Against her better judgment, her estranged daughter, Rosalind, comes to her mother's rescue and moves her to a quiet English coastal village.Charlotte is grateful to get to know Rosalind after years apart. As one who has regrets about her own romantic past, it's a joy for Charlotte to see love blossom for her daughter. For Rosalind, however, it's time away from teaching--and now she must care for the mother who wasn't there for her. And what could be more complicated than romance? Together, mother and daughter discover that healing is best accomplished when they focus less on themselves and more on the needs of others.

    Now explore this extensive collection in greater depth, and discover who Victoria really was behind her upright public persona.At only 18 years old, Victoria ascended the throne as a rebellious teenager and gradually grew to become one of the most memorable, unshakeable and powerful women in history. The extensive writings she left behind document this personal journey and show how she triumphed over scandal and corruption. Written by Internationally bestselling author, historian of 12 books and Victoria historical consultant, Helen Rappaport, and including a foreword by Daisy Goodwin – acclaimed novelist and screenwriter of the series – The Victoria Letters details the history behind the show. Revealing Victoria’s own thoughts about the love interests, family dramas and court scandals during her early reign, it also delves into the running of the royal household, the upstairs-downstairs relationships, and what it was like to live in Victorian England.Full of beautiful photography from the series and genuine imagery from the era, come behind the palace doors and discover the girl behind the Queen.

    And yet, given the level of secret knowledge she now posses, she is reduced to waiting to reveal her new academic discovery until royal decrees can be lifted and a fraught political situation avoided. In her idle frustration, Isabella vents her spleen upon the shoddy research published by lesser men with swollen heads in local journals. Enjoy the following collection of letters, found in a trunk of mislaid scholarly documents left behind when she removed to Linshire for the season.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    But saving people is second nature, whether its doctoring a man mauled by a mountain lion or battling a wolf to save a child.Veterinarian and horse rancher Missouri Harper, the sole support for her three sisters and ailing aunt, must fight her attraction to the handsome miner, whose bravery puts her in his debt. To keep the land she has claimed for her family, she must remain a spinster for three years.Struggling against bitter winter weather, lack of provisions, and wild predators, Missouri vows to deny her love to protect her sisters’ legacy.

    Bitten by Witch Fever presents facsimile samples of 275 of the most sumptuous wallpaper designs ever created by designers and printers of the age, including Christopher Dresser and Morris & Co. For the first time in their history, every one of the samples shown has been laboratory tested and found to contain arsenic. Interleaved with the wallpaper sections, evocative commentary guides you through the incredible story of the manufacture, uses and effects of arsenic, and presents the heated public debate surrounding the use of deadly pigments in the sublime wallpapers of a newly industrialized world.

    John Thornton is a man of heavy responsibilities who has many things on his mind, but the most troublesome of them all is Margaret Hale. She wants nothing to do with him, and he wishes he could feel the same. When a moment of vulnerability allows her a glimpse into his heart, she begins to see him very differently. Is something so simple as friendship even possible after all that has passed between them? Thornton has every good reason to move on, not the least of which is the lovely Genevieve Hamilton and her wealthy father. Will Thornton act according to duty and accept an opportunity to save his mill, or will he take a chance on love, hoping to change Margaret’s mind?

    In the shadow of the world's first cotton mill, 30,000 souls trapped by poverty are fighting for survival as the British Empire is built upon their backs.Thieves and prostitutes keep company with rats in overcrowded lodging houses and deep cellars on the banks of a black river, the Irk. Gangs of 'scuttlers' stalk the streets in pointed, brass-tripped clogs. Those who evade their clutches are hunted down by cholera and tuberculosis. Lawless drinking dens and a cold slab in the dead house provide the only relief from this filthy and frightening world.Former Manchester Evening News journalist Dean Kirby takes readers on a hair-raising journey through the alleyways, gin palaces and underground vaults of the nineteenth century Manchester slum considered so diabolical it was re-christened 'hell upon earth' by Friedrich Engels in 1845. Enter Angel Meadow if you dare..

    A mortician receives the bodies and vanishes. Clues for the two seemingly unconnected cases are scarce. When police and coroner learn that the missing mortician might have spent his last moments at the bosom of the infamous prostitute Miss Mary, a series of events is nudged into motion. Lies are unearthed, rumours spread. Yet, the killer remains a faceless phantom.His secret seems buried forever. Until the night Sévère requests Miss Mary’s services…Warning: Postmortems and prostitution are depicted un-prettified.

    Now he wants it back. The year is 1888, the clockwork British Empire is crumbling and young writer Ivy Savage has literally received a heart in the post. Terrified, her father sends her north to a strange sanitarium in Lancashire where the brilliant but unpredictable “Mad Lord of Lasingstoke” makes his home. Here, Ivy finds the dead are as dangerous as the living and she is immediately swept into a world of manners, mystery, and supernatural intrigue, uncovering a secret that will lead both her and the Mad Lord back to London and the dark streets of Whitechapel.

    Inside the peculiar case, he discovers a journal, written by the renowned Robert Louis Stevenson, which divulges ominous particulars about his creation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It also promises to reveal a terrible secret—the identity of Jack the Ripper.Unfortunately, the journal—whose macabre tale unfolds in an alternating narrative with Rafe’s—isn’t the only relic in the trunk, and Rafe isn’t the only one to purloin a souvenir. A mysterious flask containing the last drops of the grisly potion that inspired Jekyll and Hyde and spawned London’s most infamous killer has gone missing. And it has definitely fallen into the wrong hands.

    On a desperate mission to find the lady who owns his heart, he frantically searches through the rubble, where he finds her injured and lifeless. After she regains consciousness, the doctor’s hopes are quickly dashed as he realizes she doesn’t remember him. Things only get worse when he discovers she believes she’s still engaged to the abusive scoundrel, Lloyd Pratt. Now Drew is on a race with the wedding clock to either help her remember or win her heart again before she marries the wrong man. Waking in a makeshift hospital, Olivia Macqueen finds herself recovering from a head injury. With amnesia stealing a year of her memories, she has trouble discerning between lies and truth. When her memories start returning in bits and pieces, she must keep up the charade of amnesia until she can find out the truth behind the embezzlement of her family’s business while evading the danger lurking around her.

    When she accepts a new position as tutor to Alonzo Colaco's children, she sees it as a step in the direction of her dreams. She eagerly envisions a grand house awaiting her...but when her new employer meets her at the train station driving a gaily painted gypsy wagon, Kate suspects her new job will not be all she anticipated.Kate finds herself living in the woods in a refitted train car as she teaches the charming children of Alonzo, a tinker by trade. After trying in vain to secure another job, Kate is left with little choice. She must simply bide her time until a better position comes along. Soon, however, she abandons her preconceptions along with her bustle in favor of the joys of a simple life---and the possibility of true love. But when opportunity knocks, will Kate really be ready to walk away from all she has come to care about to pursue her high-society dreams?If you enjoyed this book you would also like Heart's Journey, which is set in the 1860s in Canada.

