Why, just about anyone would make a more suitable match...even her own paid companion, Emily Townsend! But if her dear, practical-minded Robert were to back out of the betrothal, the tongues of the ton would never stop wagging...At the very least, the dowager decides, she will extract a promise from her grandson to find Emily a husband. But when the handsome, rakish earl comes to know the charms of Emily Townsend, he suddenly regrets his hasty engagement-and is sorely tempted to win her hand for himself.

    She quickly earns a place in the company, narrowly avoiding the life of prostitution to which her sister has already succumbed. As her roles evolve from supporting to starring, the scope of her life broadens as well. Soon Ellen is dressed in the finest fashions, charming the theatrical, literary, and royal luminaries of Restoration England. Ellen grows up on the stage, experiencing first love and heartbreak and eventually becoming the mistress of Charles II. Despite his reputation as a libertine, Ellen wholly captures his heart-and he hers-but even the most powerful love isn't enough to stave off the gossip and bitter court politics that accompany a royal romance. Telling the story through a collection of vibrant seventeenth-century voices ranging from Ellen's diary to playbills, letters, gossip columns, and home remedies, Priya Parmar brings to life the story of an endearing and delightful heroine.

    Orphaned and unmarried in a time when women are legal property of their fathers, husbands, and guardians, she finds herself at the mercy of an anonymous guardian who plans to establish her as a servant in far-off Scotland.With two months to devise a better plan, Julia’s first choice to marry her childhood sweetheart is denied. But when a titled dowager offers to introduce Julia into society, a realm of possibilities opens. However, treachery and deception are as much a part of Victorian society as titles and decorum, and Julia quickly discovers her present is deeply entangled with her mother’s mysterious past. Before she knows what’s happening, Julia finds herself a pawn in a deadly game between two of the country’s most powerful men. With no laws to protect her, she must unravel the secrets on her own. But sometimes truth is elusive and knowledge is deadly.

    Determined to give her daughter a better life than the one she herself has lived, the young mother vows to break the newborn’s bonds of poverty and ensure that she fulfills her destiny—to dance with kings. Purely by chance, a drunken nobleman witnesses the birth and makes a reckless promise to return for Marguerite in seventeen years. With those fateful words, events are set into motion that will span three monarchies, affecting the lives of four generations of women.Marguerite becomes part of the royal court of the Sun King, but her fairy-tale existence is torn out from under her by a change of political winds. Jasmin, Marguerite’s daughter, is born to the life of privilege her grandmother dreamed of, but tempts fate by daring to catch the eye of the king. Violette, Marguerite’s granddaughter, is drawn to the nefarious side of life among the nobles at Versailles. And Rose, Violette’s daughter, becomes a lady-in-waiting and confidante to Marie Antoinette. Through Rose, a love lost generations before will come full circle, even as the ground beneath Versailles begins to rumble with the chaos of the coming revolution.An epic generational tale of loves lost, promises kept, dreams broken, and monarchies shattered, To Dance with Kings is a story of passion and privilege, humble beginnings and limitless ambition.

    Aware of the dangers in nursing a potential scoundrel back to health, she nevertheless takes a chance on the handsome stranger—especially when he awakens with no memory.When Jackson Montgomery comes to, he is greeted by a vision of beauty that instantly sparks the fire of passion within him. But as his memory returns, the shattering secrets hidden in his past threaten to destroy any chance he has of winning Amanda’s love. Only through feigned amnesia can Jackson capture Amanda’s heart, but can he do so before she learns the truth of his brazen charade and his dark past?

    It was under a pseudonym, of course, but the story she’d thought would sell only a few copies to help stave off her father’s creditors was becoming a sensation. Passion’s Seed had the beau monde in a panic, because it was all about ‘them’! If it were ever revealed that she, one of the aristocracy’s own, was the author, she would be ruined.Now she was contemplating doing something equally scandalous. The ‘rules’ dictated that, as a woman, she had to wait until marriage to enjoy pleasures men were allowed when single. Lady Babs, however, had other ideas, for she had fallen in love with the man known as Lord Wildfire, a dashing duke with a penchant for the ladies but not for marriage.But while she yearned for Lord Wildfire, another man lusted after her. And Sir Edward was willing to go to any lengths to make her his—including following his hunch that Lady Babs was somehow involved in the publication of Passion’s Seed …**Note: This is an updated version of an earlier title written as Claudette Williams. The updated versions of Claudy's Claudette Williams titles are more sexually explicit.

    Kidnapping the man's bride-to-be brings Royce one step closer to fulfilling his vow of vengeance.Lady Alyna of Montvue has no desire to marry nor to become a pawn in a game of revenge. Her only wish is to find a safe place to raise her young son, a child gifted with second sight.Alyna soon realizes this bold knight has captured her heart but fears she's merely part of his plot for revenge. The beautiful lady and her precocious son make Royce long for a family of his own, yet his plans have already been set in motion and cannot be stopped. As passions rise, Royce must choose between his vow of vengeance and risking his heart for love.

