Then at the tender age of ten years old, disaster strikes. Heartbroken, Bonnie’s left at the mercy of her embittered grandmother and her lecherous step-grandfather.Five years later, the events of one terrible night cause Bonnie to flee to London where she starts to earn her living as a singer. She changes her name and cuts all links with the past. Time passes. Bonnie falls in love, but just when she dares to hope for a rosy future, the Second World War is declared. She does her bit for the war effort, singing for the troops and travelling to Burma to boost morale, but heartache and pain are just around the corner, and she begins to ask herself if she will ever find happiness again?

    Its sequel, Dear Enemy (1915), also told in letters, follows the progress of Judy's former orphanage now run by her friend Sallie McBride, who struggles to give her young charges hope and a new life. Full of irrepressible female characters that both recall Alcott's Jo March and anticipate the popular heroines of contemporary literature, Webster's novels are witty, heartfelt, and delightfully modern.

    With Adam playing Santa while draped in Mrs. Starkadders's shawls, the family shares their traditional "Christmas pudding"-a mélange containing random objects of doom foretelling the coming year: a coffin nail for death, a bad sixpence for financial ruin, and a menthol cone to indicate that the lucky recipient will go "blind wi' headache." These lively tales will delight anyone who loves Stella Gibbons and her signature wit.

    As a young man he falls in love with both Lady Castlewood and Beatrix, her beautiful, headstrong daughter, and is inspired to join the ultimately unsuccessful campaign to reinstate James Stuart to the throne. Thackeray valued Henry Esmond more than any of his other novels and it displays many of his own memories and emotions.

    She soon escapes her fate for the loving arms of a wealthy young man, but misadventure and fate conspire to keep her from domestic bliss. Instead, Fanny discovers that sex need not be just for love; that it can be had for pleasure. She then sets out to explore those pleasures in as wide a variety as she can. With old men and young, and women as well; in positions of power, and situations where she has none; either watching or participating, Fanny's journey through the realms of sexual pleasure is a literary tour-de-force.

    Collins in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, she believed herself to be fortunate indeed. Her nuptials gained her a comfortable home and financial security. If she acquired these things at the expense of true love, it did not matter one whit. To Charlotte, love in marriage was nothing more than a pleasant coincidence. As the years of her marriage dragged by, Charlotte began to question her idea of love as she suffered continual embarrassment at her husband's simpering and fawning manners. When Mr. Collins dies, finally relieving everyone of his tedious conversation, she must work feverishly to secure her income and home. She gives no further thought to the possibility of love until her flighty sister Maria begs her to act as her chaperone in place of their ailing parents. Hoping to prevent Maria from also entering an unhappy union, Charlotte agrees, and they are quickly thrust into a world of country dances, dinner parties, and marriageable gentlemen. But when an unprincipled gentleman compromises Charlotte's reputation, her romantic thoughts disappear at the prospect of losing her independence. As she struggles to extricate herself from her slander, her situation reveals both the nature of each gentleman and of true love. Other Works in the Personages of Pride & Prejudice Collection "Maria Lucas" (A Short Story) Caroline Bingley (A Novel) Mary Bennet (A Novella)

    This short novel about a wedding was written in 1932 by a niece of Lytton Strachey and first published by The Hogarth Press.

    She was not supposed to slide down drainpipes, play baseball in Central Park, or, worst of all, want to teach. Teaching was for impoverished young relatives, not for the heiress of the Brightingham fortune. When her father suddenly dies, leaving her wicked Uncle Edward as her trustee, she must resist his attempt to force her into a marriage that would bring her misery, no matter what the cost. She decides to leave the world behind. Julietta trades her fashionable dresses and dainty dancing shoes for serviceable travel clothes and sturdy boots. Dying her blond hair brown and donning her glasses, she travels incognito across the country to Grey Eagle, Montana, as Julie Bright, planning to take the position of school teacher, to begin a new life. But the handsome and dedicated young Sheriff, Jack White, takes one look at her and wants to send her packing. She is not what he expected as a teacher for his fledgling town. He knows trouble when he sees it. But for some reason, no matter what his instincts, he cannot make her leave. When the past finally catches up with her, he knows he'd move heaven and earth to keep her safe, and make her stay.