    This Boxed Set of cozy historical mysteries is the perfect gift for readers of any age and is a welcome companion to Pilfered Promises, the fifth book in the series. Maids of Misfortune (over 1400 reviews, 4.2 stars) introduces Annie Fuller, a young widow who runs the O’Farrell Street boarding house and supplements her income by giving financial and domestic advice as Madam Sibyl. When one of Madam Sibyl’s clients dies in mysterious circumstances, Annie goes undercover as domestic servant to find out the truth about his death. Against his better judgment, Nate Dawson, the Voss family lawyer finds himself drawn into helping in her investigations, alternatively fascinated and frustrated by Annie’s independent nature. Uneasy Spirits (over 600 reviews, 4.3 stars) finds Annie Fuller and Nate Dawson, assisted by the boarding house maid, Kathleen, delving into the world of 19th century Spiritualism in order to expose a fraudulent trance medium. She will soon find there are as many secrets as there are spirits swirling around the séance table. Some of those secrets will threaten the foundation of her career as Madam Sibyl and the future of her relationship with Nate Dawson, and, in time, they will threaten her very life itself. In Bloody Lessons (over 350 reviews, 4.4 stars), Annie Fuller has been called in by her beau, Nate Dawson to find out who has been sending poison pen letters about the teachers of San Francisco. The case becomes personal when they discover that Nate’s sister, Laura, may be one of the teachers under attack. In Deadly Proof (over 350 reviews, 4.3 stars) Annie helps her fiancé, Nate Dawson, with a troubling case—defending a female typesetter who is accused of killing her employer. Complicating matters, Nate’s sister decides to take the investigation into her own hands.

    Five years ago she ruled the ballrooms of fashionable society as Lady Arabella Winslow, The Incomparable Araby, a singular beauty who rent hearts and hopes at will. Facing her past means facing the man who betrayed her – the man she loved who in exchange for her heart, ruthlessly stripped away her pride and her dignity for the sake of revenge.Michael Lassiter is handsome, wealthy, powerful and a natural rogue. Still, Araby captivates him like no other woman until her thoughtless words devastate his younger brother and destroy his future. In his anger, Michael sets in motion a chain of events that will alter all of their lives and five years later force him into a confrontation with a young woman who continues to haunt him, who he has never been able to forget, nor forgive.

    Mostly. Determined to claim more meaning for her life than seeing her younger sisters married, she seeks a purpose. She finds what she's looking for when she happens upon a book describing seven curses that plague London. Nathaniel Hawke is attempting to adjust to civilian life after retiring from the military, but his injured leg and memories of his time in the service prevent an easy transition. On his long walks during London's darkest hours, Nathaniel is appalled by what he sees taking place on the dirty streets and alleyways. He is determined to take action. Coming upon a proper, if rebellious, lady in the desolate area both intrigues and frustrates him.Nathaniel's disregard for his personal safety infuriates Lettie even as her heart is touched by his determination to aid the city's neglected children.As the two wounded souls stumble upon each other time and again in slums and ballrooms, they realize they fight a common cause--and share an unbridled passion.Will the curse they fight be their downfall? Or will love win the day?

    “They are mistaken. I have not known you long, but I observe in you a natural dignity that cannot be learnt. To me, ma’am, you are every inch a Queen.”In 1837, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria – sheltered, small in stature, and female – became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Many thought it was preposterous: Alexandrina — Drina to her family — had always been tightly controlled by her mother and her household, and was surely too unprepossessing to hold the throne. Yet from the moment William IV died, the young Queen startled everyone: abandoning her hated first name in favor of Victoria; insisting, for the first time in her life, on sleeping in a room apart from her mother; resolute about meeting with her ministers alone.One of those ministers, Lord Melbourne, became Victoria’s private secretary. Perhaps he might have become more than that, except everyone argued she was destined to marry her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. But Victoria had met Albert as a child and found him stiff and critical: surely the last man she would want for a husband….Drawing on Victoria’s diaries as well as her own brilliant gifts for history and drama, Daisy Goodwin, author of the bestselling novels The American Heiress and The Fortune Hunter as well as creator and writer of the new PBS/Masterpiece drama Victoria, brings the young queen even more richly to life in this magnificent novel.

    Matthew Templin, a local carpenter with a questionable past, is in need of a lawyer but knows hidden truths could destroy her ambitions and endanger their lives. When faced with a choice, will Lucinda choose career over love? Also includes a bonus historical romance, A Love So Tender by Tracey V. Bateman.

    From 1851, in the space of little more than a decade, the world was reshaped by technology, trade, mass migration and war. As instantaneous electric communication bridged the vast gulfs that separated human societies, millions of settlers travelled to the far corners of the Earth, building vast cities out of nothing in lightning-quick time. A new generation of fast steamships and railways connected these burgeoning frontier societies, shrinking the world and creating an interlinked global economy.In the company of fortune-seekers and ordinary migrants, we journey to these rapidly expanding frontiers, savouring the frenetic activity and optimism of the boom-towns of the 1850s in Australia, New Zealand the United States. This is a story not only of rapid progress, but of the victims of an assurgent West: indigenous peoples who stood in the pathways of economic expansion, Asian societies engulfed by the forces of modernisation. We join, among others, Muslim guerrilla fighters in the Caucasus mountains and freelance empire-builders in the jungles of Nicaragua, British free trade zealots preying on China and samurai warriors resisting Western incursions in Japan. No less important are the inventions, discoveries and technologies that powered progress, and the great engineering projects that characterised the Victorian heyday, notably the transatlantic telegraph cable.In a fast-paced, kaleidoscopic narrative, Ben Wilson recreates a time of explosive energy and dizzying change, a rollercoaster ride of booms and bust, witnessed through the eyes of the men and women reshaping its frontiers. At the centre stands Great Britain. The country was the peak of its power between 1851 and the mid-1860s as it attempted to determine the destinies of hundreds of millions of people. Heyday is a dazzlingly innovative take on a period of extraordinary transformation, a little-known decade that was fundamental in the making not only of Britain but of the modern world.

    In Victorian London, reporter Jennie Quinn employs deception as a weapon. Going undercover to seek justice for a murdered informant, she’s drawn into a powerful criminal’s seductive game of cat and mouse. Enigmatic former lawman Matthew Colton is as dangerous as he is clever, but the passion in his kiss is too tempting to resist. She aches to trust him, but she will not abandon her quest for the truth. Colton is a man with secrets of his own. Thirsting for vengeance, the disgraced Scotland Yard detective has infiltrated the criminal world he’s vowed to destroy. Jennie intrigues him, even as she breaks down the barriers around his heart. He yearns to uncover her secrets—in and out of his bed. Driven to shield her, he’ll risk everything to protect the woman whose love heals his soul.

    He is tasked with establishing a trade route with the new country but what he finds is a strange beast killing the settlers and tensions igniting between the English and Maori inhabitants. There’s also a certain fierce Maori (or two) who make pangs spear through his torso and strange new emotions spring to life in his mind.Before Loki can return to England he needs to secure access to valuable trade goods, defuse hostilities, and find a killer. He should also see a doctor about that ache in his chest… it just might kill him.

