Thanks to everyone who participated in the challenge! You've all done an excellent job and come up with some great lists. Tabulating the results last night and this morning turned out to be a challenge for me, too, because there were many titles (especially historical romances and out-of-print books) I hadn't heard of before. Anyone notice that there were two titles from the grid in the photo itself? :)
I went through everyone's lists, removing the ones that weren't historical fiction (such as nonfiction biographies, modern thrillers, fantasy fiction; there was even a Star Trek novel in there), duplicates, and those with incomplete information or with words in the wrong order. For anyone who's interested, Hebe Elsna and Dorothy Phoebe Ansle are the same person, as are Lozania Prole and Ursula Bloom, so if you listed both for the same title, I counted them once. If anyone has questions on why certain titles didn't count, just email me or leave a comment. This is all pedantic stuff, but even after making these adjustments, it didn't change anyone's placement.
The results are:
First Place (and six free books): Yvette Hoitink, with 106 titles
Second Place (and five books): Heather Ganshorn, with 104 titles
Third Place (and four books): Daphne from
Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff, with 90 titles
Congratulations - great work!! I'll be in touch shortly.
And now for the winners' lists. Who would have thought there'd be so many combinations? Because I knew people would be curious, and because I was curious myself, I've made a brief notation as to the topic/setting after each book. I've put (hf) for those I know are historical fiction but couldn't easily find the exact subject for.
Yvette's list:Devil's Bride - Stephanie Laurens (Regency romance)
Devil's Garden - Ace Atkins (1920s San Francisco)
Devil's mistress - Heather Graham (17th c witch trials)
Empress - Evelyn McCune (Wu Jao, 7th-c China)
Empress - Shan Sa (7th-c China)
First Knight - Elizabeth Chadwick (medieval England)
First queen - John Gall (Hatshepsut)
Golden girl - Joan Wolf (Regency romance)
Golden Princess - Laurence Moody (Elizabeth I)
Grace - Chapman Travers (post-Civil War romance)
Grace - Deneane Clark (Regency romance)
Grace - Robert Ward (Civil Rights era)
Heretic - Bernard Cornwell (Hundred Years War)
Heretic's daughter - Kathleen Kent (Salem witch trials)
King's fool - Margaret Campbell Barnes (Henry VIII’s England)
King's mistress - Julia Watson (hf)
King's mistress - Kathryn Dryden (Tudor era)
The Last Concubine - Lesley Downer (19th-c Japan)
Last Tsarina - Lozania Prole (Empress Alexandra)
Mistress - Amanda Quick (hist romance)
Mistress - Leda Swann (19th c erotic romance)
Princess - Gaelen Foley (19th c Europe, romance)
The Queen's Bastard - Robin Maxwell (Elizabeth I)
Rebel - Bernard Cornwell (US Civil War)
Rebel - Heather Graham (Florida Civil War romance)
Rebel - John Clagett (Confederate navy)
Rebel king - Charles Randolph Bruce, Carolyn Hale Bruce (Robert Bruce)
Red Queen - Jane Hammond (hf)
Royal Blood - Rona Sharon (Tudor vampires)
Royal's bride - Kat Martin (1854 England, romance)
The bastard - John Jakes (Am Revolution)
The Boleyn Wife - Brandy Purdy (Jane Boleyn)
The concubine - Jade Lee (19th c China)
The concubine - Norah Lofts (Anne Boleyn)
The Concubine - Elechi Amadi (colonial Africa)
The concubine's daughter - Helen Kwok (1950s-60s Hong Kong)
The concubine's daughter - Pai Kit Fai (20th c rural China)
The courtier's secret - Donna Russo Morin (Louis XIV’s court)
The devil's daughter - Laura Drewry (western romance)
The Devil's Queen - Jeanne Kalogridis (Catherine de Medici)
