Showing results for "1" in Victorian

Lord Simon Devere returns from the Burmese War haunted by the vivid memory of his slain cousin and powerless to know reality from dreams. Unable to sleep lest he awaken in the cell of his nightmares, he sits in the dark, incapable of believing he is truly home - and safe - in England. Jenny Blackwood is determined not to let her mother and sisters succumb to an unkind fate. With a head for numbers, she becomes the skilled bookkeeper "Mr. Cavendish". One unexpected client is the nobleman cruelly named by gossips as Lord Despair.

Finding out that her husband was a bigamist didn't devastate Portia Stefani; she held her head high when she forced him out of her life. But losing her beloved music school as a result of the traitorous bastard's gambling debts almost destroyed her. The only way she'll be able to make ends meet is to accept a lucrative tutoring position in remote Cornwall. What Portia hasn't anticipated is the life-altering impact that her mesmerizing new employer has on her.

As an innocent girl, Madeline Sedgewick learned that nothing comes without a price - even desire. Five years later, now widowed and deeply in debt, she's certain that the stranger who bought her last husband's notes of credit will demand swift, steep repayment. But she never imagines her creditor will be Brock Taylor, her baseborn former stable-hand turned newly wealthy entrepreneur - the man who stole her virginity and her heart. She's even more stunned when he says that he'll forgive her debts only if she becomes his wife.

Jacob Ashland's life has taken an unexpected turn. He's now the earl of Ashland and expected to marry. But he's done that before and had his heart ripped from his chest. When Charlotte shows up at his door needing protection, he offers to marry her - in name - only. Charlotte, an orphan, suspects her sinister cousin of terrorizing London. When her maid disappears, she fears for her own life and runs away. Lord Ashland offers marriage, and it's the perfect solution. But it isn't long before she finds herself falling for her new husband.

Orphan Gillie Muir makes ends meet by holding genteel card parties for friends and visitors to the newly fashionable spa town of Blackhaven. But when Lord Wickenden, known as the wicked baron, makes her a shocking proposal, her world is turned upside down.

Marrying her beloved friend, Kyle Grayson, will allow Evelyn Tucker to care for her ailing father and resurrect their failing business. But when Kyle’s older brother, Radford, returns home with his young daughter, Evelyn’s life is turned upside down. She is drawn to the deeply wounded man and withdrawn little girl, and can't help reaching into Radford's darkness with her healing love.

Briggs Brigman has been burned once before, and the last thing he needs is a beautiful wife who will spend hours in front of the mirror, primping herself. He knows how hard the prairie can be on a woman, and all he wants is a stalwart bride who won't complain about hauling water from the creek....

Driven into exile years earlier, due to family scandal, Declan Sinclair is called home, devastated to discover his brother has been murdered and he's the new Duke of Darington. When clues point to the man he blames for both his exile and his brother's death, Declan resolves to ruin the culprit. If only the daughter of the man's business partner, lovely Lady Alethea Swinton, didn't tempt his resolve.

When Maddie Fraser's father was killed fighting for Bonnie Prince Charles, the spirited Scottish lass swore to avenge his death. Hooded and disguised, she led a series of daring raids against the forces of the Crown - vowing to love no man until the English invaders were driven from her native soil.

The instant Captain Declan Frobisher lays eyes on Lady Edwina Delbraith, he knows she's the woman he wants as his wife. The scion of a seafaring dynasty accustomed to success, he discovers that wooing Edwina is surprisingly straightforward - not least because she makes it plain that she wants him as much as he wants her.

Fraser MacGregor, thirteenth Duke Molineux, seizes the opportunity to use the title he unexpectedly inherited, to further his whisky business. He leaves his Highland home and heads for London where he's accosted by a feisty lass, who smashes a vase over his head. Delilah Hart should be relishing her first London season. But she'd rather be a writer than a bland society wife. Her secret occupation of writing anonymous, inflammatory articles about the notorious Molineux family, is the first step to realizing her dream.

