What is the title of your latest release?
HENRY TUDOR MUST DIE
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Anne Boleyn is a witch, and after she uses her magick to avoid a beheading, she teams up with Catherine of Aragon – who also faked her death – to take down the king. With the help of a secret feminist society and several of the other women Henry VIII has wronged, they’ll rewrite history.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Naturally, most of the novel is set in the castles and courts of 16th century England, but our presumed-dead queens also visit Spain and France.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Absolutely, even though Anne Boleyn is way too cool for me. She’s wickedly smart and, well, a little bit wicked. Sort of a stab-with-a-dagger first, ask questions later kind of heroine.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Bold, unapologetic, determined
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Oh, where to start! I’m still learning as I keep reading more and more about the Tudors. One of the facts that tripped me up was that I wanted all my queens sitting around and plotting over a cup of tea. Well, tea hadn’t made its way to England yet, so instead my queens are plotting over ale and cider. No wonder a few of their plans are a little extra unhinged!
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I’m a former book editor, so I have to edit as I go. I’ll usually get through a chapter or two and then go back and polish and revise to make sure the plot lines are working. Then I do multiple full-book edits once I’ve completed a draft.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Cheesecake! I don’t eat a lot of dairy, but I’m a sucker for cheesecake.
Describe your writing space/office!
I do have a home office, but it’s for my day job. My writing “office” is a cozy loveseat in my living room, where I can often be found with blankets and several cats on my lap.
Who is an author you admire?
Tamora Pierce has been my icon since I was a little girl. She wrote heroines lightyears ahead of their time and worlds I want to live in. Best of all she’s always grown and changed as a writer and a person as the years have gone by.
Is there a book that changed your life?
The Redwall series was probably what made me want to be a writer, and I wrote my one and only fanfiction (though I didn’t know the term at the time) about it in the fourth grade. I very transparently titled it Rose Abbey – and I still have it!
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
It was such a whirlwind. We’d only been on sub for about three weeks before Berkley requested to negotiate exclusively. I had an amazing call with my soon-to-be-editor Sarah and couldn’t have imagined it going better. After my agent called with the offer, I called all the people who had been cheering me on for so long and walked about a hundred laps around my house because I was too excited to sit down.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Fantasy has always been my favorite, but I love a cozy mystery too!
What’s your favorite movie?
About Time – it is romantic and beautiful and always makes me cry.
What is your favorite season?
I used to say summer, but now I think fall! I love the beauty of the leaves and the in-between of it all, especially those surprise summery days when you drop everything to go outside and enjoy the sunshine.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
A day at the beach, a stack of new books, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
So many options – I’ll just name my three five-star reads of 2026 so far: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao, Woodworking by Emily St. James, and The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I think I could eat peanut sauce every day of my life, so let’s go with Thai!
What do you do when you have free time?
My husband and I love to cook, take hiking day trips, and get together with friends and family for dinners, concerts, or karaoke.
What can readers expect from you next?
Book two in the witchy Tudor universe will be out in 2027, and it follows Elizabeth I and Bloody Mary in their battle for the crown. Talk about sibling rivalry!
HENRY TUDOR MUST DIE by Jillian Laine
One queen exiled. Another headed for the gallows. Both hungry for revenge. England’s most infamous queens unite in vengeance against Henry VIII.
Anne Boleyn is going to die, and neither her cleverness nor her witchery can save her. So when her late rival, Catalina de Aragón, miraculously appears in her cell at the Tower of London on the eve of her execution, very much alive and offering a daring escape plan, no one is more surprised than Anne.
Lina doesn’t have Anne’s magic—but she has just as much hate for England’s wretched king. Severed from her daughter and stripped of all her influence, Lina breathes only for the Hellebore Sisterhood, a clandestine and powerful society with a vested interest in keeping both queens alive . . . and using their particular skills to advance womankind.
Anne and Lina’s old rivalries pale in comparison to a common enemy. And they’re not alone. Anna von Kleve, Kat Howard, and even Catherine Parr all have their own bones to pick with the king. One by one, they capture their pawns, infiltrating the court and eliminating the men who plotted against them. Always inching closer to their true target . . .
And they want his head.
Women’s Fiction Historical | Fantasy [ Berkley, On Sale: July 21, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9798217189717 / eISBN: 9798217189724 ]
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About Jillian Laine
Jillian Laine is an author and journalist. She has written multiple children’s books and has worked as an acquisitions editor, book festival director, and literary award judge. She and her husband live with their pride of cats in the Great Lakes State. Henry Tudor Must Die is her first novel.
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