. . and the enduring mystery of love.   Traveling to France on business, Alexandra Dawson has decided to seize the opportunity to explore a mysterious piece of her own heritage—a half-burnt picture of a woman who looks eerily like her, taken more than a hundred years ago in a local castle. In the charming rural village of Chandeniers, she discovers something else too—the gruff, ruggedly good-looking heir of the crumbled chateau.   Eric Lagnel is completely uninterested in Alex’s queries, until he realizes that she may have stumbled on a way to save the building. Their unlikely partnership is a surprise. But as Alex slowly unravels the secrets of her great-great-grandmother’s photograph—and the true history of the chateau—she begins to understand that no one is ever prepared for the ways love can heal old wounds and open the hardest hearts.

    Men fight, gamble to earn money, and treat women as if they were property. But this sort of treatment is all Zelda has ever known.What happens when Zelda discovers that the man she has been sold to is a gambler, a sweet-talker, and that he is no better than the men she knew from the brothel?Zelda has a past that almost broke her.Growing up as an orphan on the streets, all she knows are two things: POVERTY and STRUGGLE!Forced to work in a brothel under the New Orleans gambling den manager Gus, Zelda has almost lost all hope of freedom.When all things seemed so hopeless, one day something good happened- she was set FREE. Well... things are not quite as simple as they seem.Charles seems kind, romantic, and gentle. But Zelda is not used to being treated well. She doesn't trust Charles, and vows to escape...Can Zelda learn to accept love? To believe that Charles could really find her beautiful?What will happen when Charles discovers the truth about Zelda's past? "Take the journey with Zelda and Charles as they begin to scratch surface, and with God's help, find love together..."

    Never wanting for anything, her privileged life is shattered when she is forced into an arranged marriage with Lord Sevile. A most loathsome man who uses and abuses those around him. Desperate and alone, Eliza’s only comfort is the stable groom Stephen Ravencroft and the feelings she has for him. With only a common man’s promise that he will save her before she has to marry Lord Sevile. Eliza is left clinging on to her small sliver of hope as the day of her wedding nears. Can she really place her future in a poor man’s hands? Have faith in someone so far beneath her on the social ladder. But Stephen Ravencroft might just be more than he seems. Buy it now to find out how it all ends. An Earl for the desperate bride is a Clean Short Read Regency Historical Romance. It is part of the Regency Tales Series. Each story can be read as a standalone but if you wish to read about the other stories these are available for just $0.99 or FREE On Kindle Unlimited. Regina Darcy writes clean, short, regency romance stories that always have a good old fashioned happy ending. REGENCY LORDS SERIES 1: Mesmerising a Duke 2: Bewitching the Viscount 3: Winning the Viscount Heart 4: The Duke's Secret Desire REGENCY TALES SERIES 1: An Earl for the desperate bride 2: The Earl and the girl from the Abbey 3: A Governess for the faithless Duke 4: A Duke’s son to the rescue 5: Captivated by the Earl

    As he struggles to make a dent in the icy exterior of the townspeople he wonders if his efforts will be wasted--then he meets Matilda, and everything changes.From the moment they meet Danny finds himself entranced by her ambition, and Matilda is captured by his passion and determination. But life in Bear Creek is difficult for outsiders and despite the attraction, their blossoming romance could end in tragedy.How can Danny choose between the chance at love and his life's dream? Will Matilda lose her independence if she admits how she feels?Grace Cranfield dreams of freedom from high-society and the suitors her parents push onto her. When all seems lost, she finds a chance at hope when she spots an ad in the church from a Montana rancher looking for a wife.Left alone after the sudden deaths of his brothers, Malcolm Wilson longs for someone to help build a new life from the rubble of his old one. Grace is charming and kind, and as sparks fly she finds herself on a train speeding towards a new home, but also a world like nothing she's ever known.Will Grace be able to find a place in this new world and discover who she truly is? More importantly, will she survive long enough to get the chance?All Mayme Ruble wants is to feel like she belongs. When she comes across an ad from a farmer looking for a wife, she feels a glimmer of hope--a chance to start over and maybe even find love.Thomas Harris has spent most of his life running his farm, and now it's time for him to marry. Mayme's kind, honest response strikes a chord with him and there is instant chemistry. She leaves her hometown with tentative optimism that a new chapter in her life is about to begin.Despite Thomas' warmth and the welcoming townspeople, Mayme struggles to shed her self-consciousness. All seems well, until disaster strikes in Bear Creek and Mayme is forced to make a decision: will she step up and be the woman she hopes to become? Or will she lose this chance at happiness once and for all?When Rachel Maxwell discovers that her home - and her hand in marriage - have been sold to notorious poker player, Salis Dangerfield, her world is thrown into turmoil. Despite the stories swirling around town, Rachel has no plans to give in easily.Salis is a ruthless businessman and highroller. But right now, he's just a man in search of a safe haven. Faced with distrust from both his wife and the locals, it seems as though he and his young sister will never find their footing in Bear Creek.Rachel soon discovers the kind man behind the facade and Salis thinks he may have finally found the peace he's been looking for.Will Salis be able to overcome his demons? Can he and Rachel find a way to be together even when the whole world is against them?In Bear Creek Brides: Books 9-12, you will discover four captivating stories of vulnerability, danger, and determination as these four brides navigate peril and heartache to hold onto the chance for true love.

