A study of the lives of the Stuart royal family. Written in an accessible style, the narrative moves chronologically from James's birth in 1566 to his death in 1625. It is aimed at the general reader as well as historians and describes a family divided by jealousy, neglect and the violence of war. A cousin, denied marriage to the man she loves, dies locked in a tower; a young prince, heir-expectant, dies suddenly; a princess marries a German prince and then finds herself the prisoner of European wars; a king-father, noted for his peacemaking, ensnares his country in a war as his life ends; a queen-mother, determined to nurture her young children, finds herself estranged from them.

Historically, many royal marriages have represented the unions of dynasties, with true engagements of the heart notable for their rarity. Yet royal couples could fall in love, and this book is full of surprises, from the undying love that the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, felt for his Tsarina, to the unlikely love that flourished between Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Amongst them, too, are less happy loves of Crown Prince Rudolph for his 17-year-old lover, Countess Mary Vetsera, or, in the 1940s, of the Prince of Sweden, refused consent to marry the girl he loved she only became his princess over 30 years later. Bringing the reader right up to modern times, and touching, absorbing, and tragic by turns, these stories bring the glamour and the contradictions of royalty vividly to life.

Georgina, Princess of Wales, has always known her destiny, but she never expected duty to call so soon. When her father dies suddenly, she is called back from her Royal Navy post to assume the crown. While the people acclaim their new Queen, Great Britain’s first openly gay monarch, all George feels is the isolation of her station. Beatrice Elliot’s staunch anti-monarchist views have always been a point of gentle contention with her working class, royalty-loving parents. When Bea—director of a hospice charity—must spend six months working with Queen Georgina, her charity’s new patron, sparks fly and passion blooms. But is love enough to bridge the gap between Bethnal Green and Buckingham Palace?

Welcome to their kingdom...I never thought I'd step foot in Royal Manor again. But four years later, here I am...back to finish my senior year at Royal Hearts Academy.And forced to face Jace Covington. My first friend. First crush. First kiss. The one I left behind.Only-he isn't the same boy I gave my heart to.This new Jace is as cruel as he is gorgeous.And he's determined to make my life a living hell. Along with the rest of his glorified family and crew of tyrants.They expect me to worship the ground they walk on like everyone else, but I'd rather eat dirt.If Jace Covington wants me gone...he'll have to try harder. Because I've never been the kind of girl to play by the rules.WARNING: Royal Hearts Academy is a New Adult/High School series of standalones filled with drama, a touch of angst, and boys who are bad to the bone.This series is recommended for mature readers due to graphic language and sexual content.

There is not, and never was, a monolithic masculinity; there are, and always have been, multiple masculinities. Today diversity with regard to gender and sexuality is beginning to be recognized and celebrated even while many religious denominations still resist these cultural changes. This book offers pastoral interpretations of these social shifts in light of psychological principles, applying them to topics such as the moral disapproval of masturbation; the efforts of some churches to convince homosexual men to adopt a heterosexual orientation; the dynamics of male envy of female longevity; the homosexual tendencies of King James of England and Scotland; and biblical portraits of God's body, gender, and sexuality. The authors make a special use of the psychoanalytic concept of sublimation--that is, the redirection of sexual desires that are considered unacceptable or unworthy toward interests and aspirations that are considered acceptable and worthy. While the use of psychoanalytic hermeneutics here is likely to raise various red flags for potential religious readers (especially for those who have been informed that Sigmund Freud was hostile toward religion), this book presents a rather different Freud by focusing on religious sublimation.