    Desperate for new beginnings, Eve conceals secrets of her past from her employer. But can she break down the walls protecting Lucas’s heart, or will the secrets between them shatter all hope of true love?Sleepless in a Scandal by Eva DevonAll Lady Felicity Drake wants is to make a good match but after her father leaves herself and her sisters almost entirely ruined due to some very scandalous behavior, such a thing is next to impossible. . . That is, until she’s caught in a compromising position with the Marquess of Talbot. The question is, will the oh so staid Marquess save her from the proverbial wolves or will he leave her to her scandal?A Fine Madness by Elizabeth EssexMiss Otis regrets… The entirely of Miss Elspeth Otis’s inheritance from her wastrel of a father is a battered old trunk with some scrawled-upon foolscap sheets. Nothing that could free her from a stifling life with her fusty maiden aunties in a musty old cottage in a misty corner of Scotland. Nothing that will give her the life she’s always dreamed of—a life full of kindness and kisses and love. Or will it?Nothing…Mr. Hamish Cathcart wants more than anything to avoid the hasty marriage to a brewer’s daughter his father, the earl, has arranged to revive his fortunes. Hamish’s only hope is his failing publishing company, whose only asset is a scandalously banned book by an infamous, but unfortunately deceased, author. But when a new novel written by the same man lands on Hamish’s doorstep, he’ll go to any length to secure it—any length but love.A Lady’s Choice by Anthea LawsonLady Sara Ashford has spent years cultivating her spotless reputation: a difficult task in the face of her mother’s scandalous exploits abroad. Now she is set on a path toward a perfect, respectable future—until the highly unsuitable Comte du Lac comes to London, and she is given the task of instructing him on how to behave properly in English Society.At first Lady Sara finds him intolerable, but after he steals a kiss she realizes he is a terrible danger to her future. As soon as possible, she must put him out of her life—and her heart—forever.Lord of Chance by Erica RidleyCharming rake Anthony Fairfax is on holiday to seek his fortune…and escape his creditors. When an irresistible Lady Luck wins him in a game of chance—and a slight mishap has them leg-shackled by dawn—the tables have finally turned in his favor. But when past demons catch up to them, holding on to new love will mean destroying their dreams forever.

    An unwed mother, she does everything possible to raise them whilst avoiding her scandalous past. Some secrets are best kept, even between mother and daughter.Alice longs for a father, especially if that means her mother will be happy. She takes matters into her own hands—but she never expected what she finds.Despite her efforts to shelter her daughters, Claire’s ghosts rise up to haunt her, and any semblance of control over her life vanishes. If her secrets are uncovered, what will become of her family?

    Li-lin is called upon to exorcise a strange spirit at a cigar factory -- but things may not be what they seem.

    The journey before them as newlyweds in the great city of Chicago was promising and exciting. But a frightening disease soon takes William in its grip, forcing them to the clean air of the western frontier in a desperate attempt to save his life. But pioneering doesn’t prove to be easy, with miles between neighbors instead of fences. On the eastern Washington prairies, the McDonalds face hardships and trials in a new world where everything is tested, from physical endurance to emotional strength—down to their relationship and faith in the Lord.This novel tells the incredible true story of Clara and William, the great-great grandparents of the author, in a sweet narrative full of laughter, tears, and the struggles of an early pioneering family. Prepare yourself to share in their experience as you read this account of a pioneer family in Washington state, and see their lasting legacy that has endured into the fifth generation.

    Her sorrowful eyes still hold captive, the agony of her fate. Anger, and fear walk side by side as the populace of London demand justice for the slain. Is it a single mad man or is there a bloody political game being played out in the grime filled streets of the old City? The authorities are powerless to stop the bloodletting and call for a new kind of law. William Harkness, former officer of the 66th Regiment of Foot will join the hunt. His task is not to bring an insane killer to court, his hands are not tied by the laws of the day.William Harkness is the killer of killers, the assassin of evil...Praise For the Reaper's Breath'He delivers a heck of a story that leaves me wanting to know what happens next while cringing in horror at the scene within the walls of the Mops. He shows that you can create true horror without the need to describe every splash of blood from a severed throat!'Stuart S Laing - Author of the Robert Young Mysteries'With fabulous dialogue and a story that keeps you on tenterhooks, one can easily imagine this as a TV programme, in the style of Ripper Street. Someone should call up a producer and refer them to this awesome book! I would love to see it as a movie or a TV series.This book is an excellent start to what promises to be a fabulous series!'Paula Lofting - Author of Sons of the Wolf'Let's get down to the honesty I like to bring to all my reviews... The plot itself seems well planned out.. everything made sense, nothing seemed out of place or had me confused. At one point I was 100% sure I had figured everything out..Then the author throws in some spectacular twists and turns that I just didn't see coming.'-The bookblurg review group -

    Victoria’s childhood was difficult and lonely but from the time she took the throne aged just eighteen she blossomed into a powerful woman, both frivolous and formidable. Inside you will read about... ✓ An Unsentimental Marriage ✓ Race to Produce an Heir ✓ Finally an Adult and Finally a Queen ✓ V&A ✓ Die Shattenseite ✓ The Hungry Forties and Albert’s Great Exhibition ✓ The Widow at Windsor And much more! In her later years, Victoria struggled to find balance between her wish to live a very private life as a widow and her duty to live the very public life of a Queen and later Empress. The world Victoria was born into was a very different world to that which she left behind and her life story is an incredible journey from infant heir to matriarchal Queen and Empress.

    These steamy, seductive stories will warm your heart!THE HANDFASTING by Glynnis CampbellThe Highlands, Scotland, 1199: When Sir Noel de Ware claims his betrothed—the most beautiful heiress in the Highlands—he's sure he's getting the best gift ever…until he discovers he's wedded and bedded the wrong sister. Spirited Ysenda of Rivenloch never intended to be a counterfeit bride, and when she falls in love with her handsome husband, she becomes trapped in her own deception.FOREVERMORE by Lauren RoyalEngland, 1667: Sensible Clarice Bradford is content in her widowhood. She has a pretty one-room cottage and a lovely little daughter, and the last thing she wants is another husband. Until one fairytale evening when she’s invited to a wedding at a castle…FALL FROM GRACE by Jill BarnettScottish Highlands, 17th Century: The Clan McNish is left starving by their bitter rivals, the McNabs. Granddaughter to the chieftain, Grace McNish, decides it's her duty to capture and ransom a vile McNab. But she and her clan of misfits capture the wrong man, Colin Campbell, Earl of Argyll and Lord of the Isles, who holds her clan's fate in his powerful hands.HEART OF FRAGILE STARS by Cynthia WrightGeorgian London and the High Seas: Dashing French pirate Jean-Philippe Beauvisage revels in his life of freedom…until the night at a ball in Georgian London, when a Russian beauty steals his heart. The instant attraction he feels for recently-orphaned Antonia is soul-deep, but she is bound for America with an arrogant captain.THE FOUR-LEAF CLOVER by Cheryl BolenMissouri, 1870: The wealthiest man in Peace, Missouri, Norman Sterling can't believe his good fortune when the beauty he worshiped from afar years ago moves to his town. At their Fourth of July picnic, he blurts out a proposal to Millie Gresham—and to his profound surprise, she accepts. But can she ever win his love?A WINTER HEART by Annette BlairOhio, 1873: Hannah Peachy has nurtured a winter heart since she lost her family. Caleb Skylar struggles with the horror of his wife’s drowning. When Caleb aimlessly pulls up stakes and leaves his home behind, the spirit of Hannah’s earthbound twin leads him straight to Hannah. But how can two guilty souls accept love as a reward for their transgressions? A Sensual Amish Historical Romance.—— ABOUT THE AUTHORS GLYNNIS CAMPBELL is a USA Today bestselling author of swashbuckling action-adventure romance. She loves to play medieval matchmaker, transporting readers to a place where women are stronger than they look!LAUREN ROYAL is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her “truly enchanting” humorous historical romance novels have earned raves from reviewers including Publishers Weekly, who calls her “an impressive talent.”JILL BARNETT has more than 8 million books in print. Published in 23 languages, her work has earned her a place on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.CYNTHIA WRIGHT is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her "addictive" novels have been hailed by Romantic Times as "Romance the way it was meant to be.