    She wants cheerful fires, snow-filled landscapes and pleasant company, all of which seems entirely possible. But her dreams of a perfect Christmas are thrown into chaos with the arrival of Sylvia Morwell, a girl who is universally disliked by everybody who knows her. Unfortunately, that includes most of Harry's guests and suddenly, the atmosphere could could be cut with a knife! As uncomfortable as this may be, things take a turn for the worst when her unwelcome house guest is murdered, done to death with a poisoned plum pie. Once again Harry, Aubrey, Charlie and Darcy must delve deep to discover the killer that lurks in their midst. And they must move fast before Harry's Christmas is entirely ruined!

    But some secrets aren't meant for little girls, and she finds herself in danger.Can a good heart keep a mischievous girl out of trouble?

    Uprooted by war, Miriam enters a world where the old constraints slip away with thrilling and disastrous results. Miriam’s rebellious daughter, Nadia, is thrilled with the opportunity for a modern life that her elite education provides. But when she falls in love with an outsider, the clan reins her back with a shocking finality. Nijmeh, Nadia's daughter, is an only child and the path her father, the sheik, sets for her is fraught with difficulties, yet it prepares her for her ultimate journey to America, where she finds her future.Each woman, in her own time and in her own way, experiences a world in transition through war and social change...and each must stretch the bounds of her loyalty, her courage, and her heart.

    Rumors abound that this savage is responsible for the deaths of Lady Catrin’s father and brother. How can she allow her sweet cousin to wed a murderer? Bran ap Madog, bastard son of a Welsh prince, has devoted his life to serving the English king. His badge is the raven, a creature that feeds off rotting spoils, just as Bran feeds off the spoils of war. Now he wants a reward for his service: a wealthy wife and the land and power she can bring him. But there’s another side to the rapacious black birds Bran has chosen for his badge. Social and family-oriented, ravens mate for life. Which gives them something Bran never had—a family, a sense of belonging, and a rightful place in the world. Bran has fought for everything he’s ever had. But his last battle, with his new wife, may cost him the one thing he isn’t prepared to lose: his heart.

     While up in the mountains, he discovered a wilderness plagued by nature and haunted by superstition, but one that he thought he could tame with his experience and strong back. He didn't know he was going to have to kill to keep the home he planned for his family, but he didn't let that stop him. Sam had been looking for a home for his family for years. That search had been interrupted by the Civil War. Now Sam is putting down roots, and not even the Devil himself can stand in the way.

    But that’s before she sees the perfect child. There he sits in his stroller, angelic and beautiful, magnetic and serene– and he makes Jane question everything she has and everything she thought she wanted. Suddenly all she can see are babies and pregnant woman everywhere. Were there always so many of them? And while there was once a man in her life–her one true love, Sam, gone from this world too soon–there is no man now. Jane must make a choice: possibly become a bitter and childless old lady, letting her biological clock tick on ’till menopause, or tend the ache in her heart now, by becoming a single mother. As Jane struggles to make the most important decision of her life, friends and family offer no shortage of opinions. There’s Ray, her “hubstitute” and gay best friend who would be jealous of any kid who got Jane as a mom; Sheila, her sister, who went from zero to sixty when she eloped with Raoul–who had two young twin sons– and has mixed feelings about being a new mommy; her strict, Catholic father who can’ t imagine what level of hell Jane would banish herself to if she becomes a single mother; and the women of Families with Children from China who are preparing to adopt orphan daughters–without a man in sight. Just as she thinks she’s made up her mind, Jane discovers one small wrench in her plans: handsome, charming, funny Peter, who just happens to be (unhappily) married. . . . And Baby Makes Two is a heartbreakingly honest, wonderfully addictive, and funny novel about love and loss, family and friendship. Judy Sheehan, co-creator of the smash hit Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, has perfectly captured the delights and dilemmas of the scariest job in the world: motherhood.From the Hardcover edition.

