Spoilt, selfish and given to tantrums, Lady Catherine Bourne sets sail for the troubled Balkan state of Kavõnia to become its Queen, but an armed uprising is in the air… A Greek god in the human form of a ousted leader and rightful heir to the throne rescues Catherines niece, lovely young Theola from being ravished by a rebel fighter. And before long she falls in love with the Kavõnian people who have been brutally treated – can the country’s corruption and greed be Conquered by Love?

Her beauty matched only by her vanity and selfishness, the Valeda’s sister Hermione, the Countess of Eltesley, hasn’t deigned to visit for more than seven years since their beloved father died. And now, out of the blue, she appears with a startling, yet humiliating proposition that’s a dream come true – and a nightmare too… In this Cinderella story set in Spain, Valeda may be the put-upon, unknowingly lovely heroine – but surely Hermione will deny her the happy ending she yearns for and deserves.

Travelling alone to France to take up her position as governess to the Duc de Valmont’s grandson, beautiful young Larisa Stanton receives dire warnings about the child’s father. ‘Keep away from Comte Raoul de Valmonte’, they say. For Monsieur le Diable, (the devil), is handsome, wickedly charming, and utterly irresistible to women. Sure enough, at Château Valmont Larisa finds herself in a seething cauldron of violent passions, wickedness, and murderous intent. Is it possible to fall in love with a man known as ‘the devil’, she asks herself? With Comte Raoul’s life at stake, Larisa, and Monsieur le Diable are about to find out…

Almost in a heartbeat demure soon to be a debutante Carmella Bramforde plunges from virtue into a High Society world of lies, deceit, adultery and worse. Dressed to kill and made up as one of the notorious professional beauties, she plans to burgle the Marquis of Ingleton’s house party to retrieve the family heirloom her brother Gerry lost at cards. Horrified by the depravity and vice, Carmella dices with death at the hands of a genuine burglar. The question is can love save her from sinking further into this sordid and seamy world?

Barbara Cartland was the most prolific and popular romantic author of the Twentieth Century enchanting millions of readers with her unequalled tales of pure romance, dashing heroes, beautiful heroines, and of course, her trademark happy endings. Now, as a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and to Barbara’s enduring appeal to romantics everywhere, her publishers have launched her past collection - The Eternal Collection. The collection includes - Elizabethan Lover, The Little Pretender, A Ghost in Monte Carlo and A Duel of Hearts which were all in circulation at the time Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952. The books are available at the Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk – or from Amazon.com. Ian McCorquodale, Barbara Cartland’s son, said, “My mother would have been so delighted that modern technology can now make her glorious and timeless romances so readily available to new generations of readers all over the world.”

Barbara Cartland was the most prolific and popular romantic author of the Twentieth Century enchanting millions of readers with her unequalled tales of pure romance, dashing heroes, beautiful heroines, and of course, her trademark happy endings. Now, as a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and to Barbara’s enduring appeal to romantics everywhere, her publishers have launched her past collection - The Eternal Collection. The collection includes - Elizabethan Lover, The Little Pretender, A Ghost in Monte Carlo and A Duel of Hearts which were all in circulation at the time Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952. The books are available at the Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk – or from Amazon.com. Ian McCorquodale, Barbara Cartland’s son, said, “My mother would have been so delighted that modern technology can now make her glorious and timeless romances so readily available to new generations of readers all over the world.”

Barbara Cartland was the most prolific and popular romantic author of the Twentieth Century enchanting millions of readers with her unequalled tales of pure romance, dashing heroes, beautiful heroines, and of course, her trademark happy endings. Now, as a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and to Barbara’s enduring appeal to romantics everywhere, her publishers have launched her past collection - The Eternal Collection. The collection includes - Elizabethan Lover, The Little Pretender, A Ghost in Monte Carlo and A Duel of Hearts which were all in circulation at the time Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952. The books are available at the Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk – or from Amazon.com. Ian McCorquodale, Barbara Cartland’s son, said, “My mother would have been so delighted that modern technology can now make her glorious and timeless romances so readily available to new generations of readers all over the world.”

Sir Hugh Ruckley vive con su hermana menor Leona, en un Castillo en la costa de Sussex. Ella, había soñado toda la vida con un amor plácido y dichoso. No sospechaba que cuando ese amor llegase, se encontraría en el medio de una vorágine situación de violencia y muerte. Las cuevas de su Castillo, se estaban utilizando como escondite para el contrabando que su hermano y el astuto Lew Quayle hacían durante muchos años, haciendo con que su hermano se endeudara cada vez más. Quayle, era un asesino despiadado que reveló interés por ella y estaba usando la situación de su hermano para aprovecharse de ella. La llegada de Lord Chard al Castillo, ordenado por el Rey Jorge IV, supuso otra amenaza para Leona, pues él viene como invitado al Castillo de Ruckley, enviado para romper la red de contrabando en la que sabía que su hermano estaba peligrosamente involucrado. Dividida entre la lealtad a su hermano y su deseo de escapar del persistente Quayle, se vio atraída contra su voluntad, por Lord Chard, pero ya era demasiado tarde, pues sospechaba que tendría de huir con los demás y nunca más volver a verlo, pues tendría que casarse con un hombre al que detestara, para poder salvar a su hermano…

Después de la muerte de su tía, la joven y bella Devina, encontrando-se sola en la ciudad de Nueva York, trata de volver a Inglaterra. Entonces decide contestar a un anuncio para acompañar a una joven abastada que viaja a Inglaterra. Una vez contratada, irá vivir una gran aventura de amor. Devina miraba por la ventana, muy consciente de que los ojos de Gordon Thorpe estaban fijos en su rostro. Pero, Devina contuvo el aliento. Sabía que ella le gustaba, porque tal vez creía que ella tenía dinero. Pero… ¿Será que él sentiría lo mismo si supiera la verdad? Que ella no pasaba de una joven común sin ningún título, ni herencia. ¿Será que lo que él sentía por ella, eran deveras sentimientos verdaderos, o solamente una atracción trapacera, por su supuesta fortuna?

Desde el principio, que Varia sabía que su colaboración, había sido estrictamente comercial. Varia recibió una gran suma de dinero y un magnífico guardarropa para que pidiera usar en Francia como "prometida" del hijo mimado de sir Edward, Ian. Para Ian, el plan era perfecto, porque significaba dejar atrás a su impresionante novia Lareen y para Varia era una aventura emocionante, aunque tuviera de usar el anillo de un hombre con el que nunca se casaría. Pero Varia no había contado con Pierre, el apuesto francés, que la arrebató con palabras de amor, ni con la sorprendente reacción de Ian, cuando descubrió de su cita secreta. Varia no tardó mucho en darse cuenta de que una farsa puede resultar peligrosa, cuando el corazón interviene, pues muy pronto descubrió anhelando, que todo se estaba convirtiendo en realidad.

Stories of adventure and hilarity for ages 9 to 12

Stories of adventure and hilarity for ages 9 to 12

Stories of adventure and hilarity for ages 9 to 12

Stories of adventure and hilarity for ages 9 to 12

Stories of adventure and hilarity for ages 9 to 12

International intrigue. The terrifying threat of Russian invasion. A hurriedly arranged marriage, ordered by Queen Victoria, of a young British beauty to a Balkan Prince to prevent a Revolution orchestrated by the Russians. In a romantic adventure that resonates thrillingly today, lovely golden-haired Lady Gloria Winton is sent on a Battleship to a faraway land to marry a man she’s never met and who, already, she hates intensely. But can her hate turn to love as together they flee the murderous Russians?

Sunny Naples is dark in the shadow of death as typhoid decimates its people, including the father lovely young Forella Claye adored with all her heart… Fleeing for her life, she arrives, forlorn, at her aunt and uncle’s London house. Horrified to find they mean to offload her in marriage by hook or by crook, she flees again… this time on a horse from the stable of the impossibly handsome Hungarian Prince János Kovác. With the Prince hot on her heels, she gallops to faster and faster to freedom – until finally Forella is captured… And so is her heart.

A helter-skelter tale of grand passion, intrigue and espionage in the heart of turn-of-the-20th-century China – a simmering cauldron of hatred and resentment of foreigners that rises to the boil as the notorious Boxer rebels burn Christians in the streets… Intrepid adventurer and acknowledged expert in Far Eastern affairs Major Stanton Ware puts his life on the line in a perilous undercover mission for his Prime Minister… But it isn’t fear that takes his breath away and steals his heart – it’s his very first glimpse of Zivana, the young part-English, part-Russian, part-Manchu beauty who is to be his mission partner!

Poor Wade. Not only does he have to cope with his immense wealth, a Social standing outranked only by Royalty and the devastating looks that have beauties falling at his feet… now he has inherited the Dukedom of Mortlyn. It is all so boring! Worse still, his staff expect him to waste time accommodating some pretty Rector’s daughter. Why? he demands – and to his amusement and scorn he is told the villagers believe she is a ‘White Witch’ who cures them of all ills. But, when he meets the wise, mysterious and beautiful Selma, his scepticism dissolves. Now and forever, he is utterly spellbound.

Aristide, the Duc de Savigne is literally Lord of all he surveys – including the women who throw themselves at his feet only to be trampled and scorned. Arrogant and promiscuous, his wild orgies and rampant behaviour are “defaming the name of Savigne and making it a byword for every outrage, scandal and vice...” Yet, when asked to marry this man without even meeting him, innocent beauty Syrilla happily agrees. Even when she finds herself bride to this embittered man, obsessed with his love for a murdered Chère amie she adores her ‘White Knight’ with a passion… Can it be that her pure unsullied love is the key that frees his locked-in-heart?

Paris, 1802. The French Revolution is over, but Madame Guillotine still casts a long and bloody shadow over the last of the Aristocracy. In the bowels of the Château de Marigny, the beautiful young Comtesse Lynetta hides in terror – until her Knight in Shining Armour appears. Smitten by her delicate loveliness, the dashingly decadent Darril, Earl of Charncliffe  rolls her up in a rug like Cleopatra and whisks her away under the nose of Napoleon Bonaparte himself. Posing as honeymooning newlyweds, they flee with a gang of bloodthirsty revolutionaries hard on their heels and, hardly daring to believe that she has not lost her head to the guillotine, a trembling Lynetta suddenly knows that she has lost her heart.

Fleeing her scheming stepmother and a forced marriage, beautiful young heiress Thelma Fernhurst stumbles across a magnificent house like the Fairy Palace of her dreams. More amazing still, in its grounds she finds a circus, complete with lions and tigers and a Big Top – and loses her heart to its dashing owner, the Earl of Merstone! But the runaway’s dream turns to a nightmare when Thelma discovers that the Earl has an evil, scheming relative of his own – and unless a trembling Thelma can save him from a ravenous tiger, the Circus of Love will turn to a Circus of Death!

Barbara Cartland was the most prolific and popular romantic author of the Twentieth Century enchanting millions of readers with her unequalled tales of pure romance, dashing heroes, beautiful heroines, and of course, her trademark happy endings. Now, as a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and to Barbara’s enduring appeal to romantics everywhere, her publishers have launched her past collection - The Eternal Collection. The collection includes - Elizabethan Lover, The Little Pretender, A Ghost in Monte Carlo and A Duel of Hearts which were all in circulation at the time Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952. The books are available at the Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk – or from Amazon.com. Ian McCorquodale, Barbara Cartland’s son, said, “My mother would have been so delighted that modern technology can now make her glorious and timeless romances so readily available to new generations of readers all over the world.”

Barbara Cartland was the most prolific and popular romantic author of the Twentieth Century enchanting millions of readers with her unequalled tales of pure romance, dashing heroes, beautiful heroines, and of course, her trademark happy endings. Now, as a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and to Barbara’s enduring appeal to romantics everywhere, her publishers have launched her past collection - The Eternal Collection. The collection includes - Elizabethan Lover, The Little Pretender, A Ghost in Monte Carlo and A Duel of Hearts which were all in circulation at the time Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952. The books are available at the Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk – or from Amazon.com. Ian McCorquodale, Barbara Cartland’s son, said, “My mother would have been so delighted that modern technology can now make her glorious and timeless romances so readily available to new generations of readers all over the world.”

A shy English Rose blossoms into an exotic bird of paradise in this thrillingly romantic twist on the tale of Cinderella. With her slender, graceful, almost elfin beauty, Odetta may not look like a Cinderella but it’s she who must stay at home while her aristocratic friend is dressed by the great couturiers and dances at Society balls. That is, until she’s whisked to Paris as her friend’s lady’s maid – and, on a crazy impulse, borrows a fabulous dress and a mask and slips unnoticed into a Venetian Masked Ball. As she’s marvelling at the whirling waltzes, Chinese lanterns and glamorously costumed guests, a tall, handsome masked and cloaked man asks, ‘Are you waiting for some laggard partner or have you just dropped down from the sky to bemuse us poor mortals?’ Cinderella has gone to the ball! No longer ‘Miss Nobody from Nowhere’, she lives the dream, playing the part of a French Princesse and quickly finding her feet in the fashionable world… But just as quickly she loses her heart to her masked hero – and her impossible dream becomes a nightmare because her new life and love is all a lie.

After her father dies in a riding accident, Gina Borne’s mother loses the will to live and soon follows her husband to the grave. Not only is Gina grief-stricken – aged just 18, she faces a miserable, lonely life in the gloomy shadow of her pious uncle, who’s known as “The Preaching Peer”. Seeking escape, she successfully applies for a job as “companion” to the Earl of Ingleton’s sickly seventeen-year-old ward, Lady Alice Hanbury. It seems as though the spectre of Death is still stalking her when she finds herself at the ancient Ingle Priory, haunted by the spirits of a white lady, tortured prisoners and a crying child. Even her new charge, Lady Alice, seems to be at death’s door – and Gina realises that an evil housekeeper is slowly draining Alice of life with daily doses of poison. It seems too far-fetched to be true – surely the Earl, kindly as he is, will never believe her… Plagued by ghosts in the night, Gina strives to save her new friend from this slow, cold death as she clings to the hope that blossoming friendship and the light of love will chase all this darkness away.

303. A Herb for Happiness Poor Wade. Not only does he have to cope with his immense wealth, a Social standing outranked only by Royalty and the devastating looks that have beauties falling at his feet… now he has inherited the Dukedom of Mortlyn. It is all so boring! Worse still, his staff expect him to waste time accommodating some pretty Rector’s daughter. Why? he demands – and to his amusement and scorn he is told the villagers believe she is a ‘White Witch’ who cures them of all ills. But, when he meets the wise, mysterious and beautiful Selma, his scepticism dissolves. Now and forever, he is utterly spellbound. 304. Broken Barriers The thunderclouds of World War Two are gathering, sweeping away old notions of class. But still, in 1938 there are almost insurmountable barriers to love – and not just those of social rank. In the Highlands, the lovely Skye is determined to marry her penniless childhood sweetheart Hector, but her hidebound grandfather forbids it. Meanwhile, in London’s Theatreland, Paris and Cannes, Skye’s stepfather Norman worships the voluptuous and volatile actress Carlotta – who’s blinded to her own feelings by an infatuation with money, fame and Hector too! Will Skye, Hector, Carlotta and Norman ever grasp happiness? It seems only a fatal accident has the power to seal the lovers’ fate.

A tale of rags to riches – and above all romance!From a London gentleman’s club he can ill-afford to a grand highland castle … From near bankruptcy to fabulous wealth, handsome ‘man about town’ Talbot Marsham’s life changes forever when he inherits the title Earl of Cairnloch – as well as the castle and clan chieftainship that go with it. With the beautiful young Tara at his side, he assumes his throne and faces a clan bristling with suspicion of the English and then, on the castle’s slippery roof, a crazed, knife-wielding cousin consumed with hate. And just as he faces losing his life, he loses his heart – forever.

In Britain’s Great Depression jobs are almost impossible to find. And the best innocent, bewildered and beautiful young Fiona can find is as a ‘dance hostess’ in a nightclub frequented by High Society – as well as London’s seedy lowlife. Between fighting off drunken thugs, old men and lecherous Lords, she learns the harsh realities of life in this shady nocturnal world and loses her heart – hopelessly – to a man who’s promised to another. And, her adventure takes her from London to Monte Carlo and back, she discovers how dangerously close to the gutter is all this ‘glamour’.

La hermosa Vanora está ayudando a su tío, Lord Blairmond, el distinguido estadista que vive en Londres, a escribir su autobiografía, cuando recibe una llamada urgente de su hermano, Ewen, para que regresé de inmediato a Escocia. Él acaba de convertirse en el Cacique del Clan McKyle y ella se pregunta por qué la quiere. Los McKyle han luchado durante años con los MacFiles cuyo jefe es el Conde de Glenfile. El Conde también había regresado a Escocia, porque su padre se está muriendo y además había sido engañado por dos mujeres con las que había tenido affaires-du-coeur en Londres. Entonces, toma la decisión de que nunca más se volverá a enamorar. Cuando Vanora llega a Escocia, descubre lo que su hermano quiere que ella. Él quiere que ella robe a los MacFiles,  la piedra sagrada del Clan McKyle, cuyos jefes la han usado durante siglos cuando aceptaron la lealtad de sus miembros del clan. Ewen ha visto que el Conde está anunciando un puesto para un bibliotecario en su Castillo y piensa que es una buena excusa para llevar a su hermana al Castillo de Killdona disfrazada. Cuando Vanora se niega a hacer lo que él quiere, le amenaza con exiliarla del Clan, algo que ella contempla con horror. Finalmente ella va al Castillo y encuentra algo muy diferente a lo que se esperaba. Está lleno de los tesoros más maravillosos que alguna vez había visto, incluidos los libros que siempre había deseado sentir y leer. Ella salva algunos de los mayores tesoros del Conde de ser robados y finalmente, como es tan guapo, se enamora de él. Está segura de que, cuando él sepa quién es, jamás volverá a hablar con ella y la alejará de su Castillo. Cómo es que los McKyle consiguen recuperar su Piedra y cómo el Conde y Vanora, se enamoran y encuentran el amor verdadero… se cuenta en esta emocionante e inusual historia de amor de BARBARA CARTLAND.

Las bellas hermanas Amalita y Carolyn, se quedarán huérfanas, después de perder a su padre Sir Frederick, que se había ido a Paris, para olvidarse del disgusto de la pérdida de su mujer, Lady Elizabeth. Quedándose las dos hermanas solas en el mundo, tendrían de hacer algo para salvar su destino. La joven y bella, Amalita la hermana mayor, tendría de ser la protectora de Carolyn, su hermana menor. Desesperada, decidió preparar un plan para salir adelante. Su padre tenía un libro de domicilios, con las mejores amistades en Londres. Por fortuna, Lady Elizabeth, había sido muy metódica en todo cuanto hacía. Había puesto una pequeña marca roja junto a las personas con quienes Sir Frederick se ponía a menudo en contacto. Amalita se fijó en la marca, del Marqués de Garlestone y ese fue el elegido para escribirle una carta haciéndose pasar por su madre, Lady Elizabeth Maulpin, la viuda de Sir Frederick, para que pudiera llevar su hermana a la temporada social de Londres. Sólo podía rezar para que todo saliera bien y no hacer un lío de la situación… pues estaba arriesgando el honor y el buen nombre de su familia.

The Bargain Bride is the thrilling tale of beautiful young Aleda, who is brought through no fault of her own from riches to the brink of ruin… Of her dashing but irresponsible brother the Earl of Blakeney whose profligacy has brought him perilously close to debtors’ gaol… Of fabulously wealthy Social climber Doran Winton, who cynically buys the unwilling Aleda’s hand in marriage along with her brother’s debt to rescue them from penury… And of a sinister Chinese cabal who slip from the shadows of London’s Dockland opium dens to kidnap Aleda at knifepoint, perhaps to face ‘death by a thousand cuts’ … Only now, with her life at stake, does she realise that the hate in her heart has turned to love.

Tras el fallecimiento del Coronel Campbell, el viejo Conde de Narbrooke, acogió en su casa a la viuda y a su hija Devona.  En la Mansión Brooke ambas eran tratadas como sirvientas, aunque no recibían ningún pago por su trabajo, y en uno de esos inviernos muy fríos, en que el avaro Conde no encendía la calefacción, la señora Campbell se murió de neumonía.  Un año más tarde, la siguió el miserable Conde y este estaba dispuesto a irse a la tumba con todo su dinero y seria enterrado con él, pero Devona destruyo el testamento- A la llegada del nuevo Conde, la muchacha, se presentaría como la hijastra del fallecido Conde, por lo que sería la natural heredera, del dinero del Conde fallecido, pero Devona no se importaría de compartirlo con el joven y apuesto Conde de Narbrooke y por sorpresa del destino,  su vida iría cambiar para siempre…

After their family mansion burns to the ground, the lovely Erlina Sherwood and her little brother, the sixth Baronet of Sherwood, go to the neighbouring estate to ask if they can stay at Meldon Hall as they now have nowhere to else go. It is just about the only habitable residence in the village left after the Marquis of Meldon on inheriting the family seat disavowed his house and estate and everyone in or near it.Because of his neglect, Meldon Hall has fallen into disrepair and since local workers and even the Vicar have not been paid most of the local houses in the village are falling down and most of the villagers have left the area in despair.Expecting only to find The Hall’s caretaker in residence, Erlina is taken aback to find a strange man sitting alone in the darkness of the shuttered drawing room and after her initial shock she realises that it is the Marquis himself and he has been blinded in a racing accident. Soon she is discover the secret reason why the embittered and blind ‘Wicked Marquis’ has so cruelly neglected his people and property. Meeting his greedy unscrupulous cousin and his beautiful lover, she also realises that there are people in the world who are far more wicked than the Marquis and she suddenly finds that she is falling in love with him.

Things had been bad enough for the inspiring and beautiful young Helga Wensley when her much-loved father died some five years ago, leaving her and her mother in penury. Recently her ailing mother too has passed away, which means that her stepfather, Sir Hector Preston, is now her Guardian. To make matters worse he promises her hand in marriage to a cruel and uncouth man called Bernard Howell, a Fate that she considers worse than dying. As her mother suggested soon before her death, Helga goes for help to her estranged Aunt Millicent, a glamorous actress from the notorious Gaiety Theatre – and her life changes forever.Putting herself forward for a ‘role’ paying her one thousand pounds in which she pretends to be the fiancée of the dashing Hugo, Duke of Rocklington, Helga finds herself with the most sought-after bachelor in the whole of the Social world at his fabulous country seat, Rock Castle. And, despite Aunt Millicent’s firm instructions not to fall in love with the Duke, Helga is smitten and finds that playing the part of the lovestruck fiancée requires no acting at all. But all that changes when by chance Helga again meets the dreaded Bernard Howell, who pursues her brandishing his horse whip and she races back to Rock Castle to the Duke to save her –

The beautiful Lencia is the image of her dear departed Mama – and so is still the apple of the eye of the widowed Earl of Armeron. Knowing how profoundly Lencia and younger sister Alice are missing their mother, their father promises to take them to see the fabulous historic Châteaux of the Loire Valley in France – of which the most exciting and impressive of all is Chaumont. But to their chagrin, their hopes are dashed when the Earl returns from a trip to the South of France with a new wife on his arm – a stepmother who sees Lencia’s beauty as competition for her husband’s attention. Nevertheless, the sisters have their hearts set on their French adventure and set off in secret, Lencia disguised in her late mother’s clothes and make-up to look like an older Society lady. By chance, they happen to meet along the way the dashingly handsome Duc de Montrichard, owner of Chaumont, who invites them there to stay! And soon, while Alice’s heart is fit to burst with excitement as they explore his fairy-tale world, Lencia’s if filled with love for the dashing Duc. But, tragically, it seems that love is doomed since it is based on deceit!

Isolated monasteries nestling in the peaks, precipices and giddying gorges of the snow-capped Himalayas… The filth-encrusted and lice-infested hovels of the native people… It’s all a far cry from the genteel sophistication she’s left behind in Monte Carlo. But as always, Vivian Carrow’s as defiant as she’s beautiful – and, nursing a broken heart, she’s determined to accompany her father on a perilous mission to Tibet. Faced with a haughtily handsome and arrogant Captain whom she suspects is a murdering spy, a lecherous, drug-crazed Indian prince and gangs of murderous monks, that defiance is tested to its limits – indeed almost to the death. Will Vivian plunge to an icy death in a mountain crevasse? Or fall into love with the man she so hated.

Life has not been kind to Lydia Bryant – and love has been downright cruel. Orphaned at 16 and brought up by her uncle, a Shropshire Rector, she marries Donald, a handsome soldier many years her senior at 21.  But tragedy strikes once more as his terrifyingly violent mood-swings are revealed, condemning her to a lifetime of torture and torment. So when Donald dies, some 6 years later, her first thought is that she is free at last! Free of her hateful husband, but facing a life without love. Throwing off the shackles of stiflingly shallow English Society, Lydia embarks on a thrilling adventure – and, from genteel Malvern via the heat and hustle of Cairo, she finds herself in the parched and primitive Sudan – surely the last place on Earth anyone would hope to find love?

After an evening dinner with renowned French ballet dancer and beauty, Nicole de Prêt, handsome young buck about town, the Marquis of Sarne, is stirred from a deep sleep to realise that he has been drugged and then rendered unconscious. And he is in a strange bed in a strange house somewhere in London. Far worse though is the revelation that in his stupor someone has married him to some young servant girl he does not even know by his bitter enemy, Lord Kirkhampton. To avoid the likely scandal and humiliation that his predicament will bring him, he decides to take his ‘bride’ to his house in Grosvenor Square and there to arrange a divorce as best he can. But soon he realises that this girl was not a willing participant in Lord Kirkhampton’s deceitful trick nor is she the plain servant girl he had assumed at first. In fact Romana Wardell is startlingly beautiful and attractive, remarkably intelligent and every bit as appalled by their situation as he is. Then the more that the reluctant newlyweds become acquainted, the less the urgency they feel to put this forced ‘marriage’ to an early end. Perhaps after all she has the makings of a Marchioness of Sarne!  

