. When Thomas leaves for campaign, Jeanette is coerced into a second marriage and finds herself isolated, watched and effectively imprisoned by those who want control of her future.

The story plays out against a backdrop of high chivalry, early campaigns of the Hundred Years’ War, outbreaks of plague and the brutal politics of great families vying for influence. Jeanette has to learn when to fight, when to bend and how to stay herself in a world that would prefer her silent and compliant.

The Crownless Queen returns to her life in 1360. Jeanette is older, a mother and recently widowed, with estates and children to protect. When Prince Edward, the king’s heir and her long-time friend, offers marriage, she accepts for the sake of security as much as affection. Becoming consort to the heir brings new power but also new scrutiny, and the stakes rise further when the possibility of another royal child enters the picture.

This second novel follows her through shifting fortunes, from moments of deep contentment to periods when enemies circle and every decision could endanger her family. Love, reputation and survival are never separate; they are threads in the same knot.

Taken together, the Jeanette of Kent books offer a close, character-driven view of fourteenth-century court life. Readers who enjoy stories about women negotiating limited choices, stubbornly carving out space for themselves in the shadow of the crown, will find plenty to savour here.