The French Mistress - Susan Holloway Scott (Louise de Keroualle)
The Garden - Gillian Linscott (Edwardian saga)
The German Bride - Joanna Hershon (post-Civil War Southwest)
The golden king - Max Overton (ancient Scythia)
The Heretic - Alison Macleod (Anne Askew)
The heretic - Andrew Feder (ancient Greece, timeslip)
The Heretic - Chris Scott (Giordano Bruno)
The Heretic - Lewis M. Weinstein (15th-c Spain)
The Heretic - Miguel Delibes (Inquisition)
The heretic queen - Michelle Moran (Nefertari)
The heretic's wife - Brenda Rickman Vantrease (medieval)
The Italian - Ann Radcliffe (18th c Italy)
The Italian - Elaine Coffman (19th-c romance)
The Italian Garden - Judith Lennox (16th-c Venice)
The Italian Woman - Jean Plaidy (Catherine de Medici)
The King’s Grace - Anne Easter Smith (Grace Plantagenet, dau of Edward IV)
The King's Daughter - Sandra Worth (Elizabeth of York)
The King's gold - Arturo Perez-Reverte (17th-c Spain)
The Last Boleyn - Karen Harper (Mary Boleyn)
The Last Empress - Anchee Min (Empress Tzu Hsi)
The Last Heretic - D Conrad (16th-c Europe)
The last queen - C.W. Gortner (Juana of Castile)
The mistress - Philippe Tapon (WWII)
The mistress - Valerie Sherwood (historical romance)
The other Boleyn girl - Philippa Gregory (Mary/Anne Boleyn)
The Other Queen - Philippa Gregory (Mary Queen of Scots)
The other wife - Emery Barrus (Mormon history)
The perfect bride - Eileen Putman (Regency romance)
The perfect knight - Catherine Gousseff and Fabian Negrin (Middle Ages, juvenile hf)
The perfect mistress - Betina Krahn (hist romance)
The perfect royal mistress - Diane Haeger (Nell Gwyn)
The perfect wife - Doris Leslie (wife of Disraeli)
The perfect wife - Lynsay Sands (medieval romance)
The perfect wife - Mary Burton (romance, 1876 Colorado)
The perfect wife - Victoria Alexander (romance, 19th c Egypt)
The princess - Jude Deveraux (WWII-era romance)
The Queen's fool - Philippa Gregory (Mary Tudor)
The rebel - Jack Dann (James Dean)
The rebel - May McGoldrick (Irish hist romance)
The rebel Bride - Eva McDonald (Restoration romance)
The Rebel Princess - Judith Koll Healey (Alais of France)
The red queen - Margaret Drabble (18th c Korea)
The Red queen - Ruth S. Perot (Margaret of Anjou)
The shoe queen - Anna Davis (1925 Paris)
The Tsarina's Daughter - Carolly Erickson (Grand Duchess Tatiana)
The Venetian - David Weiss (Titian)
The Venetian Mask - Rosalind Laker (1775 Venice)
The Venetian's Mistress - Ann Elizabeth Cree (19th c Italy, romance)
The Virgin Queen's Daughter - Ella March Chase (Tudor England)
The virgin's secret - Victoria Alexander (Victorian romance)
The White knight - Gilbert Morris (saga, 1942)
The White Queen - Philippa Gregory (Elizabeth Woodville)
The widow's secret - Sara Mitchell (insp Christian romance)
The Widow's War - Sally Gunning (colonial Cape Cod)
The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell (King Arthur trilogy, v.1)
The Winter Prince - Cheryl Sawyer (Rupert of the Rhine)
The winter queen - Boris Akunin (20th c Russia)
The Winter Queen - Jane Stevenson (Elizabeth of Bohemia)
The wise woman - Christian Jacq (ancient Egypt)
The wise woman - Philippa Gregory (Tudor England)
Virgin wife - Clare Kersey (hf)
White Knight - Jaclyn Reding (Regency romance)
White Queen - Lesley J. Nickell (Anne Neville)
White widow - Jim Lehrer (1950s Texas)
Winter's bride - Catherine Archer (historical romance)
Wise woman - R.A. Forde (5th c Brittany)
Heather's list:The Alchemist, by Donna Boyd (time-slip to ancient Egypt)
The Alchemist's Daughter, by Katharine McMahon (1712 England)
The Alchemist's Daughter, by Eileen Kernaghan (YA, Elizabethan England)
