Since her viscount father passed away, the family’s resources have dwindled, and she dreads becoming a destitute spinster. But when she’s invited to the Duke of Mumshire’s country estate—where she’ll be considered for the heir’s hand—hope returns.A trip to the country will also take her mind off the crime she’d witnessed at the last event of the season—an unbearably handsome stranger stealing a lady’s purse. Catherine and the thief locked gazes in the middle of the act, and while she was quickly been swept away by the crowd, later that night she was introduced to the thief, Henri LaFleur. Now he knows her name and can force her silence.Catherine shakes the memory…until LaFleur shows up as a fellow guest at the Duke of Mumshire’s estate. This time, though, she finds herself terribly, inexplicably drawn to this thief. But is LaFleur who he seems?

    

    From the courageous struggle of the Hungarian revolution, to the dramatic strife of the civil rights movement in Mississippi…from Israel’s heroic fight for freedom, to the eve of the Six-Day War…Leah’s children confronted their own convictions and desires in an ever-changing world fraught with danger, idealism, and betrayal. Their uncompromising search for love and fulfillment carried them into dangerous emotional territory—where only the strength, courage, and imagination inherited from their mother could lead them to their own triumphant destinies.

    All that time she never forgot her first love. Now her husband is dead and she must mourn for a year. Sad and lonely she hopes to retire to the dower house, even though she is only 30. Maybe she will have some peace and yet the new duke will not hear of it. Why does he look at her so? Kent Sheridan, the Earl of Wimborne has golden hair and rich brown eyes and he has never married. Knowing that the woman of his dreams is now free is a delicious form of torture. How he wishes to ride over and see her, to sweep her off her feet but etiquette says he cannot. Claudette finds herself in an increasingly uncomfortable situation. One day danger finds her in her once peaceful home. Will she escape the wrong duke? Can Kent find the love he longs for? Find out in this sweet, and clean Regency romance by bestselling author Charlotte Darcy.

     From Chapter 1: “Pearl,” Momma tried to make her voice strong. “I aim to whip you for what you done.” Those words struck me hard. Why was she saying a thing like that to me? “I saved you from those dogs,” I said triumphantly as I looked down at Momma’s bleeding legs. Surely she knew what would have happened to her if it hadn’t been for me. “You disobeyed me. You know better than to disobey me.” Her words troubled me something awful, and I shivered with dread as tried to think of a way to make her appreciate what I’d done. I didn’t deserve a whipping for saving her life. From Chapter 23: I had what few things I owned in a feed sack when Frank came in the door. “Them’s my hogs,” I told him. “I’ll cross the hill twice a day to feed ‘em. Don’t you dare do anything with ‘em.” “What are you talkin’ about.” “Your precious ma said she’d get Ralph’s shotgun and kill me if I didn’t get out of her house.” “No way,” Frank said. “Ask her yourself,” I told him. I heard the sound of Effie moving her wheelchair over the floor. “Frank, honey. I said no sech a thing. You know what a liar she is.” I lifted my chin and glared at Frank. I needed to see whose side he was going to take.” “Calm down,” he told me. “I’ll put Ma in bed so we can talk.” Those weren’t the words I needed to hear. “Oh, Frankie,” Effie moaned. “What are we gonna do with her?” Frank didn’t answer as he took hold of the chair. I slung the sack over my shoulder and left the house. The least I could do was see if Lizzie would welcome me for a few days or not. From the Epilogue: I saw the tiredness come to Aunt Pearl’s face and didn’t ask her any more questions. I’d been told hundreds of stories by dozens of family members as well as non-family members. Aunt Pearl was right. My favorite words when I was growing up were, “Tell me a story.” Most everyone willingly obliged. Some people would be slow getting started, but once they got their story telling ability warmed up, they would hold me captive for hours. Pearl’s story has taken me many years to write. Pearl died less than a year after I’d gone to see her with my trusty tape recorder in hand. Much to my regret, she told me what was true. I’d waited a little too long to tape her stories, but I could still replay those stories in my head. Most of the stories I remember came from Lizzie. Once she started talking she continued talking even when there was no one left in the room to listen. I’ve done my best to connect some of the stories I’ve been told together in order to make this book possible. These stories hold a lot of truth, but I want the readers to realize that I’ve taken an author’s liberty in order to fit each story together into what I hope to be both entertaining and insightful. Therefore, I’ve written this book as fiction. There’s no way I could possibly know what people were thinking long before I was born. No way I can second-guess exactly what happened and why it happened, no way I can claim this book to be non-fiction although it is based on real happenings.