    When she learned the truth, Beth settled for the security of a loveless marriage. Now a widow with a son to support, desperation has driven her into service at Romsey Abbey and directly into the path of the man she'd loved and lost.LORD RAKEHELL'S LOVE by Donna Cummings: (The Curse of True Love, Book 1) Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, is attempting to play matchmaker in Regency London. . . only she's placed a curse on the lovers instead. Simon is late to his own wedding, and Georgiana is heartbroken by the scandal. After such a blunder, how can Aphrodite possibly reunite this couple?A GENTLEMAN'S PROMISE by Tamara Gill: (Scandalous Series, Book 1) Charlotte King bows to family duty and marries a man who is not as he seems. Now she is trapped in a marriage of endless pain and fear. Lord Mason Helsing walked away from the one woman he'd always cared for, but upon returning to London, he finds Charlotte is in a loveless & cruel marriage. Can they overcome the strictures of society? Or will they bow to pressure and do as society deems appropriate?EMBRACING SCANDAL by Suzi Love: (Scandalous Siblings, Book 1) Lady Rebecca Jamison, a mathematical genius, saves her siblings from financial ruin by dabbling in the London stock exchange. When a greedy syndicate kills her friend and threatens her family, Becca begs assistance from Cayle, Duke of Sherwyn, her nemesis and previous friend. He successfully defeats the illegal consortium, but can Cayle persuade a self-sufficient spinster to become his duchess?ANGEL'S MASTER by Sandra Sookoo: Ethan Williams is a pirate with a conscience. Though he knows the era of piracy is nearly done, he can't help but enjoy his time to the last. Jacqueline Massey is more than she seems--and she bears a remarkable resemblance to the masthead on the Angel's Fury. Once he takes her hostage on his ship, Ethan struggles to show her his human side.RESCUED BY A VISCOUNT by Wendy Vella: (Regency Rakes, Book 2) When Claire Belmont finds out her brother left something behind in France before he died; she is determined to discover what. However she must seek help to succeed, and from the one man she vowed to avoid. Claire fears that if anyone can disrupt her well-ordered life and see the vulnerable woman behind the polite facade, it will be Viscount Kelkirk and now they are thrown together, she realizes her fears were justified.

    Her past is catching up and it’s returned to finish what was started ten years ago. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Moses Hayward, Duke of Barley, trudges the misty ground between propriety and his ever-growing attraction for his children’s governess. But not everything is as it seems, and Caroline is hiding a dark secret that threatens to leave them in shambles. She's been lying to them all. When Moses’ daughter is kidnapped, he is given an ultimatum: in order for Josephine not to die in a few hours’ time, Caroline must die in her stead. *If you like a realistic yet charming depiction of the Regency and Victorian era, then The Secret Life of the Elusive Governess is the novel for you. This is Hanna Hamilton's 20th book, a historical Regency romance novel of 80,000 words (around 400 pages). No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a sweet happily ever after. Pick up "The Secret Life of the Elusive Governess" today to discover Hanna's new amazing story!

    This volume introduces Thrush Green, the neighboring village to Fairacre: its blackthorn bushes, thatch-roofed cottages, enchanting landscape, and jumble sales. Readers will delight in a new cast of characters and also welcome familiar faces as they become immersed in the village's turn of events on one pivotal day -- May Day. Before the day is over, life and love and perhaps eternity will touch the immemorial peace of the village.

    Among these guests are figures recognizable to Peacock's contemporaries, including characters based on Lord Byron and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Mr. Glowry's son Scythrop (also modeled on a famous Romantic, Peacock's friend Percy Bysshe Shelley) locks himself up in a tower where he reads German tragedies and transcendental philosophy and develops a "passion for reforming the world." Disappointed in love, a sorrowful Scythrop decides the only thing to do is to commit suicide, but circumstances persuade him to instead follow his father in a love of misanthropy and Madeira. In addition to satire and comic romance, Nightmare Abbey presents a biting critique of the texts we view as central to British romanticism.

    But when her sister dies tragically in a dreadful accident, she has to go west and pick up her nephew, the only survivor. And even though her plan for inexplicable reasons is to avoid being in close contact with him, she will find herself moved by the sheriff asking her to reconsider and let the boy stay with him instead. Soon enough Lyla will become confused by her conflicting emotions, but will she find the courage to face secrets from the past and eventually follow her heart? James, the local sheriff of Wheatberry, has forgotten what happiness means since his wife died in an unexpected manner. But when he suddenly witnesses a horrifying accident, he is quick to run to an orphaned little boy’s aid. All the more, what he would never expect is that he would end up loving and becoming attached to him. When the boy’s aunt - a beautiful troubled woman - arrives in town, he will do his best to convince her to let him raise the child. Will he succeed in changing her mind and finally creating the loving family he never had the chance to make?Just when Lyla and James come closer and start trusting and loving each other more and more, ghosts from their past will arrive to haunt them... Will this dreadful situation tear the couple apart? How much are the heroes willing to sacrifice so as not to give up on each other?

    INTO BOY -- She was cunningly trained to act out the role of a missing lad who stood to inherit the most fabulous fortune in England. INTO BEAUTY -- She was just as capable of donning a wig and a revealing gown to play the part of a devastating society seductress. INTO BATTLE -- But nothing had prepared Rolande to face the charm of a captivating, conscienceless aristocrat on one hand, and the danger of an unknown assailant of the other...as suddenly she had her fair hands full in a fight for life and love that she dared not lose...

    This story describes Squire Bramble's tour of the Britain of George III.