Cuando la madre de Gardenia murió, dejándola sin un centavo, Gardenia corrió a la casa en París de su único pariente vivo: la rica y hermosa Duquesa de Mabillon. Antes de que la encantadora Gardenia se diera cuenta, estaba vestida con la alta moda de París y se mezclaba con los solteros más elegibles de la sociedad, entre ellos estaba el inglés atractivo y genial Lord Hartcourt, y aunque amaba París, Gardenia se sentía incómoda por las impactantes fiestas que solía presenciar, por el Barón lascivo que siempre estaba en el tocador de su tía, por la forma en que todos los elegantes jóvenes caballeros la miraban y le hablaban. Y luego, para empeorar las cosas, Gardenia se enamoró…

El Príncipe Nicolo de Vienz está irritado porque su familia y su Primer Ministro le ruegan continuamente para que se case por el bien de su país y para evitar que un vecino se apodere de él. Finalmente acepta conocer a la Princesa Marzia, la hija del gobernante de Bassanz. Sin embargo, cuando llega, el Príncipe se entera por accidente de que ella está muy enamorada del Conde que había sido enviado para acompañarla a Vienz. Como el Príncipe no quiere casarse con nadie, y mucho menos con alguien que esté enamorado de otro hombre, se escapa a Venecia sin que nadie sepa, excepto su ayuda de cámara, Texxo, que sabe que él está abandonando el Palacio y ordena a Texxo para que cuide los caballos en un hotel, mientras él alquila una góndola para explorar Venecia. En su camino por uno de los canales, el Príncipe se da cuenta de repente de que una niña se asoma por la ventana de una gran casa. Luego, para su sorpresa, ve que ella se está bajando deliberadamente con una cuerda al canal. Pensando rápidamente, mueve su góndola para que ella se caiga y ella le suplica que él se la lleve antes de que nadie vea lo que ha sucedido. El Príncipe descubre entonces que la chica que ha rescatado es increíblemente hermosa y extremadamente inteligente. Embarcaron en una aventura emocionante, sabiendo solamente sus nombres sin apellidos y cómo finalmente se enamoraron. Todo esto se lo cuenta esta historia fascinante y romántica, inusual al estilo de la maravillosa BARBARA CARTLAND.

Demure young beauty Lady Imilda Harsbourne’s stepmother, the Countess of Harsbourne, is determined to have Imilda married off to an eligible – and ‘important’ – bachelor as soon as possible. But after enduring several Society balls as a debutante, Imilda is thoroughly disillusioned and vows never to marry unless it is for love alone.So she is horrified when her stepmother arranges for her to be wed to the Marquis of Melverley, who, although dashingly handsome, is a notorious ‘ladies’ man’. Despite her pleas, her father will not help her and she has no choice but to run away. But to where?Then Imilda has a cunning idea. Since his return from the War, the Marquis has never returned to his family seat, Melverley Park, which stands empty apart from a skeleton staff. And so, clutching a forged a letter of introduction from the Marquis, Imilda arrives to take charge of the estate’s Herb Garden. While exploring The Park’s library, though, she finds to her horror that a gang of cutthroat highwaymen has taken advantage of the Marquis’s prolonged absence to use The Park as their lair. When the Marquis arrives out of the blue, running away to hide in plain sight, Imilda keeps out of sight in The Park’s secret passages – and, overhearing the villains plotting to kill the Marquis, she creeps into his room at night to warn him and help him escape. In the ensuing adventure, in which they enlist the Army to fight off the criminal gang, Imilda realises that she has fallen head over heels in love with the man to whom she is reluctantly engaged.

The brooding and haughty, handsome yet strangely haunted Earl, Lord of all he surveys in an ancient Lincolnshire castle with its dungeons, priest holes and dark secrets… The forlorn young beauty, grief-stricken and alone in an exotic flower-filled villa in sun-kissed Sorrento… The cherubic infant love-child of a dying Contessa… and mutterings of murder in the shadows… Thrilling, chilling and heart-warming, Love Comes to the Castle is an entrancing tale of love and death: everything you’d expect from a novel by the Queen of Romance – and quite a lot more.

Two fair-haired, blue-eyed beauties named Noella whose destinies are intertwined before they’re even born… One lives the high life in Europe with her mother and her rakish lover while the other leads a sheltered, quiet life… Until, alone, penniless and desperate, a beguiling stranger lures her into a web of deceit from which there’s no escape. Posing as her now-dead namesake, Noella Wakefield ingratiates herself with her estranged ‘brother’, the handsome but bitter Earl of Ravensdale. Too late, she realises that she is part of a murderous plot – and then, after saving him from a dagger-wielding assassin, she realises she’s in love. But how could the Earl ever love a liar? And how can true love be based on a lie?

Dashing Druce Pevel, the Marquis of Peverell, Lord of all he surveys, with women falling at his feet… A pair of money-grabbing, murderous cousins bent on bleeding him dry – or even dead… Shamara, an innocent, yet strangely exotic, Missionary’s daughter, plucked from an orphanage to become the Marquis’s ward… A bewildered Shamara finds herself voyaging aboard his yacht to Senegal – where it’s the Marquis’s turn to be bewildered when they’re kidnapped by a tribal chieftain and held for ransom in his kasbah… At first he is mystified… How is it that this innocent abroad knows the ways of the Africans – even speaks their language. How has she such wisdom beyond her tender years? Then, as he watches over her sleeping in their kasbah prison, Druce is suddenly smitten – and taken aback by the fierceness and passion with which he swears, “I will kill anyone who hurts her!”

With their beloved parents long passed away, the beautiful Angela Brooke and her brother Trevor are penniless and the upkeep of the dilapidated family Priory is all but impossible to manage. Then one day Trevor returns from London with an exciting plan, a chance for Angela to earn the princely sum of one thousand pounds, which is more than enough to solve their financial problems just by playing ‘make-believe’ for a very short time. The legendary George Edwardes, the impresario behind the famous and glamorous Gaiety Girls and the shows at London’s Gaiety Theatre has promised that the Gaiety Girls will appear in an exclusive show at the Marquis of Vauxhall’s own private theatre. The trouble is that the star of his play based on The Rake’s Progress, which the Marquis himself has written to entertain his guests, has been taken ill and, afraid to disappoint the Marquis, George Edwardes is desperate for another angelic beauty to take her place. Who better, Trevor argues, than Angela, who was so named for her angelic appearance.And so, with great trepidation, Angela arrives at the stately home of the handsome and haughty Marquis where, uncharacteristically made up to look like a wanton Gaiety Girl, she attracts the unwanted attention of the Marquis’s gentlemen-friends. But soon her angelic beauty, her excellent equestrian skills and her gentleness with his young daughter pique the curiosity of her host. And soon he is utterly smitten.

Since their adored father, Lord Shenley, passed away, the beautiful young Kyla Shenley and her little brother, Terry, have no one to care for them except for their despised stepmother, Sybil, who has already taken a lover and is plotting to get her greedy hands on the children’s large inheritance. When Kyla overhears her plans to ensure that young Terry has a ‘fatal accident’ and to drug Kyla and hand her over to a ghastly old man called ‘Lord Frome’ to face a life of debauchery, she sees no alternative but for them both to flee as far away as possible from their appalling stepmother. Heading for Lilliecote Castle and their beloved Nanny who works there for the Earl of Granston, they are accosted by a highwayman in a wood, but he turns out to be a particularly nice ‘gentleman of the road’, who demands only one of their sandwiches and even offers his protection should they find themselves in dire straits. When they arrive at The Castle, Nanny suggests that the Master, the Earl of Granston, should not be aware of their identities in case their wicked stepmother comes there seeking them. And, passing off Kyla as a new Governess to the Earl’s young niece, Jane, Nanny shows them how to hide in The Castle’s ancient secret passages and Priests’ Holes. But, as the handsome and authoritative Earl takes them under his wing, he suspects that there is more to the lovely Kyla than meets the eye. So eventually it is he, together with their highwayman friend, who defeats the Wicked Widow and her gang of evil accomplices in a terrifying battle in which the Earl wins Kyla’s heart and soul.

Having retreated to his country estate to escape the amorous attentions of his mistress Lady Fiona Faversham, who is determined to marry him, the dashing Duke of Moorminster out riding when he is captivated by the sound of a church organ being played beautifully. Entering the small church, he is equally captivated by a young woman of almost angelic loveliness who is leading her choir of children with her own wonderful voice.She is perfect for a special role in the play he has written – and which is to be the debut performance at his newly built private theatre with the Prince and Princess of Wales in attendance. And so young Vicar’s daughter Lavela Ashley finds herself and her choir of children rehearsing for the great event at Moor Park and becomes embroiled in the devious scheming of Lady Fiona and the Duke’s wicked cousin Joscelyn – both of whom are plotting to force the Duke into a marriage by the foulest of means. For his part, as the romantic drama unfolds in his own Theatre of Love, the Duke comes to realise that Lavela is everything Lady Fiona is not – and that she is everything he ever wanted, if only he had understood his own heart.

When her father orders her to marry a cousin of the Russian Czar, whom she does not even know, let alone love, Princess Margarita of Altauss is horrified. Forced to travel to St. Petersburg, she demands that her English friend, Paulina Handley, daughter of a British Diplomat, goes along with her as her Lady in Waiting.Very experienced in the ways of the world and of love, her father, Sir Christopher Handley, urges Paulina to beware Russian aristocrats and Royalty, who would make effusive declarations of love, but would never actually be allowed to marry a commoner.However, no sooner than she has arrived in St. Petersburg with his words still ringing in her ears, Paulina falls head over heels in love with the Princess’s brother, the handsome Prince Maximus – and he with her. To her chagrin though, the Prince must return to the Caucasus, scene of his recent heroism in battle and, anyway, how can she, a commoner, ever marry a Prince? So, before it even begins, their love seems to be doomed.

After centuries of violence between the feuding McBrara and MacSteel clans in the Scottish Highlands, a fragile peace is about to break into a new war when the one of the MacSteels’ shepherds is murdered by the McBraras.In a desperate attempt to avoid further bloodshed before the imminent visit of the English King George, the Laird of the MacSteels proposes that they unite the clans with a marriage – and the Earl of Braradale agrees. And so the Laird’s daughter, the elfin young beauty Fyna, is obliged to marry a man she has never met – the Earl of Braradale himself.For his part, the Earl is dreading the marriage, imagining that she will be “pious and heavily built”, while for her part Fyna too dreads a loveless union with a man she doesn’t love and who will look down her as his inferior. As the two clans celebrate their wedding the reluctant bride and groom begin to become acquainted and from the start, both are pleasantly surprised to find that they have much in common – but it is only when the life of her new husband is imperilled by her murderous cousin Hamish that Fyna realises that she has fallen in love.

Man about town and something of a ‘ladies’ man’ the new Earl of Rockbrook has given little thought to a liaison at Windsor Castle in which one of the Queen’s Ladies-in-Waiting, Lady Louise Welwyn, appears suddenly in his bedroom in the middle of the night. So he is appalled when he learns that Lady Louise’s formidable mother expects him to marry her. Her motivation is clear, although penniless at the time, he has since unexpectedly inherited the title of his family’s Earldom and the huge estate of Rock Castle after his uncle’s and cousin’s death in a train crash.He realises that he could never be happy with Lady Louise and so he flees her and London for the safety of the countryside where he breaks his collarbone in a riding accident and is knocked unconscious.When he awakens, he finds that he is being nursed by a lovely country girl called ‘Purilla’. She is beautiful, demure and intelligent – in fact everything he ever wanted in a wife, so he persuades her to save him by marrying him at once. Purilla has already fallen deeply in love with the handsome Earl – but how can she turn a marriage of his convenience into one of true love?

Beautiful young Valencia Hadley lives a quietly contented life as the daughter of the Chaplin to the estate of Dolphin Priory. And she loves the Big House as much as the pretty little house by the Chapel where she and her father have lived since she was a little girl. Since Hue, the Earl of Dolphinston, spends all his time with the Beau Monde in London, Valencia enjoys the run of the big house, so when the Earl finally arrives with a retinue of Society types, she is a little dismayed. She is even more dismayed when she overhears the glamorous beauty Lady Hester Stansfield and her brother Edward Ward in the Chapel plotting to drug the Earl and to dupe her father into marrying him to Hester so that they can get their greedy hands on The Priory and the family riches. Enlisting the help of Ben, a strong estate worker, Valencia spirits away the drugged and unconscious Earl and hides him in an ancient Priest’s Hole behind the Altar of the Chapel. Next a desperate Edward tries to force the Earl to marry Hester at gunpoint – and again he is foiled by Valencia’s brave intervention. There is only one way now for the Earl to rid himself of Lady Hester for good is to marry Valencia! By now Valencia has realised that she is passionately in love with him. But how can she possibly marry him if he does not love her too?

The handsome Earl of Ardwick is smarting from the pain of discovering that his fiancée, the spectacularly beautiful but social-climbing Heloise Brook, is forsaking him for a Duke when he is halted on the road by a nasty carriage accident. There he finds beautiful young Lupita Lang and her six-year-old brother, Jerry, who are running away from home. After the recent death of their father, Jerry has now become the Earl of Langwood.Realising that he used to know their father well, he then takes them to the safety of his Grosvenor Square house where suddenly he sees Lupita in a new light. With her fair hair and blue eyes she is the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and, as she tells him that their wicked Cousin Rufus is bent on murdering young Jerry in order to inherit his title, a cunning idea then comes to the Earl, a way to protect the young siblings from their grasping cousin and also to wreak revenge on the equally title-hungry Heloise.After Lupita next appears on his arm dressed up as Cleopatra at the famed Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball, to Heloise’s fury the Earl finds Lupita’s innocent allure increasingly impossible to resist and, although she does not know it, her heart is already his. But surely their love is lost before it has any chance with Cousin Rufus still determined to end his young cousins’ lives and seize the title and estate that he so desperately covets.

Handsome and dashing, the Marquis of Melsonby finds himself bored by the attentions of Society beauties, especially those of the undeniably beautiful and irritatingly ardent, Lady Karen Russell, who is trying to blackmail him into marriage.Then, as he is caught in a fierce snowstorm and stuck for the night at a lowly wayside inn, Fate puts in his way a lovely young waif called ‘Perdita Lydford’, who throws herself on his mercy. She is on the run from her cruel would-be ‘Guardian’, Sir Gerbold Whitton, and with good reason. Not only does he beat her sadistically, he is totally bent on marrying her and her sizeable inheritance by force to pay for his large debts.Since they are both in the same boat, the Marquis and Perdita then begin their daring deception and dupe their respective pursuers with a fake marriage that appears on the surface to be legal.But Sir Gerbold is not so easily daunted and he tries again to abduct Perdita. Escaping on the Marquis’s yacht to Morocco, poor Perdita is imperilled once more, ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’, of a lecherous and murderous Sultan and his Harem, where she prays that love in the form of the Marquis can save her life and her virtue yet again.

After their beloved Mama passed away, Amalita and Carolyn’s father, Sir Frederick Maulpin, could not bear living in the family home that reminded him so painfully of her. So he left his daughters behind for Paris, perhaps hoping to rediscover the raffish man-about-town he once was. To the girls’ chagrin, he immediately fell in love with and married a Frenchwoman called ‘Yvette’, whom his daughters considered vulgar and quite unsuitable for their adored Papa. Now, to their horror, they receive a letter informing them that their father and Yvette have drowned in a yachting accident in Nice. Not only have they lost their parents, now eighteen-year-old Carolyn has no one to present her to Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace and chaperone her at debutante balls on which all her hopes are pinned. But her elder sister, Amalita, has a plan – A letter to her father’s old friend, the Marquis of Garlestone, secures an invitation to stay in exalted company, where Amalita, dressed as a far more mature woman, chaperones Carolyn in the guise of their stepmother, whom no one in London had ever met. And so their charade begins as, meeting the Marquis’s dashingly handsome son, the Earl of Garle, and his cousin, Timothy, they both become love-struck, but also hopelessly out of their depth and confounded by their own deceit –

When a startlingly beautiful young girl with brilliant red-golden hair falls at speed from her horse before him, the dashingly handsome Osric, Earl of Helstone is uncharacteristically caught off his guard. Not only one of the richest men in England but also, in many women’s opinion, by far the best-looking, ‘The Elusive Earl’ as he is known, is accustomed to Society Beauties falling at his feet – but not in so literal a fashion!Rushing to her aid, he finds that the girl has not fallen – but made her horse throw her deliberately in a cunning ruse to talk to him without her groom being aware. She introduces herself as Calista, the headstrong daughter of Lady Chevington and warns the Earl he must decline her mother’s invitation to stay at her estate for the duration of the Epsom Races, claiming that her mother is bent on duping him into marrying Calista. Laughing at the claim, the Earl accepts the invitation to Chevington Court – and in no time finds himself tricked into a compromising position, the only escape from which is marriage to Calista – just as she warned.But just he begins reluctantly to accept he must marry the young beauty who, after all, shares his passion for horses, Calista disappears and, at the request of a surprisingly frantic Lady Chevington, the Earl goes in search of her. Finally finding her and her beloved horse performing in a circus, he tries to bring her home but falls foul of a vicious “Strong Man” and is terribly injured. And as she patiently nurses her saviour back to health, Calista realises that she is in love. If only the Earl felt the same way too.

After her mother had succumbed to pneumonia and followed her husband to the grave, beautiful young Meta Lindley is bereft. Now that her much-loved brother Richard is away in London most of the time, she is alone in the family’s once laughter-filled Manor House with only silence and her father’s pedigree stable of horses for company. Meta is delighted when Richard pays her a surprise visit, but when he reveals that he and their Diplomat father had worked as undercover Agents, it is Richard who is taken aback to find that Meta and their Mama had known all along! Then, to Meta’s amazement, Richard asks her to undertake a vital and very perilous spy mission of her own. A Russian Prince, whom Queen Victoria suspects is a spy, has arrived in England with his young sister, Princess Nathlia, and is looking for a country house where he can hunt and ride superb horses. Richard has offered to rent The Manor House to Prince Alexis for the Season and has offered Meta’s services as English Tutor to the seventeen-year-old Princess Nathlia. In that guise Meta’s mission is to observe the Russians and report back to the Queen any suspicious behaviour that might suggest that the Prince is indeed a spy. Soon Meta finds that there is very much more to the handsome Prince and the stunningly beautiful Princess than meets the eye and, as she watches her beloved brother fall in love with Princess Nathlia, and she with him­, she despairs of ever finding such a sublime love of her own.

Handsome, distinguished and decidedly dashing, Theo, the Duke of Eaglefield, has the world, and most of its women, at his feet. But he takes all this attention for granted and is becoming tired and bored by it all.   In fact his friend, Harry Hampton, tells him that he has no concept of the challenges and complexities faced by the ordinary man and that the people he encounters see only his riches and rank rather than the man himself. Protesting that this is untrue, Theo accepts Harry’s challenge to walk the fifty miles from Brighton to his house, Eagle Hall, in Berkshire incognito and mixing with commoners along the way. He stands to lose his finest pair of horses should he fail and so he sets forth, leaving behind the glamour of Brighton’s Beau Monde. The second morning of his pilgrimage, Theo comes across a beautiful young girl, Alysia, standing precariously at the edge of a deep pool next to a weir. She seems to be praying and, instinctively, he knows that she is about to plunge to her death in the river. After leading her to safety he hears all about her cruel and grasping stepfather who murdered her mother and who is now bent on seizing her sizeable inheritance by marrying her off to his friend, Lord Gosforde with whom he will share the spoils. Theo is transfixed by Alysia, thinking it quite ‘impossible for anyone to be so beautiful’.  Almost instantly he finds himself falling in love with this ‘very young angel who has fallen out of Heaven by mistake’ and he decides to take her on his journey on foot. But can he keep Alysia away from her murderous stepfather and be able to reach the safety of Eagle Hall unscathed?  

With the death of her mother, her father’s subsequent suicide by drowning in the English Channel, all in the foreboding shadow of imminent war, the beautiful young Fleur Garton is vulnerable to say the least. Even more so when her new love, Lucien, a French airman, is killed just two weeks after the Second World War is declared and followed after by the death of his mother.Left bereft and alone at a remote Château in German-occupied France, Fleur has to find a way home to England before the Germans discover her and in a French Resistance safe house she meets and falls in love with another airman, Royal Air Force pilot Jack Reynolds. Sadly her heart is about to be broken once more on arrival in England after a gruelling voyage of escape from France. Desperate to escape Jack’s family home, Fleur seeks employment at Greystone Priory as housekeeper-companion to the ailing mother of the renowned motor car tycoon, Sir Norman Mitcham. Instantly she falls in love with the grandeur and beauty of the house and with the arch but kindly Mrs. Mitcham. But, although she takes an intense dislike to Sir Norman, who seems cold, ruthless and aloof, she decides that this is where she will achieve her aim, ‘to hate all men, to dispense with love in her life and forget about it’.Gradually, though, as she begins to discern the man behind the façade, she warms to Sir Norman. And perhaps her heart is ready for a different kind of love from a man who will never ever break it.

Returning to his family estate after a long absence in India serving under the much-loved and now-deceased Viceroy, Michael, the handsome Earl of Rayburne, is appalled to find that his estate and the local village have gone to rack and ruin. It seems that his uncle to whom he had entrusted them has embezzled everything that the Earl owns, including the contents of Rayburne Castle and has decamped with his loot to America. Penniless and unable to pay the estate’s workers and pensioners, who are on the verge of starvation, he has no choice but to throw himself on the mercy of Lord Frazer, the owner of the neighbouring estate and his family’s bitter enemy in an age-old land dispute over a wood. To the Earl’s astonishment the hateful Lord Frazer offers him not a loan but a gift, amounting to fifty thousand ponds, in order to combine their two estates. But there is one other condition. The Earl must marry Lord Frazer’s young daughter, Ansella, whom he has never even met. Although now he can begin to rescue the estate and its people from ruin, the Earl is in despair, certain that Lord Frazer’s daughter will be an ugly harridan who can never become the beloved ‘Lady in the Castle’ like his late and much-loved mother. But everything changes when he finally sees his bride after their Marriage Service. She is beautiful! Her face is heart-shaped and her hair is pale gold like the sun at dawn – little wonder that soon the young Earl of Rayburne realises that he is falling in love.

Neil, the handsome Earl of Wynstock, is expected back from the English Army of Occupation in France where he has been with the Duke of Wellington since the Battle of Waterloo. And the people of his estate, Wyn Park, await his return to them impatiently. Vanda Charlton, his beautiful childhood neighbour, waits with more concern than the others because, unbeknown to anyone else, a dangerous gang of highwaymen have moved into the West wing of the Earl’s ancestral home after intimidating and threatening the caretaker and his wife. Vanda fears that on the Earl’s return the highwaymen will capture him and hold him to ransom. Intercepting him at a local inn, she warns the Earl and persuades him to enlist the support of the soldiers at the local Barracks. But before the Military can implement their plan of action, the ruthless renegades kidnap Vanda, threatening to kill her if they do not receive one thousand pounds by the next morning. Disguised in a highwayman’s mask, the Earl arrives in the enemy’s woodland camp in the dead of night with a cunning plan to rescue Vanda. Posing as another highwayman he enlists the local Parson and stages a Wedding claiming that he is marrying Vanda for her huge fortune, which he promises to share with the villains. Little do they, or even Vanda herself, know that he is as deeply in love with Vanda as she is with him. And that this marriage is completely legal and utterly real!clean

Hoping to surprise and impress the horse-loving Empress Elisabeth of Austria during her imminent visit to his ancestral home, the Duke of Buclington decides that he must invest in some of the best thoroughbred Hungarian horses. He had planned to take his lovely young daughter, Lady Aletha, to Hungary with him to buy them, but, when Queen Victoria sends him on an important errand to Denmark, he is then forced to send in her place his equestrian stalwart, Mr. James Heywood. Bitterly disappointed by this as she loves her father, Aletha slips away, secretly intending to catch up with Mr. Heywood on the Calais to Vienna train when it is too late for him to order her back to England. Beautiful as she is, she quickly attracts the unwanted attentions of a lecherous German traveller, but luckily a flabbergasted Mr. Heywood comes to her rescue just in time. After much cajoling, he is persuaded not to return her to her father but to take her with him, pretending that she is his granddaughter. Their mission is a great success. They find all the superlative horses that they were seeking, but Aletha loses her heart to a handsome and charming Hungarian Prince. And it seems that her deceit will become her undoing when he tells her that he can never marry her because she is not of noble blood. 

When their father, the Duke of Northallerton, offers his daughter Caroline’s hand in marriage to his neighbour, the Duke of Lynchester, purely as a means of settling once and for all an ancient land dispute, she is appalled. Not only because she does not love the Duke but also because she is already madly in love with another, the charming and handsome Edward Dalkirk. Desperate to help her older sister, the aptly named young ‘elfin’ beauty, Lady Elfa Allerton, secretly waylays the Duke of Lynchester in his chaise and begs him to marry her instead and to leave her sister free for the man who she truly loves and adores. Elfa from her childhood is fascinated by woods and goes to a wood to talk to the trees and immerses herself in the magic all around her and in times of difficulty she prays to the God of trees, Sylvanos, for his help and guidance and he always helps her. Something about this young woman, Elfa, fascinates the Duke and reluctantly he agrees to do as she asks of him. And despite the constant attentions of Society beauty, Isobel, the Countess of  Walshingham, who is determined to keep him for herself, the Duke finds himself becoming enchanted by Elfa’s quiet intelligence, innocence and beauty – just as she is spellbound by him.

Now she is sixteen and a half, the beautiful young Lady Imeldra is eager to leave school and resume her exciting life with her father, the Earl of Kingsclere. He is renowned in Society as something of a ‘man about town’, but when he goes on his frequent extensive travels round the world, he always takes Imeldra with him and she just loves being with her father. She is dismayed when he announces that his rather decadent lifestyle is not conducive to the necessary task of presenting Imeldra to Society and at Court and finding her an appropriate suitor for her hand in marriage. And he is intending to send her to live with her strait-laced and disapproving grandmother, where she will lead a very dull and formal lifeRebelling, she enlists the help of an old family friend, William Gladwin, who is currently building an ornate orangery at the neighbouring estate of Marizon and passes herself off as Mr. Gladwin’s grand-daughter so that she can stay at Marizon and perhaps explore the house that is renowned for its superb collection of pictures by great artists.Although the house and its estate is incomparable in its beauty and grandeur and its brooding cynical Master, the Marquis of Marizon, is equally handsome, Imeldra has the distinct feeling that something is amiss and that the Marquis is hiding some dark secret from everyone around him including her. And, seeking to know more of the mysterious Marquis, she finds to her surprise that she has fallen in love.