    But this is 1930s Ireland where they must fight against repressive laws and social attitudes.Harry has married his childhood sweetheart but finds his wife’s life and his marriage jeopardised by the strict laws of Church and State.As he struggles to become a writer, Joseph rejects the love of the girl next door. He goes to fight in the Spanish Civil War where he finds a different kind of love.Kathleen, an actress, has romantic ideas about going to Hollywood but a love affair threatens to ruin her life and shatter the happiness of her family.Mary becomes a teacher and forms some strong emotional bonds, but gossip and injustice may rob her of everything she holds dear.Can they overcome prejudice or must they bow to convention?

    As the past comes back to haunt him, the old doctor realises there are more sinister reasons for his abduction than he was led to believe. Is it too late for him to make amends?

    The Complete Georgette Quinby Regency Romance Series Meet the Mad Heiress, Miss Georgette Quinby. Nearly a decade ago, when her fiancé jilted her, and married another, she threw herself down the stairs in a fit of passion. Or maybe it was a parapet or perhaps a cliff. The Ton isn’t too sure, but they certainly won’t forgive nor let her forget. Georgette is sure she will never love again. Now she is companion to her young cousin and chaperoning her coming out. She has no prospects herself. But one night in a garden, she smells cigar smoke and realizes she is not alone. Georgette turns to leave, but it is too late. He has seen her and knows her. Meet Charles, Duke of Eversley, and erstwhile British spy in the continuing war with France. The Duke swore never to love another after the tragic death of his first wife, and he is still haunted by her memory. Georgette certainly didn’t want to open that wound. Neither did the Duke, but a cipher in a potted plant, an English traitor, a young gambler and a pair of star-crossed lovers pull the jaded couple together. Now Georgette has overheard something of great importance and she and Duke the must join forces to catch a spy working against their beloved England. From the ballrooms of the English Aristocracy, to ices at Vauxhall, to gambling halls, and secret meetings at the British Museum, Georgette and the Duke will risk their lives and their hearts for King and country. Both have sworn they will never love again…but together they will find that even the most broken of hearts can heal. Enjoy the Complete Georgette Quinby Collection.

    Jemima Ashton is desperate to discover her real identity. With scant information and the burning question 'who am I?', she embarks on an incredible journey of detection. On learning of her late mother Stella's disappearance during WWII, she retraces her footsteps across the globe and at a distant vineyard, unearths a family she had no idea existed. While treading a path of narrow-minded bigotry, scandalous revelations emerge of two families inextricably linked by one woman and the drastic steps they took to hide the truth. ‘A powerful story of love and loss spanning two generations’ Frances di Plino - author of the Paolo Storey Crime Series

    Saturday nights at the dance hall and dressmaking with her two best friends keep Lily upbeat, and now there’s a blossoming romance with childhood friend Harry Bainbridge to put an extra spring in her step, too.But then a run of misfortune threatens Lily’s work, home and personal life, and she has to rely on the community at the mill to rally together for support. With so many others to worry about, will Lily always put them first or can she find her own happy ending?A heart-warming, nostalgic tale of triumph over adversity that readers of Katie Flynn, Donna Douglas and Call the Midwife will adore.