    With the help of their former, outspoken, Irish maid, Maura, and a new, equally Irish friend, Shannon, the wives become even closer than before.The couples' rocky path leads to more turmoil, however, when a business rival, Victor Drayton, creates one disaster after another. From petty tricks to outright violence, Victor's nefarious mind will stop at nothing to beat down Jonathan's last glimmer of hope.Despite everything, Jonathan and his friends are fixated on surviving.Emotional and financial destruction nip at their heels, until finally, with a lucky twist of fate, they escape city life and begin anew in their hometown of Rockport, Massachusetts.A story set in the past, 1929 is full of romance, drama, and humor. Vivid, expertly crafted characters make this novel more than memorable–1929 is unforgettable.

    Well, Chris seems like a dream, and it’s about time Hayley started living life to the full.But around the time she learns she’s snowed-in with Chris, she also realises the mansion they’re stuck in isn’t actually his. Now she has to spend New Year’s Eve with him.Has Hayley really met the man or her dreams or has her one-night stand just turned into a nightmare? And when the clock strikes midnight, will she have someone to kiss?

    The hurt and pain, the guilt over what she'd done, was something she could never face. But now the time has come to share the truth of Kitty's heritage...Her daughter's discovery...Kitty never knew anything about her mother's early life. But after her death, the discovery of Rosa's journal opens Kitty's eyes to a whole new world-a family she's never known and a love she's never dreamed of...The fate of a family...Now Kitty must travel to her mother's homeland, but after fifty years, can the sins of the past be forgiven? Or will history repeat itself? With a decades-old family feud threatening her future, can Kitty put right what once went so wrong?Join Kitty as she follows in her mother's footsteps from the South of France to Ireland, discovering who she is along the way in this beautiful tale of forbidden love and fancy cupcakes!What readers are saying about 'The Traveller's Daughter':'A lovely feel-good read' Katie's Bookends'If you like family sagas and romance, then look no further...at the end you feel like you are leaving behind new friends' Lorraine, Goodreads'A beautiful and thought-provoking book' Artistic Bent Book Blog

    For fans of Nicole Alexander, Colleen McCullough, and Fiona McIntosh.1879: 'Invisible' Anne Brown fears she'll never escape the harshness and poverty of her life in County Donegal, Ireland. Until, one heartbreaking Beltane night, her life is changed forever and she leaves to seek her fortune in far-flung Australia.Upon the death of their father, charismatic Will Worthington and his beloved sister Mari are stunned to find he has left all their money and a ticket to the far shores of Australia to an enigmatic painted woman. It seems their only hope for a brighter future also lies in Australia, where together with Will's best friend, the artist Charlie Turner, they seek their fortunes.Charlie finds love with a mysterious exotic dancer, yet there is trouble on the horizon. His new friends up in the Victorian Alps might be teaching him to run with the wild horses and find his talent with a brush at last, but life in a bushranger gang is a dangerous game.As Charlie struggles to break free from his fate, all four are left with impossible choices as fortunes waver between life and death, loyalty and the heart.

    They quickly learn, however, that things aren’t quite as they seem. Can they overcome the unexpected and find love? A sweet western romance from #1 Bestselling author Emily Woods! Follow the stories of four women who seek to find love on a ranch with brothers who are all looking for something different. Along the way, they will face mistaken identity, deception, and even an unexpected baby. Can they overcome the obstacles and find love? Brides for Brothers is a clean western romance from #1 Bestselling author Emily Woods. If you like clean, historical fiction about women who risk everything for love as mail order brides, you will love the Western Brides Sweet Romance series from Emily Woods. Buy Brides for Brothers get lost in this sweet western romance today! Always FREE on Kindle Unlimited