At her father’s request and on the instructions of the Royal Council of Scotland, flame-haired young Scottish beauty, Sheena McCraggan, sails in Junre1554  to France to become a companion to the fourteen-year-old Mary Stuart – Mary Queen of Scots – at the Court of the French King Henri II. Once there she is to report on the young Queen’s intentions and those of the French Court regarding the future of Scotland and specifically whether it will support Mary’s rightful accession to the Throne of England. When she arrives, Sheena finds that her mission is far more difficult and dangerous than anyone at her home had ever imagined.  She is overwhelmed by the intrigues of the Courtiers and everybody seems to be hating everyone else in a very unhappy Palace. Not only is the French Court a seething nest of depravity and corruption, the deceitful aristocrats close to King Henri exploit innocent young Sheena in an evil Black Magic plot to ensnare him. Amid the darkness, as she finds herself prone on the Satanic sacrificial Altar, the one light of hope is the Duc de Salvoire to whom Sheena has lost her heart. But will God answer her prayers and send him to her rescue in time to save her soul?

Although Scottish born and bred, beautiful young Vara McDorn speaks with a refined English accent thanks to her education in the South, which is why she is called upon to become Reader to the new Chieftain of the McDorn Clan, who has been blinded by an Indian Fakir’s curse while protecting the Viceroy at a Fort on the North-West Frontier of India. Troubled by his affliction and frustrated by his inability to understand the local Scots’ brogue, the Chieftain, the Earl of Dornoch, soon comes to rely on Vara as his tutor in the customs and attitudes of his people as well as being his eyes on the estate. And, although he is terse and resentful at first, Vara finds herself warming to this haughtily handsome Nobleman. After taking him on an adventure that she hopes will restore his sight, Vara catches Hamish, the Earl’s murderous relative, a rival for the title of Chieftain, attempting to stifle him with a pillow over his face and shoots him with her revolver, saving the Earl’s life. Already Vara knows that she is in love with the Earl, but even as she prays frantically for his blindness to be cured, she frets and worries that he could be disappointed when finally he is able to see her.

Después de la muerte de Lady Meridale, el Marqués de Meridale tuvo de ausentarse de su Castillo para luchar en el regimiento contra Napoleón y después quedándose al servicio del Príncipe Regente en Carlton House… estuvo ausente durante 8 años. El Castillo de Meridale estaba ahora casi en ruinas, en mal estado y descuidado por los sirvientes que lo estaban pasando mal y además había una atmósfera de miedo. Todos fueron afectados. Arabella había sido enviada al Castillo como compañía de Lady Beulah Belmont, la hija del Marqués, una niña con una enfermedad psicológica, y Arabella misma, se estaba escapando de la brutalidad de su padrastro. Recién recuperada de la escarlatina, estaba en un estado pálido y delgado, cuando el Marqués regresó al Castillo, y se dio cuenta de la belleza de la joven y lo cuanto sus vidas estaban amenazadas. Arabella a pesar de todo, pudo descubrir el secreto del Marqués. Ella se vio enfrentando a la muerte y al amor… enfrentando también a sus propios sentimientos, pues el Marques ocultaba un secreto, que le impedía de casarse con Lady Sybil, la hermosa rival de Arabella o con cualquier otra mujer…. ¿Sera que el verdadero amor salvaría la vida del Marqués?

Cuando Grace volvió su exquisito rostro para mirar a Lord Damien, él dijo con una voz temblorosa:'' Por el amor de Dios, no me mires así ... tú que eres tan pura, tan perfecto, tan inocente... cuando te veo, sé que debo irme. ¡Vete!'' Ella repitió: “ Pero no entiendo..." y él le dijo '' No puedo verte más. Está mal para ti y es un infierno para mí ''.  Grace anhelaba acunar su cabeza entre sus brazos. "Tú has sufrido", murmuró, "pero tal vez yo pueda hacerte feliz". LordDamien se protegió el rostro de sus ojos suplicantes. "Grace...” dijo, y su voz era áspera, "Piensa en cómo sería nuestra vida con todas las puertas del Condado cerradas contra nosotros, con todas las personas decentes señalandonos con el dedo,,,". ¿De verdad crees que mi amor por ti, es tan débil que te sacrificaría,  en lugar de a mí mismo? Grace nunca había visto a un hombre tan determinadi  y decidido. “Mi decisión está tomada. Me iré mañana...” dijo Lord Damien. ¿Será que este amor vencerá las convenciones sociales? ¿Irá Lord Damien sacrificar el amor de su vida ?

Pretty young Kelda Lawrence arrived at Mrs. Gladwin’s Seminary for Young Ladies when she was fifteen, coming from the orphanage where she was sent for three years after her father and mother were tragically killed in an earthquake travelling in Turkey. At the Seminary she makes a firm friend in the beautiful Yvette de Villon who, although also an orphan, is from a wealthy French extended family. One day Yvette comes to Kelda feeling tearful and distraught because she has been summoned to go and live with her English uncle. This, Kelda thinks, does not sound so bad until Yvette explains that her uncle is ‘horrible’ and worse still lives in Dakar in the French West African Colony of Senegal as a recluse in a huge mansion.. When none of the school’s Mistresses agree to accompany Yvette, to Kelda’s amazement the Headmistress instructs her to go with her to Senegal and look after her until she can be handed over safely to her uncle in Dakar. And so begins Kelda’s great adventure – and, when Yvette falls head over heels in love to a good-looking young man on the voyage, she and her new beau enlist Kelda in their plan to gain the acceptance of Yvette’s uncle to their marriage. There are severe problems when they arrive in Dakar as Yvette’s uncle has already promised Yvette’s hand in marriage to the Governor-General. Little do any of them know that Kelda too is soon to lose her heart!

Running away from the school that she hates, headstrong and rebellious, beautiful young Petrina Lyndon clambers over a wall into a country road, flinging her bag over before her and narrowly missing a dashingly handsome young Earl, to whom she complains about the ‘horrible, beastly’ Guardian who placed her at the school and how he never listens to her. She is even more shocked when the Earl reveals that he himself is actually her Guardian, the Earl of Staverton. And although he is not the elderly ‘stuffed shirt’ she expected, he is cold and unfriendly and unimpressed by her stated desire to go to London and become one of the ‘Lady-Birds’ that she has heard so much about.She tells the Earl that she wants to enjoy herself and not get married to some boring and stuffy aristocrat. The Earl is horrified at this unseemly and ignorant revelation and tells her so in no uncertain terms.Determined to dissuade her from a path that would lead her into depravity and danger the Earl insists that she allows him to launch her into Society as a debutante in an effort to marry her off.But Petrina has very different ideas. And she resolves to somehow steal his Lordship’s heart!

Golden-haired young beauty Anona adores her father, the East India Company seafarer Captain Guy Ranson. So she is shocked to the core when he comes home to confess that far from being the successful shipowner she thought he was, he is a pirate, boarding cargo ships and threatening the crew and cargo unless they paid him a ransom. He describes himself as a ‘highwayman on a ship’. Fearing that he has been identified and may face the gallows, the Captain is determined that his beloved daughter’s name should not be ruined by his actions and comes up with a plan to ensure that she will be safe and anonymous. And so Anona appears washed up in a small boat on a Malayan beach owned by the Captain’s good Chinese friend, Lin Kuan Teng, whom he knows will take care of her at his palatial Penang house. Feigning amnesia, she finds herself under the wing not only of her father’s friend but also of the handsome Lord Selwyn who has just arrived in Penang to take possession of a huge mansion and a plantation that he has fortunately inherited from his great-uncle. In this exotic Paradise, Anona may not have truly lost her memory, but soon she has lost her heart. But surely her love is doomed once his Lordship discovers her true identity and finds out about her father’s pirating?

Rich, powerful and handsome, the Duke of Melyncourt is journeying to Paris on a secret mission for the British Prime Minister when he discovers that a bewitchingly beautiful flame-haired girl has stowed away in his carriage.Amé, as she is a called, has run away from the Convent where she is a novice and to which her unknown mother had entrusted her as a baby in arms. It transpires that she fled to enjoy a last taste of freedom after for some reason the sinister Cardinal de Rohan insisted that she take her nun’s Orders without delay, far sooner than other novices would. The Duke knows that this French Cardinal is not to be trusted and agrees after much pleading to take Amé with him to Paris disguised as his pageboy.It is not long before the Cardinal’s men are in pursuit, enquiring whether the Duke has seen the missing novice. And the Duke realises that there is something ominous afoot. So begins an adventure in which Amé and the Duke find themselves amid the turmoil between the Court of Marie Antoinette and subversive factions against the Queen led by the depraved Duc de Chartres. With everything at stake, including her life, how can Amé return to devote her heart to God when she has already given it to the Duke?

La belleza y delicadeza de Hong Kong fueron muy bienvenidas después de las horribles tormentas de los inviernos ingleses. Tan encantadora y delicada como la flor, así se llamaba, la joven Azalea, la que necesita calor y luz solar para sobrevivir. La bella Azalea no era feliz en su nuevo hogar, pues su tía y tío la mantenían en una humillante esclavitud doméstica. Su posición inferior, a la que la remetieron, estaba más que justificada por la desgracia inmencionable de su pasado. Sus viciosos guardianes habían logrado romper el espíritu de Azalea, pero no pudieron evitar que un joven decidido, el atractivo Lord Sheldon  se enamorara de ella. Tampoco podían evitar que él descubriera el vergonzoso secreto que nublaba la felicidad de la vida de Azalea. ¿Habría ahora alguna esperanza de que encontrará el amor verdadero y pudiera tener una vida propia?

Arriving alone and unannounced at her Aunt Lily’s Paris home, the innocent young beauty Gardenia is overwhelmed by a whirl of glamourous parties, exotic food and endless champagne. Her aunt, the imposing Duchesse de Mabillon, is it seems a well-known and popular Society hostess ¬who counts Lords and Comtes among her many friends. Indeed, already at her wits’ end after the death of her mother, Gardenia is so shocked by the immediate and over-insistent attentions of a drunken Nobleman called Comte André de Grenelle that she faints. And her mind is hardly set at rest when, after coming to her rescue, a haughty and disdainful Lord Hartcourt warns her to leave her aunt’s house and stay elsewhere.Her aunt plies her with fabulous clothes and introduces her to her sophisticated world and slowly Gardenia’s eyes are opened to the decadence and deceit behind the glamorous façade. The innocent and trusting Gardenia has suddenly become embroiled in a world of women of low virtue, international espionage, intrigue and terrible danger. Luckily for Gardenia, the handsome Lord Vane Hartcourt is a gentleman of honour who would steal nothing – except perhaps her heart.

As a cousin of Queen Victoria, the beautiful Princess Marigold is obliged to yield to the Queen’s wishes when it comes to marriage – and the Monarch is most reluctant to allow her to marry the man she loves, Prince Holden of Allenberg, because she views his tiny European Principality as insignificant and uninfluential. So, although the Queen assents to their engagement, she puts obstacles in the way of their marriage in the hope that Princess Marigold will fall out of love with Prince Holden if she can keep them apart for any length of time. One such obstacle is the Royal order that Marigold travels to Greece to represent the Queen at the State funeral of Prince Eumenus. Determined to stay with her beloved Holden, the Princess comes up with a cunning plan. She will send another young woman in her place – and Prince Holden knows the ideal candidate, the beautiful young Vicar’s daughter called Avila Grandell, who looks uncannily like the Princess and, being half-Greek, speaks the language fluently. And so, with her mother’s concerned consent, this awestruck young innocent’s adventure begins, voyaging to Athens and on to the island of Malia. Little do any of them expect Avila to be touched by the Light of the God Apollo and would then fall in love with a handsome charming Prince of her own!

Handsome, dashing and a close friend of the Prince of Wales, Lord ‘Buck’ Melburne has London’s Society ladies permanently swooning at his feet and so his nickname stuck with him. So, when Lord Melburne goes to his magnificent country seat at the urgent request of a young lady called ‘Clarinda Vernon’, a nearby neighbour of his, it turns out that she despises and hates him and so he is shocked and perplexed as this has never happened to him before. What could he possibly have done to offend her? He is even more shocked at Clarinda’s request – that he agrees to marry her, purely to indulge the last wish of her dying uncle. Once Sir Roderick Vernon has passed away Clarinda will, she assures him, release him from his promise. Despite himself Lord Melburne is really fascinated by this innocent yet feisty red-headed beauty and he is deeply concerned for her safety when he hears of sinister Satanic goings-on in the nearby caves orchestrated by someone who means Clarinda harm and even worse. When she finds herself prone on the sacrificial Altar amid a terrifyingly depraved Black Mass, it is for his Lordship to save her that she prays to God. And when at last her prayers are answered, she realises that her hatred has turned to love and that for her too, Buck Melburne really is irresistible!

Beautiful eighteen-year-old waif Felicita Galvão is penniless, almost starving and all alone in the world when the Duchesse de Monreuil finds her desperately trying to sell her needlework at The Grand Hotel in Lisbon. Struck by Felicita’s deep blue eyes – so different from those of any Portuguese girl she has ever seen – she agrees to buy everything the girl has to sell and offers her a ride to her home in her smart carriage. Something about this young beauty strongly reminds the Duchesse of herself at the same age when she first found the love of her life, Juan, the Marques de Oliveira Vasconles – said by everyone to be ‘the most handsome and the most exciting gentleman in the whole of Portugal’. Still deeply bitter over the way that the Marques Juan has abandoned her to marry another ‘whose blood is the equal of mine’, the Duchesse suddenly sees a way to use this young innocent beauty to wreak the revenge that she has been dreaming of and planning for years. Moving Felicita into her rented Villa, she persuades her to impersonate the Duchesse’s niece, the Comtesse Felicity de Monreuil, and in that guise meet the current Marques Alvaro de Oliveira Vasconles. The Duchesse means to break the heart of her lost love’s son as hers was broken so cruelly by his father. But it seems that love or Fate or both will combine to deny her vengeance.

La bella Melinda, vivía con su tío, Sir Héctor Stanyon, huérfana y demasiado hermosa y encantadora, para que su tío no se aprovechara de la oportunidad para echarla de casa y casarla por interés… además de que su prima Charlotte sentía una envidia terrible por su belleza, que era lo suficiente para atraer al joven con que ella quería casarse. Melinda no era feliz en la familia que la había acogido, después de perder a sus padres y sentía un odio fulminante por tener de vivir allí. Melinda, no tuvo más remedio que huir de la insensibilidad familiar y al terror del Londres victoriano, y luego más, de las garras de una mujer aparentemente amable, que la acogió ofreciéndole alojamiento, pero solo quería aprovecharse de ella. Ella estaba viviendo una pesadilla, encerrada, de ventanas con barrotes... pero quiso el destino que recibiera una oferta de quinientas guineas, para llevar adelante un falso matrimonio, fingiendo-se ser la esposa del famoso Marqués de Chard. Melinda miró hacia el caballero que pronto sería su esposo, y por un momento, pensó que era el hombre más apuesto que había visto en su vida, pero al observar su expresión, se dijo que era un hombre cínico y de vida vacía. Le dijo: Es usted preciosa― comentó―, pero tan mercenaria como las demás. Nos llevaremos muy bien. Ella se preguntó que querría decir él con aquellas palabras. De pronto, sintió de nuevo el impulso de huir. Pero esta vez no había escapatoria posible… estaba de nuevo atrapada, pero por otros motivos… ¿Será que este falso casamiento, le traería la felicidad que tanto había esperado toda una vida?

Left penniless and alone after her parents’ sudden deaths, beautiful young Alina Langley is desperate to earn some money to pay off their debts when, quite out of the blue, her friend the glamorous Denise Sedgewick, arrives at her home from London in a smart carriage.Now a famous Society beauty she has come to ask Alina for help. The man Denise loves has gone to Rome, upset after Denise deliberately made him jealous at a party and Denise is desperate to follow him and win him back.Her plan is to travel with her cousin, Lord Teverton, who is on a special Diplomatic mission for the Prime Minister, but her father will not let her go without a proper chaperone. Since there is no one else she can really trust, she persuades Alina to pretend to be her mother, Lady Langley.Dressed as a sophisticated woman of nearly forty when she is just twenty, Alina meets the unfriendly but handsome Lord Teverton, who is instantly entranced by her. The trouble is, so is the persistently amorous Prince Alberto Borghese, who pursues Alina with considerable determination and cunning.And when Lord Teverton comes not once but twice to her rescue, Alina realises that she has fallen completely in love with him, but how can she explain that she is not the woman of the world she pretends to be but a simple girl who has never before been kissed?

Una novela de pasión y intriga en la corte de Enrique II de Francia. Sheena McCraggan es enviada a Francia para ser acompañante de la joven María, Reina de Escocia de 14 años de edad, a la corte de Enrique II. Sheena había oído mucho sobre juicios a las bellas y coquetas mujeres en las que los nobles buscaban, para su placer. Ella no quería tener nada que ver con esos nobles. Ella estaba allí sólo para enseñar y proteger a María, la Reina de Escocia. Sin embargo, demasiado pronto, Sheena se encontró en los brazos expertos de un Duque, un apuesto hombre que hasta podría haberlo encontrado atractivo, si no fuera por su arrogancia desmesurada. El destino la lleva ante un Tribunal de Justicia, donde las normas morales han caído en el olvido desde hace mucho tiempo. Ella, va a ser utilizada como cebo, en un vil complot para atrapar al Rey, y donde incluso horribles ritos de la Misa Negra, son utilizados para conseguir sus propósitos…

All alone and penniless after the unexpected death of her much-loved father, the lovely but innocent Minella Clinton-Wood is desperate. But who can she turn to? Her Aunt Esther has made her reluctance clear, describing the idea of Minella living with her as ‘a burden’. But then she finds a letter to her father from her slightly older friend, Connie, the local Parson’s attractive daughter, thanking him for some mysterious kindness. “Someday perhaps I will be able to do something for you,” Connie has written to him. Maybe, Minella thinks, Connie can help her.Arriving in London, she discovers that her friend is one of the famous Gaiety Theatre’s exotic and flamboyant Gaiety Girls.And Connie immediately begs the demurely beautiful Minella to stand in for one of them who is ill at an exclusive party, which is given by the dashingly raffish and handsome Earl of Wynterborne at his sublimely impressive country home, Wyn Castle.Naively Minella agrees to the subterfuge – and soon finds herself dressed up to the nines in a decadent Social world beyond her experience as she has been brought up quietly in the country. Doubling the deception after the party is over, the Earl asks her to travel with him to Egypt, pretending to be the wife who had once betrayed and left him for another man. So Minella embarks on a voyage of discovery, deception and perhaps love.

La bella y joven Deborah y su hermano gemelo Jerry se horrorizan cuando reciben una carta dirigida a su tío y guardián, su muy querido reverendo Teófilo Stanton, de la despiadada Duquesa de Grimstone. La carta anuncia fríamente que "habiendo él cumplido los sesenta y cinco años, abandonará la vicaría dentro de un mes a partir de la fecha de la carta". Jerry ya no podría ir a la Universidad en Oxford, pues serían los honorarios de su tío, que pagarían los estudios… entonces Deborah decide ir a visitar la Duquesa y ponerse a su merced, a cambio de hacer cualquier cosa que ella quisiera, para que su tío no perdiera su puesto en la vicaría. Pero la pobre y inocente Deborah, no sospecha las cosas terribles que la malvada Duquesa de Grimstone le podrá exigir como parte del trato. Cuando Mervyn de Thame conoce a Deborah en casa de la Duquesa de Grimstone, piensa que esta será también una cómplice de sus maquiavélicos juegos, y no podía sospechar que la muchacha no era más que otra víctima en manos de aquella maquiavélica mujer, pues creyó que Deborah sería una redomada hipócrita en su papel de jovencita inocente, hasta que comprendió la verdad cuando los hechos se complicaron…¿Será que el Marqués intervendrá para salvar Deborah de la humillación y el deshonor que la Duquesa le estaba causando?

Beautiful young Roxana Barclay cannot bear to see her wealthy widowed mother, Lady Barclay, marry a raffish fortune-seeker five years her junior. And so she flees to join her Dutch aunt and uncle, who are Missionaries, on their voyage to Bali in the East Indies. Matters are complicated further when Roxana discovers en route that her aunt is with child. Tragically her aunt dies of a fever after the difficult birth of her son, Karel, and then her grief-stricken uncle is found dead too, struck down Roxana is convinced by a Black Magic curse. Terrified of the colonial Dutch authorities, who would force Karel into an orphanage if they discovered his existence, Roxana entrusts him for safekeeping to a Balinese family. To her horror the repellent overweight Dutch Governor takes a predatory interest in her, making it clear that if she refuses to become his mistress he will have her imprisoned or she will be thrown of the Island of Bali. Which she become so attached to. Worse still the Governor introduces her to a dashing new arrival, Count Viktor van Haan, who also takes a keen interest in her and her beautiful wood carvings, which express so much of her and her attitude to life. But soon Roxana is surprised to find herself confiding in this handsome stranger and the Count is equally surprised to find that he has fallen in love!

Al recibir una carta desesperada de su hermana, la bella joven Romara Shaldon se apresura a ayudar su angustiada hermana Caryl, que se habia escapado del despreciable y cruel Sir Harvey Wychbold, a quien no solo la maltratava, sino que también se niega a casarse con ella, sabiendo que esta se encuentra embarazada. Después de una confrontación violenta que la deja ensangrentada y magullada, Romara es 'rescatada' y llevada a la casa de al lado de Lord Ravenscar y donde, en su estado de conmoción y semiconsciente, se encuentra en una extraña situación. Está casada con su Señoría. Por muy terrible que haya sido su comportamiento, la mirada deslumbrante de Trent Ravenscar y la nobleza roban el corazón de Romara mientras que ella intenta rescatar a su herida hermana, pero justo cuando Romara se da cuenta de que ama al extraño que es ahora su esposo, un terrible incidente de disparos la obliga a huir y dejar detrás toda la esperanza de poder vivir un verdadero amor inesperado…

Having lost her parents in a tragic carriage accident, beautiful but innocent young Cornelia Bedlington, living in Ireland, has inherited an enormous fortune and her Uncle George decides that she needs a chaperone for the coming Social Season in London. Who better than her glamorous Aunt Lily who knows everyone smart! Unbeknown to George or Cornelia, though, Lily is in the throes of a love affair with the startlingly handsome Drogo, the Duke of Roehampton, who is struggling financially and she comes up with a Machiavellian deceit designed to make Drogo rich and save Lily the trouble of chaperoning Cornelia. Her suggestion is that Drogo marries Cornelia while secretly continuing his liaison with Lily! When this fascinating stranger, the Duke, suddenly proposes marriage, Cornelia is swept off her feet. And they are married in the most glamorous Wedding of the Season attended by the King and Queen. But just as love for the Duke blossoms in her heart, she is heartbroken to overhear her fiancé plotting their future together with Lily and then realises the horrible truth. Soon, though, amid the heady glamour of gay and exotic Paris, she enlists the help of a sophisticated Socialite, Renée de Valmé, in a desperate and cunning plan of her own to ensnare the dashing Duke’s heart for herself alone!

For beautiful young Ivana her stepfather Keith Waring is no replacement for her much-missed father, the Honourable Hugo Sherard, who was killed in Spain fighting against Napoleon Bonaparte. Her stepfather is a spendthrift and he has gambled away virtually everything the family owns. Ivana’s hatred for her stepfather is doubled when, to her utter horror, she overhears him offering her as a ‘kept woman’ to the equally despised Lord Hanford for over five thousand pounds! Ivana runs away with her old Nanny acting as her chaperone and companion and applies for work through a Domestic Agency, where she is invited to apply for a post using her flawless Parisian French for the Earl of Lorimer, who is working in the War Office. Expecting a man to apply for the post, the imperious but handsome Earl is at first sceptical, but on realising that he knew her father, he soon warms to her, saying that he has a ‘difficult and dangerous mission for her!’ Ivana is to become a spy, working undercover against Napoleon’s secret agents. And so her perilous adventures begin. Very soon she loses her heart – and at every turn she risks losing her life. But the worst danger of all comes not from the wartime enemy but from the evil Lord Hanford who is still determined to possess her as he has already paid for her.

Sent reluctantly to stay with her aunt so that her lustrous dark red hair and green gold-flecked eyes would not distract the attentions of her stepsister’s suitor, beautiful young Ilouka’s stagecoach is involved in a terrible accident in which two passengers are killed. One is Ilouka’s old lady’s maid and chaperone, Hannah. The other is Lucille Ganymede, a glamorous dancer and understudy to Madame Vestris, the famous performer who has enchanted the theatre world of Covent Garden. They are en route to perform at a private gentlemen’s party for the Earl of Lavenham at his glorious stately home, Lavenham Hall. Lucille’s Manager, Mr. D’Arcy, is distraught. This engagement is his last hope if he is to avoid destitution and, since she is a gifted singer and dancer herself, Ilouka nervously agrees to perform in Lucille’s place. But on arrival she takes an instant dislike to the Earl’s haughty demeanour  and worse still she finds to her dismay that the behaviour of the guests at the ‘gentlemen’s party’ is far from gentlemanly. Dancing to the gypsy music that conjures in her heart visions of her Hungarian ancestors and sublime snow-capped mountains, she enthrals the audience who clap and clap her inspired dancing. And especially the handsome but aloof Earl. It is only when he rescues Ilouka from the drunken attentions of a certain Lord Marlowe, does she realise that she is utterly and irrevocably in love with the Earl.

The dashing Duke of Selchester is on his way to visit Lord Upminster at Copple Hall when he is halted by a collision in the road ahead to find that a stagecoach has crashed into his own travelling carriage, the wheel of which is badly buckled. Worse still, his beloved pedigree stallion, Salamanca, needs re-shoeing. Arriving on foot at the nearest village, he finds a strikingly attractive young girl called Verena Winchcombe, who agrees to take him to the local blacksmith. It transpires that she has been awaiting the arrival of someone she calls ‘the Odious Duke’, who is due at Copple Hall, but who has so far failed to arrive. With horror the Duke realises that she is talking of none other than himself. So he introduces himself by his rank as ‘Major Theron Royd’. When Verena confides in him about strange goings on at an old, perhaps haunted, Priory where he agrees to go along with her to investigate. And there he is bludgeoned unconscious by a mysterious assailant. Awaking at Verena’s home, he realises that there is much more to this feisty but beautiful young woman than meets the eye as she helps nurse him back to health after serious wounds to his head And in turn, as they find themselves in a perilous adventure involving murderous Bullion thieves, Verena, still unaware of the Duke’s true identity, has fallen in love with him.

