Showing results by narrator "Helen Taylor" in All Categories

Lady Lewisham is an independent woman of means who has just emerged from her year of mourning. But as a young, beautiful, single widow (with an intelligent mind to boot), it seems she is a target for unwanted attention from ill-fitting suitors and mindless tittle-tattle from the gossip-mongers. Little does Sophie know, however, that when she encounters the handsome but devout bachelor Sir Philip Bray, her life is about to change. Could Sir Philip be the hero she thinks she does not need or want?

Miss Abigail Nash is no stranger to loneliness. Her mother died giving birth to her, her father's business dealings took him away more often than not, and her ailing great-aunt, unable to provide much in the way of companionship, was a lack-luster guardian at best. When her dear friends offer to launch her into London society, her life takes a turn for the better.

Natalie Travers had only just had her house in Brighton converted into flats, and installed five sets of tenants, when her younger brother Julian sent her an appeal for help. Newly deserted by his wife of one year, he was finding it impossible to cope single-handed with his work, with the running of the house and with the care of his baby twins, Rowena and Randall. Natalie’s elder brother, Maurice, and his wife Freddie, were strongly opposed to Natalie’s going to the rescue.

Another delightful entry into the beloved Fentons series. This time a novella featuring all your favorite characters mixed up in a truly Gothic mystery complete with villains, rescued beauties, treasure and a secret society of terrible aspirations. Baron Balfour, a great giant of a man, and his new wife, who used to be Euphemia Fleet, a put-upon companion, are on their honeymoon in France when the baroness spots a villainous looking individual, just like her idea of a character from a Gothic novel. He is in the company of a frightened young beauty and Euphemia decides to rescue her.

Beth Culpepper is a lady's maid who is mistaken for a lady! Cast off and stranded at an inn in the way to London, she doesn't feel strong enough to dispute it. The handsome Marquis of Wrexham mistakes her youthful appearance as that of a gently bred schoolgirl whom he feels impelled to help. How did a good girl, proud of her position as lady's maid to Miss Sophy Ludgate, come to this?

Lady Georgianna Voss bids adieu to her friend Marianne with a heavy heart. Before their friendship blossomed, she had been a stranger to affection. She returns to her home uncertain of her reception. She has spurned the advances of the eligible but dull man her mama wished her to marry. Having witnessed the cold, unhappy union between her parents, she is not at all eager to follow their example. Enraged, Lady Westbury sends Georgianna to her impoverished aunt, hoping that she will realize just how much a lady needs a wealthy husband, regardless of her feelings for him.

For Anabelle Baird, the fortnight’s holiday with her fiancé, Philip Ancell, in Lisbon has not been a happy one. At the Lisbon airport she has a surprise encounter with Angus Pemberton, whom she had last seen seven years ago when he left Steyne under a cloud and went to Brazil. Anabelle’s reunion with Angus and her strange meeting with Luis, a small Portuguese boy, are but portents of her involvement in a mystery which pursues her to Steyne and finds its roots there in the home of Angus’ eccentric old grandmother Lady Evelyn Pemberton.

Four very different women, all wanting to escape cold and dreary London for different reasons, come together to share a month's holiday in an Italian medieval castle. There’s timid Lotty Wilkins, terrified of her domineering husband; sober and religious Rose Arbuthnot; rigid and judgemental Mrs Fisher; and the breathtakingly beautiful but disillusioned and unhappy Lady Caroline Dester. They are lured to the castle by the advertised 'wisteria and sunshine', but they end up finding there so much more than they had bargained for.

At the age of just 20, Francine has been working for 10 years. From the meanest streets that Victorian London possessed, she traveled Europe, learning how to survive and even prosper. Now back in London, in the new Edwardian era, she runs an agency saving young ladies from false suitors. With the help of her friends - ex-governess Miss Philpott, her footman fiancé Gilbert, and the feisty, tiny ex-kitchen maid Tilly - Francine changes all the lives she touches.

When wills clash and hearts collide, who will reign victorious? Termed an Incomparable during her first London season, Lady Harriett Cavendish is beautiful, spirited, and confident, capturing the attention of a great many suitors. Unfortunately, they all failed to capture her attention, and she concluded the season as unattached as she'd begun it. Only weeks prior to her second season, Harriett encounters Lieutenant Christopher Jamison while visiting Tanglewood Manor.