    Readers are loving it! Traveling through time...for a Highlander.Anne MacLeod's identical ancestor has made a wish on the Fairy Flag at Dunvegan Castle, one which sees the two young women swapping places in time and leaving Anne set to handfast with the very man her ancestor wished to escape. Only Anne sees the possibilities, because now she could change the future and ensure her parents never perished in the inferno which took their lives. Highland warrior Alex MacDonald has made an agreement to handfast with Anne in order to bring a halt to the feud raging between their clans. The last thing he expects though is a woman claiming to come from the future, a woman who stirs him on a physical and emotional level to protect, and to even believe. When Anne finds herself in her MacLeod chief's presence, she chooses to go with him in order to leave a message for her parents. In full pursuit, Alex wages a battle of the heart, and of the very essence of time. Can he defy the odds as Anne is taken from him...to work his own magic and get her back? Each book in this series is standalone, and can be enjoyed out of sequence.HIGHLANDER HEAT SERIES Highlander's Castle #1 Highlander's Magic #2 Highlander's Charm #3 Highlander's Guardian #4 Highlander's Faerie #5 Highlander's Champion #6 Highlander's Captive #7 (Short story, 11,000 words)

    While the city celebrates its freedom, she’s stuck in the prison of an unhappy marriage. When her husband commits one betrayal too many, Copper demands a separation.Alone in Paris, she finds an unlikely new friend: an obscure, middle-aged designer from the back rooms of a decaying fashion house whose timid nature and reluctance for fame clash with the bold brilliance of his designs. His name is Christian Dior.Realising his genius, Copper urges Dior to strike out on his own, helping to pull him away from his insecurities and towards stardom. With just a camera and a typewriter, she takes her own advice and ventures into the wild and colourful world of fashion journalism.Soon Copper finds herself torn between two very different suitors, questioning who she is and what she truly wants. As the city rebuilds and opulence returns, can Copper make a new, love-filled life for herself?

    So when he meets Marguerite, a bright young American with whom he can talk freely about both, he is able to love again and takes her back to Ireland as his wife. But Marguerite soon discovers that married life is not what she expected, and that she has married into a troubled family bitterly divided by love and hatred. Cashelmara becomes the curse of three generations as they play out their fates in a spellbinding drama, which moves inexorably towards murder and retribution.

    As an informal confidant of Sir Robert Cecil, adviser to King James I, he witnesses the making of history, from the Gunpowder Plot to the accession of King Charles I and the growing animosity between Parliament and court.Tradescant's talents soon come to the attention of the most powerful man in the country, the irresistible Duke of Buckingham, the lover of King Charles I. Tradescant has always been faithful to his masters, but Buckingham is unlike any he has ever known: flamboyant, outrageously charming, and utterly reckless. Every certainty upon which Tradescant has based his life--his love of his wife and children, his passion for his work, his loyalty to his country--is shattered as he follows Buckingham to court, to war, and to the forbidden territories of human love.

    Aster Tanner is alone in the world and keeps a roof over her head by working the one asset she has - her mind. She needs her job; she does not need a Scotsman underfoot, making her heart flutter with heated glances and impertinent questions.Iain McIntyre, Captain in the Second Dragoons, has a confidential assignment: find a list rumoured to name traitors working against England. He is looking for anything unusual -- like a woman working as a secretary. He tells himself his fascination with the lass is because she holds a man's position, and nothing to do with his rising desire to know the sharp mind hidden behind her darkened glasses.When Aster is targeted by those intent on recovering the list, she must decide who to trust. She has seven encrypted names. But whose? Meanwhile, Iain is on the trail of a double agent. Time is running out, and secrets must be decoded before lives and hearts are sacrificed.

    Seductive. Innocent. Jane Popyncourt was brought to the court as a child to be ward of the king and a companion to his daughters -- the princesses Margaret and Mary. With no money of her own, Jane could not hope for a powerful marriage, or perhaps even marriage at all. But as she grows into a lovely young woman, she still receives flattering attention from the virile young men flocking to serve the handsome new king, Henry VIII, who has recently married Catherine of Aragon. Then a dashing French prisoner of war, cousin to the king of France, is brought to London, and Jane finds she cannot help giving some of her heart -- and more -- to a man she can never marry. But the Tudor court is filled with dangers as well as seductions, and there are mysteries surrounding Jane's birth that have made her deadly enemies. Can she cultivate her beauty and her amorous wiles to guide her along a perilous path and bring her at last to happiness? Basing her gripping tale on the life of the real Jane Popyncourt, gifted author Kate Emerson brings the Tudor monarchs, their family, and their courtiers to brilliant life in this vibrant new novel.

    . . .

    He expected a country mouse with no polish, but instead he found a thoroughly engaging minx, and was oddly irritated by all the male attention she received.Chelsea with her unspoiled eye saw beyond Wainwright’s pursuit of hedonism to the intriguing man underneath. But to her shock, it appeared his heart belonged to her horrid Aunt Augusta!Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.390 KB 72,000 word count