Handsome, athletic and pursued by women wherever he goes, it is hardly surprising that the tall striking Marquis of Kyneston succumbs to the temptation in London of a married beauty called Daphne Burton.             Finding out purely by chance that she intends to entrap and blackmail him in a cynical plot, he decides that he must escape the Society world and so he heads off in his yacht for The Hague in Holland in search of great Dutch art to complete his prestigious Picture Gallery, which the King himself is taking considerable interest in.             In the meantime someone else is also destined for the Dutch City at the same time.             Beautiful young Lela Cavendish is mourning her mother’s death when her stepfather, Sir Robert Lawson, sends for her.             Arriving at the family estate she is appalled to find that he has arranged for her to marry a wealthy much older and extremely unpleasant man whom she has only met twice let alone loves.             Lela and her beloved Nanny flee to Holland to throw themselves on the mercy of her ailing aunt, the Baroness van Alnrardt.               And soon in The Hague’s Mauritshuis Museum Fate strikes when an art dealer stops to admire Lela’s excellent copy of Vermeer’s Head of a Young Girl and suggests to Lela a terrifying course of action.             And that is to defraud the famously handsome Marquis of Kyneston with her copy of the Vermeer Masterpiece.             But she and the Marquis find out soon enough that there other attractions in Holland besides Dutch paintings.

The Marquis of Alchester is furious when his horse in the Derby Stakes of 1831 finishes in a dead heat, purely because of the unsporting behaviour of the rival horse’s owner, the Earl of Branscombe. The Marquis is doubly incensed when he hears that the Earl is arrogantly talking about marrying his Ward, who is an immensely wealthy heiress and he needs her riches to support his extravagant lifestyle. Bent on revenge, the Marquis visits an orphanage on his estate in search of an orphan waif he can pass of as his Ward and marry her to the unsuspecting Earl who has never the real Ward. Plucked from the hell of starvation and abuse at the hands of a wicked matron, the beautiful young Kistna is in Heaven at the Marquis’s magnificent house and soon finds that she is falling in love. But it seems inevitable that she is condemned to hell after all when the Marquis breaks her heart by offering her hand to the unpleasant and grasping Earl of Branscombe.

The Duke of Lavenham learns from a letter that the beautiful Lady Penelope who he finds fun and amusing, is telling her friends that she is going to marry him.The Duke is horrified as he has no intention of marrying anyone for many years to come and he hurries to visit Penelope to discuss the matter with her and tell her that he has no intention of marrying anybody.As he is leaving the house, a young girl sobbing hysterically jumps into his carriage and begs him to take her away.The girl, Devinia, who is a cousin of Penelope’s, tells the Duke that Penelope has had her dog killed and she wants to die too. She is terribly unhappy and he thinks that she has been very badly treated by Penelope and her family.The Duke takes her to his Castle in the country and it is then that he has the idea that, if he and Devinia pretend to become engaged to each other, Penelope’s father cannot accuse him of breach of promise. But the Duke is quite certain if Penelope has told so many people of their intended marriage that her father will consider that he has damaged her reputation and will insist on him marrying her.All this could be prevented if Devinia would become engaged to him and they could break it off as soon as it is safe to do so.Devinia is very happy at the Duke’s Castle in the country and loves riding his horses.How Penelope’s revenge on him is to have her kidnapped by a foreign nation and carried away to become the concubine to a ruler of their country.And how the Duke desperately sets out to find her, is told in this exciting and romantic novel by BARBARA CARTLAND.

After Cañuela’s father, Lionel Arlington, a senior Diplomat at the British Embassy in Buenos Aires, was wrongly accused in Argentina of being a traitor to Britain, he died, presumed drowned, after diving overboard to save a little girl who had fallen into the sea . The resulting scandal left the beautiful Cañuela and her ailing mother ostracised and outcast in London, living in a bare bedsitter under an assumed name. Although she now despises all Argentines, Cañuela is so desperate to earn money to be able to send her mother for a cure in Switzerland that she takes a job as secretary and translator to a famous Argentine businessman, Ramón de Lopez – a man who her mother says was among her father’s accusers and a former friend of his.So with no idea who she really is, her almost impossibly handsome employer is baffled by her intense animosity and curtness, even though she is very efficient at her job. Even more so when they travel to Buenos Aires and she saves  Ramón de Lopez from scandal, helps him to further his political ambitions to be President of Argentina and finally rescues him from murderous guerrilla kidnappers, who intend to ransom him off for a huge amount of money. And it is here, at the height of peril and danger to herself, that Cañuela begins to realise that the powerful passion in her heart is no longer hatred but love.

The beautiful Alvita who had lost both her parents, was living quietly in her family home in Southern Russia. Her father had been Russian and her mother had been English.             Alvita was pleased to receive a visit from her brother, Ivor, but shocked when he told her that they must leave Russia immediately, as a Revolution was inevitable and would start very soon.             He had brought with him his friend, Nicholas, who said that he would help them pack up as many of their treasures as they could and make their way to England.             Alvita felt a little unsure of Nicholas, but thought that perhaps she might be mistaken.             Ivor insists that he should be a Russian Prince and Alvita a Princess as the English are always impressed by grand titles, although Alvita is none too sure about the deception.             After packing her mother’s jewellery, some valuable pictures and silver, they know that they must avoid the dangerous Revolutionaries and travel as fast as possible to the nearest Port to find a ship to take them to England.             This Nicholas arranges for them and, when they arrive in England, Ivor by chance meets an old friend, Charles, the Marquis of Harrington, who he was friends with when they were at Oxford University.             Charles takes them to his impressive house in London and, when he learns that they want to sell their treasures, he arranges for them to be displayed in the ballroom and the stables.             It is when Alvita sees a valuable painting being removed from its frame that she knows that Nicholas is attempting to cheat the Marquis.             How she warns Charles of what is happening in his house             And how she and her brother find the love that they both sought but believed would never be theirs is all told in this unusual romance by BARBARA CARTLAND.  

Demure Prunella Broughton has long felt responsible for her lovely younger sister Nanette – since their mother ran away with a lover and then, not long later, their beloved father had died. As an heiress and a debutante, Nanette is already attracting much male attention. But it’s about Pascoe Lowestoft  that Prunella is most concerned. Spoilt, dandified, vain and “far too good-looking for any young girl’s peace of mind”, this penniless fortune hunter he has declared himself in love with Nanette! To make matters worse, the new 6thEarl of Winslow arrives unexpectedly to take his place at his long-neglected Baronial Hall – a gentleman of whom Prunella deeply disapproves for his wild, raffish reputation, and the fact that he is Pascoe’s uncle. Her argument that  the love between Nanette and Pascoe must be stopped gets short shrift from the Earl. Indeed, he argues that love, such as that which led her mother to leave, cannot be denied. Prudish Prunella refuses to believe that such an unruly, uncontrollable love can exist – until the prodigal Earl’s stolen kiss changes everything forever.

One of the youngest Colonels in the Duke of Wellington’s Army, Ivar Harling returns from the victorious Battle of Waterloo to Harlington House in London’s Berkeley Square. Suddenly a very rich man now that he has inherited the Dukedom of Harlington from his cousin, who has been killed in the War, he is also tall and extremely handsome although his years as a soldier have left their mark on him. And perhaps too in the expression in his eyes, which is perfection to Society beauties such as the glamorous widow, Lady Isobel Dalton, who pursues him avidly and with some success.But although he needs to marry to prevent his scheming and dishonourable cousin, Jason, from stepping into his shoes, he resists Lady Isobel’s desperate hints at marriage as she fancies herself as a Duchess.When a craven pawnbroker, Emmanuel Pinchbeck, approaches him for money to redeem several of his family heirlooms, which it seems that his young cousin, Lady Alvina, has been selling off secretly, he is outraged. But, arriving at a closed-up Harling Castle in the country, he finds not a devious dishonest woman but a beautiful yet tormented young lady who, unaware of the family’s huge wealth, is in dire financial straits as well as his whole ancestral estate. The Duke is determined to find out how she has been so cruelly misled. And along the way he finds the love that he has always dreamt of finding – but not before the spectre of death steps into his path.

The great statue of Apollo, which had fallen to the ground, was gradually broken up and pieces were carried away to England and France. Much of the statue, Valona knew, remained in Delos, but it lay too far for her to go and see it. Yet she was aware that it was still there and was, according to what she had read, filled with a tremendous power. One visitor to the statue had written, “It was splendid in its loneliness, its perfect beauty and its terrible power.” Valona was miles away, but as she stood looking towards the East, she could feel the magic of the young God, once thirty feet high. In her mind she could see his parted lips, his uplifted hands and his eyes gazing out to sea. More than two thousand years had passed since Apollo’s statue had been erected on the island, yet she knew in her heart that time had in no way weakened him. It was then that she began praying to Apollo with all her heart and soul. She asked him to bring her the true love she longed for. As the God of Light and Love, Apollo represented the fulfilment of dreams to all who worshipped him. ‘Help me, please help me!’ she begged. ‘The love I seek is the same love you give to the world and it is even more powerful than anything else mankind could possess.’

Famed for his horse racing successes on the turf and worshipped by London’s Society beauties, the dashingly handsome Marquis of Broome is unjustly renowned as heartless and selfish. So, when on a night time journey from London to his Surrey estate, he discovers a young stowaway hidden below his carriage seat, he appears to be angry and wants nothing to do with this new problem in his life. But when the ‘boy’ is revealed to be a feisty but very beautiful young girl, he quickly softens. Cara, as she reveals is her name, is running away. From what or from whom she will not confide in the Marquis. With highwaymen prowling the roads and revolution in the air, the Marquis cannot let this young innocent go on alone and defenceless to Paris, which is her intended destination. Despite her protests he rather reluctantly takes Cara under his wing, finding out eventually that she is fleeing a forced marriage arranged by her cruel and wicked uncle, the Earl of Matlock. Just as the Marquis saves her from her uncle, Cara saves him from a murderous revolutionary plot. And, as they manage to escape their enemies, they begin to realise that they have been caught by a deep and inspiring love for one another.

The beautiful young Charisa Templeton has always loved her father’s old friend, the Marquis of Mawdelyn, and as a child she roamed Mawdelyn Priory with his nephew, Vincent, whom she adored. And her father, who is a rich man, has helped support The Priory through difficult times and Charisa is his only child. Greatly saddened to hear that the charming Marquis has died, she is however glad that his heir, Vincent, will be coming home soon from his Army posting in India to claim his title and estate.  But then Fate strikes another blow with the news that Vincent has been killed in India. Reluctantly Charisa and her father prepare to welcome the next in line to the Marquisate, the  half-French Gervais Mawde, who no one seems to know anything about. But as soon as he arrives at The Priory they sense that something is wrong. Penniless, he immediately sets about selling off the family treasures and dismissing loyal servants, even the Vicar!  Worse still he forces his attentions onto the shy and unworldly Charisa. But just as she begins to despair, her prayers are answered and Vincent appears, alive but in terrible danger.  Someone is trying to kill him and now they realise who! None other than Gervais, who is not only a murderer but also a Devil worshipper and is planning to use innocent Charisa in a Satanic Black Mass.  The burning question is, can love conquer the forces of darkness?

Widowed Mrs. Mansforde and her younger daughter Philomena (or 'Mena' for short) are pleasantly surprised when elder daughter Lais returns unannounced to the family home. They have not seen her for an age, not even at her father's funeral. And the news she brings is not so pleasant as it seems that she too has been widowed, but already has another wealthy and prestigious husband in her sights, the highly respected Duke of Kernthorpe.The Duke, who is much older than Lais, has invited her to bring her mother to meet him, an invitation that Lais does not extend to young Mena, seeing how beautiful she has become. Mrs. Mansforde insists that Mena goes with her and then it is decided that she will pose as her mother's employed companion.Once at the Duke's Castle Mena goes for a walk in the garden and then sees a stallion and rider galloping towards her. The horse is clearly out of control and throws the rider so Mena rushes over to see if he has been hurt. He is a handsome young man and when he looks up at Mena he thinks, because she is so beautiful, that she must be a Greek Goddess. He is then most impressed when Mena calms the stallion down by talking to him in a quiet gentle voice.At the Duke's Castle love is to take each of the three women, Mena, Lais and their mother, by surprise and brings them ultimate happiness in the form of entirely unexpected suitors.And it seems that Fate has brought them together at the magnificent but mysterious Kerne Castle.

Although her vast inheritance from her Godmother seemed to be blessing, it has become a curse now that Susanna Laven’s pushy mother is determined to marry her against her will to the impoverished Duke of Southampton.  What is worse, as her mother repeatedly and cruelly tells her, she is the family’s ‘ugly duckling’ and her only attraction is her large fortune! She is too fat from eating comfort sweets and makes no effort to even try to be pretty. Desperate to escape a loveless marriage, she responds to an advertisement for a reader in French and Italian for a temporarily blind gentleman. Meeting the gentleman, a Mr. Fyfe Dunblane, who is swathed head to toe in bandages after a terrible motor car accident, she finds him rude and short-tempered, but still accepts the position and soon finds herself on a luxury train speeding across France on its journey to the enchanting City of Florence. There Susanna’s eyes are opened to the glories of Florence – and love!  She had prayed every night to God to give her love and in the blossoming relationship with her blind employer, who himself seems entranced by her, she may have found it.  But it’s an agony, not a joy, for surely it will end the moment Fyfe Dunblane’s eyes are healed and he sees that she is not the beauty of his mind’s eye! Love in the Dark is the story of a man and a woman being blind in different ways – and of how love turns an ugly duckling into a swan without her even realising it!

The lovely Sacha Waverley, the daughter of an impoverished country Vicar, who is a brilliant Greek scholar, is almost as beautiful if in a very demure way as her cousin, Lady Deirdre Lang, who is much more sophisticated and worldly. So when Deirdre visits her at the Vicarage with a very strange request, Sacha finds herself perplexed by her domineering and demanding cousin.        For Deidre has fallen in love with Lord Gerrard and is desperate to join him at his house party. The trouble is that she is already secretly engaged to the Duke of Silchester as she longs to be a Duchess and he is very rich and influential.        Worse still the Duke has been injured in a terrible accident in a gun trap that has left him temporarily blind. And it is clearly Deirdre’s duty to go to him at his Scottish Castle to comfort and cheer him up as he has requested her to do.          Instead Deirdre persuades Sacha to take her place as they are so alike and, although terrified of being exposed as an imposter, she is warmly greeted when she arrives in Scotland as Deidre and does so with aplomb.          Inspired by her beautiful surroundings of lochs and moorlands she heartens the ailing but handsome Duke and soon she is in love. And he with her.          But she is filled with dread of the moment that he regains his sight and can see that she is not who she claims to be!

Orina Vandeholt is young, beautiful and, after the death of her much-loved millionaire father, extremely rich. To escape her grief, she travels on her father’s yacht to the Gulf of Mexico, stopping off at a small town called Sadaro. There Orina is invited by two local boys to go riding with them – and when she agrees a wild adventure begins. After being knocked out with a drugged coffee, she finds she’s been duped. The boys have kidnapped her on the orders of their leader – a handsome, charismatic man the people have named ‘Juarez’ after a Mexican hero. But it is not ransom he seeks. He needs her money to build a dam that will end a drought and save the lives of his starving people – and to get that money he intends to marry Orina! Orina is furious but there’s nothing she can do. However, soon the plight of Juarez’ people melts her heart and when at last the water flows, and Juarez sets her free, she realises that he is still the captor of her heart!

There is something strangely noble and also delicate about the emaciated young ragamuffin boy that the handsome Hugo, Lord Lynke, finds himself employing as his new page on his undercover mission to Spain on behalf of the King of England.  The page he has brought with from England had just been taken ill and so has to return home. The ‘boy’ is named Venturo. In fact ‘he’ is Ventura – the lost daughter of a noble and rich Spanish dynasty.Lord Lynke’s task is to marry the richest and most beautiful woman in Spain to ensure peace between the two countries which are invariably at war with each other. She is the proud, imperious and dangerous seductress Doña Alcira and this marriage would prove no great challenge for a Nobleman of Lord Lynke’s calibre and renown.Except that he faces Don Carlos, a powerful and unscrupulous suitor determined to erase any competition for Doña Alcira’s hand. She has a glamorous and dangerous matador as her current lover and employs a besotted and sinister dwarf who she uses as her assassin.The sweet adventure soon turns sour.  And when young Ventura overhears those who would murder the Lord of her heart, she realises that her own heart has no life without him.

As a minor member of the Greek Royal Family in exile in England, beautiful young Princess Giona knows her Fate only too well. One day she is to marry for duty to her country rather than for love. But to her horror, destiny comes calling far too soon when by Queen Victoria’s Royal Command she must marry the ageing and unpleasant King of the Balkan State of Slavonia in order to prevent it being swallowed up by its powerful neighbours, Austria and Germany. Arriving at the Capital City of Slavonia to meet her Royal suitor, she is horrified by his rudeness and contempt for his people – even as they take Giona to their hearts. But on the Royal Train, Giona has a thrilling encounter in the dark with a mystery man, who she saves from capture and execution by the Royal Guards. Could this man be the so-called pretender to the throne she has heard whispered about secretly, the revered ‘Invisible One’? Departing as mysteriously as he arrived, he promises, as she has saved his life, that he will rescue Giona if she ever needs him and her position in Slavonia becomes impossible to bear. When the old King reveals his true brutal nature, Giona sends for ‘The Invisible One’ and soon she has lost her heart to this gentle revolutionary, who is actually called Miklōs, Slavonia’s rightful ruler, and who soon will crown her with love if his revolution proves to be successful and it only can be with Giona’s help.

The beautiful Princess Vasila, an orphan, who has been looked after by Baroness von Bergstein in a Grace and Favour house, is astonished when an Equerry arrives to take her to Windsor Castle to see the Queen.             She is not told until she arrives that Prince Gadelov of Saralovia, which is a small Balkan State, has appealed to Queen Victoria to give him a Royal British wife so that he can be protected from the grasping Russians.             When the Queen tells Vasila that she is to marry Prince Gadelov immediately, she is horrified and very frightened.             Without really thinking she runs away down a passage and out through a side door of The Castle. She then jumps into a parked van and its driver agrees to take her wherever she wants to go.             As they are leaving Windsor Castle, the van is stopped by Prince Gadelov arriving in an open carriage.  When she sees the man who is to marry her, she knows that she would rather die than allow him to touch her.             The van driver puts her down at a nearby circus, as she loves circuses, and here she goes to look at the Helter-skelter, which she has never seen before.             As she wants one thing to remember in case she is taken back and married before she can prevent it, she asks a stranger who is standing by her to take her on the Helter-skelter.             The man is Kelvin Ridge, who has just arrived from India.   He is in disguise because, having discovered a dastardly Russian plot to murder the Viceroy, his life is in danger.             How the two of them, who are both running away from danger, ride on the Helter-skelter and how Kelvin Ridge finds it difficult, as Vasila clings desperately to him, to be rid of her as she has nowhere to go.             How she saves his life and he inevitably falls in love with her is all told in this exciting romance by BARBARA CARTLAND.

Accustomed to spending fortunes on fast women and high living, Lord Wynchingham is horrified to lose one hundred thousand pounds in a card game and then finds that he is almost bankrupt. So when Tina Croome, his beautiful orphaned Ward, throws herself on his mercy he says that there is nothing he can do. Unless, she suggests, he uses the last of his credit to launch her into London Society and quickly attract a rich husband, using her large dowry to save her unfortunate Guardian from disgrace and the debtors’ prison. Eager suitors flock to the lovely young debutante, Tina, like bees to a honeypot, including Lord Wynchingham’s craven dissolute cousin Claude and the unpleasant but very wealthy Lord Welton, who Tina takes an instant dislike to.         With great reluctance, she agrees to marry him, but only to save Lord Wynchingham from a dreadful fate. The more she comes to despise her fiancé, the deeper she falls in love with Lord Wychingham. But it is too late to prevent her imminent Wedding to Lord Welton and surely her love is doomed – until the crazed cousin Claude’s wicked and murderous kidnap plot intervenes to change her life, and love, for ever.

This is a special introduction to the works of the great pure romance author Barbara Cartland. Four books in one volume.

The beautiful Ilesa Harle and her father, the Honourable Mark Harle, the Vicar of the village of Littlestone, are finding it difficult to ‘make ends meet’, owning little of value other than the run-down Vicarage that they live in and the two fine pictures by the famous painter of horses, George Stubbs, that they have inherited. The lovely Ilesa, therefore, lives a simple sheltered life with her father unlike her glamorous and worldly half-sister Doreen, who has been widowed and has inherited her husband’s vast riches And Doreen aims to further her ambitious social career by marrying the dashing and aristocratic Duke of Mountheron, who curiously is a collector of George Stubbs’s paintings as well. The trouble is that Doreen has been caught in the arms of one of her lovers by an  unsympathetic man who is sure to tell tales to the Duke and then ruin her prospects of marrying him. Doreen begs Ilesa to cover for her and tell the Duke lies that she was at the Vicarage at the time in question when she was not there. But, when the Duke arrives at the Vicarage and then invites the Vicar and both daughters to stay with him in his fine house called Heron Court, Doreen is beside herself with jealousy – and even more so when it becomes obvious that the Duke is falling in love with ‘the wrong sister’. Harle and her father, the Honourable Mark Harle, the Vicar of the village of Littlestone, are finding it difficult to ‘make ends meet’, owning little of value other than the run-down Vicarage that they live in and the two fine pictures by the famous painter of horses, George Stubbs, that they have inherited. The lovely Ilesa, therefore, lives a simple sheltered life with her father unlike her glamorous and worldly half-sister Doreen, who has been widowed and has inherited her husband’s vast riches And Doreen aims to further her ambitious social career by marrying the dashing and aristocratic Duke of Mountheron, who curiously is a collector of George Stubbs’s paintings as well. The trouble is that Doreen has been caught in the arms of one of her lovers by an  unsympathetic man who is sure to tell tales to the Duke and then ruin her prospects of marrying him. Doreen begs Ilesa to cover for her and tell the Duke lies that she was at the Vicarage at the time in question when she was not there. But, when the Duke arrives at the Vicarage and then invites the Vicar and both daughters to stay with him in his fine house called Heron Court, Doreen is beside herself with jealousy – and even more so when it becomes obvious that the Duke is falling in love with ‘the wrong sister’.

While her beloved parents were alive, the beautiful young Cledra Melford had basked in the radiance of their love, barely noticing that they were poor and had to scrape by. To make ends meet. But, since they were tragically killed in an accident and she came to live with her hateful and bitter uncle, Sir Walter Melford, she has been cruelly abused and ill-treated. His violent beatings the lovely Cledra can almost bear, but when he decides to sell her adored horse, Star, to a man known for his cruelty, it is the last straw for her. So Cledra appears at the door of the dashing Earl of Poynton, who is famed among thesporting fraternity for his pedigree stable and in the Social world for his many affaires de Coeur with fashionable ladies. Cledra begs him to secretly buy Star from her to ensure that her stallion will be safe and well cared for and he insists on renaming him ‘Winged Victory’ and then the Earl agrees. Soon, when Sir Walter attempts to wreak violent revenge on his niece, the horrified Earl rescues her and whisks her away to his grandmother’s house with death hard on their heels And love not far behind.

Lady Georgina Lang returns to The Castle from her father’s funeral to wonder what the future holds for her. Because her father had always longed for a son to succeed him, he had brought her up and educated her exactly as if she was a boy. She dressed as a boy and, although she had been christened Georgina, he liked calling her George. She was completely alone in the huge castle, which was now inherited by the new Earl of Langfield, a distant cousin who had been difficult to trace. Alister, however, had never, in his wildest dreams, expected to become the eleventh Earl of Langfield. He had left England in a fury because, having been pressed into marrying a very suitable young woman chosen by his family, he had run away to be free of her. When she died, he had sworn that he would never marry again as he disliked all women especially those who argued and were determined to have their own way. He finds his cousin Georgina at The Castle and she shows him the vast estate, the farms, the villages and The Castle itself, all of which now belongs to him. He also learns that, as he is the Head of the Family, traditionally they rely on him entirely for financial support. Georgina has already been warned by her aunt that on no account is she to wear men’s clothes in front of Alister and always to be soft, sweet and gentle in his company. And she has to persuade him as a weak woman to realise his position as the Earl of Langfield. How a newspaper article describing The Castle and its valuable contents brings a tiresome neighbour to the Castle. How the Earl, because she is un-chaperoned makes Georgina go to the Dower House. How the article attracts some ferocious burglars to The Castle. How Georgina saves the Earl’s life and unexpectedly finds love and happiness is all told is this unusual story by BARBARA CARTLAND.

Ever since the cruel death of her beloved brother, David at the Battle of Waterloo, Lady Ilina Bury’s father, the fifth Duke of Tetbury, has taken out his grief on her and now he too has died and his will reiterates his contempt of her. He leaves the beautiful nothing but the extremely valuable collection of jewels that had been given to his ancestor, the second Duke of Tetbury, by the Nizam of Hyderabad. The trouble is that, although legendary, these jewels are also almost certainly mythical and Ilina and David have been searching Tetbury Abbey for them for years without any success.All but destitute she dreads the arrival of her father’s heir and rather than be a burden, she decides to pretend that she is a paid employee of the poverty-stricken estate.And when the handsome new Duke finally does arrive from the Far East, he is visibly disappointed by what he sees, but worse still he says that he intends to abandon the estate, all its loyal staff and close up The Abbey for ever.He very quickly sees through Ilina’s disguise and then she shows the Duke round the dilapidated house and estate and regales him with the family’s illustrious history over many centuries.Although she despises him, she uses all her charms to persuade the Duke to stay and do his duty for his distinguished and aristocratic family. And, as little by little he yields, so Ilina’s heart slowly opens to love.

