But what is his ultimate plan?Varro must get to the heart of the conspiracy, or die trying.'Spies of Rome: Blood & Honour' is the first book in a new series by bestselling author Richard Foreman.

    Watkins was banished from his small Appalachian community after being unjustly accused of igniting a mining accident. With a little help from fellow riders of the rails, R.J. learned how to survive on his own, but eventually his train came to rest with the Benton and Walters Best Show in America, where R.J. cultivated his unusual talents.At seventeen, R.J. answered another whistle call of destiny, and he met the powerful McClennan family. Like a dazzling display of fireworks to their fourth of July picnic, R.J. provided the perfect blend of flavor for their family that had long since grew stale. But when he had hard time adjusting to the lavish extremes of the East Coast high society, R.J. learned to navigate their foreign world by completely transforming himself. A metamorphosis so complete that within a few short years he was the talk of the town, a man he barely recognized. Still all the talk was for naught because with the closing bell on a single autumn day in 1929, the McClennan fortune, which took generations to amass, was gone. To stop the head-on collision with destitution, McClennan’s eldest son, Cosmo, made a deal with a devil, but it fell upon R.J. to pay the dues. No longer able to afford the luxury of other’s opinions, R.J. shed his finer sensibilities and used every trick he learned along the way to save his new family. Will his efforts be enough or ultimately destroy them? From majestic corners hidden deep within the mountains to New York City’s finest ballrooms, Catching the Westbound chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of R.J. Watkins, a boy who came from nothing but with unparalleled determination, will, and resilience became the last great pioneer of industry. After a lifetime of traveling paths of decadence and despair, by grace alone, he discovered the road that would lead him home.

    Richard Marsdon marries a young American woman named Celia, brings her to live at his English estate, and all seems to be going well. But now Richard has become withdrawn, and Celia is constantly haunted by a vague dread. When she suffers a breakdown and wavers between life and death, a wise doctor realizes that only by forcing Celia to relive her past can he enable her to escape her illness. Celia travels back 400 years in time to her past life as a beautiful but doomed servant. Through her eyes, we see the England of the Tudors, torn by religious strife, and experience all the pageantry, lustiness, and cruelty of the age. As in other historical romance titles by this author, the past comes alive in this flamboyant classic novel.

    Told from the point of view of Guinevere, this epic romance chronicles the life and loves of the queen of the Round Table. From being torn away from her native Breton to wed Arthur, being held captive by his enemies to her affair with Lancelot and the subsequent fall of Arthur’s kingdom, every dramatic event is explored in a rich, compelling narrative.With acute attention to the existing literature and historical studies, Medievalist scholar Lavinia Collins brings the world of dashing knights, week-long banquets and cruel wars to light for a contemporary audience eager to get an insider view of life at Arthur’s court. While this book will make fans of Arthurian literature ecstatic, it will also bring delight to any reader of quality contemporary fiction.Guinevere – A medieval romance was previously published as three volumes: The Warrior Queen, A Champion’s Duty and The Day of Destiny.

    Based on a true story

    So begins this tale set in the town of Banff, Scotland in the 1620s.

    Now an encoretante whose family has lost a fortune, Lydia discovers that the beau monde is hard on a nouveau riche social climber, particularly one who is no longer riche and only wants to climb trees. Lydia must stave off the effrontery of rakes and conniving competitors long enough to make a good match, or else incur society's scorn by earning her own money. Falling for the unattainable Lord Aldley is a distraction she cannot afford. But they share such an enchanted history, how can her heart resist?The tragically virtuous Earl of Aldley is tired of ambitious families hurling debutantes at his head, but cannot hide in France forever. He returns to London to seek out the mysterious tree-climbing girl who once saved him from a scheming chit, and finds more than he bargained for. Abductions, seductions, trickery and injury all endanger Lydia, but Lord Aldley's heart is imperiled beyond rescue. He has only just found her; will he lose her forever to his enemy, his best friend, or his own dangerous mistake?Three Abductions and an Earl is a full length novel and the first book in Tessa Candle's Parvenues and Paramours series.

    Readers and critics were enchanted; as NPR commented, “Towles writes with grace and verve about the mores and manners of a society on the cusp of radical change.”A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.Brimming with humour, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavour to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

    Pius and idealistic, the young Sophie shed her cloak of innocence to become Catherine The Great. At the urging of her ambitious mother, Johanna, Sophie married Peter III, the only grandson of Russian legend, Peter I. After scandalous love affairs and the mysterious sudden death of her husband, Peter III, Catherine ascended the Russian throne. The most intriguing aspect of the story is the fact that Catherine had no moral or legal right to the Russian throne. During that era, the laws of succession were rigidly enforced. In Russia, there were three living heirs, each with a legitimate right to the throne; one of those heirs was her husband, Peter III, the grandson of Peter I, a giant in Russian history, known affectionately as The Father of Russia. Catherine was cautioned repeatedly that she would not be able to sidestep her husband, Peter III and Ivan VI (who was living but in prison), while at the same time ignoring the rights of her own son, Paul I. Highly placed members of the Russian aristocracy warned Catherine that the Russian people would take up arms against her solely for the fact that she was German, not Russian. The fact that Catherine was able to overcome so many obstacles to ascend the throne of Russia is a monument to her brilliance, strength and determination. Not only was she crowned Empress, her rule would last thirty years. Catherine's extraordinary success as a ruler has made her a legend in her own right.

