Showing results for "4" in Victorian

Grace Whitford made the mistake of having a horrible megrim at her sister's wedding on board Lord Carew's ship. This in and of itself should not have been a disaster, except she went to sleep it off with a draught in a small dark cabin, and no one remembered to wake her up. By the time she awoke, the ship was well into the Channel and could not be turned around.

Dowager Duchess Katherine is enjoying a winter in Wiltshire when a blizzard brings a half-frozen man to her door seeking refuge from the storm. Providing hospitality to the man who left her at the altar twenty-five years ago isn’t exactly her idea of a happy Christmas, but there is something different about him. After a horrific accident leaves his traveling coach engulfed in flames on the coldest night of the winter, Thomas, Duke of Pendleton, walks for miles in search of a light.

Saving her reputation will he lose his heart? Timothy Marbry has sworn off love. Once he takes up his position as a physician at the Hope Clinic in the East End of London, he knows he’ll need a wife who’s beyond reproach. But the last thing he wants or needs is passion that clouds the mind and leads to heartbreak. Priscilla Pratt left London in disgrace. Exiled in the northern countryside, her only marriageable prospect is a dull, judgmental curate. And gone is her hope of finding a man who gazes at her with eyes filled with passion.

Shy and stammering Meg Burton-Smythe has spent the whole of her life living on the fringes of local society. She’s more comfortable with her daydreams than she is with people. But when a dashing, golden-haired hero rides to her rescue one morning, she dares to hope that her dreams might finally come true. There’s only one problem: her handsome rescuer is the son of her father’s sworn enemy.

Sailing home to England with her two younger brothers, the intrepid Miss Zara Greeley plucks a half-drowned stranger from icy seas. The handsome man says he's a duke—a claim Zara is tempted to believe, for only a duke could be so impossibly arrogant, especially when their ship runs aground on a Scottish island during the storm, and they are forced to do manual labor in a brewer to earn their passage to the mainland.

As a lady's companion, Clara Hartwright never receives much attention from anyone. And that's precisely how she likes it. With a stormy past, and an unconventional plan for her future, it's far safer to remain invisible. But when her new employer is invited to a monthlong holiday at a remote coastal abbey, Clara discovers that she may not be as invisible as she'd hoped. At least, not as far as one gentleman is concerned.

Lucky Quinn and Leah Carter’s budding romance is threatened by unforeseen events. Will good fortune keep smiling on them or will their luck run out, destroying their dreams?

Cam has been intrigued by the mysterious Miss Emily Tolly for years, even though theirs is a turbulent relationship. With her family she’s shy and timid, but with him, she’s anything but. He knows this kitten has claws beneath the quiet exterior and is sure she is hiding a secret. When she is compromised, he steps in to offer marriage to save their families from disgrace. What he doesn’t count on is the closer he and Emily get, the stronger their passion burns, and Cam finds himself wanting not just her body, but her heart too.

To the miserable atmosphere of the country house of Studham, home to the Fighting Fox family, Miss Ianthe Eames, a whirlwind, arrives. Known in London as the Fighting Foxes, Lord Edward Fox is at odds with his stepmother, Lady Fox, and her spoiled son Curtis. Studham is hardly a joyful place to live. As the Fighting Fox family await the arrival of a poor relation from France, Lady Fox is ready to berate her late arrival, Lord Edward Fox is resigned to ignoring her, Curtis is ready to patronise her - while the resident visitors are ready to sympathise.

Miss Isabel Lewis is down on her luck. Previously a perfect hostess and a proper lady, lately she’s been running into one trouble after another, literally. One such unfortunate event costs her the respectability she worked so hard to earn. Now she has a choice: either marry a man she loathes, or spend her life a ruined lady.

To reunite with her children, she must earn the trust of the man determined to hate her. Tessa Stuart and regret are old companions. What began as a love match ended in bitterness, betrayal, and broken promises—and six poor children caught in the crossfire—but now that her estranged husband is dead, Tessa will do anything to reclaim the family she lost. Except someone new stands in her way. Gregory Vaughn never asked to be the guardian of six grieving children, but he’s determined to honor his dear friend’s final request.

Leonora, one of two beautiful Fortune twins newly arrived in Town for their Season, had one aim in view: The Honourable Linton Carswell. She first met him at her home, Castle Fortune, three years ago, and now at 17, has arrived to claim her prize.

One reckless moment was all it required for Lady Julianna Somerset to lose her innocence to her best friend’s brother. When he broke her heart, she fled London to heal her wounded pride. But a desperate change in circumstance has forced her to return. In a cruel twist of fate, the man who ruined her may be the only one who can save her.

Ghostly images appear and float across the stage, objects levitate into the air, and a beautiful assistant disappears inside a glass box, then reappears inside a second glass box. All while the audience at the Crystal Palace, including amateur investigator Mikaela Forsythe, watch the performance. Is it real? Then, an evening with her friend, Theodora Templeton, attending the one-night performance by master illusionist Jean Luc Betard, takes a ghastly turn and plunges Mikaela headlong into murder when the illusionist's young assistant is found dead at the end of his newest stunt.

Leo Murphy believes in playing the odds, as long as the house wins. As the owner of Elysium, London’s most exclusive gambling hell, Leo’s existence depends on predicting his opponent’s next move. Rarely is he surprised. Until he meets the Lord Masterson's young bride losing at cards.

Hugh Brandforth, the seventh earl of Ormsley, returns to his estate after wasting several weeks searching for a bride. He is looking forward to some much-needed rest and recreation. All is not as he left it, however. Within an hour, he finds himself berated by his old nurse and assaulted by Miss Cressida Harrington, an eccentric termagant he has never before encountered. She is not at all the sort of woman he admires. He wants a respectable bride who will not ask for more than he can give—love. She has no need or desire to marry, and love is the only thing that might change her mind.

Lady Eliza Whitmoreland just wants to be left alone. A season and a husband are the last things she needs or wants. But when the ton's biggest rake tries to charm her, instead of rolling her eyes, she sees her chance. She challenges the blowhard to a game of chess. The prize? If she wins, he has to pretend to be her fiance for the rest of the season to get her mother off her back.

Lord Roland Crewe wants nothing to do with love or romance. He's already proven he's a terrible husband-twice!-and has no interest in doing it again. But for some reason, he struggles to remember that when he's with Aurelia. He knows a scarred, hardened man like him has nothing to offer a beautiful young idealist like her. So, why can't he stay away?

When seemingly fragile Miss Ivy Cavendale takes the headmistress position in an orphanage, it is her chance to stay anonymous in society. But not all is what it seems with Miss Ivy. When an intruder breaks in one night, she’s quick to draw her weapon, and while fear—her constant companion—has mysteriously disappeared, one thing is very clear: she and her charges are the next target of The Devil’s Sons.

Attempting to recover a relic stolen from her family years ago, gifted crystal worker Leona Hewitt secretly makes her way into Lord Delbridge's private museum. But who she finds there is more entrancing than the crystal she seeks. Thaddeus Ware is a mesmerist with powerful psychic energy—that doesn't seem to be affecting the woman before him. Instead, Leona seems to exert a rather hypnotic power over the hypnotist himself. After she gives him the slip, absconding with the crystal they recovered, Thaddeus fears for her safety.