WELCOME TO RACHEL’S FICTION WRITING AND REVIEWS BLOG
This is where Rachel keeps you up to date with her novels and stories and also shares reviews, highlights and extracts from other authors.
Lady of Lincoln Wins Gold in the 2026 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards
’m delighted to share some wonderful news: Lady of Lincolnhas won the Gold Medal in Fiction – Historical – Personage in the 2026 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest!
It’s a particularly lovely award to receive because Lady of Lincoln began with a real woman whose story had, for centuries, been pushed to the margins of history. I’m honoured that my writing is bringing her to the fore.
A prestigious award
Readers’ Favorite is one of the world’s largest book-review and award organisations. Its annual competition attracts thousands of entries from around the world, from independent authors to major bestsellers, with books judged within more than 140 individual categories.
And this year, Lady of Lincoln took Gold in Historical – Personage! (One of only two historical categories).
I’m really very, very thrilled!
Lady of Lincoln Goes on Tour!
I’m so excited that Lady of Lincoln is going on tour for the next two weeks with the Coffee Pot Book Club.
The image above shows you the schedule, but here are the links, day by day! I do hope you take a look. I’m so grateful to these bloggers who do this in their own time, all for the love of great historical fiction. They’re absolute stars! 🙏 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎧 Lady of Lincoln Is Now Available on Audible
There are some stories that were amazing when heard, and I’m delighted to share that Lady of Lincoln is now available in audiobook on Audible.
And the narrator, Sarah Kempton (already award-nominated), is fabulous!
Nicola de la Haye’s story: a woman who inherited a castle, defied expectation, and refused to fail her people or surrender what was hers, can now be experienced in a new way: spoken aloud, as the sounds of her world unfold around you.
This is the first book in the trilogy following the remarkable true story of the woman sometimes remembered as “the woman who saved England.” In this opening volume, we meet Nicola as a young heiress navigating loyalty, ambition, and survival in a world that doubts her capacity to lead.
Listening brings a different intimacy. The cadence of medieval names. The weight of oaths. The quiet resolve in moments when no one else sees.
If you love immersive historical fiction, I hope you’ll enjoy hearing Nicola’s story.
🎧 You can find Lady of Lincoln now on Audible. Listen to the sample for free.
Universal book link: https://books2read.com/u/4980nW
LADY OF LINCOLN is available on NetGalley!
For a limited time only, Lady of Lincoln is available for Netgalley reviewers and librarians to read and review.
If you love immersive historical fiction based on real characters and strong women protagonists, then this novel is for you!
Get your copy here: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/787763 or click the image above.
More on Lady of LIncoln:
1173. Nicola de la Haye will inherit great estates and Lincoln Castle—one of England's most strategic fortresses, but the medieval world is a man's world and her father arranges a marriage to secure her estates. She chooses love instead, causing her world to collapse. King Henry II punishes her. Her husband betrays her and joins a rebellion. Powerful men circle her inheritance like wolves.
LADY OF LINCOLN is the award-winning first book in the true story of Nicola de la Haye—the woman who would become England's first female sheriff and, years later, save the realm from a French invasion. But that triumph is still distant. This is where it begins: with a young woman learning what defiance costs, and what it takes to survive.
"A towering, epic saga… one of the greats in this genre." — Readers' Favorite ★★★★★