"I have the privilege of being half-Scottish and for me Scotland is the most romantic country in the world.I admit to a number of Scottish admirers and indeed I married two Scotsmen.But for me nothing can compete with Scotland's rugged sweeping mountains, cascading waterfalls, the skirl of the bagpipes and the swirl of the kilt.Dream Castles and tall handsome Highlanders.Romance Heaven for the heart."Barbara Cartland The Books In this first book of Favourites are : 1. The Little Pretender2. The Chieftain Without A Heart3. The Secret of The Glen4. The Duchess Disappeared5. Love Lifts the Curse6. The Call of The Highlands7. The Heart of The Clan8. The Curse of The Clan9. A Chieftain Finds Love10. The Scots Never Forget

On her deathbed Lady Margaret Marsh reveals that there is no family money left to support her daughter, the stunningly beautiful Josina. They were cut off without a penny by their relations long ago when she eloped with Josina’s father, the inveterate but often successful gambler, Captain D’Arcy Marsh, who was later killed in a duel by a man he had won from at cards.Her mother believes that there is no alternative but for Josina to throw herself on the mercy of her relative, the dashing and handsome Duke of Nevondale. But arriving at his stately home she finds that he is a rake who is having an affair with the wife of the French Embassy Attaché, a liaison that could bring scandal and death close to his door. When, on accidentally discovering a fiendish plot, Josina rushes to the Duke’s rescue, only to find him in compromising circumstances, she is deeply shocked and horrified.Yet disturbingly she finds herself falling in love. For no other apparent reason than to save hers and incidentally his reputation the Duke decides that he wants to marry Josina.But as much as she yearns for him, how can she possibly marry a man who does not love her after her mother and father had been so sublimely in love with each other that for them the world was lost for love?

It was bad enough when her beloved mother died and the beautiful young Idona Overton and her father faced the news that the meagre allowance Lady Overton received from her Family Trust died with her. In his grief Sir Richard Overton spent more and more time away from Overton Manor enjoying London’s dissolute pleasures before finally he was killed in a duel in somewhat suspicious circumstances.But the greatest shock of all for Idona was yet to come! A legal representative arrives at her home with appalling news for her. Her father had gambled away everything that he owned on the turn of a card – the Manor House, the stables, all the horses and, most shockingly, even Idona herself! The new owner is the imperiously handsome Marquis of Wroxham, who treats his new Ward with a mixture of scorn and amusement as he launches her into a frighteningly sophisticated world of subterfuge, deceit and a sinister highwaymen’s plot. Soon a stolen kiss changes everything and Idona is in love with the Marquis – a love that is surely doomed since he is set to marry the beautiful Lady Rosebel one of the great beauties of London.

Beautiful, young, yet fiercely independent, Shikara Bartlett sorely misses her much-loved father, the renowned archaeologist Professor Richard Bartlett, who appears to have gone missing on his latest “dig” in Egypt. What’s worse is that in his absence her strait-laced guardian is determined to marry her off to the middle-aged Lord Stroud, who is pompous, boring and far too old at forty-four. She certainly does not love him ¬– and she never will. So Shikara tries to escape, using a rope from her window. But the rope is too short and she can’t reach the ground. Luckily for her, the Marquis of Linwood has just made a similar escape from a married woman’s nearby boudoir and hears Shikara’s cries for help and saves her. Somehow she persuades him to take her on his yacht to Egypt in search of her lost father. And, slowly but surely, Marquis who famously hates woman falls under the spell of this headstrong waif who professes to hate men.

The lovely young Nerissa Stanley, her brother, Harry, and their father, a distinguished academic writer on Elizabethan architecture live a threadbare existence in their family home. So when her beautiful elder sister, Delphine, pays a surprise visit to her and Harry and then offers them a large sum of money, they have no option but to accept. Delphine, who abandoned the family several years earlier to marry the rich elderly Lord Bramwell is now widowed they learn for the first time. But she is now set on marrying another rich and prestigious aristocrat – the imperious and handsome Duke of Lynchester. Ashamed of their meagre lifestyle, she demands that her siblings pose as cook and butler in return for three hundred pounds, while she entertains the Duke in style in her ancestral home. But, after the superb dinner is over, the Duke wanders into the kitchen unexpectedly and, instantly transfixed by the beauty, grace and charm of Nerissa, insists that the whole family joins his house party at his magnificent stately house, Lyn, which is not too far away. There Nerissa discovers the secret curse of the Lynchester Dukes that they will never be happy once they inherit the title and then, through her special perspicacity and a vivid dream, when she talks to the ghost of a long dead Duchess, she puts the curse to rest. The Duke’s heart is now set forever on Nerissa and he risks life itself and their future happiness in a cunning but perilous gamble when both of their hearts are at stake.

Beautiful, flame-haired eighteen-year-old Princess Thea is horrified when her father, the King of a Balkan country called Kostas tells her that she must marry the old white-haired King Otho of the next door State.Thea feels strongly that she cannot marry him as he is so old and she has always believed that her dream Prince Charming will one day come and find her, they will fall madly in love and become a part of each other for ever.So she decides to run away from The Palace taking her beloved stallion, Mercury, with her. She soon finds herself lost in the wooded mountains of Kostas. There by chance she meets an overwhelmingly handsome artist called Nikōs, who seems to be able to read her thoughts with no effort. And almost instantly the two fall in love and Nikōs invites her to visit some local Hungarian gypsies, who ignite her passions by playing wild romantic music.But then a gang of bandits takes them prisoner and fearing what these wicked men might do to Thea, Nikōs tells them that she is his bride. The ruse is successful and, after their escape from the bandits, the couple make the untruth the true with a Wedding Service in an entrancing woodland Church straight out of a Fairytale. But how will Thea be able to explain to her Royal family that she is now married to an artist she met in a wood – ?

Left penniless by the death of her beloved parents, shy, naïve and unassumingly lovely Gilda Wyngate is bemused when her glamorous but spoilt sister, Heloise, arrives unexpectedly at the family’s country Manor House full of talk about London’s Social world. And the good-looking and rich Marquis of Staverton, whom she is determined to ensnare in marriage so that she can fulfil her ambitions and become a Marchioness.Sadly it is not to be. When poor Gilda finds her sister dead in the morning after taking too much laudanum to make her sleep, she sees a way out of the dreadful poverty she faces. She takes Helouise’s place, her glamorous London life and her home in Mayfair with her blind but generous Godmother, Lady Neyland.After all the two sisters had always looked remarkably alike. So who would ever notice?Little does she know that her kind heart will soon give her away. Little does she know that, in assuming her sister’s identity, she is also taking on a terrible crime, punishable by death or that the hateful Marquis, whom she has heard so much about, could be so overwhelmingly handsome and magnificent that he takes her breath away.Little does she realise that out of all her troubles true love will suddenly find her out of the blue and she will finally be enveloped in the happiness that has always eluded her.

When Queen Victoria is called upon to arrange a marriage for the dashing King Alexius of Vultarnia to save him and his country from the predatory Russians, the adventurous and beautiful Pythia takes the place of her cousin, Princess Erina, and heads for the small Balkan country in a British Battleship.             Princess Erina has just fallen in love with a good-looking Peruvian and Pythia could not allow her happiness to be torn from her for cold political strategy.             On her arrival in Vultarnia she receives a warm reception and she is determined to win the hearts of her new subjects and the heart of their cosmopolitan worldly King.             The King is surprised and impressed by his new wife and sees how much he could learn from her. But a Russian plot threatens to throw this popular new marriage into jeopardy and Pythia must think quickly in order to save the King and the beautiful country of Vultarnia.             Will King Alexius fall in love with Pythia or remain attached to his glamorous and seductive Russian mistress?              Will Pythia be able to stop a sinister plot to capture the King before it is too late?             And will the King discover Pythia’s true identity and that she is not Royal?             Find out in ‘The Queen Saves the King’, an exciting and moving romance from the incomparable Barbara Cartland.

Lucy, Lady Wymonde, reluctantly agrees to her husband’s request that she would chaperone his innocent orphaned young niece, Ina, for her first Season as a debutante.It was infuriating to have to take another guest with her to Chale Hall, the Marquis of Chale’s majestic stately home in the country, but that it should be a lovely young girl made it worse. It was not a question of her being a rival, that was not what Lucy feared. It was that Ina would be completely out of place in what was to be her party given her by the Marquis, whom Lucy has become infatuated with and it is only a matter of time before they begin an affaire-de-coeur.Little does she know what an innocent threat the beautiful Ina will soon become! Having reluctantly left her Bohemian background and a family friend’s villa near Nice with her devoted lady’s maid, Ina is bewildered by the sophisticated Society world of London and rather in awe of the handsome Marquis. But soon, to Lucy’s fury, the Marquis is smitten by Ina’s untainted beauty and the almost clairvoyant perceptiveness by which she seems to see deep into his soul. Ina too is entranced and, despite her aunt’s attempts to pair her off with over-eager and unattractive suitors, she too is falling in love

Shortly after the death of her father the Earl of Weir, beautiful young Lady Arletta is penniless, having been ousted from the family estate. Desperate to escape her misery she is heartened to hear that her close friend Jane is to be married to the new Bishop of Jamaica. The trouble is that at the same time she had agreed to travel to France to be Governess to the children of the Duc de Sauterre. Jane cannot let her fiancée down – nor can she disappoint her new employer. But Arletta has a solution for them both. So that Jane is free to get married, Arletta will travel to the Duc’s Dordogne Château posing as Jane! On arrival, she finds the Duc as surly and rude as he is handsome. Worse still he hates the English and she struggles to win him over while resisting the attentions of the Duc’s dashing cousin the Comte, who is rumoured to be a murderer. And soon, despite herself, Arletta finds herself losing her heart to the haughty Frenchman who despises everything she stands for. And who, surely, can never feel anything for her but contempt.

Keeping up appearances for her older brother, Lord Anthony (Tony) Linwood, and his Society lifestyle while also caring for their young brother and sister is becoming too much for the beautiful Minerva as they have very little money and the bills are mounting every day. So when Tony confesses that he owes the terrifying gambling debt of two thousand pounds to his friend, the Earl of Gorleston, with an unsavoury and raffish reputation, she is mortified. A gambling debt is always considered a debt of honour between gentlemen and Society expects it to be paid before any other debts or the loser is cut off everyone’s invitation list.It seems that they will be forced to sell the family Manor House to pay the Earl, who lives in the adjacent Castle – unless Minerva can find a way to reply the debt. In utter desperation Minerva dresses herself up as a highwayman, creeps into The Castle and tries to blackmail the Earl at gunpoint. But, of course, she fails dismally. Disarmed and disheartened, she is left in a dark dungeon with rising water from the moat, little knowing that the Earl she hates is in a prison of his own and that for them both the one key to freedom is – Love.

The beautiful Joanna West’s parents had been killed in a very nasty road accident and as she is the only child she inherits her father and mother’s house in the County of Huntingdonshire.          When she sees the condition of her house, she realises at once that it will need a great deal of money to be spent on it to make it as warm and cosy as her mother had done.          Wondering what she could do to acquire the money that she so badly needs, Joanna remembers the big and impressive Castle nearby and wonders if she could use the spacious ballroom to give dancing lessons to earn her some money.          When she approaches the charming and handsome Earl of Hollington, who has recently inherited the ancient Castle as well as his title, he too is desperately in need of money as The Castle had been badly neglected by his predecessors and is looking decidedly dilapidated and shoddy.          He agrees to hire out the ballroom to Joanna for her dancing lessons after she has redecorated it and at her suggestion to let other members of the County rent rooms from him, providing that they pay to have those rooms restored.          It is then that Lady Carisford, who the Earl only met on board the Liner when he was returning to England, arrives at The Castle unexpectedly.          She is determined to capture the Earl as she realises that by marrying him she will own an important title and this will open wide the doors of High Society which she longs to shine in          What happens when Lady Carisford tells Joanna that the Earl has asked her to marry him and how she and the Earl finds true happiness is all told in this romantic novel by BARBARA CARTLAND.

It is bad enough that the beautiful Celesta Wroxley and her brother, Sir Giles, are alone after their mother had scandalously left their father and ran off with her lover to the disapproval and outrage of Society. To make matters worse Sir Giles has seriously gone off the rails in London, drinking heavily and gambling away what little money they have. And he has come heavily under the influence of the sinister Lord Crawthorne, who appears to be encouraging him to new excesses. To her horror Celesta finds that her brother has lost their delightful home, The Priory, at the gaming tables. And that their estate, including the Garden Cottage that they have made their home, are now owned by the mysterious Earl of Meltham. When she meets the new owner, it is not in the best of circumstances. He comes upon her in the estate peach house, where she is picking the fruit. Sardonically accusing her of stealing the handsome but cynical Nobleman forcefully takes her in his arms and kisses her. Celesta has never before been kissed and she hates the Earl for his arrogance. But, when Sir Giles ends up in the debtors’ prison, the Earl saves the day in more ways than one and she starts to see him in a whole new light. Will this light of love finally bring Celesta out of the shadow of her mother’s sin?

Handsome and world-renowned archaeologist, Lord Yelverton, arrives in Mexico searching for ancient treasure in the great Cities of the ancient Mexican Indians and more artefacts like the carved jaguar bone that he has been able to acquire in Europe. However, in order to explore the sacred cave where more exquisite treasures may be found, he needs the endorsement of a local archaeologist called Ajax Audenshaw in Acapulco.Arriving at his house, Lord Yelverton finds that Alex Audenshaw is now a promiscuous painter and not actively involved in antiquities. And he is surrounded by children born of different women. Among them is Tula, a young golden-haired, blue-eyed and mysterious beauty, who reluctantly agrees to show him the way to the cave, which is guarded by Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent God of the Mexicans.On the way to the cave he is forced by an other-worldly being to fall into a raging cascade and almost drowns. Administering ‘the kiss of life’ to him Tula saves his life when he was close to death. But it is not until much later that he realises that with her breath she also infused his heart with love.

Staying at the British Ambassador’s exquisite Bay of Naples Villa, beautiful young Cordelia and her brother David, the Earl of Hunstanton, are far from the Berkshire estate that is their home. But since the death of their parents there has been nothing to stop David realising his dream – to go to Malta and become a Knight of St. John. Except, that is, the money to finance a ship to take him there.So when, out of the blue, a handsome, English buccaneer appears, who turns out to be none other than their cousin, Mark Stanton, he seems Heaven-sent. As Captain of a ship en route to Malta, he is in position to offer them passage to the island.To their chagrin, however, he attempts to dissuade David from his Pilgrimage and Cordelia from her notion of joining a Convent. But, when the siblings resist his appeals and press ahead, Mark vows to protect them both from the perils not only of David’s Maltese Crusade but also of the Napoleonic War, Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean and the scheming snobbery of Neapolitan Society. Valiant Mark saves Cordelia from the lecherous clutches of the Duca di Belina and from the terrors or war against the French, but he cannot protect David from a noble death in battle protecting Malta, nor his own heart from falling hopelessly in love.

Socialite and ‘professional beauty’, Lady Odele Ashford, is taken aback when her lover, the notorious womaniser Prince Ivan Katinouski, asks her to find him a young bride, who will give him the children he has always wanted, specifying that she must be pure and innocent and of noble English birth. At first she thinks that this will surely interfere with her own intimate relationship with the handsome and immensely rich Prince. But then inspiration strikes. Her own innocent eighteen-year-old niece, the blonde, blue-eyed and beautiful Charlotte Storr is the perfect match! When Lady Storr receives a letter demanding that Charlotte is to attend a ball at his huge Castle to meet her unwanted suitor, young Charlotte is horror-stricken because her heart already belongs to Honourable Shane O’Derry, an impoverished Irish aristocrat.Desperate to distract the attention of the Prince, Charlotte’s brother Richard and Shane recruit another young beauty, a music teacher’s daughter, Alana, to pose as a young Noblewoman in the hope of distracting the Prince away from Charlotte.Alana is an ethereal and almost mystical beauty, who is an exceptional musician like her father. Reluctantly entangled in a web of intrigue Alana is at first repelled by the playboy Prince, yet finds herself drawn by some strange magical Power in his possession.

On his return after six years’ fighting with the Duke of Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars, Colonel Romney Wood, who has just become Lord Heywood, is horrified at the state of the country he left behind, where agricultural labourers are now starving, food shops are bare and Luddites lay waste new agricultural machinery.  Worse still his own estate is almost bankrupt and he has to find something to sell to save it and his loyal staff from penury. He is considerably hampered because his grandfather has legally entailed everything of value onto future generations of Lord Heywoods and so he cannot dispose of virtually anything without the Trustees’ approval, which he knows will not be forthcoming. Scouring Heywood Abbey, his country home, for possible items to sell, he is astonished when he stumbles across something he is soon to prize beyond price – a beautiful, fawn-like young girl with deep blue eyes in a white diaphanous nightgown.  She is an interloper and a runaway, hiding from her wicked uncle, who is forcing her into marriage with a man she despises.  Her name is Lalita. But more than that she will not tell Lord Heywood.  Yet slowly she reveals more of herself to him – and with each revelation the bond between them grows.  And in spite of himself Lord Heywood is falling in love. They are two people with nothing left to lose and maybe only love to win.

Freshly home from her Finishing School in Florence, the beautiful young Lady Odela Ford finds to her dismay that her new stepmother, the Countess of Shalford, is scheming against her and her beloved father. Odela’s mother, who she adored, has died and her father has married again rather too quickly.To her horror and mystification she overhears one day her stepmother ordering her lover, the Viscount More, to marry Odela – for her money as he has very little himself.This is the first that Odela hears of the American oil shares that her late mother left her, which have now accumulated into a vast fortune. Unwilling to tell her father that he is being betrayed by his wife, Odela seeks refuge with her old Nanny at the country house of the Marquis of Trancombe. Almost straight away there is an undeniable and irresistible attraction between her and the handsome Marquis. But no sooner has she found safety than new danger appears in the form of a ruthless thief and she finds herself, together with the Marquis, imprisoned under threat of death. Will she and her hero die ignominiously before their love can be awakened?

For demure young and beautiful Daniela Brooke it had been bad enough to find out that her much-loved late father, Lord Seabrooke, had been tricked into marriage by the use of drugs by a disreputable Parisian courtesan called Esmé Blanc. It was even worse to discover just four weeks after her father’s death that her scheming stepmother is trying to arrange a marriage in the German spa resort of Baden-Baden between Daniela and her penniless lover for her own nefarious and greedy purposes, as Lord Seabrooke has left all his money and estates to Daniela and most definitely not to Esmé Blanc. Although guarded by day and night by her stepmother, in desperation Daniela manages to meet the Marquis of Crowle secretly in the garden of the Baden-Baden casino and begs him to help her escape as soon as possible from her perilous predicament. Overcome with sympathy at her story, the Marquis arranges to whisk her away from the Church at the very last minute before she is married and they sail off back to England in his magnificent yacht, The Sea Horse, down the River Rhine to freedom with Daniela’s wicked stepmother in hot pursuit. Will the distraught Daniela find the freedom she yearns for from her grasping stepmother? And even then can it be possible that she will ever find the sublime love that she has always dreamed about? 

Desperate to avoid being trapped into marriage by the lovely but scheming Lady Charlotte Denington, the handsome young Duke of Ingleby is relieved to be sent on a special secret mission for the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon.  He is to find and if he is in time to save an ancient Buddhist Temple on the island of Java from desecration and looting by the Dutch who are the Rulers of the country at the time.  Travelling incognito and posing as an English tourist keen to photograph the delightful scenery of Java, the Duke unexpectedly meets a beautiful and ethereal young woman called ‘Sarida’ at the Temple’s portal.  Although clearly English, Sarida bears this Javanese name and is attuned to Javanese culture. Indeed she believes fervently in the Buddha. The Duke is entranced and then enthralled when he discovers that he and she bear an uncanny resemblance to the sculpted portrayals of a Javanese King and Princess in the depths of the Temple. It is as if they have been together and loved each other in another life. Even without speaking they both understand that this is what the Buddhists have always called The Wheel of Rebirth. And, as together they face terrible danger, it is immediately obvious that the attraction between them is too powerful to resist.  It is all an essential part of the Divine power of the Temple of Love

The impulsive and rakish Marquis of Troon is due to be married to the disreputable but passionate Lady Dilys Powick in direct opposition to the wishes and advice of his closest friends.          The Marquis then goes ahead and arranges a spectacular steeplechase with large prizes for the winners in order to celebrate his nuptials.          When one of the contestants dies unexpectedly of a heart attack, the Marquis is stunned to discover that he has been named in his will as the Guardian of the contestant’s daughter, the sensible and charitable Valeta Lingfield, who is also very beautiful.          An encounter at the Marquis’s superb stately home with a mistreated climbing boy tests the unlikely relationship between Valeta and the Marquis as she is determined to look after the boy until he can be returned safely to his parents.          And further conflict, intrigue and danger follow a meeting with the villainous sweep, who is from a notorious criminal area of London.          Will the lovely Valeta return safely from London?          Who is behind these treacherous kidnappings?          And will the Marquis ever change his ways?          The answers can be found in this excitingand poignant story set in the Regency.

Beautiful young orphan Nerina is appalled to find that her uncle and resentful Guardian is forcing her much-loved cousin, Elizabeth, into a marriage of convenience with the disdainful, if handsome and rich, Sir Rupert Wroth. As if that was not bad enough, Elizabeth is already secretly betrothed to the man she truly loves, an Captain in the Army. So loyal Nerina exploits her startling similarity to her cousin and takes her place, marrying Lord Wroth and giving Elizabeth time to elope with Adrian Butler, who is about to sail to India with his Regiment. Having suffered terribly at the hands of her hateful Uncle Herbert and the lecherous Lord Droxburgh, Nerina has come to the conclusian that she hates all men. And, having discovered that Sir Rupert Wroth’s plans to marry Elizabeth were nothing more than a means to carry on his illicit affairs, while keeping up appearances for the sake of Queen Victoria and his ambitious political career, she makes no exception for him. But what if, in spite of herself, the irrepressible turmoil that Nerina feels in her heart is not hate after all, but the first stirrings of love?

Exceedingly lovely, grey eyed-beauty Lady Marcia Woode is the apple of her father’s eye as his only child. But unlike the other Society debutantesshe is reluctant to be pinned down by marriage – indeed she has refused proposals from countless suitable suitors, the latest being from the richest Duke in the whole of England. Infuriated, Marcia’s father decides to force her to marry the illustrious French Duc de Roux, whose father was an old and distinguished friend of his. Arriving in France, Marcia is swept off her feet by the Duc’s awe-inspiring château,the magnificent gorges of the Dordogneand, best of all, his stable of fine thoroughbred horses, if not at first by the Duc himself, who is extremely tall and handsome Impressive though he is, Marcia knows that he is not in love with her, nor is she with him. And she will not marry unless it is for love and love alone. And yet, almost in spite of herself, she realises that her heart has other ideas. When she finds out that the Duc’s decadent nephew, Sardos, is plotting his murder and then she discovers the Ducat his nephew’s gunpoint amid the stalactites and stalagmites of a prehistoric Dordogne cave, And with a courage born of love, she rushes to the rescue –

In the Black Forest Spa town of Baden-Baden for the money to be made at the gaming tables, professional gambler and Englishman Quintus Tiverton is disturbed to hear the sound of an English girl being whipped savagely in an attic room of a country inn.  ‘It is none of my business,’ he tells himself, but the sound of the girl’s weeping is inescapable and he has to go and investigate.  Instantly he is captivated by Selina Wade, the blue-eyed waif he encounters and, finding that she is being exploited cruelly by a ‘domestic agency’ proprietor who is little better than a ‘madam’, resolves to save her. Quintus Tiverton smuggles her out of the inn in the early morning and he then spends a great deal of money, which he does not have, in buying her new fashionable dresses to make even more beautiful. And so naïve Selina finds herself posing as the gambler’s pretty sister, as Quintus Tiverton tries to marry her off to someone suitably rich amongst the international wealthy who frequent Baden-Baden in the Season .  Little does Quintus know that poor Selina’s heart is already taken.  And she only has eyes for him!  Still less does he realise that he too is falling in love. 

When her sister, Denise, seven years her senior, and her husband Alistair drowned in a storm at sea, the beautiful nineteen-year-old Pepita Linford is left alone to cope with the care of their young children, Rory and Jeanie, as well as Alistair’s huge amount of debts. Exiled from his Scottish Clan for ever by his father, the Duke of Strathnairn, because he dared to marry an Englishwoman against his wishes they then settled in Hertfordshire. Alistair had been deprived of his allowance from his father and had lived on a fast-dwindling legacy from his mother. Virtually destitute Pepita has no choice but to travel to Scotland to throw herself and the children on the mercy of the Duke of Strathnairn. But sadly His Grace, consumed with hatred for the English, is not in the slightest pleased to see them, but grudgingly agrees that they can stay at his imposing Castle for a short while. Pepita is at once aware of the hostility and dislike of the Duchess of Strathnairn, who does everything she can to make life unpleasant for her and Rory and Jeanie. Save for the children Pepita finds herself on her own in a hostile country until she finds warmth, kindness and sympathy in the handsome and charming Torquil McNairn, Alistair’s cousin. Soon that warmth becomes an all-encompassing and consuming love for both Pepita and Torquil. But surely it is a passion doomed. Pepita is determined that she must never inflict Alistair’s fate on Torquil – to be an outcast for no other reason than that he loved a ‘Sassenach’ from England!

Renowned for his lavish lifestyle and a roving eye, the handsome Valient, Viscount Ockley, is completely bowled over by the stunning heiress Niobe Barrington. But it is not just for her dazzling beauty that he pursues her with such ardour for, although he lives like a King, it is all on credit. In reality he is all but bankrupt and is facing the horror and squalor of the Fleet Prison for debtors and only by marrying into money can he hope to save himself and restore his ruined house to its former glory. But Niobe’s father, Sir Aylmer Barrington, will not hear of it and so arranges for Niobe to marry the ‘old and horrid’ Marquis of Porthcawl!When Niobe breaks this unwelcome news to him, the Viscount storms from her house in a rage and threatens to marry the first woman he meets rather than let anyone know that Niobe has totally humiliated him. As he drives away in his phaeton, he meets the woman he will soon marry – an eighteen year old beauty who has stowed away under a blanket at his feet. It is Niobe’s cousin, Jemima Barrington, who is fleeing the abuse and beatings she constantly suffers at Sir Aylmer’s hands.And so in a sudden marriage of convenience the ‘wrong’ Miss Barrington becomes the new Viscountess Ockley causing outrage and consternation amongst all but Jemima, who is already deeply in love with the Viscount. The question of the moment is will the Viscount ever overcome his love for her cousin?

