The Whispering Bookworm: On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club: Under The Sword (The Rival Courts) by Luv Lubker

Under The Sword
(The Rival Courts)
By Luv Lubker

From acclaimed Victorian historical author, Luv Lubker, the author of "Under His Spell" comes the continuing romance of the Princess Royal Victoria and Frederick III of Prussia.

Join Queen Victoria's eldest daughter and her husband, future German Emperor Frederick III in this third installment of The Rival Courts family saga, as they climb the treacherous path to their dream of German unification in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.

In the calm after the storm, Vicky and Fritz have it all: a devoted marriage, a growing family, and the promise of a bright future. But Fritz's Uncle Karl lies in wait behind the scenes, hatching his newest plot. A shocking outcome of Vicky's Royal duties will bring fresh doubts to Fritz's heart, and his fatherhood.

As personal tragedy strikes and shakes them to their core, Fritz is forced to lead the largest battle history has ever seen. One which could change the face of Europe forever.

Vicky's best friend struggles to shield her daughters from the sinister force that seeks to control them. The youngest shares her grandfather's uncanny ability to know the truth behind others' motives. But can she see the truth in him? In such a dangerous world, what heroic role will this small child play?

Can they escape the danger and betrayal that lurks in every corner as they travel to the icy expanse of Russia, the peaceful Mediterranean shores, and the vast Eastern deserts?

Will Vicky and Fritz's love and marriage survive a mysterious illness, or will Uncle Karl's conspiracies tear them apart for good?

Fans of Clare McHugh's A Most English Princess, Mary Hart Perry's The Shadow Princess, and Daisy Goodwin's Victoria will be swept away by this gripping tale of love, war, and intrigue. With rich historical detail and deeply human struggles, Under the Sword, the third installment of The Rival Courts saga, brings to life the triumphs and tragedies in a fight against a nefarious trade which flourished in the shadows of the Royal court. A must-read for lovers of Victorian-era royal fiction.

Publication Date: July 14th, 2025
Publisher: Historium Press
Pages: 414
Genre: Historical Fiction

Excerpt

Fritz looked up at the mill on top of the hill. It had been rebuilt since its destruction at Onkel Karl’s command – and there was lush green grass growing everywhere. Everything looked so different after a year of peace. The farms were rebuilt and prospering.

“Over here – that hill. That is where we all were at the last storm,” he said, pointing to the Spitzberge.

Vicky followed his gaze, and then looked up at him. “I can’t imagine this place as you described it! It was snow and ice – and then mud and blood – and now it’s so beautiful!” She turned, motioning to a field full of color.

Fritz flinched as he turned to follow her gaze. Over the mass graves danced the colorful faces of many flowers. Fritz had always heard it said that flowers grew beautifully where much blood had been shed. It had always been a grotesque thought when he was young, that flowers would flaunt themselves over the deaths of so many men, but now, he saw something else. Those men had fought for a purpose – they had given their lives for their country – and now the flowers bloomed over them, showing the beauty of the love behind the sacrifice those men had made.

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Luv Lubker

Luv Lubker began life in the Animal World, researching creatures great and small since before she can remember, and earning her degree in chicken psychology by age twelve. Not long after, she immigrated to the Victorian era, where she has lived half her life in close company with the Brontë sisters and made friends with Queen Victoria’s extended family, whom she now knows quite as well as her own kin.

Born in a cattle trough in the Appalachian Mountains, Luv currently resides in Texas’ Great Plains when visiting the modern world. When she isn’t writing or reading, she delights in preparing and savoring gourmet raw food with her family and exploring nature on long bike rides. Her special abilities include researching in seven languages and riding a unicycle since age seven.

Luv’s research delves into the unwritten stories that history left behind. Through unpublished letters, altered manuscripts, and deeply buried secrets, she reveals emotional truths concealed beneath the era’s refined exterior. Her novels give voice to the silenced, reveal what Victorians were taught to suppress and what their biographers chose to omit, tracing invisible scars that shaped lives, choices, and history itself.

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