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Elizabeth Allen

Elizabeth Allen

About

I was born and raised in Tampa Florida. I have worked in nutrition and natural food marketing, as well as recipe development for Whole Foods and Health Valley Foods.  In 1992 I got married. In 1995 I had a child and in 1999 I freaked out from earthquakes in California and moved back to Florida. I adore spending time with my family and riding horses. Dressage is my current mid-life passion. I have worked in the stock market as a financial advisor for 15 years and at the age of 49, I made the time to write my first book.  My short story "Radiance" was published last winter in Literary Magic Magazine.

"Who Got Liz Gardner" is my first book and semi-autobiographical. It is published  thru YWO and available at www.amazon.com as well as www.amazon.co.uk. If  you find certain features and details unrealistic and hard to believe, those are probably true!
Please visit my blog at http://whogotlizg.wordpress.com/ but don't judge me too harshly.

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

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<p>Emerging from the long shadow cast by his formidable father, Harold Godwineson showed himself to be a worthy successor to the Earldom of Wessex. In the following twelve years, he became the King's most trusted advisor, practically taking the reins of government into his own hands. And on Edward the Confessor's death, Harold Godwineson mounted the throne—the first king of England not of royal blood. Yet Harold was only a man, and his rise in fortune was not blameless. Like any person aspiring to power, he made choices he wasn't particularly proud of. Unfortunately, those closest to him sometimes paid the price of his fame.<br /><br />This is a story of Godwine's family as told from the viewpoint of Harold and his younger brothers. Queen Editha, known for her Vita Ædwardi Regis, originally commissioned a work to memorialize the deeds of her family, but after the Conquest historians tell us she abandoned this project and concentrated on her husband, the less dangerous subject. In THE SONS OF GODWINE and FATAL RIVALRY, I am telling the story as it might have survived had she collected and passed on the memoirs of her tragic brothers.<br /><br />This book is part two of The Last Great Saxon Earls series. Book one, GODWINE KINGMAKER, depicted the rise and fall of the first Earl of Wessex who came to power under Canute and rose to preeminence at the beginning of Edward the Confessor's reign. Unfortunately, Godwine's misguided efforts to champion his eldest son Swegn recoiled on the whole family, contributing to their outlawry and Queen Editha's disgrace. Their exile only lasted one year and they returned victorious to London, though it was obvious that Harold's career was just beginning as his father's journey was coming to an end.<br /><br />Harold's siblings were all overshadowed by their famous brother; in their memoirs we see remarks tinged sometimes with admiration, sometimes with skepticism, and in Tostig's case, with jealousy. We see a Harold who is ambitious, self-assured, sometimes egocentric, imperfect, yet heroic. His own story is all about Harold, but his brothers see things a little differently. Throughout, their observations are purely subjective, and witnessing events through their eyes gives us an insider’s perspective.<br /><br />Harold was his mother's favorite, confident enough to rise above petty sibling rivalry but Tostig, next in line, was not so lucky. Harold would have been surprised by Tostig's vindictiveness, if he had ever given his brother a second thought. And that was the problem. Tostig's love/hate relationship with Harold would eventually destroy everything they worked for, leaving the country open to foreign conquest. This subplot comes to a crisis in book three of the series, FATAL RIVALRY.</p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">“I was blown away with this piece of work. I'm not normally interested in this type of genre and usually shy away from anything remotely erotic but boy am I glad I read this one. You had me bouncing from sad to hysterical, especially when it came to the part where Liz loses her virginity. I will never be able to look at a jar of Hellman’s in the same way again! The pace was superb.<span>  </span>You have a wit second to none. Would love to read more of your work.”<span>  </span><em>Joanne in Canada</em></span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">“Pacy, well written and compulsive. I’m not a fan of chick lit, but this grabbed me. Eat your heart out Helen Fielding. The concept of the novel is convincing – the query on the internet leads in to this picaresque novel about a female’s lustful history. The characters are convincing even though they fly through her life. I like the cynicism and the self awareness. Well done.” <em>Marilyn in the UK</em></span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"><em><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">“</span></em><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">Enthralled, entranced, excited!  I couldn’t stop turning pages!”<span>  </span><em>Rebecca in South Africa</em></span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">This book is sexy, thought provoking, intriguing and too hot to lay it aside and forget it. It grabbed me as have other well known authors such as Grisham and Wambaugh.  Bravo for you. <span> </span><em>Bill in Indiana</em></span></p>