Waif-like and half-starved the beautiful eighteen-year-old Tara has no second name and no family. Orphaned when her mother died tragically in a carriage crash, she was raised in the appalling ‘Orphanage of the Nameless’ in London and has no knowledge at all of the world outside. The drunken Matron of the Orphanage, Mrs. Barrowfield, relies on Tara to control, feed and look after the many orphans while she spends most of the money intended for their food on drink.Then one day Mr. Falkirk comes to inform her that the Orphanage’s owner and patron, the Duke of Arkcraig, has ordered her to Scotland to work in Castle Arkcraig.Arriving, timid and overawed to meet her new Master, she is appalled to find that she has been seriously misled. She is there not to work as a servant but to become the imperiously handsome Duke’s bride – willing or not!All of a sudden she is embroiled in the terrible enmity between the McCraig Clan and the equally warlike Kildonnons and the curse that hangs over them like a black cloud. Worst of all, she finds that she has lost her heart to the husband for whom she had never asked and yet who now seems to be cold and aloof. Has she been rescued from poverty and the horrors of the Orphanage and brought to the Duke’s majestic Castle only to spend a lifetime starved of love

A much-admired patron of the arts and something of a ‘ladies’ man, the Duke of Arkholme, a very rich and celebrated aristocrat, is as passionate about music as he is bored by the attentions of predatory Society ladies. He decides to launch at his own expense a competition to encourage talented new composers, but he finds that the entrants he has to listen to are insipid and uninspiring.So when he hears the sparkling brilliant music he has been searching for being played on his own piano in a room next to his bedroom in his own home in the middle of the night, he is bewitched. Even more so when the pianist proves to be a pale, elfin, auburn-haired beauty called Vanola. She forces the Duke at gunpoint to listen longer to her music and she relates the story of her Hungarian father and his failure to attract any interest in his superb and innovative compositions in England.He is also horrified to be told by Vanola that his employees are corrupt and taking bribes from entrants to his auditions, so that the real talent, such as her father’s, is excluded. Realising that she is half-starved and that her father is at death’s door, he is determined to make amends, despite her implacable contempt for him for employing crooked Managers. Soon the Duke realises that he has fallen in love – but too late. Vanola’s father is dead and in her grief and fury she has fled to who knows where and it seems that he has lost her and his one chance of happiness forever.

Now that her beloved father has passed away and the family estate has been sold off to provide for her future, the beautiful young Zelina Tiverton is somewhat bewildered to find herself living amid the glamour of London’s Social world with her Guardian, her glamorous Aunt Kathleen, who is the husband of the Earl of Rothbury.  Now her aunt has a greater shock in store for her, announcing that she is sending Zelina to Russia to stay as Governess with Prince and Princess Volkonsky in their superb Palace to teach their children English. Clearly Aunt Kathleen simply wants Zelina off her hands as she is so pretty and so reluctantly she finds herself alone and unchaperoned aboard a Steamer bound for Stockholm en route to St. Petersburg. On board she meets the seemingly imperial Lord Charnock, one of the most handsome and overwhelming men she had ever seen, but also one of the most aloof. Unknown to Zelina, Lord Charnock is headed for St. Petersburg on an urgent and secret Diplomatic mission for the British Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston. And so Zelina, the innocent abroad, finds herself unexpectedly in a menacing and threatening world of Secret Police, spies, sinister intrigue and predatory Russian aristocrats with only the dashing Lord Charnock to protect her in an unknown and uncaring land.

At the end of the day the Earl came to Selena. “It’s a huge success – and it’s all due to you!” She looked up at him and her heart was full of love. Would he ever take her in his arms and tell her she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen? “You’ve made it possible for my work to continue,” he went on, his eyes afire. Selena took a deep breath. She had been mulling over various ideas as the flow of arrivals slowed towards the end of the afternoon. “I am wondering, Alex, if there could be other ways we could make the visitors pay?” He sat himself on the desk beside her cash box. “Your ideas are always brilliant, Selena, so tell me what you’ve dreamed up now?” The Earl’s nearness and the warmth in his manner encouraged her. “I think we could offer the visitors something to eat during the luncheon period, plus tea in the afternoon. And then perhaps you could write a short book about Wakefield and your ancestors that could be printed, like the leaflets, only this would be substantial enough to sell.” He looked right into her eyes with such admiration that she found her stomach somersaulting.

Young Lady Lettice Burne is outstandingly beautiful with fair hair like sunshine and a flawless pink-and-white complexion. Yet her father, the Earl of Alderburne, desperate to find a wealthy suitor for her to pay off his mountain of accumulated debts, is resigned to the fact that she is immature and empty-headed and therefore unlikely to make the brilliant marriage that he had envisaged for her.So, when the handsome, dashing and rich Maximus Kirby expresses interest in her hand, the Earl is eager to send her to join him in Singapore.Maximus Kirby has been hugely successful in the Far East in trading and has started many profitable businesses that have brought unexpected prosperity to many poor communities.Lettice cannot possibly go to him in Singapore alone. So her sister Lady Dorinda goes, posing as her companion – albeit reluctantly, knowing that she is assuming her usual guise of ‘ugly sister’ thanks to the disfiguring eczema on her face and body that she has suffered from since childhood.To Dorinda’s delight and astonishment the tropical climate miraculously cures her skin complaint and now everybody can see that she is every bit as beautiful as Lettice, including Maximus Kirby.Once in Singapore Dorinda and Lettice face great dangers which Maximus Kirby and Dorinda have to defeat and Lettice becomes more and more determined that she will not marry Maximus Kirby. And will Lady Dorinda finally find the love and the ‘Magnificent Marriage’ that her disease has always denied her?

With her aging grandfather on his deathbed and not expected by his doctors to live for more than two or three months, it comes as little comfort to the beautiful Gytha Sullivan that he has made her the heiress to his considerable fortune. What is much worse is Sir Robert Sullivan’s fear that she will be seduced by some ‘smarmy fortune-hunter’, who will squander her inheritance.And this deep concern of his makes him insist that she marries one or other of her two loathsome cousins, Vincent and Jonathan, who will do anything to take his fortune for themselves.Desperate to escape from this terrible fate, Gytha goes to visit the Master of the neighbouring estate, the dashingly handsome Lord Locke, whose life her father once saved in the War against Napoleon, and beseeches him to, in turn, save her by becoming engaged to her, thereby making a forced marriage to either of her cousins impossible. Appalled by the poor girl’s plight his Lordship agrees much to the anger of Gytha’s family and his exotic lover the entrancing Princess Zuleika. Little does Lord Locke know that, as he gains a false fiancée, he is truly about to lose his heart!

The lovely young orphan Sedela Craven is very excited to hear that the Marquis of Windlesham is returning home from active service in the Duke of Wellington’s Army in France at the end of the long war against Napoleon Bonaparte. He, however, lingers on in London with his beautiful lover Lady Esther Hasting, an exquisite yet unscrupulous woman who is unfaithful to him while striving to ensnare him into marriage for his riches and his celebrated title. Informed of this by her Nanny, Sedela dresses up as the Windles’s family ghost, Lady Constance, who appears as a warning whenever the family is in danger. Entering the Marquis’s bedroom at midnight through a secret passage she warns him that he is in grave peril from a woman who is unfaithful to him with a man he trusts as his friend. To his fury the Marquis soon discovers that the ‘ghost’ spoke the truth when he catches Esther in bed with his friend. It is only back at his estate preparing with Sedela for a lavish party for his family and friends that he begins to realise what his heart truly desires and it is Sedela. But it seems that it is too late, for she has been kidnapped and faces death at the forked tongue of a deadly cobra. The only hope is that the Marquis can rescue her in time to save her life and their love!

Francis, the Marquis of Wimborton needed an heiress. Lexia had money and her father wanted her to marry a Lord.But she was a spirited girl, raised in America and she wanted to choose her own husband. The Marquis was too proud to court her, especially as he believed her heart was given to Wayne Freeman, an American that her father had brought her to England to avoid.They unexpectedly became the best of friends, escaping together from family pressures and boarding a cruise liner in search of their dreams. Along the way they both found themselves pursued, rousing jealousy in each other.Then Wayne Freeman turned up and life became even more complicated.At last their ship reached Greece where Lexia could invoke Eros and Aphrodite, the Gods of love.For now she had made her choice and was determined to have the man she loved. But which one was it?How she decided and how they both won the love they sought is told in this romantic novel by BARBARA CARTLAND.If you like Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland .

Aged just sixteen and still at school, Christine Lydford is appalled when she is ordered by her stepmother to leave school to live with the Marquis of Ventnor on his grand estate where he is to oversee her continued education.              As if that was not bad enough, the Marquis is a notorious rake and even worse, her lady’s maid lets slip that secretly Christine’s hated stepmother has arranged for her to marry the Marquis.             And once Christine is safely married her stepmother will be able to continue her clandestine affaire-de-coeurwith him. But little does she know that the Marquis is already becoming bored with her and is looking elsewhere.             But Christine is already in love with another. She elopes with her intended to Rome, after persuading her friend, the orphaned beauty, Mina Shaldon, to pass herself off as Christine, just until her friend is married and safe from the Marquis’s clutches.             Timid little Mina is terrified, utterly in awe of the dashing sophisticated aristocrat, but she does not realise that he, like the entire household and the birds and animals in the gardens and the woods that are drawn to her as if by some special magic of hers, is smitten.             Soon Mina too has lost her heart, although she knows that a Society Nobleman such as he would never dally with a mere orphan such as her if he found out that she was an impostor.

Not only has the beautiful eighteen year old Bettina Charlwood lost her beloved mother but is made all but destitute by her father’s constant gambling and she has to leave the French school as her deceased Godmother had financed her fees.  Now death strikes once more as her chaperone dies on the ferry from Calais to Dover in a wild storm.  And Bettina, not knowing what to do, is saved by an earnest young gentleman whose name is Lord Eustace Veston. Arriving home she finds that she and her father are invited by the famous Duke of Alveston to accompany him on a trip in his luxurious yacht to Egypt with a large party for the historic Opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Another surprise awaits her when she finds that the Duke has invited his half-brother as well, whom her father hopes that she will marry.  And that half-brother is none other than her Good Samaritan at Dover, Lord Eustace Veston himself. But while Bettinna finds the Duke almost impossibly handsome and awe-inspiring, Lord Eustace by contrast reveals himself to be a mean-spirited ‘do-gooder’ – and something of a bully to boot. In addition he has developed a deep hatred for the Duke and he has set his heart on inheriting his title and huge fortune by any means. And, despite Lord Eustace’s assumption that Bettina will happily marry him, she soon finds the magnificence, generosity and great charm of the Duke very hard to resist.

As soon as Romany was well out of earshot, Lady Butterclere leaned menacingly towards Henrietta. “Now you just take heed, Miss Reed. I know your sort only too well. You intercepted that note. You aim to set your cap at the Duke and distract him from Romany.” “I c-can assure you, such a thought was n-never on my mind.” “Was it not?” asked Lady Butterclere sarcastically. “Then would you explain to me why you were on your way to see the Duke in that provocative condition?” For a moment, she was horribly confused. What did Lady Butterclere mean in that provocative condition? With dawning horror, she remembered that she had not been able to hook up her dress she had rushed out of Kitty’s room without asking for help. Now she glanced into the mirror on the stairs and almost burst into tears at the sight that met her eyes. Her hair had come loose and now fell over her face untidily. Her dress had slipped off, exposing an alabaster shoulder and the tip of a heaving breast. What was more, she had forgotten to put on any stockings or shoes and was standing there in her bare feet. “Oh. Oh. Oh,” she cried. “I should think so too,” said Lady Butterclere with grim satisfaction. “You look like a a common harlot!”

The beautiful red-headed Druscilla Morley has been cruelly misused and abused by so-called ‘gentlemen’ all her young life.  And most recently by the lecherous Lord Walden whose children she was appointed the Governess to.  Not only had he forced himself upon her. Worse still he has told his wife that Druscilla was the louche philanderer and so she was summarily dismissed from their employment without any reference. Little wonder then that she now dresses in the dowdiest of clothes with her hair in a matronly bun, anything to make herself unattractive to men, all of whom she despises, loathes and fears. Now employed as Governess to another noble household, Druscilla is startled to meet her older second cousin Valdo, the Marquis of Lynche, now a famously dashing and handsome ‘ladies’ man’ in London Society and a considerable catch for ambitious debutantes.  And she is even more startled to find that he is engaged in an illicit affair with her employer.  Facing likely death in a duel with his lover’s furious husband, the Marquis is forced to propose a marriage of convenience to Druscilla, who sees it as an escape from her misery loneliness. They are summarily married with a Special Licence and Druscilla’s life now changes completely as she becomes the new Marchioness of Lynche.   Little does she know that her audacious adventure means that she risks losing her life – or that she is about to lose her heart.

Since her mother’s death, the beautiful but innocent Linetta Falaise has led a sheltered life under the wing of her kindly French Governess. So she is heartbroken to find that her beloved Mademoiselle is at death’s door and that she, Linetta, had unknowingly been living off her meagre savings for the last two years.As she now has no money, there is no alternative but for Linetta to travel to Paris and ask Mademoiselle’s niece, Marie-Ernestine, to help her find suitable employment, perhaps teaching English to French children.Almost as soon as she boards the cross-channel Steamer heading for Calais, her innocent eyes are opened to the wicked ways of the world when a strange man’s unwanted and frightening attentions drive her to seek the protection of a handsome and noble stranger, the Marquis of Darleston, who is travelling to Paris on a secret mission for the British Prime Minister.After they part company, Linetta is introduced to the heady glamour of Paris Society by the glamorous Marie-Ernestine, who is really the celebrated and infamous Blanche d’Antigney.Linetta is appalled by Les Grandes Cocottes, who sell love to the highest bidder, especially since she is expected to join them because she is so young and enchanting.Afraid, alone and beset by lecherous ‘gentlemen’, Linetta remembers the handsome distinguished Marquis she met on the Steamer and prays fervently that he will come to her rescue yet again.

Waif-like beauty Elvina is tiny and immature after years of malnourishment and indeed she looks far younger than her seventeen years. Weak, however, she is not. Hardened by years of beatings and abuse at the hands of her half-crazed Portuguese stepmother and sickened by her father’s constant drunken behaviour, Elvina is determined to escape Lisbon and flee to her native England. Despite the dangers of the Napoleonic War, which is raging in Spain and Portugal, she dyes her skin to make herself look Portuguese and stows away aboard the yacht of the handsome and heroic Lord Wye, bound for London with urgent dispatches from the Duke of Wellington to the Prime Minister. When she is discovered on board, the kindly Lord Wye believes her story that she is a thirteen-year-old fleeing the War to join her English sister and takes pity on her. He agrees that he will take her to England in his yacht, but first he must call in to Spain for more intelligence to show the Prime Minister and the weather suddenly becomes increasing tempestuous. And amid a terrible storm at sea and captured by the French only to fight their way free, a deep friendship under fire is kindled between Elvina and Lord Wye  and soon becomes an all-consuming love when they arrive back in England. And then other dangers to their love for each other begin to emerge.  

Having inherited a considerable fortune from her American Godmother, the beautiful young debutante,Zarina Bryden, really is the belle of the ball throughout London Society, wooed by an endless parade of insincere suitors in love with her money and not with her. Both her mother and father have died and so she is an orphan, but a very rich one indeed. So when her uncle and Guardian insists that she should marry the middle-aged Duke of Malnesbury, she is appalled at the idea and refuses point blank. She then hears the sad news that her childhood friend, Rolfe, now the Earl of Linwood, is being forced to sell the neighbouring Priory with all its contents and its huge estate to pay off the accumulated debts of his now dead elder brother, He is just about to start an auction for everything he owns when Zarina arrives to dramatically save the day with her huge fortune and she comes up with a cunning plan. She makes an offer to use her inheritance to pay all The Priory’s debts and avoid the auction if only Rolfe will make her his fiancée, thereby making marriage to the Duke impossible. Reluctantly Rolfe agrees to her plan as he really has no other option. And he also persuades Zarina to travel with him on a voyage to India – and she accepts his offer to escape a loveless marriage and perhaps to find a true love of her own at the end of the long voyage.

Beautiful young Aspasia Stanton and her twin brother Jerry are horrified when they receive a letter addressed to their uncle and Guardian, the much-loved Reverend Theophilus Stanton, from Her Grace the Duchess of Grimstone.  In it she coldly announces that that “having reached the age of sixty-five, you are retired from your Living and you will vacate the Vicarage within a month of this date.” Whatever are they to do?  Without the Reverend’s stipend they will have nothing at all to live on and Jerry will be forced to leave Oxford University. And what of Little Medlock’s parishioners, who love their Vicar so dearly after all his years in their Parish?  Although the Duchess is known by all the locals as a completely ruthless woman without a heart, Aspasia resolves to go to visit her and throw herself on her mercy, saying, ‘I will do – anything you ask of me if Uncle Theophilus may remain at Little Medlock.’ The poor innocent Aspasia has no grasp of the evil that goes on behind Grimstone House’s imposing doors or of the terrible things that the wicked Duchess will demand of her as her side of the bargain. But then Fate sends the imperious yet handsome Marquis of Thame to visit the Duchess, a gentleman unimpressed and undaunted by her disreputable and wicked ways.  But will he step in to save Aspasia from utter humiliation and dishonour? 

In the economic collapse that follows the Napoleonic Wars, retired Ambassador, Sir Horace Lambourn, and his family are all but bankrupt and cannot meet their ever mounting bills. Suddenly, though, a last minute rescue appears in the form of the request for the hand in marriage of Sir Horace’s beautiful daughter, Camilla, from none other than His Serene Highness the Prince of Meldenstein. Sir Horace is cock-a-hoop, especially when he learns of the very generous Marriage Settlement on offer, which will solve all his financial problems for the rest of his life. But understandably Camilla is afraid and appalled at the prospect of marrying a man she has never met. She has lived a quiet and sheltered life in the country with her parents and has no knowledge of the wicked scheming ways of the world outside Escorted by the dashing Captain Hugo Cheverly and her chaperone, an elderly Baroness from Meldenstein, Camilla sets out on a daunting journey by coach across Europe to meet her mysterious Royal suitor. On the way Camilla is made apprehensive and nervous by what she and Hugo Cheverly hear about the ruling family of Meldenstein and their behaviour. When finally they reach the grand and imposing Palace of Meldenstein, the Prince turns out to be a drug-addled, depraved and tyrannical monster. Along the way she meets with many perils as well as the intrigues of High Society and, eventually, love where she least expected to find it.

Beautiful young Marista Rockbourne and her even more beautiful sister, Letty, live an impoverished life in a small house on the estate with its sublime Castle that belonged to their family until her father foolishly lost everything to the dashing Earl of Stanbrook in a game of cards before drowning himself in the sea in shame. After more than a year in Dovecot House, to their horror the sisters and their brother, Anthony, receive a letter demanding rent arrears from the Earl’s Agent and reluctantly Marista agrees to visit the Earl, now ensconced in The Castle, and beg him for mercy. To make matters even worse she loathes the Earl – in the sisters’ view he is raffish and wicked and they think of him as an ogre, blaming him for their father’s untimely death.When Marista does finally meet him, she finds that he is very handsome, polished and haughty. And she finds as well that it becomes harder to hate him after he rescues her when the amorous Lord Dashforth forces himself upon her. Then, when inadvertently Anthony brings a French spy and assassin to Dovecot House on a mission to kill the Earl, it is Marista who discovers his plan and warns the Earl. And with his grateful kiss for saving his life she realises that her hate has turned into love. If only the imperious Earl felt the same way –

When a strange Priest calls to inform him that his young and very beautiful Ward, Zia Langley, whom he has never troubled to meet, wants to be a nun and asks for his permission, the dashing and handsome Marquis of Okehampton is irritated at this distraction from his wild love life. The Marquis is particularly involved with Yasmin Caton, the enchantingly lovely wife of a distinguished Peer, who is much older than her and is believed to be close to death. She is determined to marry the Marquis when her husband does die and uses every wile she can think of to force him up the aisle. And when the strange Priest demands the transfer to the Convent of all Zia’s worldly goods and, knowing that Zia has inherited a vast fortune, the Marquis smells a rat. Insisting on visiting this Convent to meet his Ward, he travels to Cornwall in his magnificent yacht. He is introduced to a very ugly young woman, whom he realises is an imposter, before whisking away the real Zia Langley to his Park Lane mansion in London. But just as the Marquis discovers the real Zia’s stunning beauty and realises that he is falling in love, the evil Priest kidnaps her and is demanding an impossible sum for her release. Can the Marquis save his Ward and their very special love in time?

Sir John Gilmour has received a letter from his old friend Gavron Murillo, who lives in Paris to say that he only has a very short time to live and wants to see him urgently before he dies. Gavron, who was of Oriental appearance and a very rich man, had helped Sir John and his father with their finances when they had been almost on the point of bankruptcy and he had made them very wealthy. When Sir John arrives at Gavron’s bedside, the old man tells him that his dying wish is that he should marry his daughter, the beautiful Melita. Sir John feels that he cannot refuse the old man after all he had done for him and his father, although he is extremely surprised as he had no idea that Gavron had ever married. Melita, who had been living in a Convent in Thailand after her mother had died giving birth to her, is notified to travel to Paris immediately. When Sir John meets her and tells her what he had promised her father, Melita says that she only wants to marry for love. It is then agreed that they will pretend to their families that they have been married quietly and secretly in Paris while they attempt to find real love with someone else. When they finally return to England and go to live in Sir John’s enchanting house in the country, Melita is very happy. Then it is reported in the newspapers that she and Sir John have inherited all Gavron’s vast amount of money and estates. How Melita is kidnapped. How Sir John is blackmailed by the kidnappers and suffers the agony of trying to find and rescue her. And how in the end they both find real love, which is not very far away from them, is all told in this romantic and exciting story by BARBARA CARTLAND.

After her stagecoach collides with the Marquis of Stade’s speeding curricle on the road to Blackwater, slender golden-haired beauty, Gretna Hayden, is somewhat at the mercy of this cynical-lipped yet handsome Nobleman. Knowing this and concerned for Gretna’s reputation, her companion and chaperone, the rotund Mrs. Merryweather, passes her off as her niece when they arrive at his magnificent nearby Stately home. Sadly the Marquis seems to take her lowly status as an excuse to proposition her in way that he would never dream of treating a Society lady. Little does he suspect that Gretna is the daughter of just such a lady and one with a scandalous past and illustrious connections of her own – namely with The Prince of Wales’s consort, Maria Fitzherbert, or Aunt Maria to Gretna! The gossip-mongers in the late 1780s were all speculating that the Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert had been secretly married and purely by chance Gretna found that it was indeed true. Gretna hates the steely-eyed and supercilious Marquis with his sarcasm and curled lip, especially when he has the temerity to suggest that Mrs. Fitzherbert’s residence in the smartest part of London is an unsuitable place for a young girl like Gretna to be staying. But then his arrogance pales into insignificance compared to the vile predatory Lord Wroxhall, who pursues Gretna mercilessly until finally love comes out of hiding for the Marquis and his golden-haired Gretna.

Alone in the world after her mother dies of consumption in a Swiss sanatorium, the beautiful young Larina Milton’s only comfort was a mortally ill American, Elvin Farren, who befriends her and they have fascinating conversations about the next world and the meaning of life.. But now he has gone back to his home in New York – perhaps forever. Larina’s relief to find that she has not caught her mother’s consumption is short-lived – her doctor delivers the terrible news to her that she has a rare heart disease, which will kill her in just twenty-one days! Desperate, she writes to Elvin, who had promised that alive or dead he would be at her side the moment she called out for him. Larina vows to do the same for him and they form a spiritual pact between them. Little does she know that her friend. Elvin, is one of the four sons of the immensely rich and famous Vanderfeld family of New York City and is abroad under his assumed name of ‘Farren’ Suspecting that she is a gold-digger and could blackmail the family, as his other brother Harvey is running for President of the United States, Wynstan Vanderfeld lures Larina to the family Villa in Sorrento. And there mysteries unfold amid incomparable beauty and both the lovely Larina and the worldly millionaire despite endless problems eventually find time for love.

Strikingly handsome the Russian Prince Ivan Volkonski leaves a trail of broken hearts behind him wherever he goes.             But, when his best friend, Lord Marston, takes him one evening to the famous Théâtre du ChâteletinParis,he witnesses a spellbinding dance performance of grace and spirituality that is to change his life forever.             The dancer, a beautiful young woman known only as Lokita, mesmerises and enthrals him with her dancing and brings back emotional memories of his family that he had almost forgotten.             And he is determined to see her again and make her his own. Frustrated to find that she will see no admirers in her dressing room at the theatre after her dancing, the Prince stages a ‘kidnapping’ to force her to meet him.             Instantly Lokita and the Prince are in love and there is an electric magic between them and the Prince believes that Fate has brought them together and that they have loved each other in many previous lives so strong are their feelings for each other.             But surely a commoner, no matter how beautiful and talented, cannot marry a Russian Prince?             The Czar of Russia, an absolute dictator, would never allow it and anyway Lokita’s over-protectiveduenna and Guardian, the redoubtable Miss Anderson, is determined to keep Lokita as far away from the Prince and his advances as she possibly can.

The beautiful widowed mother, Lady Susi Sherington, faces a terrible dilemma when she has been staying in Paris and attending endless smart parties. She finds herself deeply in love with the dashing, Jean, the Comte de Girone, but her friend, the Duchesse Lorraine d’Aubergue, insists that she must shun him because ‘he is a heartbreaker’. What is more the Comte needs a bride rich enough to support his family’s beautiful Château Girone, the most imposing in Provence and the real love of his life. And thanks to the punitive will of her late and much older husband Susi would enter any new marriage penniless, but would be very rich if she remained single. And then there is her beautiful daughter, Trina, to consider, soon to come of age and everyone says that she is so like her mother that they could be twins! Sadly despite Jean’s constant protestations of love, Susi must try to think of their liaison as just a mere flirtation. But then Trina is stuck by a cunning idea, one that just might provide the Comte with the money he needs until she comes into her late father’s inheritance and can share her wealth with the mother. Perhaps after all Susi can follow the path of her heart’s desire!

