1126. Heulwen, daughter of Welsh Marcher baron Guyon FitzMiles, has grown up with her father's ward, Adam de Lacey. There has always been a spark between them, but when Heulwen marries elsewhere, to Ralf le Chevalier, a devastated Adam absents himself on various diplomatic missions for King Henry I. When Ralf is killed in a skirmish, Heulwen's father considers a new marriage for her with his neighbour's son, Warrin de Mortimer. Adam, recently returned to England, has good reason to loathe Warrin and is determined not to lose Heulwen a second time. But Heulwen is torn between her duty to her father and the pull of her heart. Adam is no longer the awkward boy she remembers, but a man who stirs every fibre of her being - which places them both in great danger, because Warrin de Mortimer is not a man to be crossed and the future of a country is at stake...

Miss Alice Lister feels anything but respectable. Bad enough that she is a maid-turned-heiress. Now the insufferably attractive Lord Miles Vickery is certain he can gain her fortune by blackmailing her into marriage – even though it was his deceitful charm that broke her heart once before. But she's positive the terms of her inheritance will prove an impossible task. After all, what rake could be completely honest for three long months?For his part, Miles finds his newfound frankness invaluable in entangling Alice in positions deliciously unbecoming of a lady. Of course, he doesn't yet know that he's falling hopelessly in love with this formidable innocent.or that he will soon go to impossible lengths to prove himself hers forever…

In Regency London, Alexandra is about to embark on her first season of balls and dinners, and while nothing would steer her mother from the course of marrying off her only daughter, 17-year-old Alex is put off by men's seeming lack of interest in women with any amount of intelligence (Evidently, it scares eligible gentlemen off). Her opinions about romance change when she develops feelings for her brothers' friend Gavin, who is mourning the sudden death of his father (making Gavin the new earl of Blackmoor). Mac-Lean's debut is well paced, and as readers fill up on descriptions of dresses and society's rules, another plot line develops: Alex overhears a conversation proving that Gavin's father was murdered, and she puts her relationship, reputation and life in danger to help him. Readers will appreciate the clique lit/historical romance hybrid: headstrong Alex rolls her eyes and gossips with friends, but still knows the steps to the quadrille. Clever conversation in the spirit of Jane Austen makes this quite a page turner.

Judith Hampton was as beautiful as she was proud and loyal. Her dear Scottish friend from childhood was about to give birth, and Judith had promised to be at her side. But there was another, private reason for the journey from her bleak English home to the Highlands: to meet the father she had never known, the Laird Maclean. Nothing prepared her, however, for the sight of the Scottish barbarian who was to escort her into his land...Iain Maitland, Laird of his clan, a man more powerfully compelling than any she had ever encountered.In a spirited clash of wills and customs, Judith reveled in the melting bliss of Iain's searching kisses, his passionate caresses. Perplexed by her sprightly defiance, bemused by her tender nature, Iain felt his soul growing into the light and warmth of her love. Surely nothing would wrench her from the affection and trust of Iain and his clan...not even the truth about her father, a devastating secret that could shatter the boldest alliance, and the most glorious of loves!

Eva Ibbotson’s charming and warm-hearted tale, A Secret Countess was originally published as A Countess Below Stairs. Anna, a young countess, has lived in the glittering city of St Petersburg all her life in an ice-blue palace overlooking the River Neva. But when revolution tears Russia apart, her now-penniless family is forced to flee to England. Armed with an out-of-date book on housekeeping, Anna determines to become a housemaid and she finds work at the Earl of Westerholme’s crumbling but magnificent mansion. The staff and the family are sure there is something not quite right about their new maid — but she soon wins them over with her warmth and dedication. Then the young Earl returns home from the war — and Anna falls hopelessly in love. But they can never be together: Rupert is engaged to the snobbish and awful Muriel — and anyway, Anna is only a servant. Or so everybody thinks…

