Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte will stop at nothing to marry the Hapsburg princess he hopes will bear him a royal heir, in this compelling novel from bestselling author Michelle Moran.

After the bloody French Revolution, Emperor Napoleon’s power is absolute. When eighteen year old Marie-Louise is told that the Emperor has demanded her hand in marriage, her father presents her with a terrible choice: marry the cruel, capricious Napoleon or refuse and plunge her country into war. To save her father’s throne, Mary-Louise is determined to be a good wife. But at the extravagant French court, she finds many rivals for her new husband’s affection, including Napoleon’s sister Pauline, who is fiercely jealous, utterly uncontrollable, and the only woman as ambitious as the emperor himself. When war once again sweeps the Continent and bloodshed threatens Marie-Louise’s family, the second empress is forced to make choices that will determine her place in history-and change the course of her life.

The Second Empress will transport you back to Napoleon’s empire where royals and servants alike live at the whim of one man, and two women vie to change their destinies.