Here we have a strange alternate reality, one where an Irish Crown Princess is thrust into the middle of international intrigue, adventure, and danger, A Band of Roses by Pat McDermott. An exciting alternate reality novel that promises much and delivers even more.

For Taillte (Talty) Boru, Crown Princess, life is perfect, except for one thing; she is destined to be the queen of a modern-day Ireland. This is what she is training for and this is her future. She is not looking forward to it, a life she sees as one of endless drudgery to come. But events take a turn when Prince Geoffrey Wessex, Regent of the Kingdom of England, decides to enter the game of international politics. In order to force Ireland into giving England several oil wells, he claims a small bleak island within Irish territorial waters. He wants to use the island as a bargaining chip. However, by chance, an Irish fishing vessel is in the area. Things go terribly wrong. The English sink the unarmed vessel and try to hide this fact.

A centuries old friendship between the kingdoms of Ireland and England is on the verge of destruction. The repercussions of all this seem to fall directly upon Talty. She is informed of the English ploy and then of the only seeming solution, that she marry the English king, a supposed drooling idiot. Talty is horrified to learn this. However, when told that the king isn't expected to live long, and then she would be free, she reluctantly agrees. There are complications: one being that Prince Geoffrey is angling to maintain power in England, even after the old king dies. The only good aspect of the plan, in Talty's opinion, is that although she will be an active English queen for but a short while, the new treaty means she must give up all rights to becoming a queen of Ireland.