Five years after Theo King's supposed death, he has returned to Graceling Hall, but a mystery remains. A stranger is buried in his grave, and nobody knows if the man's death was accidental… or murder. As Theo resumes his former life, the dead man’s sister shows up on his doorstep to hold him accountable. If he helps this Irish spitfire solve the mystery, will she finally leave him in peace?

London, 1860. Midnight Gunn is no ordinary detective - born during a solar eclipse as Halley's Comet blazed a trail through the sky, his supernatural birthright is both a help and a hindrance when solving crimes. Detective Inspector Arthur Gredge of Scotland Yard is the only one who knows Gunn's secret. When the body of a young aristocrat is discovered in a backstreet alley, Gredge enlists Gunn’s help in a race to discover the identity of the notorious Spring-Heeled Jack - the monster that is terrorizing London.

When her sister decides to throw an impromptu summer house party, Sophia reluctantly agrees to help. What she doesn’t realize is that her sister has plans of her own — plans that would bring a certain childhood friend back into Sophia’s life. It’s been nearly a decade since Sophia has seen Hugh Quinton. He’s grown into a handsome, charming, and successful — yet completely unacceptable — tradesman. Her mother looks down on him, her father detests him, and society would snub him in an instant. Sophia shouldn’t even consider him.

Detective Inspector Arthur Gredge of Scotland Yard is a changed man, and not for the better, it seems. The prime suspect in a terrible crime he did not commit, Gredge launches an impassioned defense. The problem is that he does not know if he is guilty or innocent. Midnight Gunn must uncover the cause of Gredge’s unsettling behavior before the inspector loses his mind, his job, or very possibly his life. It is a task that must be conducted with the utmost caution, as Midnight’s own conduct comes under close scrutiny from all directions, putting him and those he loves at risk.

Abigail Argent stands out. Some people notice that she always wears gloves and shudder when they know why. The ones who know her best notice her ability with metal. Abigail's particular talent lies in the coloring of alloys, for seeing the beauty in a plain piece of metal and being able to draw it out. Her study leads her to discover a connection between her own craft and that of her favorite childhood myth: changing lead into gold.

Londoners whisper that Mary Bennet is a great wyfe able to command fire-breathing draca. Mary knows better; she’s just a bookworm with lank hair. But she hopes to save a great wyfe—her sister Elizabeth, the great wyfe of war, who vanished into the depths of Pemberley lake with her blinded scarlet dragon. But when Mary encounters la Demoiselle des Parfums, Napoleon’s lethal lieutenant, her quest becomes a race. The lost artifact of music is the key. It might save Elizabeth. It might even heal the broken dragon song spreading blight across England.

When Miss Coralynn Notley's father barters her off to the first titled gentleman to come along, she realizes she must flee her home or be forced to wed a despicable man. Driven by desperation, she applies for the position of housekeeper at Tanglewood Manor, the home of the handsome Mr. Jonathan Ludlow. The moment Jonathan sees Miss Notley, he is intrigued. She is far too young and inexperienced, yet there is something about her that that inspires a certain hope within him.

Prudence knows exactly how a proper romance should unfold—after all, she plans to write them someday. Unfortunately, real life seems determined to ignore her rules. For years it has been decided that Prudence's sister will marry their neighbor's eldest son, a match guaranteed to bring titles, fortune, and great satisfaction to both families. Prudence alone finds the arrangement dreadful. How can anyone promise their heart to a man they barely know?

Emma Woodhouse needs a dragon. Her life depends on it. But Emma’s dragon is claimed...by Elizabeth Darcy. When Emma Woodhouse meets newlywed Elizabeth, a brush of their gloved hands unmasks the Darcys’ fantastic secret. Emma has discovered Yuánchi, the deadly dragon coveted by both Emperor Napoleon and England’s secretary of war. Secrets are nothing new for Emma. She has her own: a deathbed promise and a clever plan to achieve it. The Darcys’ power, forbidden to her, might even help.

Depressed and suicidal, Helen was admitted to a psychiatric ward and sectioned under the Mental Health Act. At her lowest, she almost succeeded in taking her own life. But somehow, she endured and later, she recovered. love lay down beside me and we wept sprang from these emotionally shattering experiences.