When beautiful young Lucille Winterton meets an exceedingly good-looking and very elegantly dressed gentleman while out riding, she knows instantly that this must be the notorious Marquis of Shawforde. When the unpopular old Marquis had died the village folk, including the Wintertons, had hoped that the new Marquis would be more welcoming to them and evcn invite them to meet him at the Big House. They are disappointed, but worse still the village is alive with gossip about the new Marquis’s decadent parties involving drinking, depravity and other ‘high jinks’.Nevertheless the attraction between Lucille and the Marquis is irresistible and, although he is unwillingly promised to another, the pair share secret trysts until the Marquis asks Lucille to marry him even though her sister, Delia, strongly disapproves because his bad reputation could ruin hers.The Marquis’s uncle hears of their dalliance and arrives to intervene as in his view and the family’s Miss Winterton is not grand enough to be the new Marchioness of Shawforde.Mistaking her equally entrancing sister Delia for Lucille, Lord Kenyon Shaw becomes embroiled in a tangle of misunderstandings and, much worse, sinister intrigue.As The Great Game of international espionage in India almost brings death and destruction to their door, two brothers and two sisters prove beyond any doubt that Love really is Invincible.

Handsome, popular and much in demand in the Social world, Alstone, the Duke of Windlemere is bored with life and, seeking entertainment, he is drawn into a foolhardy wager with his friend Sir Hugo Benson. The bet concerns whether they can successfully replicate the experiment in George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion, in which Eliza Doolittle is taken from the flower market in London and trained to pass as a ‘lady’ in Society.Unbeknown to her, Sir Hugo’s niece, the beautiful, innocent orphan, Lorena, whom he summons back to England from her French Convent School, is chosen by him to play the part and is taken to meet the sophisticated Windlemere Set made up of the Duke’s spoilt entourage.On arrival with her uncle at the Duke’s palatial stately home, Mere, Lorena is overawed by her surroundings and by the dashing and handsome Duke. And for his part the Duke is captivated by Lorena’s intelligence, honesty and loveliness. Not only is Lorena capable, it seems, of being accepted by his snobbish friends. She inspires respect as well – and even love.

After her mother Lottie’s death in Paris, penniless young Clova has no one to turn to, so she heads for Scotland – to the Clan Lottie abandoned when Clova was just seven. Then fate intervenes and a vast inheritance from her dead mother’s former lover makes her a rich woman.Nevertheless, she is afraid that her kin will despise her as they did her mother, who ran away with a ‘Sassenach’ to a life of ‘sin’ in Paris and Monte Carlo. But to her amazement, she is told that she has inherited the title of Marchioness of Strathblane and Chieftain of the McBlane Clan! But her new wealth and power are double-edged swords. Not only is her Clan embroiled in a bitter feud with the neighbouring McCowans, but her cousin Euan is also plotting to seize her title – by the foulest of means.Winning the hearts of her Clan with her brave leadership, she loses her own to the ‘enemy’ Laird – and if wicked Cousin Euan gets his way she will lose her life too.

Demure and self-deprecating the beautiful young Nolita Walford has been left all but penniless after the tragic death of both her parents in a coach crash and, envious of Nolita’s unassuming beauty, her unsympathetic aunt, Lady Katherine, despatches her to work as Governess to Bettine, the eleven year old daughter of the Marquis of Sarle. Feeling frightened and apprehensive, Nolita says a tearful farewell to her favourite horse, Eros, and her beloved home where she has been so happy and sets off for an unknown and uncertain future.   Nolita is dismayed to find that young Bettine is not only a Lady and heiress to her American grandfather’s vast fortune but also a spoilt little madam who is almost uncontrollable. Miraculously, Nolita’s love of horses and gentle humble approach wins over her pupil, to the astonishment of the Marquis, who regards Nolita with new respect and admiration. But just as Nolita has taken Bettine to her heart and lost her own to the handsome Marquis, a ruthless American gang kidnaps her and Bettine, threatening to kill them unless they receive a ransom of one million dollars. Now all hope of life – and of love – seems lost as Nolita sends out little white doves of prayer to the one man who can save them from a dreadful fate.

LOVE ON THE WIND SynopsisAlone since the tragic death of her beloved parents, Indian-born beauty, Sita, has suffered a life of torment at the hands of her uncle, her reluctant Guardian, who despises, abuses and beats her. In despair on a voyage to Calcutta, she is on the verge of throwing herself overboard when she is saved by a handsome and mysterious stranger. Even after her saviour disappears, he seems ever-present in her thoughts and in the background of events as Sita is caught up in the political intrigue and turmoil surrounding the controversial Ilbert Bill, which aims to put Indian Judges back into the Indian Courts to sit in judgement not only on their compatriots but also on the British. Kidnapped by murderous men desperate to stop the Ilbert Bill, who say, “if your uncle wants you back, he will have to agree to kill it.”Sita is locked into a cold damp cell in an ancient Fort and is desperate to escape when she is rescued by her hero, who she has sent her thoughts to that she is in desperate danger.Her hero disappears and then she helps a mysterious stranger save the Nizam of Hyderabad from being killed by a dissident. She is then distraught that her uncle wants to return to England and she has had no contact from her hero and she does not even know his name. Sita can only pray that the thoughts of love she sends out so fervently will reach him and bring him to her rescue once more.

With Russian, English and Irish blood in her veins and described by her uncle Sir Terence O’Kerry, Head of the India Office, as ‘as mysterious as the Sphinx, but as lovely as Cleopatra must have been at that age’, it is no surprise that the beautiful young Quenella O’Kerry has suitors continually falling at her feet. The trouble is that among them is the lecherous Prince Ferdinand of Schertzenberg, who not only has pursued her relentlessly but has even attempted to force himself on her in her bedroom!It seems the only way for Quenella to escape the Prince’s clutches is a marriage of convenience and to leave England for some time.. And this is just what the dashing Major Rex Daviot requires if he is to accept the huge promotion offered to him by Queen Victoria to become the Lieutenant-Governor of India’s North-West Provinces, when India is under British rule.The prospect of a loveless marriage depresses Rex, who enjoys the attentions of many a Society beauty, but even as they journey to India, Quenella’s curiosity, intelligence and loveliness piques his interest. And very soon, despite himself, Rex finds that his marriage of convenience blossoms into something far, far deeper.

Widowed Mrs. Mansforde and her younger daughter Philomena (or ‘Mena’ for short) are pleasantly surprised when elder daughter Lais returns unannounced to the family home. They have not seen her for an age, not even at her father’s funeral. And the news she brings is not so pleasant as it seems that she too has been widowed, but already has another wealthy and prestigious husband in her sights, the highly respected Duke of Kernthorpe. The Duke, who is much older than Lais, has invited her to bring her mother to meet him, an invitation that Lais does not extend to young Mena, seeing how beautiful she has become. Mrs. Mansforde insists that Mena goes with her and then it is decided that she will pose as her mother’s employed companion. Once at the Duke’s Castle Mena goes for a walk in the garden and then sees a stallion and rider galloping towards her. The horse is clearly out of control and throws the rider so Mena rushes over to see if he has been hurt. He is a handsome young man and when he looks up at Mena he thinks, because she is so beautiful, that she must be a Greek Goddess. He is then most impressed when Mena calms the stallion down by talking to him in a quiet gentle voice. At the Duke’s Castle love is to take each of the three women, Mena, Lais and their mother, by surprise and brings them ultimate happiness in the form of entirely unexpected suitors. And it seems that Fate has brought them together at the magnificent but mysterious Kerne Castle.

Half-starved, sickly and pale, the beautiful Lalitha lives in the shadow of her stepsister, the glamorous Lady Sophie Studley, darling of London’s Beau Monde. Because only Lalitha knows the dark secrets upon which her stepmother, Lady Studley, has built a new life for herself and her daughter. Worked like a slave and frequently thrashed with her stepmother’s cane, she feels that should one of these beatings go too far her death would merely come as a relief.The conniving mother and daughter’s latest deceit involves Sophie’s latest two suitors. Betrothed to Julius Verton, Sophie is dismayed to find that he has no money of his own, at least until his uncle, the Duke of Yelverton, dies.With typical callousness she plans to abandon Julius and elope with the immensely wealthy Lord Rothwyn, a friend of the Prince Regent. But she does not love him, only his riches and his position in Society. “Oh, well,” she says, “perhaps his Lordship will not live long. Then I shall be a rich widow and will be able to marry Julius when he is the Duke of Yelverton after all!” But when news arrives that Julius’ uncle is on his deathbed everything changes. Sophie sends Lalitha to meet Lord Rothwyn at the Church to tell him that he is being jilted. And from the moment the dashing Lord mistakes her for Sophie and seizes her in a passionate kiss, her heart is lost and her life is changed forever –

Still in mourning after the death of her father, Colonel Wallace, in a battle in India, the beautiful young Vina Wallace is astonished to receive news that not only had her heroic father saved the Maharajah of Kulhapur’s life, but also that the Maharajah has died and left jewels worth a small fortune to her dead father. And now, as her father’s only child, the jewels are hers.Vina is being looked after by her uncle and aunt and her aunt has grand ideas of shining in higher Society and being invited to parties at ancestral homes and by Queen Victoria to Windsor Castle.Unknown to Vina the news of her newly acquired fortune reaches the ears of the Duke of Quarington and his penniless brother Lord Edgar, who is desperate to find a way to repay his vast debts as the Duke is refusing to bail him out yet again.Fearing Vina will fall victim to fortune-hunters, her aunt and uncle plan to offer her hand in marriage to the dissolute Lord Edgar – an admirable solution to both families’ problems.The trouble is that Vina has vowed never to marry unless for love. Worse still she overhears the cynical Lord Edgar planning to marry Vina for her money and then to resume his life of debauchery and womanising! Is there no escape for Vina from a life without love?

Falling ill with a bad cold, the beautiful young singer, Isa McNaver, leaves behind her busy London schedule of Concerts and heads for the Scottish Highlands where she grew up for a much needed rest. There she wanders the graceful moors and the breezy seashore contentedly, remembering her childhood and the local legends about long lost Clan treasure. Venturing into a deep dark cave she stumbles across a murderous plot by accident. She overhears a gang of men, who have apparently discovered a map showing where the family treasure had been secreted near to the imposing Clan Castle to hide it from the marauding Vikings. They are even planning to murder the Duke to ensure that he does not get in their way. Isa’s duty is clear. She must warn the Duke of Strathnaver, the Chieftain of the Clan! And, although when she arrives at The Castle unannounced, the handsome Duke appears aloof and cynical, little does Isa know that he is entranced by her beauty. And just when he seems to have finally found the true love he has been seeking all his life, all seems lost when he and Isa are kidnapped by the dastardly plotters and left to die in a secret cave hidden by a cascade in the garden of The Castle.

Although the demure young beauty, Kezia Falcon, and her brother Peregrine are part of an ancient and noble family, they are all but bankrupt despite all their efforts. Nevertheless the handsome Perry continues to socialise and gamble at cards in London while Kezia lives alone but for the old butler in the family’s charming but dilapidated house in the country.Suddenly it seems that their fortune may change when Peregrine finds an unexpected buyer for their one precious heirloom, which is a beautiful necklace made with diamonds stolen from the legendary ‘Queen Marie Antoinette Necklace’, which had created a huge scandal just before the French Revolution broke out.The prospective buyer is the tall, handsome and impressive French Marquis de Bayeux who is coming on a visit to England to view the necklace. But, because he is apparently a notorious Don Juan with whom no woman is safe, Peregrine insists that they pose as a married couple instead of being brother and sister for Kezia’s protection.This is a charade that they will come to regret when the dashing Frenchman inspires in Kezia not fear or dread but awe and admiration and then finally, ¬love.

When her chaise is damaged in an accident far from her home, the beautiful young Lady Athina Ling has no choice but to stay at a nearby Posting inn while awaiting its repair. There she is appalled to hear the pitiful screams of a young boy who is being savagely beaten by the ‘gentleman’ who appears to be his Guardian. After bravely going to the child’s rescue, Athina discovers that he is Peter, the nephew of the handsome Marquis of Rockingdale whose estate neighbours her own and that he, Peter, is the heir to a very considerable fortune.Seeing the child’s horrific wounds, the Marquis agrees to help Athina protect and look after him – but he also needs her help with a great problem of his own. Namely that he must become engaged to be married before Queen Victoria will allow him to take up the important position of State he craves of the Master of the Horse. Which the Marquis is superbly qualified to excel at as he has been closely involved with the breeding and training of horses all his life.So to help protect the boy, Athina agrees to a pretend engagement to the Marquis to satisfy the demands of the Queen. But the threat is far worse than either of them could ever have imagined. As they strive together to save the boy from his murderous stepfather, they begin to realise that their engagement is no longer a pretence and that, in fact, this is love!

Over six feet tall and square-shouldered, Norwin, the Earl of Kensall is beyond dispute extremely handsome and known to have an eye for the ladies.But when the beautiful young Sadira Bourne is told she is to marry him, she is appalled. Not only because she does not love him or even like him, but also because he has little regard for her and is actually in love with her stepmother, the Marchioness of Langbourne. The Earl only means to marry Sadira to save her stepmother’s reputation and indeed his after her husband discovered her affair and is intent on divorce, which would take a long time and cause a major Society scandal, which everyone involved in will suffer from.Wickedly the Marchioness gives Sadira little choice, threatening the lives of her beloved horse and dog and assuring her that she will besmirch Sadira’s name forever in the Social world.Refusing to marry a man she will never love, Sadira flees to Morocco to become a student of the famed Medical Missionary, Father Christopher. But little does she know how much her intelligence, sylph-like figure, striking blue eyes and ineffable beauty have entranced her forced fiancé.Or that he is setting out in his fine yacht to come to her rescue. And little does either the Earl or Saira know in what terrifying circumstances they will be together once more!

Ceylon born and bred, yet English through and though thanks to their stern father, who is the local Vicar, beautiful young Dominica Radford and her five sisters are excited when one Sunday a very handsome English gentleman comes calling on their father in their rundown Vicarage in Colombo. But excitement turns to shock when Lord Hawkston out of the blue asks for Dominica’s hand in marriage for his twenty-four year old nephew Gerald Warren, who is running Lord Hawkston’s estate in Northern Ceylon. Having discovered that Gerald, recently spurned by a previous fiancée, is drinking heavily, letting the Hawkston tea estate go to wrack and ruin and treating his native lover cruelly, Lord Hawkston is desperate to see him married and settled and so sees the intelligent and sensible Dominica as the perfect bride for him.Overwhelmed by his Lordship’s generosity in giving her a glorious trousseau of pretty clothes, Dominica initially agrees, but soon she realises not only that she does not love Gerald she is repelled by him and the ugliness and coarseness he brings to the new Garden of Eden where she now finds herself. Nevertheless the lovely Dominica is happier than she has ever been in her entire life. And the reason suddenly comes to her in a blinding light. She is in love with Lord Hawkston!

When Bengal Lancers Major Iain Hadleigh first encounters the beautiful young Brucena Nairn it is on a moving train in India as he forces her back into the carriage to protect her from serious rioting on the platform. Far from being grateful, Brucena is outraged, having no idea that she is contravening Major Hadleigh’s own orders that no Europeans may travel to the forbidden area of Saugor.She is on her way to join her cousin, Captain Sleeman and his wife, Amelie, intending without their knowledge to work as a Nanny to their as yet unborn child and thereby escaping a fault-finding father who hates her for her beauty and for not being the boy he so desperately needs for his estate and Castle in ScotlandBut Brucena soon finds far more to fear under India’s searing sun. First the unwanted attentions of the somewhat sinister Lord Rawthorne and, worse still, the devotees of Thuggee – highway murderers who strangle their victims from behind with a yellow silk scarf –It is only when, rescuing her in the darkness from the clutches of would-be murderers and Iain’s lips fall on hers, that Brucena realises that she has been in love with the dashing and handsome Major all along!

Overworked and exhausted through caring for her ailing father, the demurely lovely Delysia Langford goes to the family’s London house for a well-deserved rest.             But her wayward and beautiful sister, Fleur, has other ideas for her.  She has fallen deeply in love with Timothy, Lord Sheldon, but he is already reluctantly engaged through intense pressure from his family to be married to the daughter of the Duke of Dorset.             So Fleur and Tim plan to elope. And so determined is Tim’s uncle, the vastly rich Magnus Fane,  a terrifying man people call the ‘Demon King’,  to stop them that he kidnaps Fleur.             Little does he know, it is actually Delysia who his servants have abducted from the London house by mistake.             And when she is subjected to the contempt that Magnus Fane regards her sister with, Delysia resolves to keep up the pretence that she is Fleur so giving her sister time to run away to France with Tim to be married. And giving herself a chance to reverse the dreadful impression that he has formed of Fleur from reports by his relations.             But when Delysia is confronted by the awe-inspiring and arrogant Demon King, he turns out to be an extremely handsome young man as well as a highly successful entrepreneur, having made his fortune in the East.              And slowly but surely she is no longer held hostage, but simply following her heart as mutual hatred in some magical way turns out to be love.

Wandering dreamily through the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace, the beautiful eighteen-year-old Zorina bumps into a startlingly handsome well-dressed young man who immediately steals her heart. Hardly able to take hers eyes off his face, she finds herself exchanging tales with him of the ghosts that reputedly walk the Haunted Gallery.  She shows him the many fascinating treasures of The Palace that she has come to think of as her own and then she finds that his name is Rudolf. And when he says to her, “Au revoir, Zorina, if you are the Spirit of Hampton Court, you are more beautiful than any Queen or Princess who ever graced it!”, a heart-stopping adventure of love begins.  Zorina has no idea who he is or where he is staying or even how to contact him, but she is counting the minutes until she can see him again. But then Queen Victoria makes an announcement that dashes all the hopes that are rising in her heart. As the daughter of a Princess, she is of Royal blood and therefore must marry the much older King Otto of the Balkan Kingdom of Leothia to stop their neighbours from taking over his country by force and also maintaining the Balance of Power in Europe.  She has no choice but to marry the King no matter how her heart yearns for the handsome Rudolf.  Little does she know, however, that Fate has another great surprise in store for her!

The beautiful young Mimosa Shenson is left alone in the world, penniless and stranded in Tunisia after her father dies from a snakebite while visiting the partially excavated archaeological site of Thuburbo Maius. Whatever can she do? The answer appears to be in a chance reading of a local newspaper reporting that her cousin Minerva, who has been living a grand Villa near Tunis, but has suddenly disappeared and is feared kidnapped for her large fortune. Feigning amnesia Mimosa arrives at her cousin’s Villa and, as she hopes, is instantly taken for the missing Minerva and, as the two girls are very alike, even the servants believe her to be Minerva. Unexpectedly the Duke of Alrock, a handsome Englishman, comes to call at the Villa and he too mistakes Mimosa for Minerva. Quickly Mimosa finds that her deceit is bringing her complications in the form of a sinister Frenchman who attempts to blackmail her about her cousin’s illicit affaire de coeur with a married French Count, which she knows nothing about. Then the Duke persuades her to accompany him on a visit to the magnificent ruins of Thuburbo Maius and there they are kidnapped by a gang of ruffians just as the sun is about to set. It seems that Mimosa is about to lose her life, just as she is beginning to lose her heart to the dashing Duke of Alrock.

In St. Petersburg on a mission to glean intelligence for the Prime Minister on the likely intentions of Czar Alexander with regard to the ongoing war in which both Russia and the UK are at war with Napoleon’s France, the dashing and eminently eligible bachelor Duke of Welminster is beset by diplomatic problems. The War aside, there is the issue the Princess who is pressing upon him the attractions of her daughter Tania. At thirty-three, the handsome Duke has vowed never to marry but has no choice but to agree to meet the young woman. But when he does, he finds Tania dancing with another young girl called Zoia. This other girl seems  to him ‘as if she moves amongst trees covered with blossom and the whole world awakens with spring’. Instantly he is entranced. Then when he discovers she is the daughter of famous French composer Pierre Vallon and she plays for him, he is utterly smitten. But after he suffers a near-fatal injury and Zoia and her father are forced to flee the city or die, it seems that love is doomed by War.

Orphaned as a young child, the beautiful young Sheena knows little of the English side of her family and has been brought up by her Irish uncle, Patrick O’Donovan, who never liked her father and who is passionate in his dislike of the English and everything to do with the English And there is nothing that Sheena would not do for him as he is all the family she has ever really known. So when he asks her to journey to the Embassy of Mariposa in Paris to take up a job as a Governess to two small children and to pose as a widow several years older than her age of twenty-one, she complies with Patrick O’Donovan’s wishes despite quite a few misgivings. Once she has arrived in the exciting City of Paris she even begins to enjoy the strange adventure, particularly as there are two handsome gentlemen constantly in the Embassy who begin to show their interest in her. But soon she is trapped by her own web of deceit. Expected to spy on her employers and elicit sensitive information for her uncle’s shady associates, she finds herself falling hopelessly in love. But how can he ever love her when he discovers how she has deliberately deceived him?

Dashing Selby Harle, Lord Harlestone, has a reputation in London as a ‘ladies man’ and at the instigation of the influential Princess of Wales is all but blackmailed into marrying a Society beauty he does not like let alone love.             And so he decides to escape to America, where he has invested some of his fortune in cattle ranching.             In the wilds of Colorado, where the gold and minerals rush is at fever pitch, even this man of the world is shocked by the brazen houses of pleasure in Denver where ‘madams’ shamelessly ply their trade.             He is even more appalled when a gang of rough cowboys arrive at one such house with a helpless young waif offering her for sale, who has just lost her mother and father to the Red Indians.             The girl’s name, they say, is Nelda Harle. Could this be the daughter of his estranged cousin, ‘Handsome Harry’, a notorious gambler and ‘card sharp’?             Selby feels duty bound to ‘purchase’ the girl for her own protection and proposes to send her safely home to England as soon as he returns to New York from his associate’s Denver Ranch.             Nelda turns out to be a glorious beauty of eighteen and even more stunning when dressed in fashionable gowns.             Fate and love intervene when Arapaho Indians attack the wagon train she is travelling in and Nelda bravely saves Lord Harlestone’s life.             And he comes to realise that there is so much more to this young beauty than meets the eye.

The beautiful but innocent Paolina Mansfield almost loses her life when the ship that she is a passenger on is tragically wrecked in a storm off the coast of Italy. All aboard, including her father were lost, except just for herself and her handsome rescuer, Sir Harvey Drake, who is a descendant of the famous Sir Francis Drake himself. Already reduced to the point of penury by her father’s addiction to endless gambling, Paolina now has nothing left in her life and no family or friends to come to her aid. But Sir Harvey, by his own admission a ‘gentleman adventurer’, devises a grand plan for her that would save them both, as he also has many financial problems of own in Endland. As Paolina is so beautiful and captivating, he intends to marry her off to a wealthy suitor in Italy and share the resulting riches with her.  Presented to the highest echelons of Venice Society as his sister, Paolina’s demure beauty instantly bewitches some of Venice’s most illustrious and eligible gentlemen and she is overwhelmed by amorous approaches especially from the sinister and extremely rich Duke of Ferrara. Yet she is deeply unhappy. Because it seems that Paolina is condemned to marry someone she does not and cannot love and she has already lost her heart to her swashbuckling but penniless saviour.

Having read with breathless excitement the tales of the legendary Dukes of Burgundy – Philip the Bold, Charles the Rash and John the Fearless – the beautiful Lady Yursa Home is thrilled when her grandmother takes her to Castle Montvéal, where the Head of their Family, the illustrious Duc César rules almost as if he was a King. The untouched and innocent Yursa has a good idea of the visit’s real purpose as she has overheard a supposedly secret conversation in the drawing room between her grandmother and her father. Her grandmother aims to marry her off to the Duc , thereby saving him from the clutches of the sinister yet most alluring beauty Zelée de Salône, who is staying for far too long at his magnificent Château.. Blissfully unaware that she has made a mortal enemy, Yursa is kidnapped by Zelée’s gang of followers and to her horror finds that she is a witch and a Satanist. Tied to a stake, Yursa is to be sacrificed to Satan by burning at the stake as a perverted revenge for Joan of Arc at the hands of English soldiers in 1431. By an unusual form of telepathy the Duc has a very strong feeling that she is in danger and acts accordingly. Can the strange magic that seems to connect her so instinctively to the smoulderingly handsome Duc be love? And has it the power to conquer evil and save her life and his from the evil wiles and schemes of Zelé de Salône?

All her young life has been lived in the shadow of her father’s disgrace after he was caught cheating at cards at his Club in London and Alita Lang lives a dismal life under sufferance with her begrudging aunt and uncle, the Duke and Duchess of Langstone.           In fact the only love in Alita’s lonely life is her passion for her uncle’s thoroughbred horses, especially her beloved stallion, Flamingo, who she has taught many tricks to. She spends most of her time in the Duke’s stables and can train the most unruly horse        And now the Duke, desperate to raise money, is determined to sell them all to the brash American multi-millionaire who has just bought the neighbouring estate and its magnificent Marshfield House.        Introduced to the handsome, blue-eyed and tanned Clint Wilbur as Alita Blair, an employee of the estate, she soon finds herself working for him on improvements to his stables and soon, through his consistent kindness and gentle thoughtfulness, she discovers an alluring new side to her new employer and ally.       Suddenly Alita’s heart is racing as she realises that she is in love. But surely the race for love is already lost because the Duke is already scheming for his daughter, Hermione, to marry the eligible millionaire and join their two estates together.KeywordsPrince of Wales, Texas, The Derby, Gaiety Theatre, Gaiety Girls, Steeplechase, Fox Hunt, thoroughbred, Covent Garden

Leila Cavendish, era una bella joven, educada artista, y con talento, que huye de su brutal padrastro y un pretendiente no deseado, buscando refugio en casa de su tía la Baronesa Van Alnrardt, que vivía en Amsterdam, coleccionista de Arte Titulada. Carew, era el Marqués de Kyneston, coleccionador de Arte y sólo tenía tres problemas: era demasiado rico, tenía demasiado éxito y era demasiado guapo. Sin embargo, el Marqués vivía disgustado, por haber tenido algunos disgustos de amor… y así desilusionado, se dijo, no creer más en las mujeres… Navega hacia Amsterdam, prometiéndose, que jamás volverá a caer en la trampa del amor… Mas el Destino tenía otros planes para el Marqués y la bella joven. Leila lo miraba con angustia, impotente para contarle la verdad del embuste que tendría que hacer, para que su tía se salvara… cuando al mismo tiempo, el Marqués había despertado en ella, la maravilla del amor eterno... y sin embargo, él era el hombre, que ella estaba a punto de engañar!