    When her abusive father traded her hand in marriage for a few head of livestock, she fled their farm and took on the identity of traveling salesman Franklin Thompson eventually settling in Flint, Michigan. There, as Thompson, she joined Company F of the Second Michigan Volunteer Infantry and distinguished herself as a true Civil War hero.In between the First Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Yorktown, the Battle of Williamsburg, and the Battle of Fair Oaks/Seven Pines, Thompson nursed the sick and wounded, carried the mail across dangerous terrain, and became one of the Secret Service’s first spies. Using various disguises including that of a former slave and an Irish peddler woman, Thompson infiltrated enemy lines and stole vital information from the Rebels until a severe case of malaria took its toll. Knowing that the medical attention she needed would reveal her carefully kept secret, she unwillingly deserted the Union Army in 1863. But Sarah Emma Edmonds wasn’t finished. She had a soldier’s pension to fight for and an honorable discharge to claim. Almost a decade after the war was over, she came forward and asked the astonished men she served with for their help in clearing the name of Franklin Thompson.

    She was born with the face of an angel. Her father is a knight, and a small fortune has been lavished upon her. And now she is to be married to an earl. Her security is fixed, her destiny guaranteed. At least, she hopes.The Earl of Lytham has already been married once. But the beautiful woman only left him with a broken heart and the bitter taste of betrayal. Now, his only demand of Marget is that she help him win favor with the Queen.But when Marget's introduction to court is met with the jealous queen's wrath, the young bride fears she's lost her husband forever. Desperate to honor him, she'll risk everything by doing whatever it takes to recapture the heart of a man bound to the Queen in a world where love is the only forbidden luxury.

    As the new Director of Intelligence, he's reunited him with the one woman he never stopped loving: the indomitable Lady Henrietta of the brilliant code breaking Harcourt family. She remembers his libertine past all too well, and she's determined not to let the infamous rake back into her life. But when Henrietta's brother is kidnapped on a clandestine mission in Paris, she knows Cord is her best hope at saving him. If only that old passion didn't burn so bright between them still...In their fight to save her brother, Cord and Henrietta must unravel a deadly web of international intrigue. With deadly assassins tracking their every move, Henrietta must trust Cord with more than her carefully guarded secrets--she must give him her heart.Enjoy the passionate, suspenseful Regency world of the Code Breakers, where daring lords and ladies decode the path to happily ever amidst their dangerous, heroic fight against Napoleon's treacherous designs.

    The Conall clan and all their people were murdered in a surprise attack, their beloved castle and all evidence of who destroyed them burned to the ground with their bodies. In the centuries following, archaeologists searched through the ruins looking for any evidence of what or who had caused the untimely demise of such a powerful Scottish clan. All efforts were fruitless, until a spell put in place by an ancient Conall ancestor finally began to work its magic...Texas kindergarten teacher, Brielle Montgomery, finds comfort in the mundane routines of her life, but when her archaeologist mother asks her to accompany her on a dig in Scotland, she decides to step out of her comfort zone. Once in Scotland, they discover a secret spell room below the castle ruins, and Bri finds herself transported back in time and suddenly married to the castle's ill-fated Laird. Now, she must work to change the fate of his people, all while trying to find a way to return to her home and century. But with each passing day, Bri finds herself falling more deeply in love with her new husband. If she can find a spell to bring her home, will she use it? And if she stays, will it ultimately mean her own death as well?

     KITCHEN BOY is the story of Andy Harrison, a working-class Maine boy, who spends every July and August working for the summer people and tourists on the Maine Coast, while dreaming of his own escape from Downeast. That escape proves at once dramatic and very humorous.The novel also is the story of a small, exclusive summer hotel and its eccentric and unforgettable female proprietors who help their young kitchen boy grow up. Through the course of six summers from 1959 to 1964, the "Kennedy years," Andy has many adventures, his loss of innocence paralleling that of his country.Stephen King on KITCHEN BOY: "If you love Maine, you will love this book." Carolyn Chute on KITCHEN BOY: "KITCHEN BOY is great. It is THICK and FLESHY and full of splendor. Sandy Phippen is a wonderful writer, one of the world's masters at character and voice." Janwillem van de Wetering on KITCHEN BOY: "To know Maine one has to live here but to really know Maine one has to meet with the sly and splendid work of Sanford Phippen."John A. Williams on KITCHEN BOY: “KITCHEN BOY is a reflective, often funny and always perceptive analysis of Maine and the people who think they have escape to it, and of the ‘Mainiacs’ who serve them. Both, in fact, have been captured forever by Sanford Phippen’s internal camera, registering drudgery, sadness, joy and, in the end, the quiet triumph of the human spirit through learning and growing into understanding.”Leo Connellan on KITCHEN BOY: “Phippen, like Erskin Caldwell and Will Rodgers, has his ear and humor universal, for people everywhere. KITCHEN BOY is that summer-people book we’ve yearned for: ‘the folk’ working for the foolish rich who take advantage of the poor, but Phippen breaks us up in the way his ‘disadvantaged’ take advantage, win our hearts, carry on, never change. Phippen has us splitting our sides laughing if we’re not crying. KITCHEN BOY IS A MUST READ!”