The Alchemist's Daughter, by Elaine Knighton (historical romance)
The Bastard, by John Jakes (American Revolution)
The Bastard, by Brigitte von Tessin (medieval)
The Concubine, by Norah Lofts (Anne Boleyn)
The Concubine, by Elechi Amadi (colonial Africa)
The Concubine's Secret, by Kate Furnivall (1929 China)
The Concubine's Daughter, by Pai Kit Fai (20th c rural China)
The Courtier's Secret, by Donna Russo Morin (Louis XIV’s France)
The Devil's Queen, by Jeanne Kalogridis (Catherine de Medici)
The Devil's Bastard, by Charlsie Russell (18th c Natchez)
The Devil's Blood, by Kirby Jonas (American West)
Devil's Bride, by Stephanie Laurens (Regency romance)
Devil's Daughter, by Catherine Coulter (romance, England 1803)
Devil's Garden, by Ace Atkins (1920s San Frnacisco)
The Devil's Lady, by Deborah Simmons (medieval romance)
Devil's Lady, by Patricia Rice (hist romance)
Devil's Lady, by Dawn Lindsey (Regency romance)
Devil's Mistress, by Heather Graham (17th c witch trials)
The Devil's Mistress, by Alison Leslie Gold (Eva Braun)
Empress, by Shan Sa (7th-c China)
First Knight, by Elizabeth Chadwick (medieval)
The First Queen, by John Gall (Hatshepsut)
The French Mistress, by Susan Holloway Scott (Louise de Keroualle)
The Golden Knight, by George Challis (medieval)
Heretic, by Bernard Cornwell (Hundred Years’ War)
The Heretic, by Lewis M. Weinstein (Jews during the Inquisition)
The Heretic, by Alison MacLeod (Anne Askew)
The Heretic, by Miguel Delibes (15th-c Spain)
The Heretic, by Andrew Feder (ancient Greece, timeslip)
The Heretic, by Chris Scott (Giordano Bruno)
The Heretic's Daughter, by Kathleen Kent (Salem witch trials)
The Heretic Queen, by Michelle Moran (ancient Egypt)
The Heretic's Wife, by Brenda Rickman Vantrease (medieval, forthcoming)
King's Bastard, by Charlotte Denis (Charles II)
King Bastard, by Aileen Quigley (William the Conqueror)
The King's Bastard, by Hebe Elsna (Duke of Monmouth)
The King's Bastard, by Noel de Vic Beamish (Maurice de Saxe)
King's Blood, by Judith Tarr (Norman England)
The King's Daughter, by Sandra Worth (Elizabeth of York)
The King's Daughter, by Barbara Kyle (Mary Tudor’s England)
The King's Daughter, by Suzanne Martel (1660s Canada)
The King's Daughter, by Mary O'Connell (Hildegard of Bingen)
King's Fool, by Margaret Campbell Barnes (Henry VIII’s England)
The King's Fool, by Louis Arthur Cunningham (time of Louis XV, adventure)
The King's Garden, by Fanny Deschamps (time of Louis XIV)
The King's Girl, by Sylvie Ouellette (erotic romance set in early Canada)
The King's Gold, by Arturo Perez-Reverte (17th-c Spain)
The King's Grace, by Anne Easter Smith (Grace Plantagenet, illeg dau of Edward IV)
The King's Mistress, by Jean Plaidy (Jane Shore)
The King's Mistress, by Terri Brisbin (medieval romance)
The King's Mistress, by Julia Watson (hf)
The King's Mistress, by Emma Campion (Alice Perrers, mistress of Edward III)
The King's Mistress, by Kathryn Dryden (Tudor)
The King's Secret, by Kathryn Dryden (hf)
The King's Secret, by Tyrone Power (Edward III)
The King's Wife, by Ursula Bloom (hf)
The Knight, by Juliana Garnett (medieval romance)
The Knight's Bride, by Lyn Stone (medieval romance)
Knight's Lady, by Julianne Lee (timeslip, 14th-c Scotland)
Knight's Lady, by Suzanne Barclay (Regency romance)
The Last Boleyn, by Karen Harper (Mary Boleyn)
The Last Concubine, by Lesley Downer (19th c Japan)
The Last Empress, by Anchee Min (Empress Tzu Hsi)
The Last Heretic, by D.S. Conrad (16th-c Europe)
The Last Queen, by C.W. Gortner (Juana of Castile)
The Last King, by Michael Curtis Ford (King Mithradates the Great)
The Last Knight, by Candice Proctor (medieval romance)