2 March 1810…Today, I fell in love.At the age of ten, Miranda Cheever showed no signs of Great Beauty. And even at ten, Miranda learned to accept the expectations society held for her-until the afternoon when Nigel Bevelstoke, the handsome and dashing Viscount Turner, solemnly kissed her hand and promised her that one day she would grow into herself, that one day she would be as beautiful as she already was smart. And even at ten, Miranda knew she would love him forever.But the years that followed were as cruel to Turner as they were kind to Miranda. She is as intriguing as the viscount boldly predicted on that memorable day-while he is a lonely, bitter man, crushed by a devastating loss. But Miranda has never forgotten the truth she set down on paper all those years earlier-and she will not allow the love that is her destiny to slip lightly through her fingers…

The French eventually unmasked the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian, famed spies in the Napoleonic wars, but as Harvard graduate student Eloise Kelly discovers at the start of this breezy historical romance, the identity of the Pink Carnation remains a mystery. Working in London on her history dissertation, Eloise gets access to a trunk of papers and documents from the early 19th century. She dives into this treasure trove, and suddenly the reader is plunged into a novel within a novel, told from the viewpoint of Amy Balcourt. Amy, exiled to rural England with her mother, now wants to avenge, with the help of her cousin Jane, her father's death at the hands of the French. She hopes to be in league with the Scarlet Pimpernel, who heroically tried to save her father. Willig, a Harvard graduate student herself, does a good job painting a picture of the tumultuous era. She also makes the sparks fly between Amy and the Purple Gentian, a dashing English nobleman in charge of Egyptian antiquities for Bonaparte. But when the Pink Carnation's identity is finally revealed after many obvious clues, the reader wonders why it took Eloise so long to get it. More critically, Eloise's appearances come to seem like awkward intrusions into Amy's - and the Pink Carnation's - more intriguing story.

To all appearances, Anna Brett was a quiet, capable young woman whose only ambition was to carry on the profitable antiques business bequeathed her by a spinster aunt. And so she was - until the memory of a cherished moment with a blue-eyed stranger suddenly returned to haunt her with savage intensity. It was then Anna discovered the secret woman who waited within her - impetuous, daring... and dangerous.

When his younger sister Olivia is injured and her reputation destroyed during an illicit rendezvous, the rakish Lord Damien Sinclair sets out to avenge himself on the man responsible, Lord Aubrey Rutherford, but Aubrey's lovely sister, Vanessa, stands inhis way.

PROPERLY IMPROPER…AND DARING TO LOVE… Juliana St. John was raised to be very proper. After a long engagement, her wedding day dawns—only for Juliana to find herself jilted at the altar. Fleeing the mocking crowd, she stumbles upon Elliot McBride, the tall, passionate Scot who was her first love. His teasing manner gives her an idea, and she asks Elliot to save her from an uncertain future—by marrying her…After escaping brutal imprisonment, Elliot has returned to Scotland a vastly wealthy yet tormented man. Now Juliana has her hands full restoring his half-ruined manor in the Scottish Highlands and trying to repair the broken heart of the man some call irredeemably mad. Though beautiful and spirited, Juliana wonders if that will be enough to win a second chance at love.

The fourth installment in Willig’s Pink Carnation series finds beautiful, ambitious Mary Allsworthy still smarting from her sister Letty’s inadvertent theft of her suitor in The Deception of the Emerald Ring (2007). At the suggestion of the Pink Carnation, the imperious Lord Vaughn recruits Mary to help him uncover the identity of the Black Tulip, a French spy who threatens England’s interests. As determined as Mary is to find a husband, Lord Vaughn, a widower, is equally determined not to succumb to her charms, creating a palpable friction between the two. The closer they get to their goal of finding the Black Tulip, the more their adversarial feelings dissolve into attraction, even love, just as a secret from Vaughn’s past threatens to keep them apart forever. In the present, graduate student Eloise Kelly delves deeper into the archival papers to discover the Black Tulip’s identity. Willig’s series gets better with each addition, and her latest is filled with swashbuckling fun, romance, and intrigue.

Nora Tamsin was fascinated by the ruthless Charles Herrick, but she discovered that he deserved his name "The Lynx". His love for her was overwhelming and frightening. By the time she realized that his plan for her was part of his obsessive desire for revenge, it seemed too late to escape.

