Showing results by narrator "Stevie Zimmerman" in All Categories

The reigning queen of London society, Lady Elizabeth Worthingham, has her future set out for her. Marry well, and marry without love. An easy promise to make, and one she owed her family after her near-ruinous past that threatened them all. And the rakish scoundrel Henry Andrews, Earl of Muir, whose inability to act a gentleman when she needed one most, would one day pay for his treachery.

Nicholas Cranleigh suspects his meddlesome sister is up to something when she invites him to stay at Cothill Manor at the same time as Miss Dresden. He’s on his guard, but it’s hard to resist a woman with luminous eyes who’s in need of a savior. Lavinia Dresden is ready to sacrifice herself to save her family from financial ruin in the only path open to a woman of gentle breeding. But she hadn’t counted the cost of her sacrifice until Lord Cranleigh came into her life—a man she knew to be her ideal.

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet runs away from Brighton with George Wickham, but this adaptation of Lydia’s adventures is not your typical story about this brash couple. Mr. Wickham, proving he is no gentleman, does the unthinkable and casts Lydia out of a second-rate coach. Filthy, exhausted, and penniless, Lydia is just facing the beginning of her ordeal! 

When a perfect marriage, the perfect husband, and perfect life is nothing but an illusion. Sarah Standon is living the dream, at least that’s what everyone tells her. She is the wife of a successful solicitor who looks like a movie star. They live a Stepford existence and appear to have it all. Then, one fateful night, everything changes. A terrible accident leaves Sarah alone to deal with a situation so frightening she starts to question her grip on reality. Her perfect life has been exposed as the lie it always was and she loses everything.

Alys Dewitt’s sister is getting married. Lucky for her she gets to be the maid of honor in a Regency themed wedding at an actual Ducal estate in England. While attending the wedding, she falls through a time hole and wakes up in 1815. Everything is strange, wondrous, not at all as she expected it to be. James Kendall, the Duke of Weston returns from war to find an injured woman on his estate. She mumbles strange phrases and keeps calling him by another name.

After being thrown over for the second time in one season, Mr. Simon Appleton’s interest in courting another young lady is less than his interest in reconciling with his estranged brother. Entering into her third, and dare she hope final season, Miss Henrietta Hughes has a single goal: make it to August without becoming engaged, thus securing her sister’s promise of being allowed to become a spinster. But with the most scandalous woman to ever step foot in London acting as Henrietta’s chaperone and Simon’s undeniable urge to vex her every chance he’s afforded, they both might find themselves with new plans.

Margaret Darrington is no stranger to genteel poverty herself, since the death of her father has left her in charge of her two younger siblings and feather-brained aunt. But Margaret has a plan: To salvage the family's finances, she has only to put her beautiful younger sister, Amanda, in the way of marrying a wealthy man - perhaps the new Duke of Montford, who is expected to arrive any day. 

There was no money, the family was scattered, and Lucille, who had mothered them all since she was 16, was going to be married. So the house must be sold; Lucille knew that was the only sensible things to do, but the family had other ideas. Home they came by whatever way they could, penniless and bedraggled but with certain newfound friends who were to help them to upset Lucille's plans - all her plans for a calm, settled, and sensible life.

When Simon, an orphaned young cat, is smuggled on board HMS Amethyst, his simple life amidst the streets of Hong Kong is transformed into an adventure fit for heroes. Bringing joy and compassion to those on board, Simon is the only puss to have been awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal, the highest honour for animal gallantry in wartime.

A troublesome addendum to his father’s will requires Victor, duke of Sutcliffe, to marry before his 27th birthday or lose his fortune. After a three-year absence, he ventures home, intent upon finding the most biddable and forgettable miss in Essex. A woman who will make no demands upon him and won’t mind being left behind when he returns to London. Except Victor meets Theadosia Brentwood again and finds himself powerless to resist her - even if she is promised to another and the exact opposite of what he thought he wanted in a duchess. 