The Last Princess, by Charles O. Locke (Incas)
The Mask, by Stuart Cloete (19th-c South Africa)
The Mask, by Donna Lee Poff (medieval romance)
The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory (Anne and Mary Boleyn)
The Other Queen, by Philippa Gregory (Mary Queen of Scots)
The Prince, by Hushain Golshiri (1920s Iran)
The Prince, by Francine Rivers (biblical)
The Prince's Bride, by Victoria Alexander (Regency romance)
The Queen's Bastard, by Robin Maxwell (Elizabethan)
The Queen's Fool, by Philippa Gregory (Mary Tudor’s England)
The Queen's Grace, by Nigel Tranter (Mary Queen of Scots)
The Queen's Grace, by Jan Westcott (Katharine Parr)
The Queen's Secret, by Jean Plaidy (Katharine de Valois)
The Queen's War, by Jeanne Mackin (Eleanor of Aquitaine)
Rebel King (trilogy name), by Charles Randolph Bruce and Carolyn Hale Bruce (Robert Bruce)
The Red Queen's Daughter, by Jacqueline A. Kolosov (Mary Seymour)
Royal Blood, by Rona Sharon (Tudor vampires)
Royal Bride, by Joan Wolf (post-Bonaparte Europe, romance)
The Shoe Queen, by Anna Davis (1925 Paris)
The Tsarina's Daughter, by Carolly Erickson (Grand Duchess Tatiana)
The Winter King, by Bernard Cornwell (Arthurian)
The Virgin Queen's Daughter, by Ella March Chase (Elizabethan)
The Venetian Mask, by Rosalind Laker (1775 Venice)
The Virgin Queen, by Maureen Peters (Elizabeth I)
The White Queen, by Frederic Fallon (MQos)
The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory (Eliz Woodville)
The Winter Queen, by Boris Akunin (20th c Russia)
The Winter Queen, by Jane Stevenson (Eliz of Bohemia)
The Widow's Secret, by Brian Thompson (Victorian romp)
The Widow's Secret, by Sara Mitchell (insp Christian romance)
The Widow's War, by Sally Gunning (colonial Massachusetts)
The Widow's War, by Mary Mackey (US Civil War)
The Winter Prince, by Cheryl Sawyer (Rupert of the Rhine)
Daphne's list:(topic noted for those not listed previously)
Devil’s Garden – Ace Atkins
Empress – Shan Sa
First Knight – Elizabeth Chadwick
Gold – Stewart White (California Gold Rush)
Heretic – Bernard Cornwall
King’s Bastard – Charlotte Denis
King’s Blood – Judith Tarr
Knight’s Blood – Julianne Lee (timeslip, 14th-c Scotland)
Knight’s Lady – Julianne Lee
Perfect Wife – Lynsay Sands (medieval romance)
Queen Gold – Philippa Wiat (Philippa of Hainault)
Queen’s Lady – Patricia Parkes (Mary Tudor’s England)
The Queen’s War – Jeanne Mackin
Rebel – Bernard Cornwell
Red Gold – Alan Furst (WWII thriller)
Royal Blood – Rona Sharon
The Alchemist’s Daughter – Katherine McMahon
The Bastard – John Jakes
The Bride – Julie Garwood (medieval romance)
The Concubine – Norah Lofts
The Concubine’s Secret – Kate Furnivall
The Courtier’s Secret – Donna Russo Morin
The Devil’s Queen – Jeanne Kalogridis
The French Mistress – Susan Holloway Scott
The German Woman – Paul Griner (WWII)
The Golden Princess – Alexander Baron (Marina and Cortes)
The Heretic Queen – Michelle Moran
The Heretic’s Daughter – Kathleen Kent
The Heretic’s Wife – Brenda Rickman Vantrease
The Italian Garden – Judith Lennox
The Italian Woman – Jean Plaidy
The King’s Bastard – Hebe Elsna
The King’s Daughter - Lozania Prole (hf)
The King’s Daughter - Barbara Kyle
The King’s Daughter - Christie Dickason
The King’s Daughter – Sandra Worth
The King’s Fool – Margaret Campbell Barnes
The King’s Garden – Fanny Deschamps
The King’s Gold – Arturo-Perez Reverte
The King’s Grace – Anne Easter Smith
The King’s Mistress – Emma Campion
The King’s Mistress - Jean Plaidy
The King’s Wife – Ursula Bloom
The Last Boleyn – Karen Harper
The Last Bride – Sandra Landry (timeslip to medieval France)
The Last Concubine – Lesley Downer