Mourn me but briefly.Then find your destiny, Lara, my love, my life.Now let me go.With those words, the spirit of Magnus Hauk, Dominus of Terah, leaves his body – and thus the fate of a nation rests upon the faerie woman Lara's shoulders.While Lara's son Prince Taj is well loved by the people of Terah, he is too young to rule, and Lara must obey Magnus's dying command and govern in his stead. Thankfully, she has a powerful ally in Prince Kaliq of the Shadows, though never was there a more seductive friend or foe. Yet some in Terah still believe that a female must never wear the crown.and Lara and her daughters will face old enemies who escaped the wrath of Magnus but are not yet finished with their schemes for power and revenge.

Ancient ruins. Family scandal. Forbidden love.Caroline knows something is wrong. Her sister Roma has gone missing, and no one can tell her why. The only option is to go where Roma was last seen—an estate with a deadly history...The Stacy family has lived off the Dover coast for generations, carefully navigating the treacherous quicksands nearby. But the sands aren't Caroline's biggest threat. Everyone here has a secret, especially enigmatic young heir Napier Stacy. No matter where Caroline turns, the ground she walks is dangerous. And the closer she comes to unraveling the truth, the closer she comes to sharing her sister's fate...

As long as she can remember, the exquisite Lenore Cleremont has lived at The Silk House, the luxurious English country estate of the wealthy Sallonger family. Neither a slave nor a servant, she has grown into a young woman who has shown promise as a dress designer. But she has also won the heart of the two charismatic Sallonger sons. Then tragedy strikes. And Lenore finds herself playing a central role in a drama that threatens to destroy everything she holds dear...

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It is 1944, and vast armies drive each other back and forth over blood-drenched Europe.In the midst of it, two radically different women meet, one a Russian speaking American on a failed diplomatic mission and the other a Soviet sniper. The American, fleeing a sordid past worthy of Dostoyevsky, has murder in her heart but has injured no man. The other, a once-saintly believer, has killed a hundred of them for Stalin. Their politics are worlds apart, but a reckless drunken kiss has tied them together, through church and trench, incense and the smoke of battle. If they survive the war, can they survive the peace?

Carlotta Main & Damaris MainAs England erupts in violent Jacobite upheaval, two half-sisters -- one of surpassing beauty and untamed spirit; the other plain, shy and dutiful -- vie for the love of a man and the life of a child.When the lovely and willful Carlotta, on her way to the home of her suitor Benjie Stevens, is abducted by the dashing Jacobite leader Lord Hessenfield and forced to share his bed, she doesn't dream that the shameful coupling will spiral into mutual passion. But Hessenfield must flee to France, and Carlotta finds herself pregnant with his child. Desperate to save face and future, she marries Benjie and resolves to live happily ever after -- until she returns home to find her half-sister Damaris in love with Matt Pilkington, son of the neighboring estate owner. Never one to deny her desires, Carlotta plunges into a torrid affair eith Matt, a betrayal that sends the trusting Damaris into a nearly fatal illness, a easting disease from which only Carlotta's child, the enchanting Clarissa, can save her.With Damaris restored to health and a quiet if empty life, and Carlotta reunited in France with her true love, Hessenfield, it seems that each sister has realized her destiny -- until a desperate letter from Paris reveals the terrible price Carlotta has paid for her happiness and begs Damaris to save the child Clarissa from a similar fate.

A Past AwakenedMagic coursing through his blood, Dillon, son of Lara, Domina of Hetar, follows his mystical path to Hetar's brightest star. Belmair is a forgotten world. And, it turns out, his people's lost heritage. Summoned to marry the king's daughter and inherit the throne, Dillon discovers Belmair is beautiful, enigmatic and seductive – as is his strong-willed new queen, and the mystery lying at Belmair's heart.A Love UnimaginedCinnia, sorceress of Belmair, expected to claim her rightful place as ruler, not as the wife of a stranger chosen by Belmair's magical guardian. But the enchantment that seals a marriage of power and greatness soothes her wounded pride, allowing her to use her magical gift to uncover the darkest secret of a bright planet whose young women are inexplicably disappearing…