The regiment has come to camp in Meryton. Many young ladies are pleased, but not all share their enthusiasm. Warned by Mr. Pierce, the local curate, that several of the officers have unsavory designs on the local girls, Elizabeth must find a way to honor her father, rein in her sister, and salvage the family’s reputation, all in the most ladylike way possible.

Captain Oliver Whitehouse has two goals: Make the final payment on his ship, and exact revenge for his grandfather’s murder. He certainly shouldn’t interrupt years of planning to rescue a damsel in distress and see her safely to England. Nor should he foolishly entertain romantic notions about a future with the impulsive beauty; even if, she is the loveliest creature he’s ever laid eyes on, and only she makes him forget his past.

In "Coventry's Christmas", Rebecca Hagan Lee offers a charming new story. With Christmas approaching, Amabel Thurston is ordered from the family home by her father's widow and must seek the protection of her guardian, Deverel Brookfield, eighth Marquess of Coventry. Unfortunately, the Devil of Coventry has little use for Christmas and even less for proper young ladies.

Spoiled and ungoverned, Fitz was not suitable companion for a lady of fashion....And certainly no proper chaperon. Fitz begged to disagree - after all, a dog was a true incomparable as far as friendship, loyalty, and protection - and soon lovely Miss Sonia was plucked by her rusticated roots and packed off, dog and all, to London. Perhaps there she would find a husband to tame her free-spirited ways - and keep her out of trouble.

Having witnessed the roguish ways of men, Miss Jane Harcourt has decided she is better off to remain a spinster. Working as a governess has brought her fulfillment, but when she finds herself suddenly without a position, Jane begins to fret. When her cousin alerts her that a Duke is seeking a governess for his son, Jane is overcome with joy. That is until she finds out that this is a man who is believed to have killed his wife, a man known as the Duke of Fire.

Lady Noelle Abbot is returning home for the Christmastide season after months at a school for unmarriageable ladies. Everything that can go wrong, does. She finds herself stranded at an inn while a storm rages outside, and then the one man she hoped never to see again walks inside. Asher Prescott, the Marquess of Daventry should be in London with his family. Instead he finds himself at a secluded inn. To make things worse…the vixen he’s always found vexing and desirable is a guest as well.

Marianne Edgewood is perfectly capable of running Brindale Castle, if only the task would be left to her. A centuries-old house of stone is solid, unchanging, whereas people are not to be relied upon. It matters little that a stranger inherited the castle. She must simply find a way to stay.

Elizabeth Bennet despises Brussels sprouts, sewing, and men who think too highly of themselves—especially Mr. Darcy. When her brother shows a decided preference for the arrogant oaf, will she continue to hold onto her resentment or discover for herself what the baby finds so appealing? After a valuable piece of jewelry goes missing and aspersions are cast, can two opposing forces work together to solve the crime? Will opposites attract? Can a toddler who admires them both help them to admire each other?

Hoping to put the shame of her father’s disgrace behind her, Jessica Brentwood is determined to be the epitome of decorum and propriety her first London Season. All is well until she’s discovered naked in the arms of a notorious rake, Crispin, the wicked Duke of Bainbridge. Though thoroughly compromised - through no fault of her own - Jessica refuses the enigmatic nobleman’s obligatory marriage proposal. She’d rather face certain scorn and ridicule than be forced into a marriage of convenience. Or rather, inconvenience.

In the elegant backdrop of 18th-century English aristocracy, Lady Amelia's world shatters with her father's passing, leaving her bereft and constrained by the bonds of youth. Guided by newfound allies Grace and Sarah, Amelia crafts a daring plan: a mere four weeks to settle her affairs and covertly secure an English lord for marriage, a ploy to anchor her heart to her homeland. Amidst her mourning, Amelia's audacious quest unfolds as she embarks on the intricate game of capturing a worthy suitor from London's elite.