The Last Empress- Anchee Min
The Last Girl – Stephan Collishaw (1930s Vilnius, Lithuania)
The Last King – Michael Curtis Ford
The Last Knight – Candice Proctor
The Last Queen – CW Gortner
The Last Tsarina – Lozania Prole
The Other Boleyn Girl – Philippa Gregory
The Other Queen – Philippa Gregory
The Other Woman – Iris Gower (Welsh saga)
The Perfect Daughter – Gillian Linscott (suffragette mystery)
The Perfect Royal Mistress – Diane Haeger
The Perfect Wife – Doris Leslie
The Prince – Francine Rivers
The Queen’s Bastard – Robin Maxwell
The Queen’s Fool – Philippa Gregory
The Queen’s Grace – Jan Westcott
The Queen’s Grace – Nigel Tranter
The Queen’s Lady – Barbara Kyle
The Queen’s Secret – Jean Plaidy
The Rebel Princess – Judith Koll Healey
The Red Queen – Ruth S. Perot
The Red Queen’s Daughter – Jacqueline Kolosov
The Shoe Queen – Anna Davis
The Tsarina’s Daughter – Carolly Erickson
The Venetian Mask – Rosalind Laker
The Virgin Queen – Maureen Peters
The Virgin Queen’s Daughter – Ella March Chase
The White – Deborah Larsen (Mary Jemison, 18th c Pennsylvania)
The White Empress – Lyn Andrews (British saga)
The White Queen - Lesley Nickell
The White Queen – Philippa Gregory
The Widow’s Secret – Brian Thompson
The Widow’s War - Mary Mackey
The Widow’s War – Sally Gunning
The Winter King – Bernand Cornwell
The Winter Prince – Cheryl Sawyer
The Winter Queen – Jane Stevenson
The Winter Queen - Judith Saxton
The Wise Woman – Philippa Gregory
Virgin – Robin Maxwell
Virgin Princess – Jane P. Richardson (historical India)
White Blood – James Fleming (1917 Russia)
Winter Garden – Adele Ashworth (Edwardian romance)
Winter’s Daughter – Juliet Dymoke (British saga)
Additional titles found by other participants:Grace by Jane Roberts Wood (20th c Texas)
King's Daughter by Margaret Orford (Joanna, illeg dau of King John)
Rebel Girl by Ann Clancy (colonial Australia)
Royal Mistress by Margaret Orford (Princess Nest of Wales)
Royal Mistress by Patricia Campbell Horton (Barbara Villiers)
The Courtier’s Daughter by Lady Catherine Stepney (early 19th c)
The Devil’s Bride by Joan Silsby (sequel to Much Ado About Nothing)
The German Woman by Janet Ashton (Empress Alexandra)
The King's Daughter by Rosemary Churchill (Mary Tudor)
The Perfect Bride by Brenda Joyce (Regency-era romance)
The Perfect Princess by Elizabeth Thornton (Regency-era romance)
The Queen's Lady by Shannon Drake (Tudor-era romance)
The Rebel Princess by Doris Leslie (Sophia Dorothea of Celle)
The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (forthcoming about Margaret Beaufort)
The Venetian’s Wife by Nick Bantock (Renaissance pictorial)
The Virgin Widow by Anne O’Brien (forthcoming about Anne Neville)
The White Princess by Philippa Gregory (forthcoming about Eliz of York)
The white queen by Frances Irwin (Anne Neville)
The White Queen by William Stearns Davis (St. Louis, King of France)
The Winter Queen by Amanda McCabe (historical romance, forthcoming)
The Winter War by William Durbin (1939 invasion of Finland)
But before I sign off ...Whew - I think this is the longest post ever on this blog. I hope this helped turn you on to some historical novels new to you. And, finally, I wanted to thank the remaining participants who entered the contest and came up with impressive lists of their own. Rather than my doing a random drawing, you'll each be receiving two books from my pile of extras (which has grown slightly in size since the original contest was posted). The top 3 winners will get first dibs, but I hope you'll each end up with books you haven't read before. I'll be emailing you soon with a list of what's available. Enjoy!