    Juliet never expected her seaman father to inherit a fortune and move the family to New Addison City. Suddenly her mother is a socialite and Juliet is best friends with a strong-willed girl who actually likes her. When Juliet’s new friend welcomes her to the Runners, a gang that has plagued the East Coast for years, Juliet sees it as the opportunity to fit in, learn tricks, and make eyes at one of the hottest members. What the gang does isn’t really wrong…right? She’s used to being a pawn for the Runners, but she starts to question what she sees as harmless fun when the gang uses her to attack a young officer.Jonathan Montgomery vowed to end the Runners after they murdered his family. He joined the Riders, an elite police force dedicated to stopping the Runners’ crime spree. They have put him in New Addison City, but rookie mistakes follow Jonathan as he struggles to accomplish his goal, until a young woman feeds him inside information to bring down the Runners. Between murders and secrets, Juliet will need to find her strength to help Jonathan, before the founder of the Runners crawls up from the sewers amongst her inventions to burn down the ci

    When Eliza arrives in Skagway, Alaska, she has less than fifty dollars to her name and not a friend in the world―but with some savvy, and with the help of some unsavory characters, Eliza opens a successful bakery on Skagway’s main street and befriends a madam at a neighboring bordello. Occupying this space―a place somewhere between traditional and nontraditional feminine roles―Eliza awakens emotionally and sexually. But when an unprincipled man from her past turns up in Skagway, Eliza is fearful that she will be unable to conceal her identity and move forward with her new life. Part diary, part recipe file, and part Gold Rush history, Eliza Waite transports readers to the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of a raucous and fleeting era of American history.

    . . and romance. At the start of the U.S. Civil War, while young men begin dying on American battlefields and slavery is headed toward its end, behind the scenes, female undercover work and Pinkerton intelligence are alive and well. But in the end, can this unlikely Romeo and Juliet couple’s love survive, or will they be just another casualty of war?

    A young woman slips through the curtains of fog down Pendy Corner, to the 26th house in the row. She vacillates at the gate. For past that sullen door, she must seek the help of the distinctively eccentric and impatient young language expert named Basil Collingwood. The fate of Europe, and indeed, the free peoples of the world may depend upon getting him to understand her. The only trouble? She cannot speak a word.

    

    It’s the story of a foundling who discovers he has unusual talents, such as camouflage, squishing into small spaces and the ability to communicate with octopuses!As a baby, the hero of this book is washed up on an island off the Scottish mainland. An eccentric former nun called Mary, who lives there alone with her cats, brings him up and names him after her favorite character, Pinocchio. Later she changes this to Coco for convenience. The teenage Coco joins a circus where he makes friends with Eric, an electronic magician who has an act where he makes a robot teleport across the tent. Coco, narrowly escaping plots against him, flees to Cornwall with Eric. Here they raise funds to build a replica pirate ship, which is also an airship so they can travel back in time to fight real pirates. The crew consists of Victorian men who want to fight without any repercussions. It's a 'Fight Club', but with a twist or twenty.

    We must snatch our pleasure where we can, before it’s too late.”It’s 1889, and women are being killed in the East End of London. They’ve become the targets of a deranged sexual killer, but why? Because they’re prostitutes? Sapphists? Or something else entirely?****************************First published in the anthology UNCOMMON BODIES.

    While awaiting an imminent proposal of marriage, Caroline decides she wants to play the sought after daughter of a Duke one last time. She wants a short season of parties in London before returning to her propriety-dictated life forever. She will dip her toe into the invigorating river of rule-breakers... just this once. It is at this precise moment that Lord Alexander Ravens declares his long-awaited suit for Caroline’s hand. Caroline is thrilled to have captured the heart of the handsome Alexander but is hesitant to deny herself a chance at a last adventure. Sharing her desires with Alexander, she is pleased when he grants her permission. With great reservation, he draws up a contract that allows a clandestine betrothal only known about by the intimate family. She can have her freedom within the edicts of proper society. Even the caveat that Ravens will promptly deal with all indiscretions over his knee barely gives Caroline pause. As the month progresses, Ravens and the rest of her family discover they are not happy with this new Caroline. When pulling her out of scrapes seems to be the new order of the day, Ravens begins to fear that the lessons delivered to her bare bottom aren't enough to bring his beloved back into the folds of decorum. Is Caroline’s defiance of the tenets of polite society—and a month of frivolity—worth jeopardizing her fragile reputation and potentially risking a lifetime of loss? Will she estrange her rules-governed fiancé for a little bit of fun?

    He performed the first Caesarean in Africa, was deported from St Helena and gave Florence Nightingale a dressing down in the Crimea. At home, he was surrounded by a menagerie of animals, including a cat, a goat, a parrot and half a dozen small terriers. Long ago, in Cork, Ireland, he had also been a mother.This is the amazing true story of Margaret Ann Bulkley, the young woman who broke the rules of Georgian society to become one of the most respected surgeons of the century. Her life became one long, audacious act of deception that saw her rise to positions no woman had ever reached before, but it also left her isolated, even costing her the chance to be with the man she loved.

    Following a humiliating fourth Season in London, Lady Elizabeth Fraser is on her way back to her ancestral country estate when her train careens off the rails and bursts into flames. Though she is injured, she manages to drag herself and her unconscious mother out of the wreckage, and amid the chaos that ensues, a brilliant young railway surgeon saves her mother’s life. Elizabeth feels an immediate connection with Paul Wilcox—though society would never deem a medical man eligible for the daughter of an earl. After Paul reveals that the train wreck was no accident, and the inspector who tried to prevent it dies under mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth undertakes a dangerous investigation of her own that leads back to her family’s buried secrets. The more she learns, the more she must risk. Not only are her dowry and her reputation at stake; Paul’s very life hangs in the balance when he is arrested for manslaughter. As the trial draws near, and Parliament prepares for a vote that will change the course of the nation, Elizabeth uncovers a conspiracy that has been years in the making. But time is running out for her to see justice done.

    When faced with a terrified new client, Lavinia declares that her client’s fiancé must pay for his sins. The fact that she can’t take her eyes off the man’s kissable lips only spurs her resolve to bring her assignment to a quick conclusion. Eric Yorke, Viscount Mathieson, wishes nothing more than to distance himself from his treacherous fiancée, but in his quest to do so, he finds himself trapped in the clutches of the unconventional Miss Halls. The delectable yet annoyingly persistent woman seems intent on ruining his life no matter how much he tries to thwart her attempts. Her efforts to seek and destroy meet their match in his determination to foil her plans, until their struggles collide in a scandal of enormous proportions. Fated together, they must overcome ruin, danger and heartbreak. Will they be able to survive their past or is their future together doomed?

    Haunted by her FutureTainted. Degraded. Doomed. Doctors told Ella Arlington that her epilepsy would prevent her from living a normal life. When her cousin tries to put her in an institution, she flees to London, determined to control her own destiny. But while at a séance, Ella’s epileptic fit is mistaken for spiritual possession. Loath to reveal her scandalous condition, she goes along with the misperception, and soon finds herself attracting the attention of a devilishly handsome viscount determined to keep the past buried. Tortured by his PastViscount Isidore Blackwood’s fiancée died with secrets he’s vowed to keep, but nothing could have prepared him for the arrival of a mysterious woman who’s rumored to have contacted her ghost. He doesn’t believe for a moment that Ella possesses supernatural powers. Her presence, however, shakes him to his core and when he accuses Ella of being a con artist, sparks unexpectedly ignite between them. When some surprising truths come to light about Phillipa’s death, Isidore concocts a plan to stage a spectacle of a séance for the ton with Ella’s help. Their devil’s pact might just flush out a killer, but will Isidore let his fury and guilt consume his own soul in the process? And can Ella trust him enough to gamble on a future she never thought she could have?

