The Red Lily Crown: A Novel of Medici Florence

April, 1574, Florence, Italy. Grand Duke Cosimo de Medici lies dying. The city is paralyzed with dread, for the next man to wear the red lily crown will be Prince Francesco: despotic, dangerous, and obsessed with alchemy.

Chiara Nerini, the troubled daughter of an anti-Medici bookseller, sets out to save her starving family by selling her dead fathers rare alchemical equipment to the prince. Instead she is trapped in his household—imprisoned and forcibly initiated as a virgin acolyte in Francescos quest for power and immortality. Undaunted, she seizes her chance to pursue undreamed-of power of her own.

Witness to sensuous intrigues and brutal murder plots, Chiara seeks a safe path through the labyrinth of Medici tyranny and deception. Beside her walks the princes mysterious English alchemist Ruanno, her friend and teacher, driven by his own dark goals. Can Chiara trust him to keep her secrets…even to love her…or will he prove to be her most treacherous enemy of all?

Karleen Koen, author of Through a Glass Darkly and Before Versailles

"Elizabeth Loupas' engaging second effort gives a thought-provoking peek into the inner working of the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. Thick with intrigue and spiced with scandal, The Flower Reader is a lush, vibrant tapestry of a book."

Deanna Raybourn, national betselling author of The Dark Enquiry

“Mary Stuart is portrayed in all the fullness of her enchanting youth: impulsive and sweet, majestic and clever but also vain, naïve, temperamental and slightly neurotic. Her court is brought to life, as are the various factions and plots which rend Scotland asunder and lead to Mary’s downfall. Loupas accurately depicts a stormy, complex era by means of a page-turning mystery and romance.”  

--Historical Novels Review

“Loupas demonstrates how meticulous research and lush details make for a fascinating novel, drawing readers into the court and life of Mary, Queen of Scots, through the eyes of a young woman whose ability to divine the future through flowers leads her to danger and love.  The mystery and treachery of the era, and the political struggles, are all wonderfully portrayed.” –Romantic Times

“The novel mixes history with fiction brilliantly.  The time period is well-researched, so much thought and detail is put into the novel, and you can tell how much Loupas enjoyed writing the novel.  The passion and love for the characters and plot shine through.  The Flower Reader is guaranteed to be a top novel of 2012!” –Examiner.com (Pittsburgh Examiner, PA)

 "...the character of Rinette bursts forth from the start, showing her strong resolve to keep herself, her loved ones, her property and her resolve under murderous pressures! I loved her brave spirit and her willingness to stare down death and queens despite her youth, power and lack of weapons. Because of this beautiful, mystically talented and unabashedly strong woman this novel is one of my favorite historical novels this season... five stars."

--A Bookish Libraria

"In this richly dramatic and darkly potent historical novel, Elizabeth Loupas unveils a tale of dark intrigue imbued with drama, violence and love..."

--Raging Bibliomania

“Effortlessly evokes the dangerous glamour of Renaissance Italy…spellbinding”—The Chicago Tribune

"Thick with intrigue and spiced with scandal, The Flower Reader is a lush, vibrant tapestry of a book.”—Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Enquiry

“The historical mystery at the heart of this excellent novel kept me turning pages late into the night even as I admonished myself to slow down and savor the feast for the senses laid out on each page.”—Brenda Rickman Vantrease, author of The Heretics Wife  

“This novel was completely mesmerizing and captivating…The writing style is masterful, creating a novel that was suspenseful, complex, and peopled with quirky and difficult characters.” —San Francisco Book Review

"Rich in historical detail and all the dangerous grandeur of court life in Renaissance Italy."  —C.S. Harris, author of the Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery series

“I look forward to Elizabeth Loupass next book.”—Historical Novels Review (Editors Choice)

“Machiavelli meets The Brothers Grimm: a dark fairy tale with the addictive allure of a poison dream. Renaissance Florence springs to life in all its gorgeous, treacherous glory when a brave street urchin finds herself neck deep in Medici blood-lust. A dash of magic, a maze of murder, a heroine to root for, and a villain who needs to die--this is historical fiction at its most compelling.”—Kate Quinn, author of The Serpent and the Pearl and The Lion and the Rose

“Brings to life all the brutality, deception, and glamour of one of historys most intoxicating eras. I could not put it down!”—C.W. Gortner, author of The Queens Vow

“Elizabeth Loupas works her own particular alchemy on her readers as she brings the heady elements of the Medici court to life—fascinating!”—Marina Fiorato, author of The Botticelli Secret and The Venetian Secret

“You will race through this book and then find yourself wishing it did not have to end.”—Sophie Perinot, author of The Sister Queens

“I'm enthralled by the world evoked in The Red Lily Crown: the magnificent, dangerous and deeply amoral court of the Medici in late 16th century Florence. And I fell in love with Chiara, a spunky alchemist's daughter…. A deliciously decadent page-turner.”—Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Crown and The Chalice

Praise for the novels of Elizabeth Loupas

“Effortlessly evokes the dangerous glamour of Renaissance Italy…spellbinding”—The Chicago Tribune

"Thick with intrigue and spiced with scandal, The Flower Reader is a lush, vibrant tapestry of a book.”—Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Enquiry

“The historical mystery at the heart of this excellent novel kept me turning pages late into the night even as I admonished myself to slow down and savor the feast for the senses laid out on each page.”—Brenda Rickman Vantrease, author of The Heretics Wife  

“This novel was completely mesmerizing and captivating…The writing style is masterful, creating a novel that was suspenseful, complex, and peopled with quirky and difficult characters.” —San Francisco Book Review

"Rich in historical detail and all the dangerous grandeur of court life in Renaissance Italy."  —C.S. Harris, author of the Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery series

“I look forward to Elizabeth Loupass next book.”—Historical Novels Review (Editors Choice)

Rinette Leslie of Granmuir has the ancient gift of divining the future in flowers, but her gift cannot prepare her for the turmoil that comes when the dying queen regent entrusts her with a casket full of Scotland's darkest secrets. On the very day she means to deliver it to newly crowned Mary, Queen of Scots, Rinette's husband is brutally assassinated.

Devastated, Rinette demands justice before she will surrender the casket, but she is surrounded by ruthless men who will do anything to possess it. In the end, the flowers are all she can trust-and only the flowers will lead her safely home to Granmuir.

In a city-state known for magnificence, where love affairs and conspiracies play out amidst brilliant painters, poets and musicians, the powerful and ambitious Alfonso d'Este, duke of Ferrara, takes a new bride. Half of Europe is certain he murdered his first wife, Lucrezia, the luminous child of the Medici. But no one dares accuse him, and no one has proof-least of all his second duchess, the far less beautiful but delightfully clever Barbara of Austria.

At first determined to ignore the rumors about her new husband, Barbara embraces the pleasures of the Ferrarese court. Yet wherever she turns she hears whispers of the first duchess's wayward life and mysterious death. Barbara asks questions-a dangerous mistake for a duchess of Ferrara. Suddenly, to save her own life, Barbara has no choice but to risk the duke's terrifying displeasure and discover the truth of Lucrezia's death-or she will share her fate.