    Bridie O’Hara, a beautiful young girl, is torn away from her native Ireland by her father – a freedom fighter, turned traitor, when he has to flee the wrath of the Fenians. Violated by him she ends up in a correction convent. Her escape, and meeting up with Bruiser Armitage, a pimp, sets her fate. One man tries to save her, Will Hadler, a kind, hard-working miner, whose love for Bridie knows no bounds. His rescue of her brings her happiness, but the demons inside her never give her peace. When Andrew Harvey, master of Hensal Grange, takes a fancy to her it is the beginning of Bridie sinking back into degradation. Her daughter, Bridget pays the price. Unprotected by her drunken mother, Bridget suffers rape and the heartbreak of having to give up her child, Megan.Book Two: AN UNBREAKABLE BOND: It is 1913 and for Megan and her friend, Hattie, the time has come to take up their placements and make their way in the world. Megan’s path leads her to fall into a marriage with a man she does not love and at whose hands she suffers beatings and rape. With Hattie’s help she finally escapes, but her path crosses that of the beautiful, rich and powerful, Laura Harvey. It is Laura’s need to have her wish at any price that triggers an eruption of violence that brings Megan near to death and sends Jack, the man both Megan and Laura love to prison, for a murder he did not commit.Hattie’s path crosses that of paedophile, Lord Marley. She is raped by him and his companion. Her ten pound silence money buys her an abortion but her choices have gone and she is forced into a life of prostitution. It is when she stumbles across an evil, child sex ring and is determined to break it that she once more encounters Lord Marley and though she succeeds in her quest and gets her revenge, she pays a terrible price. Hers and Megan’s enduring friendship bring them through.Book Three: TOMORROW BRINGS SORROWSet in 1939 – 1959, As the world faces many changes brought on by war, Megan has found happiness with Jack, but the threat of Megan’s schizophrenic son Billy, still casts a shadow over them. His release is imminent and for Sarah, Jack’s daughter, this opens up a fate she cannot fight. With her love and respect for Billy eroded over the years as she came to realise he has an evil core, Sarah now lives in fear of him and what he will do if she refuses him. Forsaking her true love, she marries Billy in an attempt to protect those who are very dear to her, but love and hate will out and the consequences are devastatingThose consequences are compounded by the incestuous love between twins Theresa and Terrence Crompton and their taking of all they need from whatever source they please.

    A time-travel romance where a Sioux warrior from the 1800's meets a contemporary woman doctor, Across the Wilderness is a love story that transcends time, bringing two soul mates together on a journey interwoven with romance, revenge, and intrigue.

    Rachael's family comes to America to start a new life after fleeing the pogroms in Russia. Rebekah comes to America with her son, Samuel, fleeing his father, Misha, a Russian soldier with whom she had an affair and has threatened to take him away from her so he will not grow up as a Jew and the son of a cobbler. Set in the Lower East Side of New York and pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg, Russia, both women adjust to life in America until Misha kidnaps Samuel and returns with him to Russia. How Rebekah rises to the challenge of earning enough money as a designer of women's gowns to return to St. Petersburg to find her son, and the difficulties she encounters while there, including murder and prison, show the reader the full extent of a mother's ingenuity and determination when it comes to her child. Rachael also faces the possibility of losing a child to war when her son Solomon enlists in the army as America's entry into World War I approaches.

    A heart-breaking saga for all fans of Dilly Court and Val Wood. In the drab Yorkshire town of Garsthwaite, Lacey Barraclough works hard in the textile mill, determined to fight for improvements to the dismal working conditions she and her fellow weavers face. But she hadn't reckoned on falling in love with the boss's son, Nathan. Nathan returns her love, but to succeed they must overcome the class divide, as well as persuade their families that their love for each other is real. Before Nathan and Lacey can make a life together, World War I breaks out and Nathan enlists to fight. When Nathan heads off to the Front, he takes Lacey's dreams with him, and she must find a new way to face the future. As hard times come to Garsthwaite, will there be a home for the returning heroes to come back to? And for those men who do make it back from France, can they ever outrun the horrors they have witnessed, and learn to love again?

    unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON'S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives... and loves.ABACAS WOMANLi-Na lives in a black and white world, painting her feelings onto canvas by day and counting money in the Lyon’s Den at night. She’s found safety in the dark ink and the heavy clack of her abacas, but it is really a life? MAN OF ART Lord Daniel can’t draw worth a damn, but he can sell what he finds. And what he finds is Li-Na, a woman of such sublime talent that he will go to extraordinary measures to capture her art. When she refuses to leave her safe cocoon, he conspires with Mrs. Dove-Lyons to bring her to Cornwall where she will have everything she needs to paint. And if her art requires a more personal connection, then he willingly offers up himself as inspiration. A SLOW SEDUCTION Li-Na will not give up her soul to this powerful man, no matter how many castles he owns. She paints him as a tiger hunting in the jungle. She feels him watching her, protecting her, and tempting her until her canvas is filled with his eyes, his mouth, and his caress. But she cannot surrender the only part of her still alive. Unless being consumed by him is the only way to bring color back to her heart.