    Even before reading the works of Dickens many people have met him already in some form or another. His characters have such vitality that they have leapt from his pages to enjoy flourishing lives of their own: The Artful Dodger, Miss Havisham, Scrooge, Fagin, Mr Micawber, and many many more. In Britain, he is a national icon, and indeed he helped generate what "Englishness" signifies.In this Very Short Introduction Jenny Hartley explores the key themes running through Dickens's corpus of works, and considers how they reflect his attitudes towards the harsh realities of nineteenth century society and its institutions, such as the workhouses and prisons. Running alongside this is Dickens's relish of the carnivalesque; if there is a prison in almost every novel, there is also a theatre. She considers Dickens's multiple lives and careers: as magazine editor for two thirds of his working life, as travel writer and journalist, and his work on behalf of social causes including ragged schools and fallen women. She also shows how his public readings enthralled the readers he wanted to reach but also helped to kill him. Finally, Hartley considers what we mean when we use the term "Dickensian" today, and how Dickens's enduring legacy marks him out as as a novelist different in kind from others.ABOUT THE SERIES The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

    As a widow, she has certain freedoms other women do not. But she has neither the time nor inclination to look for dalliance. She’s much too busy overseeing the very special properties left to her by the late duke—including the elite gaming hell known as Dante’s Inferno. Until another nobleman returns to London and reminds her that she is still a young, passionate woman.The Duke of Evermont, has returned from his sugar plantations in the Caribbean. His life is full running his estates and seeing to his investments. The last thing he’s searching for is a wife. That is until he sees Eleanor again, and other society beauties fade in comparison. The last time he saw her, Eleanor was walking down the aisle to another man. This time, Evermont is determined not to let the beautiful and vibrant lady slip through his hands. Fortunately for him, the duchess turns to him for help—and he’s more than willing to sweep her under his ducal cloak of protection. Whether his assistance is required in shielding her from members of society foolish enough to gamble away their fortunes, or from the heartless schemes of her own father—Evermont will do what it takes to show her their future together is a sure thing.

    Following the stories of present day Io and her 19th century ancestor, Talia, The Living Memory explores the relationship between where we came from and where we are going." @DanniiElleReads at UnitedByPop.com"A clever, well-crafted and entertaining read with two great young heroines brought together across the centuries by their startling powers over memory." Amazon.co.uk"Took my imagination for a perfect ride!" A. Melcher

    When a grisly double murder interrupts a party in the floating mansion of the city’s most powerful man, detective-for-hire T.H. Kipsey is coerced into taking the enigmatic case.George Wright Padgett weaves a cat-and-mouse mystery through a steampunk, alternate-American history that will thrill readers of Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker and Christopher Beats steam-noir Magnocracy series. Join Kip as he races against time to unravel the clues that will thrust him across the city, up to the clouds, and into the depths beneath Addleton Heights.

    With spinsterhood looming on the horizon, she and a friend set sail for America on one last adventure. When her travels take her to northern Maine, Julia meets a reclusive but handsome artist, whose rudeness masks a broken heart Julia feels compelled to mend.Still haunted by the betrayal and death of his pregnant wife two years before, Geoffrey Jordan is determined never to risk his heart again. Certainly not with the gorgeous and impetuous aristocrat who intrudes upon his small-town solitude, and is far too similar to his late wife to tempt him to take another chance on love.But when Julia and Geoffrey find themselves united in a reckless plan to save Julia’s friend from ruin, they discover that temptation is impossible to resist.

     Diana Wells has led a charmed life – that is, if you discount her strict governess, who wields a disciplinary paddle expertly. Diana is the beloved ward of Sir Alfred Thorsby, and is destined to marry into Victorian England’s aristocracy. But all this is fated to change when she meets the handsome American Naval officer, Captain John Bates. Tantalized by his first kiss, Diana inadvertently sets a sequence of events into motion that will carry her beyond her wildest dreams. Her adventure begins when she is captured by an Egyptian prince who is intent on making her into his trophy harem slave girl. After her indoctrination into the erotic arts, Diana's beloved John Bates arrives to rescue her. However, this is not the end of her ordeal as a slave girl... it is only the beginning. Secretly following her brother – Herbert – and Captain Bates, Diana makes the mistake of boarding her uncle’s Moon Car. Diana’s Uncle George is a professor studying the lost Egyptian science of anti-gravity and levitation. He is planning a trip to the moon. Unknown to the others, Diana stows away and inadvertently joins the voyage. Going up is easy. Getting back down – not so simple. This romantic science fiction story, set in July, 1840, offers exciting discoveries and an alternate meaning to ancient mythology; including a different outlook on the inspiration behind the famous Venus in the half shell painting.

     Pleasure and pain are one in the era of Victorian romances. An essential collection from the author who has mastered the genre. USA Today Bestseller Zoe Blake is known for her explicit descriptions, creative chastisement and wickedly wanton love scenes. The Submission of Little Emmie Disciplining the Maid Penelope’s Punishment Chosen to be His Little Angeline The Duke’s Possession Papa’s Little Pain Princess

    She’s loving, passionate and just defiant enough to deserve the bare-bottom spankings her dominant husband secretly delights in administering. Elise loves James, and would give him anything. Except the truth.James’ desire to discover the identity of London’s most notorious writer creates a personal dilemma for young Elise. For how could her law-abiding husband possibly suspect that his sweet wife is the author of the indecent books he won’t even allow her to read?As James’ zeal to catch the author grows, so does Elise’s belief that her passionate husband is little more than a hypocrite who decries written description of the very kind of rough sex they both enjoy.So Elise sets a moral trap for her husband, penning subsequent works to include descriptions of sex and punishment her husband cannot ignore, believing he cannot convict the author without convicting himself in the process.But as the search for the author narrows, the tension – both marital and sexual – grows between a husband and wife with very differing philosophies on the topic of carnal knowledge.“His Defiant Bride” is a Victorian tale that contains scenes of explicit sex, erotic and punishment spankings, and graphic anal play. Please do not purchase this book if such material offends you.

    For Dodger, life as a criminal kingpin is losing its allure. Leading a gang of petty thieves from the Seven Dials is not as easy as Fagin made it look and after a year in charge Jack Dawkins has been reduced to a shadow of the man who used to be the envy of every pickpocket in London. Opium-addicted and heavy-fingered, Dodger is fast becoming a laughing stock on his own patch until a chance encounter leads him to Paris and a job like nothing he's had before. In a city alive with rebellion, Dodger must avoid assassins, jilted lovers and revolutionaries, and rediscover his touch if he is to lift his most precious treasure yet. The third in the James Benmore's acclaimed series continuing the story of the Artful Dodger, this book confirms Jack Dawkins as one of the great fiction characters.