Born with fragile health, Dawn Uxbridge has lived a sheltered existence. Her lonely days are filled by drawing fanciful landscapes and nurturing plants. When tragedy strikes, she finds herself alone and penniless with only one talent - a green thumb. Jasper, the Earl of Seton, is in need of a gardener to reclaim his derelict estate in the remote west of England. He expected a robust commoner, not a fragile young woman.

Guy Fortescue comes to England to claim his inheritance, Rosecroft Hall, abandoned over 30 years ago when his father fled to France after killing a man in a duel. But England proves to be a dangerous place - someone wants Guy dead. As Guy seeks to discover who lies behind the attacks on his life, he arranges a faux betrothal with Miss Horatia Cavendish. Unfortunately, things don't go according to plan. An aspiring poet, Hetty proves to have a mind of her own, but in spite of that, Guy finds her far too alluring.

England 1857. After a blow to her head, Sarah Marks awakens in a strange bed with a strange man and no memory of how she got there. Her handsome bedmate, Lord Eastleigh, tells her she's suffering from amnesia and the best course of action is to travel home with him until she recovers her memory. Lord Eastleigh has his own reasons for helping Sarah and keeping her close. Reasons he cannot tell her. As they struggle to restore her memory, their undeniable, inadvisable attraction grows—until Sarah finally remembers the one thing that could keep them apart forever.

Desperation has led Anne-Sophia Duncombe to a life of exile. Still, she is always just one mistake away from capture and a marriage she would rather die than endure. As a last resort to remain hidden from her former life, Sophia attempts a radical scheme: a life of humility and disguise. Rumor has it that Wilhelm Montegue, the Earl of Devon, is insane. A tormented war hero haunted by scandal, he is only tolerated because of his brilliant mind and swarthy good looks.

Lord Stephen Stanhope, a duke's diplomat son who's traveling to the Congress of Vienna, agrees to protect his friend's wayward sister on Stephen's journey to Austria. Lady Mary Beresford has impetuously set off on her own for Vienna. Vexed with the headstrong woman he's yet to meet, Stephen despairs of ever catching up with the maddening lady. They eventually meet at an inn in the Alps, where the guests' progress has been impeded by two matters: a blizzard—and Lady Mary's refusal to leave until she's found an elderly fellow traveler who has disappeared.

Olivia Moreland prides herself on discrediting charlatans, particularly the false mediums that flock to London. But when Lord Stephen St. Leger requests her help in investigating an alleged psychic's claims, she can't deny the ominous feeling she has within the walls of his ancient estate - or the intimately familiar connection she has with Stephen himself. The last time he'd called Blackhope Hall home, Stephen had watched as his elder brother claimed both the family title and the woman he loved.

When Lady Olivia Gosling finds the Book of Love in a musty bookshop, she is most eager to try out its love "recipes" on someone safe. Did she say safe? Well, Beast isn't really safe, but with her odious guardian about to marry her off to one of his unsavory friends, Olivia needs her childhood friend to fall in love with her...fast. If Beast can love her, then any man she chooses will surely do the same. Alexander Beastling, Duke of Hartford, is known as Beast among the ton. He is big and muscled, and there is a dark aura of mystery about him that he makes no effort to dispel.

When Amelia Spencer finds herself unmarried, pregnant, and cast out by society, she flees to the Bryant & May match factory, searching for her estranged sister, Sadie. Desperate for a fresh start, Amelia takes work at Bryant & May and dares to dream of a better life for herself and her son. When the shadows of Amelia's past return with a vengeance - and a killer begins stalking the women of Whitechapel - Amelia must fight to protect her child and the life she's struggled to claim, before everything she's fought for is destroyed.

Rory Flynn, grandson of the Duke of Savernake, is embittered by his family’s reputation as a wealthy family from Irish stock. They are hated by the Ton but accepted because of their links to the duke. Rory has a list of those who have offended his family the most and he intends to do something about it. Enter the night of nights, the annual event Polite Society anticipates—the dazzling Stag Ball given by the duke himself.