    This vignette is a fanciful imagining of John Thornton being dressed down by an aging but spry Elizabeth Bennet. It first appeared on Tamara Austen’s blog, My Kids Led Me Back to Pride & Prejudice.It is republished here in celebration of the new Audiobook release of Northern Rain, narrated by Stevie Zimmerman. This same vignette can also be found on Goodreads under Creative Writing.I offer no justification for the following frivolity, other than I wrote it purely for my own amusement. -NC

    She's never cared for a man before, but surely it can't be hard to learn… HIS SPRINGTIME BRIDE by Kathryn Albright Spring is in the air… Can rancher Gabe Coulter and Riley Rawlins, the boss's daughter, find forgiveness and renew the lovers' vows they made so long ago? WHEN A COWBOY SAYS I DO by Lauri Robinson Dal Roberts must make his sister's wedding a success, which means accompanying seamstress Ellie to Wichita. Could there be a double wedding on the horizon…?

    Cast from society and suddenly penniless, Helena must relocate to the Welsh mountains, only to learn that her new neighbor is none other than the notorious madman Theodotus Mallory. But is Theo really as mad as London society says? Theo, tormented by the horrors he witnessed during the Crimean War, has finally found serenity in living a simple life tending to his gardens. Helena’s unexpected presence shatters that peace, for he harbors the devastating secret that led to her misfortunes. Now she is destitute and frightened because of him… and he can’t deny his mounting attraction to the beautiful young woman. Can he pursue a life with Helena, all the while knowing his role in her downfall?

    Inside the brown paper package was the body of a baby girl – she had been strangled with tape. When two more tiny bodies were found in a carpet bag, the police launched a nationwide hunt for a serial killer.A faint name and address on the sodden wrapping provided Reading police with their first clue. Can Chief Constable George Tewsley and his colleagues catch this heartless baby farmer before more infants meet a similar fate? The first in a new historical true crime series, Victorian Supersleuth Investigates, Angela Buckley recounts the frantic race to stop Amelia Dyer - one of Britain’s most prolific murderers.

    finally, her story. When street urchin Georgiana Hayes meets a mysterious gentleman who offers her a warm meal and a chance to get warm again, she cannot resist. The man who has rescued her from the cold is, in fact, Mr. Philip Hartley; headmaster of the Ashby Chateau - a finishing school, and a place where young ladies can learn to submit and rediscover their inner 'little' selves. He is looking for a new nanny, and is quick to offer the position to Georgiana. Georgiana accepts gratefully, and she instantly becomes The Nanny. Unfortunately, she soon realizes that she is not really cut out for the role of disciplinarian. If anything, she finds herself beginning to envy the girls under her care, and wishes that she, too, could experience what it would be like to be little; to be cherished, cared for, and loved. Theodore Elliott, a well-established businessman, is seeking a wife, and has craved the special love and affection of a 'little' for as long as he can remember. The moment he sets eyes on Nanny Giana, he knows without a doubt that she is the one he has been searching for. No other little at the school can compare to the dark-haired beauty. Can Theo convince the headmaster to allow Giana to resign from her position as governess and enroll in the Ashby Chateau as a little? More importantly, is Giana willing to take that step for a man she barely knows... but is intrigued by? Can she surrender herself physically, emotionally and sexually in order to become what Theo desires above all else: his little Gia? From the authors of the best-selling 'Enrolling Little Etta', this next book in the Ashby Chateau series also contains elements of age-play, anal play, spanking, and graphic sex. While 'The Nanny' does feature some characters and settings from the first book, it should be noted that it can be read as a standalone.

    Brown. Kitty Butler, the town dressmaker, is as curious as anyone else. She only knows one thing about that crate in the post office: everyone else's guesses about its contents are all wrong. When Dr. Brown unpacks the crate and reveals the first bicycle the town has ever seen, he wants to share his enthusiasm for this revolutionary new piece of technology —but encounters overwhelming hostility instead of the excitement he'd expected. The only one who seems positively interested is the pretty young widow Kitty Butler, and Dr. Brown soon realizes how much he needs her support…

    The only way to save what is left of the family estate is for her to marry a man of means, but she draws the line at being forced to submit to the vicious Marquess of Radcliffe, her only suitor. Feigning illness to avoid wedding Radcliffe, Cassandra comes under the care of Dr. Henry Sutherland, a Ruttingdon Club member and a specialist in the treatment of female hysteria. He can tell immediately that she is faking her symptoms, but the thought of a week with the beautiful woman at his private sanatorium is just too tempting to resist. But Cassandra needs a decent, agreeable husband, not a week at a remote therapy spa, where there are few people at all to be found, let alone any unattached men of good breeding. Still, that is where she ends up, although she has no intention of remaining there. Her repeated escape attempts from the place find her over the handsome doctor's knee three times before she realizes that the man to save her and her father might just be right in front of her! Publisher’s note: Do As the Doctor Orders contains depictions of adult spanking and sexuality, as well as descriptions of erotic behavior induced by nineteenth century medical devices meant to treat female complaints. If subject matter such as this does not appeal to you, please do not read this book.

    Wimbourne Books presents the second in a series of rare or out-of-print ghost stories from Victorian authors. With an introduction by author Alastair Gunn, Volume 2 in the series spans the years 1836 to 1901, contains ghost stories set at or around Christmas, and includes stories from a wide range of authors including Charles Dickens, Amelia B. Edwards and J. S. Le Fanu. Readers new to this genre will discover its pleasures; the Victorian quaintness, the sometimes shocking difference in social norms, the almost comical politeness and structured etiquette, the archaic and precise language, but mostly the Victorians’ skill at stoking our fears and trepidations, our insecurities and doubts. Even if you are already an aficionado of the ghostly tale there is much within these pages to interest you. Wait until the dark of the snowy night (preferably on Christmas Eve), lock the doors, shutter the windows, light the fire, sit with your back to the wall and bury yourself in the Victorian macabre. Try not to let the creaking floorboards, the distant howl of a dog, the chill breeze that caresses the candle, the shadows in the far recesses of your room, disturb your concentration.

    Only one escaped, and in this book the secret of how he did it is disclosed. Together with exclusive and never before published photographs of one of the ‘Ripper’ suspects, plus other dangerous patients.You won’t want to miss the words of Chief Attendant Coleman in this revealing new book.

    But something in the distant past had turned it into a murky, putrid dreamscape instead, a crumbling city haunted by a scourge of revenants whose origins and purpose now seem destined to be hidden in the shadows forever. Not even the brave, dogged attempts at fighting midnight creatures by the descendants of a select bloodline can rid the city of the near-daily threat.Michele De Santis is a young minor sorcerer, a reluctant champion who, along with his twin sister and his cousin, has lost too much through the years and has resigned himself to a life of endless midnight hunts while selling healing and protection spells and artifacts during the day. A life of loneliness, of a forced solitude in a desperate bid at keeping collateral damage at a minimum appears to be his only future.When long-dead corpses suddenly turn without vampire bites, logical patterns no longer hold true, leaving the weary hunters baffled and unsure for the first time. Decima's bronze guardians fall silent for no reason, a dark, binding spell muting their warnings. A long-abandoned church shows signs of life in the most grotesque ways imaginable. And everything seems to point to an unknown threat, one that's long lain dormant but has been awakened by the arrival of a young English heir and his amateur antiquarian uncle.Romance and the gothic layer 'Hell-Knights' with the dark, rich textures of an alternate universe Europe, a nineteenth century world where magic reigns supreme, and love knows no gender

    During the mid-19th century, mule-drawn canal boats by the hundreds travelled a liquid superhighway called the Illinois & Michigan Canal, an economic thoroughfare that spurred the growth of towns like LaSalle, Ottawa, and Joliet along its banks, in addition to helping found the now-famous inland port city called Chicago.Passage to Chicago takes the reader on a special journey by giving them an in-depth, illustrated look at life on a fictional canal boat, the Prairie Star, as it travels to Chicago just before the Civil War.You will experience the daily lives of those who lived and worked on the canal boats, as well as the towns through with they traveled. Hop on board with the canalers, mule boys, the lock tenders, and their families, miners, quarrymen, shopkeepers, and others, to witness their world of more than 150 years ago.

    

    Jenny was engaged as Sir Richard’s secretary before their marriage and will be homeless if she is evicted from the estate. But the handsome new master is unmoved by her plight. Zephyr is a career thief who has his eye on one prize: stolen gold from a long-ago heist that was hidden on the property. When his predecessor’s beautiful, strange widow thwarts his plans, Jackson applies pressure to break Jenny’s will and she is forced to reveal a shameful secret. The knowledge gives him power over the young woman until a sinister threat arises that pushes them into a passionate alliance. -------------------------- The Master of Cliff House is the third novel in Catherine Lloyd’s Victorian Villains Saga. Four villainous fathers drowned at sea curse their four sons with greed, murder, lust and pride. Set in Victorian England, this steamy, suspenseful saga is written in the classic gothic romance tradition of Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney. The Master of Cliff House contains scenes, language and themes written for a mature audience.

    The only problem: she’s a woman and the only jobs available are nannies and governesses, neither of which she wants anything to do with.Dressing as a man is easy. She cuts her long blonde locks and works as a coal-whipper, earning enough to live on her own. It’s not the life she dreams of, but it’s respectable work.When Henry Clarke visits with an announcement that the queen’s guard is hiring and the pay is at least double what she’s currently making, she jumps at the opportunity to enlist and help serve her country and protect Queen Victoria. Pretending to be a man is easy, it’s the fact that Henry catches sight of her female self while bathing in the river, which has her caught up in a tizzy, worried he’ll discover her secret. He only suspects she has a twin brother. How long can she keep up the charade? Will Jessie be able to hide her womanly virtue and remain in service to the queen without causing havoc?Guarded Discipline is filled with spankings for naughty behavior, anal play, and graphic sexual content.

    Seduced by the thrill of an affluent lifestyle, as well as a tidy sum of money, she agrees to travel to London to attend the Season. In order to successfully masquerade as Lady Clara Prescott – a young lady with whom she shares a striking resemblance – she begins to take lessons, and she learns far more than merely which fork to use or how to execute a proper curtsey. Despite her fears, she finds herself adapting to the high life quite well. All would be perfect except for one very serious complication. The handsome but straitlaced Lord Hayworth seems to be on to her. As they engage in a battle of wits, she fears that at the very least he will make good on his promise to tan her backside, and at the worst, he will expose her as an imposter. Set in the luxurious world of London’s high society, Being Lady Clara is both a charming Cinderella story, and a steamy tale of sexual awakening.

    This collection includes:- Hopeful Heart- Uncivil Discord- Love Endures All- Begin Again- The Range War- Annah's Hope- Oregon Trail- The Long Road Home- When Two Hearts Meet- Turn the World Around- Stealing My Heart

    In Victorian novels, women may marry for erotic desire--but they might, instead, insist on "familiar marriage," marrying trustworthy companions who can offer them socially rich lives and futures of meaningful work. Romance's Rival shows how familiar marriage expresses ideas of female subjectivity dating back through the seventeenth century, while romantic marriage felt like a new, risky idea.Undertaking a major rereading of the rise-of-the-novel tradition, from Richardson through the twentieth century, Talia Schaffer rethinks what the novel meant if one tracks familiar-marriage virtues. This alternative perspective offers new readings of major texts (Austen, the Brontes, Eliot, Trollope) but it also foregrounds women's popular fiction (Yonge, Oliphant, Craik, Broughton). Offering a feminist perspective that reads the marriage plot from the woman's point of view, Schaffer inquires why a female character might legitimately wish to marry for something other than passion. For the past half-century, scholars have valorized desire, individuality, and autonomy in the way we read novels; Romance's Rival asks us to look at the other side, to validate the yearning for work, family, company, or social power as legitimate reasons for women's marital choices in Victorian fiction.Comprehensive in its knowledge of several generations of scholarship on the novel, Romance's Rival convinces us to re-examine assumptions about the nature and function of marriage and the role of the novel in helping us not simply imagine marriage but also process changing ideas about what it might look like and how it might serve people.

    Her Journal (originally comprising some 20,000 hand-written pages but pared down to a few hundred for publication) was a cause célèbre after her death and continue to be an inspiration to the Women’s Movement to this day. It also inspired such writers as Anaïs Nin and Katherine Mansfield among many others. ​Born into an aristocratic family in a village in Ukraine the family soon settled in France, first in Nice and later in Paris. Taught entirely by tutors at home Marie spoke multiple languages, played numerous musical instruments and longed for a singing career on the stage. An illness that affected her throat made her change course and she took up painting for which she had a latent talent. As a student at the Académie Julian in Paris she was soon exhibiting at the annual Paris Salon, the penultimate venue for artists.But it was her personality that makes Marie Bashkirtseff such an exceptional individual. At a very young age she was already exhibiting in her Journal the thoughts of a learned philosopher, wrestling with the nature of God, the position of women in society and the politics of men. On the other hand, her family life was one of constant turmoil and personal strife. Having contracted tuberculosis in early childhood she ceaselessly strove to shrug it off in her quest to achieve greatness. In the end, a great tragedy unfolds during her final days as she and her dear friend, the well-known French artist, Jules Bastien-Lepage, are both virtually dying together in one another’s arms. Marie is 25, Bastien-Lepage dies a month later age 36.The book is somewhat unique in format. The first part of about 200 pages is a biographical section that describes Marie’s unusual and fascinating life. Then a second section, consists of a Journal excerpt (in English translation from the original French) on each left-hand page, juxtaposed with one of her outstanding works of art on the facing page. In this manner, we learn about her remarkable life and tribulations, enter her restive and brilliant mind via her Journal, as well as appreciate her exceptionally fine works as an artist.Some Marie Bashkirtseff Quotations:To die! My God, to die! To die without leaving anything behind me? To die like a dog, like hundreds of thousands of women whose names are barely engraved upon their tombs?Let us love dogs; let us love only dogs. Men and cats are unworthy creatures.Love accomplishes the miracle of mixing souls.My relatives haven’t committed any crime except to be born stupid!All men are scoundrels; a woman must change them as she changes her gloves.I hide a mystery; death has touched me with its finger.Vernon Press 2016 9781622731718 https://www.vernonpress.com/title?id=240

    London, England.Some seriously clever sleight of hand is needed if aspiring lawyer Caro Addison is ever going to enjoy this Christmas. To avoid an unwanted marriage proposal, she needs a distraction as neat as the tricks used by The Phantom, the audacious diamond thief who has left Scotland Yard clueless.While her detective inspector uncle methodically hunts the villain, Caro decides to investigate a suspect of her own – the handsome Tobias Black, a magician extraordinaire, known as The Dark Duke. He’s the only one with the means, motive and opportunity but the art of illusion means not everything is as it seems, in both crime and affairs of the heart.As Christmas Day draws near, Caro must decide whether it is worth risking reputations and friendships in order to follow her desires.

    But this book is not entirely about those. It's more about some of the weird and wonderful inventions, ideas and projects - some successful, others less so - that have largely been forgotten. Where well-known inventions or design concepts are included, it is from a perspective not previously appreciated, with details of the ingenious technology and thinking that led to their introduction and success.Here you can read how Victorian innovators were responsible for: the world's largest glass structure; an electric railway with lines under the sea and a carriage on stilts 20 feet above the waves; a monster globe that visitors could enter to see the world's land masses, seas, mountains and valleys modeled on the interior; cameras disguised as bowler hats and many other everyday objects; the London Underground as a steam railway; safety coffins designed to prevent premature burial; unusual medical uses for electricity; the first traffic lights, which exploded a month after their erection in Westminster; and the birth and rapid rise to popularity of the cinema ... as well as many other ingenious inventions.

    A foreign stranger, soaked through from a raging storm, is waiting in the foyer. When Verity walks down the stairs she meets a man who cuts a striking figure. He is tall, with dark hair and blazing blue eyes, and she is captivated by him. His name is Dantae Fellini, and he claims to be secretary to an Italian Count whose carriage has crashed. She immediately offers shelter, but soon discovers their mishap was not an accident.Even though she senses she has invited danger into her home she does not send him away. He makes her face blush red and butterflies flutter with just a look. When they are finally alone he demonstrates he is no ordinary man, and possesses the same dark passions she once shared with her beloved husband If you enjoy suspenseful historical romance with a dashing alpha male who doesn't hesitate to discipline a naughty woman, look no further than Maggie Carpenter's latest novel, a thrilling Victorian page-turner. Pick it up today.

    Lawrence Alma-Tadema's paintings were immensely popular among his contemporaries, and have since enchanted a wide audience through the medium of cinema. Anyone who has ever enjoyed the great epic films of antiquity--from Italian silent classics and Cecil B. DeMille to Ridley Scott's Gladiator--will instantly recognize their origins in sets and costumes Alma- Tadema invented. Accompanied by glowing reproductions of the artist's rich and detailed works, this book boldly re-assesses Alma-Tadema's art through the idea of home: from his admiration for the interiors depicted in early Dutch paintings through his fascination with Pompeian ruins, to his creation of large studio houses that were artworks in their own right. Building upon Alma-Tadema's renown as "the archaeologist of artists," the new scholarship in this impressive volume shows how the spaces he created and inhabited with his talented artist-wife Laura and their two daughters reflected an aesthetic vision that has thrilled viewers and other artists for more than a century. Appealing to general and scholarly audiences alike, this book underscores Alma-Tadema's reputation as one of his era's greatest creative talents.

    But when Peter finished buttoning his coat to ward off the chill, he realized he was no longer alone in the lakeside cemetery. Was his past catching up with him? This short (17 pages) tale of a Victorian haunting will delight readers of classic ghost stories.

    They exist. In the darkness, in the forests and lonely places of the world, they have always existed. Waiting, hiding, feeding on the weak. And you thought they were only old wives' tales to scare the children... Until now. In 1865, during the rise of Science and the Age of Steam, the Shadows of the Void are gathering. These sinister forces, separated for millennia, have only one goal; to unite and enslave the entire population of the world! Flintstaff and Cramp, adventurers and inventors, are humanity’s last chance; with the aid of steam-powered weapons and a mythical, Tibetan suitcase they must fight the encroaching darkness. They will be forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity. And it may not be enough... In 2015 sixteen year-old Charlie is about to discover the world isn’t what it seems. And he doesn't want anything to do with it. No computer games or scary movies can prepare him for the horrors he’s soon to face as he's propelled into a terrifying adventure that will test his courage and friendships beyond breaking point.

    A meeting whose otherworldly purpose quietly and gradually takes shape as the child matures. A meeting that has left the wood under a dark spell, unable to rise up in fury to undo what it sees as a violation of natural laws.Two families from old aristocratic lines agree to end the century-long and bloody feud that has left one side fading and the other flourishing. To achieve such an end, Laurent Veilleux, the youngest of his family, and Brys Lajoie, the last of his bloodline, are forced to marry though still strangers to each other. Marriages of convenience and political marriages are common among the upper-crust, and despite their initial reluctance and disdain, Laurent and Brys slowly allow themselves to open their hearts and minds to each other in hopes that somehow, by some miracle, love would eventually bloom between them.But their union has awakened something, a fragrant and deadly shadow that leaves a trail of bodies in its wake. Healthy people suddenly fall ill and die after suffering long, excruciating declines marked by symptoms of poison. Plants and flowers wilt, butterflies and birds tumble to the ground dead, and it appears as though this murderous shadow follows the young couple everywhere.To make matters worse, this threat seems to gather more strength when Laurent and Brys develop the emotional connection they’ve always hoped for. And somewhere in the French countryside, the woodlands finally emerge from the dark spell, unleash their fury, and seek justice for a past wrong, the trees’ reach spanning distances in search of the unsuspecting pair.Inspired by the poison maiden legend from India, which Nathaniel Hawthorne also adapted in “Rappaccini’s Daughter”, 'The Flowers of St. Aloysius' is a gothic gay fairy tale set in an alternate universe nineteenth century France.

    "Ladies" never put a foot wrong, never say an inappropriate word, and never cause their parents a moment of distress. "Ladies" can overcome any embarrassment with grace and poise.….and then there's Gertrude.Gertrude struggles in the bright light of Society, trying to keep her poise and not embarrass her adoring mother. But when she falls for the most eligible bachelor the Season has to offer, she literally falls.​….on him.Lord Chatterton survives Lady Gertrude's onslaught with dignity. While Society mocks her from the sidelines, Chatterton isn't laughing. He's falling, too. For Gertrude.

    But his plans are forced to change as he uncovers a complex web of intrigue and scandal that reaches from revolutionary France to the very heart of Victorian Society. What is he to make of such an unwelcome discovery? And who is the mysterious woman he encounters again and again when walking by the sea?A testament from the grave that reveals one of the most powerful yet maligned of 19th Century courtesans whose life has been almost erased from history. But it is knowledge that does not please everyone.[image]Video Trailer

    Being dressed and treated as a little is tedious work. When Mr. August Sanders visits the academy in search of a little bride, he sets his eyes on the alluring Miss Kathryn. Desiring her to be his little Kat, August declares he wishes to purchase her outright, for the intention of marriage. She hastily agrees so that she might leave with him. Perhaps she will find a better life away from the care of her strict nanny and the despicable Mr. Edwin. What Kathryn hopes is a fresh start turns out to be a constant reminder of those she left behind at the academy. With the threat of harm to her family looming overhead, she must find it in herself to trust August.
 Little Prim and Proper contains elements of age play, anal play, spanking, and graphic sex.

    Queen Victoria has once again called Lord Parker Greene into service, this time to discover how and why her flying mail schooners have been disappearing. While Greene chases the sky pirates, his niece and nephew, Mildred and Cole, his wards since their father disappeared, are coming of age in bucolic Wickwillowshire without much supervision beyond the staff at Wickwillow Manor. Parker and his missing brother, Cecil, under the guise of being Plant Hunters, travel the world as Queen Victoria's emissaries. They right the wrongs that allow England to remain powerful and a wonderful place to live, even while the rest of the world falls into squander. This time, the battle is against the sky pirates who have been stealing the flying mail schooners. The mail currently contains plans for new steam operated objects and devices-the pirates want to obtain these plans to use them against England. Parker, along with a large number of captured little people (the pirates use the dwarfs as slave labor), thwart the pirates, steal back the plans, and escape on the great flying ship, Balsa Robin. Mildred and Cole, meanwhile, find love with the arrival of the new Vicar and his two children. The boys, Cole and Horatio, fall in love; the girls Mildred and Edith also fall in love.