Virginia, una muchacha de una familia abastada, era una joven afectada por la obesidad, con un aire enfermizo y sin atractivos femeninos para cualquier caballero de la corte, se vio obligada por su ambiciosa madre, a casarse con un caballero de la aristocracia inglesa, un caballero de título, pero arruinado. Todas estas tensiones y obligaciones la hicieron apartarse de casa, padecía de una crisis nerviosa, que le hizo adelgazar vertiginosamente en el espacio de un año. Pasado ese tiempo, se fue recuperando, convirtiéndose en una joven muy bonita y esbelta. Cuando volvió recuperada, queria obtener el divorcio de su marido, el caballero que solo quiso casarse con ella por interés… pero algo se pasa en su corazón, cuando lo está conociendo de verdad, algo le hará cambiar sus ideas, sobre el desconocido caballero con quien se casó por obligación y sin amor… y que, de hecho, seguía siendo su marido.Sus emociones y sentimientos la confunden, pues jamás pudiera imaginar, que pudiera sentir algo de más verdadero, por un cercano desconocido.

Sir Horace Lambourn y su familia, estaban al borde del desastre financiero. En un último y desesperado viaje a Londres, les trajo por fin, un rayo de esperanza a los Lambourn. Su Alteza Real, el Príncipe de Meldenstein, pedía en matrimonio, la mano de su hija Camelia. Habría en contrapartida, un generoso arreglo financiero a favor de la novia. Camelia, presa por temores y inquietudes, no tuvo más remedio, que acepta, al desconocido pretendiente de la realeza, para salvar la familia de la ruina. Dos meses más tarde, saldría de viaje hacia el Continente, a camino de su destino, conocer a su prometido y casarse con quien no amaba. Escoltada por la Baronesa Von Furstendruck , y por un inglés, el Capitán Hugo Cheverly, que inesperadamente, arrebató su corazón… despertando en ella el verdadero amor jamás vivido… pero antes, vivirían increíbles aventuras, hasta poder liberarse de un casamiento forjado y sin amor…

Shakira Bartlett se esconde en un yate privado donde viaja el Marqués de Linwood. Ella está huyendo de un matrimonio no deseado,  arreglado por su tio, pero es descubierta por el Marqués, Ella lo convence en dejarla viajar a Egipto para reunirse con su padre. Por su vez, él también está huyendo de una amante no deseada, por lo que decide dejarla viajar y van juntos! Francis Marshall, retratista y pintor, pinta un cuadro interesante de esta extraña pareja,  teniendo  en cuenta la pistola que el héroe está sosteniendo. Desde la cubierta,  se cumplen muchas emocionantes aventuras a camino de  Egipto, donde el amor también es un peligro y un misterio, que ambos quieren resistir… ¿será que el amor, resistirá al encanto de Egipto?

El Rey se acercó a la cama de Xenia y miró su lujoso cabello rojo que brillaba a la luz de las velas y sus tiernos labios, que temblaban porque tenía miedo. "¿Sabes lo hermosa que eres?" él dijo. Xenia sabía que el momento finalmente había llegado, el momento en que ella debía decirle la verdad. "¡Te amo!".  Pero él lloró antes de que ella pudiera hablar. Él dijo: "Estoy loco… locamente enamorado … nunca en la vida soñé que me sentiría así … y tengo algo que ... decirte…" Ella lo sintió ponerse serio y lentamente lo vio retroceder. Xenia respiró profundamente… ¿Cómo podría ella decirle ? Ella se decía a sí misma. ¿Cómo podría ella barrer la felicidad de sus ojos? Estaba arrebatada por su amor… y sin embargo atrapada por otro destino… 

Jaela Compton había quedado sola tras la muerte inesperada de su Padre en Italia. En tales circunstancias ¿por qué no aceptar la proposición de viajar a Inglaterra con la pequeña Kathy Hale, que acababa de quedar huérfana y entregarla a sus familiares? Jaela no podía sospechar que aquella decisión iba a enfrentarla a toda una serie de aventuras en las que tendría que encararse con los dos principales dilemas de su existencia: el amor y la muerte…

El asesinato de tres oficiales ingleses en la India sirvió de aviso para Vincent, heredero del Marquesado de Mawdelyn, de que su vida corría peligro a su regreso a Inglaterra, ya que los compañeros muertos habían sido confundidos por él. Mientras tanto, en el Priorato de Mawdelyn, un primo lejano de Vincent había asumido el título de Marqués, pensando que el verdadero heredero estaba muerto. Cómo regresa Vincent a Inglaterra y tiene que hacer frente a las maquinaciones de su primo, perteneciente a una secta satánica, y cómo es ayudado en su lucha por el amor de la joven Charisa Templeton, nos es narrado en esta apasionante novela de Barbara Cartland.*Originalmente publicada bajo el título de:El Impostor por HARLEQUIN IBERICA,S.A.El Amor Ataca a Satanás por Harmex S.A. de C.V.

Sola en el mundo, Norita Combe estaba muy lejos de sospechar el cambio que iba a producirse en su vida cuando, encontró refugio como institutriz ante la pequeña hija del altivo Marqués de Hawkhurst, un viudo de una presencia imponente y un encanto fascinante, entre los más nobles señores de la sociedad. Entonces, Lady Bettine Daviot, la amante del Marqués, quiso que éste le regalase un collar de perlas y decidido irse a conquistar un tesoro a bordo de su yate de placer, se iría con destino al misterioso Medio Oriente y a buscar la Perla Perfecta. Norita, ante las circunstancias se ve prácticamente obligada a irse también en el yate del arrogante y noble Marqués para cuidar de su hija. Pero jamás podía imaginarse, que irían vivir una inolvidable aventura, ella y el noble Marqués, descubrirían un maravilloso tesoro único y inmaculado, pero el peligro golpearía sus vidas y sus corazones, ya que se vieron atrapados por un amor mágico y divino jamás imaginado… y solo podrían escoger un solo destino y rescatar con valentía, el tesoro más hermoso de sus vidas…

Alecia Stanbrook, hija de un escritor muy pobre, acepta la petición de su Prima, Charis Langley, que se haga pasar por ella durante una visita a su tutor, quien es General del Ejército Británico de Ocupación, en Francia.Alecia es una bella provinciana muy tímida a quien no le agrada hacer nada fuera de lo común, sin embargo, al ofrecerle su prima una generosa suma, acepta, sabedora que con ese dinero evitará que su Padre y ella se mueran de hambre.Como Alecia viaja a Francia, donde conoce al Tutor de Charis, Lord Kiniston, y al famoso Duque de Wellington sin sospechar ni por un momento el giro dramático que tomarían los acontecimientos, es relatado en esta emocionante novela de Barbara Cartland. -Viaje al Amor por Harlequín Española S.A.-El Amor Todo lo Vence por Harmex S.A. de C.V.

Parecía un milagro caído del cielo, Valessa Chester, adorable, sola y sin dinero, sería espléndidamente recompensada por su interpretación en una charada durante una fiesta, una broma inofensiva al arrogante y seguro de sí Marqués de Wyndonbury…. Pero para su horror… descubrió haber sido el instrumento involuntario de la venganza de una mujer despechada! Ahora, la bella e inocente Valessa era la novia no deseada del magnífico Marqués, el hombre que se adueñó de su corazón para siempre en un sueño de amor tan inalcanzable como las distantes estrellas allá en lo alto….

Cuando Orelia Stanyon regresó a su casa, no podía olvidar a aquel extraño que la había rescatado de dos impertinentes borrachos en la posada "Jorge y el Dragón". Su beso apasionado despertó en ella sensaciones indescriptibles y hasta ahora desconocidas. Orelia estaba sola en el mundo, pues su único pariente era su prima Carolina, y que no era seguramente, la tutora adecuada para una inocente joven. Un día Carolina, anunció su compromiso, con el apuesto Marqués de Ryde, uno de los hombres más ricos de Inglaterra, quien sin duda aseguraría el futuro económico de la inquieta dama. Orelia se sorprendió cuando le presentaron al Marqués, y ella lo conocía, como el misterioso desconocido que le había robado el corazón.

Cuando Odella descubrió accidentalmente una red de espionaje al servicio de Napoleón, inmediatamente se puso en contacto con el Lord Representante de la Corona. Este la envió a entrevistarse con el Marqués de Midhurst, encargado del caso. Lo que no habían conseguido los mejores agentes ingleses, lo había logrado Odella, y el Marqués impresionado por la inteligencia de la hermosa joven, la convenció para que lo ayudara en su tarea. Odella debía emplear sus dotes innatas y conseguir información vital para salvar la vida de muchos soldados y marinos ingleses. Juntos iban a emprender una peligrosa aventura donde encontrarían algo que no buscaban …

El Duque de Warminster no conseguia controlar su ira. Primero, aquella tonta jovencita se había introducido en su carruaje con engaños, obligándolo a cruzar media Escócia con ella. Luego, cuando el vehículo se volcó y él salió herido, volvió a mentir, diciendole a la pareja escocesa, que les había brindado hospitalidad, que ella y el Duque estaban casados. Sin embargo, su anfitriona había adivinado la verdad al instante. Con un brillo de malicia en los ojos, hizo notar al Duque y a su flamante "esposa", que, de acuerdo con una singular ley escocesa, toda pareja que, ante testigos, declarara estar casada, quedaba legalmente unida en matrimonio. El Duque se quedó petrificado de asombro. ¿Sería posible que él y aquella insensata muchachita, pudieran estar de verdade… casados? Pero el  Destino, les havia reservado una sorpresa;  un amor apasionado, imposible de resistir…

Esmé Blanc se las había ingeniado para casarse interesadamente con Lord Seabrooke; pero no le sirvió de nada porque, a su muerte, el aristócrata legó cuanto tenía a su única hija, Daniela. Sin embargo, Esmé no estaba dispuesta a resignarse y convirtió a Daniela prácticamente en su cautiva, exigiéndole además continuas y cuantiosas sumas de dinero. En tal angustiosa situación, Daniela hubo de recurrir al Marqués de Crowle, quien, pese a su dureza de corazón, decidió ayudarla. Como iniciaron juntos una desesperada huída de Esmé, que estaba dispuesta a todo para conseguir sus fines y como finalmente la huérfana encuentra la felicidad, se relata en esta interesante novela de Barbara Cartland*Originalmente publicada bajo el título de:-El Marques se Enamora por HARLEQUIN IBERICA S.A.-El Marqués se Enamora por Harmex, S.A. de C.V.

Novia, viuda––pero nunca esposa––Aldrina, joven, inglesa denacimiento, Reina de Saria, abrumada con los asuntos de estado… y las siniestras atenciones de un malvado y ambicioso pretendiente Real, se refugia en un Palacio de Cuento de Hadas a orillas del mar, para recobrar, aunque sea poco tiempo, su niñez despreocupada….En un amanecer a orillas del mar conoce a Juro, tan radiante como Apolo, el Dios de la Luz.Pero su relación sólo puede significar un corazón roto–– pues Aldrina debe sacrificar, por el Deber al Reino, la dulce bendición de un amor encantado….

Para eludir las pretenciones matrimoniales de una millonaria norte americana, el Marqués de Broxbourne fingio estar casado. Era una mentira inocente, pero acabó por convertirse en una trampa. Pronto el Marqués se vio en la obligación de presentar una esposa, o perdería la oportunidad de rehacer su fortuna y su prestigio social.Carola Greton, su joven y soñadora vecina, estaba dispuesta a fingir ser la Marquesa de Brobourne por unos días… pero las cosas iban a complicarse más de lo que uno y otro podían imaginar.Originalmente publicada bajo el título de :-El Laberinto del Amor por HARLEQUIN IBÉRICA,S.A.-Laberinto de Amor por Harmex,s.a.de C.V.

Yamina, era una hermosa y bella joven rusa, que al huir de Constantinopla por la guerra de Crimea, buscó refugio en un harén. Huyendo de la multitud y caso la capturasen la hubieran ciertamente, asesinado cruelmente. Al albergarse en el harén, su vida y su inocencia, también se encontraban en peligro. Yamina decidió escaparse de nuevo, escondida en un baúl que había sido enviado como un presente de la favorita del Sultán.  Dentro del baúl, ella es llevada a bordo de un barco próximo a zarpar. Por fin se encontraba a salvo, hasta que oyó una voz agradeciendo el obsequio, que identificó como la del hombre que ella odiaba. Sintiéndose amenazada de nuevo, prefería regresar al harén o morir ahogada en el Bósforo, de que viajar encerrada en compañía de tan despreciable caballero… pero el Destino se encargaría de darle,  una inesperada sorpresa.

El Conde no era un hombre cruel, y cuando, al viajar en el bosque de país, se enconTró con una dama en apuros y le tocó el corazón. La señora fue Sabrina Melto, una joven, inocente  com una belleza etérea y profunda a la vez. Los tiempos difíciles habían caído sobre su familia y ella se vio obligada a renunciar a sus posesiones más preciadas.  Por bondad y la compasión, el Conde llevó Sabrina a Londres para comenzar una nueva vida, pero fue un grave error. La  señora Elaine estaba esperando Sabrina,  para atraparla en una red amarga y traicionera , por los celos que tenia, e ella mal podia adivinar… que estava muy cerca de la muerte, pero como en todas las buenas histórias , ella vá aprendiendo los mistérios del amor que la salva de la muerte.

El Marqués miró con asombro el cabello de oro blanco y un pequeño rostro encantador de una bella joven, imposible de no mirar.  «Ella es diferente de cualquier otra persona, que yo haya visto antes» ¿Quién era? ¿Quién podría ser? Cuando el Marqués supo la verdad sorprendente acerca de ella, sabía que podía utilizar la belleza de esta joven adorable, como un arma secreta contra su enemigo. Así que él, puso en marcha sus planes, astutos y bien elaborados, para vengar un engaño antiguo. Pero no contaba con el espíritu y el coraje de Lydia. Tampoco estaba entendiendo, lo que se estaba pasando en su corazón, sintiendo un despertar extraño, de un sentimiento raro, que no podía entender. ¿Cómo era posible? No quería creer que había planeado su venganza, pero su corazón lo estaba traicionando… pues se enamoró de Lydia, y la verdad era clara, él estaba a punto de perder a su verdadero amor.

Por expresa voluntad de su recién fallecida Madre, Josina viajó sola y si dinero desde Italia hasta Inglaterra para ponerse bajo la tutela del Duque de Nevondale. Cuando Josina llegó a Nevon descubrió que el lugar era maravilloso… tanto como su dueño. No obstante el Duque era un mujeriego y para salvarlo de un duelo, Josina tuvo que fingir ser su amante. Aunque aquello evitó un escándalo, la reputación de Josina quedó arruinada y el Duque decidió que tendrían que casarse. Ella lo amaba, pero no podía aceptar que se casara con ella sólo por obligación…

Se hizo silencio por un momento y luego el Marqués de Sarne dijo: "Solo hay una manera para agradecerte, Romana". Mientras hablaba, él le puso los dedos debajo de la barbilla y presionó sus labios sobre los de ella. Su beso fue tan perfecto, tan glorioso, que Romana solo podía temblar hacia él.  "Estamos juntos ahora, mi preciosa", susurró el Marqués. Sus labios encontraron los de ella otra vez y ahora la estaba besando ferozmente, apasionadamente, con más insistencia que antes. Él sintió su emoción hacia él, y acercó su cuerpo, y aún más cerca. "¡Te amo mi amor!" dijo el Marqués, con una voz profunda y inestable… y continuó:  "Ahora dime lo que sientes por mí…". Una glamorosa historia de amor, que arrebatará tus sentidos.

Zena,  es Marie Thérese,  de Wiedenstein,una joven y bella Princesa, de un pequeño principado independiente entre Francia y Alemania.  Su hermano, elPríncipe Kendrick es su hermano gemelo, el heredero del trono.  Entonces la bella Zena, está alarmada cuando su padre le dice que se tiene de casarse con un Duque inglés, pero ella cree que los ingleses son fríos, arrogantes e insensibles. Cuando su hermano, el Príncipe Kendrick, también escucha las noticias desagradables, los dos deciden escaparse, engendrando un plan para huirse a Paris,  con nombres falsos, antes de que Zena se pudiera comprometer con el Duque inglés. Pero en el brillante torbellino de alegría que marcó el II Imperio, Zena, pretendiendo ser la amante de su hermano, no pasa desapercibida, por su belleza, y trae consigo muchos problemas inesperados,  sobre todo cuando ella conoce un elegante Conde francés, por quien se enamora perdidamente… pero él,busca el amor y no el matrimonio.  ¿Podrá el verdadero amor triunfar sobre un Real Decretoy la ira de su padre?Una glamorosa y intrigante historia de amor, que te atrapara desde su principio...   

El Duque de Madrescourt, un hombre obstinado y dictatorial, informa a su hija, Lady Loretta, que ha hecho arreglos para que esta se case con el hijo del Duque de Sauerdun, un noble francés. Era costumbre, entre los aristócratas franceses y británicos, concertar matrimonios. A Loretta le horroriza la idea de tener que unirse a un hombre a quien jamás había visto en su vida y que además, no lo amaba. Mientras su padre se ausenta, para participar en una carrera de caballos, Lady Loretta decide escaparse a París, acompañada de una vieja doncella, dispuesta a ponerse en contacto con su prima Lady Ingrid, quien unos cuantos años atrás había abandonado a su marido, para fugarse con el atractivo Marqués de Galston, Loretta suplica a Ingrid, que la ayude a conocer a Fabián de Sauerdun, sin que él conozca su verdadera identidad. Era un plan impresionante, la única forma de escapar al matrimonio arreglado por su padre, pero también descubre que Fabián es muy diferente de lo que ella suponía… el destino tenía sus propios planes… y como se salvará la bella Loretta de las atenciones de un Donjuán parisino? Es relatado, en esta fascinante novela de Barbara Cartland.

Corena, hija del Arqueólogo Sir Priam Melville, se horrorizó cuando un griego, el Señor Thespidos, la visitó para informarle que su Padre estaba prisionero y le dijo que, si no obedecía sus instrucciones, lo torturaría hasta la muerte. La única forma que Corena tenía para salvar a su Padre era viajar a Grecia acompañada de Lord Warburton, un famoso coleccionista de tesoros griegos. Cuando Corena acudió a Lord Warburton para suplicarle que la dejara acompañarlo en su viaje, él se negó y Corena tuvo que embarca a escondidas. Aquel viaje sería decisivo para el futuro de la joven…

Contaba una vieja leyenda, que si un Windle, estaba en peligro, se le aparecía para prevenirlo el espectro de Lady Constance, una antepasada muerta en trágicas circunstancias. Por esto, cuando Sedela, supo que el Marqués Iván de Windle, recién llegado de la Batalla de Waterloo, era traicionado por su amante, Lady Esther Hasting, una mujer tan hipócrita, como bella, Sedela decidió entonces, hacerse pasar por Lady Constance, y ponerlo sobre aviso. Este hecho desencadenaría, las más inesperadas consecuencias… Sedela estaba dispuesta a dar la vida por Iván y su plan funcionó. ¡El amor todo lo salva, todo lo conquista!

Davina, a quien la ausencia obligada de su Padre le había impedido ser presentada en Sociedad, recurrió a una amiga solicitándole trabajo, ya que su Madre con quien vivía eventualmente en Londres, había caído enferma. Esta circunstancia la llevaría, tras una larga relación de imprevistos, y adoptando una falsa identidad, a realizar el sueño de su vida: acudir al Baila más famoso de la Temporada Social. Como en el Baile conoce al Duque de Norminster, y como descubre un complot para chantajearlo. De ahí en adelante lo que había empezado como un juego se convertiría en algo auténtico más, al haber engañado al Duque respecto a su personalidad… tenía que desaparecer.

Lord Victor Brooke ha disgustado a su madrina, Su Majestad la Reina Victoria, con su última indiscreción con una de sus más atractivas señoras de honor, y en consecuencia , el castigo de su madrina, ha significado perder la Temporada Social en Londres! Las órdenes de su Majestad, es escoltar la Princesa Sydella de dieciocho años a Zararis, que va a casarse con el Rey Esteban, que ha solicitado una novia Inglesa. Así su pequeña Nación, recibirá la protección del Imperio Británico contra las incursiones rusas. Aburrido y avergonzado, Lord Victor , lo enfrenta como una "misión secreta" que tiene de cumplir, pero lo que él no sabía, es que su mentira, está a punto de hacerse realidad. Tan pronto como se embarcan, el acorazado británico, se sorprende al encontrarse a sí mismo, cautivado por la belleza única de la Princesa y su encantadora alegría de vivir, y cuando por destino, él la salva de morir, de una bomba puesta, por un asesino, a su llegada a Zararis, que sería una muerte segura en el mar, él gana su corazón, ya que ella, ya había ganado el suyo. Sin embargo saben, que antes de cumplirse el amor, todo está perdido para Sydella, ya ella, está comprometida para casarse con el Rey de Zararis. Será que la fuerza deste amor, és más fuerte que las ordenes de Destino?

El soltero más codiciado de Londres, el Conde Chantcliffe, se encuentra inmerso en una competencia por lograr las atenciones de una belleza llamada Elaine Dale, quien no acepta directamente la propuesta matrimonial del Conde, pidiéndole como prueba de su amor, los muebles que a ella le gustaría tener en su nuevo hogar. El Tratado de Paz, firmando con Napoleón Bonaparte tiene apenas dos meses de existencia, pero el Conde decide ir a Francia a adquirir lo que Elaine deseaba. Como se encontró en un Castillo de las afueras de París a una hermosa muchacha, todavía amenazada por los revolucionarios sedientos de sangre, como se la llevó con él y como se encontraron de pronto, en el Palacio de las Tullerías, es relatado en esta emocionante novela de Barbara Cartland.

LordHeywood regresa de las Guerras Napoleónicas para descubrir que ha heredado un patrimonio, pero no dinero. Cuando visita la propiedad, encuentra a una bella joven viviendo allí, huyendo de su hogar. Mientras está allí, está decidida a ayudarlo a encontrar un artículo valioso, que no forme parte de la propiedad para vender, ¡pero por el camino, también encuentran el amor!  Instintivamente, LordHeywood la apretó en sus brazos y la atrajo aún más cerca, y al hacerlo, se dio cuenta de que la amaba perdidamente. Cuando Miriam levantó la cara para hacer una pregunta, un rayo de luz hizo que Lord Heywood viera sus ojos asustados, su cara muy pálida y sus labios separados. Ella lo necesitaba. Nuestra heroína había estado viviendo en las habitaciones de su difunta madre y estaba decidida a descubrir quién era y por qué había vivido en una casa vacía.  A ella le gustaba el color turqués de la ropa de la cama y cuando de repente ve alordHeywood, se queda mirándolo con recelo a su héroe. Estaba atrapada por el amor de su vida.  Una historia de intensa pasión y de incertidumbre, donde el amor al fin, siempre vence…                       

Thea, Princesa de Kostas, no estaba dispuesta a casarse por conveniencias de Estado con el anciano Rey Otho, Monarca de un país vecino y a quien su Padre pretendía imponerle. Para evitarlo, la Princesa decidió huir del Palacio y cabalgando llega a un sorprendente lugar… Ignoraba que al decidir quedarse en ese lugar, iba al encuentro de su destino y entre la realidad y el ensueño viviría una aventura que jamás podría olvidar. Todo esto y más es relatado en esta romántica novela de Barbara Cartland.

El asesinato de su padre por culpa de una espía rusa marcó la infancia de Lolita, que diez años más tarde seguía con el propósito de vengarlo. Lolita llega sola a Londres precedente de Italia, para enfrentarse al Duque de Calverleigh. Furiosa y resentida con él porque aunque es su tutor, durante diez años no se ha preocupado por ella. Al arribar, encuentra entre los invitados del Duque a una Princesa rusa y a su hermano. Lolita percibe algo maligno en la princesa y descubre inadvertidamente que el Duque se encuentra en peligro. Como Lolita salva la vida del Duque, convertido en objetivo de la Policía Secreta Rusa,lo que los llevó de Inglaterra a la India, donde se produjo un desenlace tan asombroso como inesperado, es relatado en esta fascinante novela de amor e intriga de Barbara Cartland.

El apuesto Conde de Droxford, disfrutaba de todos los privilegios, de ser adinerado y soltero. Ahora, por decreto del Rey William, él debería estar casado dentro de un mes. —Tendré de encontrar a una esposa— le dijo a su hermosa y bella acompañante—. ¡Necesito de una complaciente y conforme esposa, que no interfiera en mis asuntos! Para la bella y hechizante Karina de ojos verdes, era la oportunidad para escapar de la pobreza y dificultades, ofreciéndose a sí misma, como la esposa dócil y complaciente que él necesitaba! Así hicieron sus votos de matrimonio sin amor; el Conde y la encantadora chica del campo. Pero en la moda de Londres, Karina rompió con su promesa de ser complaciente, pues se había enamorado del Conde perdidamente, y acabó atrapada por un amor, que para ella, era imposible!

Huyendo de los impactantes avances de un señor lascivo, la inocente y bella Isla Kenway, buscó la seguridad en el apuesto Marqués de Longridge . Sin dinero y sola en el mundo , quiso el acaso que la encantadora Isla, se cruzará con el noble Marqués que habría de salvar su vida y su alma, a la vez que cautivado por su belleza, se encontrará atrapado, por el misterio del amor asombroso, que el Destino les concedió inadvertidamente. ¿Cómo podría la hija huérfana de un artista de music-hall de Londres, ser una dama de la alta sociedad Inglesa, que avergonzará las bellezas más aristocráticas de la ciudad londinense? Será que ese amor será suficiente para conquistar para siempre, el corazón del noble Marqués?

Cuando Charlotte Warde se negó a contraer matrimonio con el marqués de Darincourt, éste pensó vengarse de ella, utilizando para ello a la joven prima de Charlotte. Serla, que se hallaba en serios problemas, aceptó intervenir en la farsa y en colaboración con la abuela del aristócrata, ganaron la batalla a Charlotte. En el transcurso de aquella trama, el marqués y Serla encontrarían el amor, pero tendrían que luchar contra la amarga y terrible venganza que Charlotte iba a planear contra ellos.

Obligado por las circunstancias a casarse con Lucrecia Hadley, hija de un acaudalado caballero, el Marqués de Merlyn, se preguntaba desesperado qué podía tener en común con una jovencita inmadura de dieciocho años..., hasta que la conoció, y supo que era una mujer tan hermosa, como sofisticada y desconcertante. “–Sospecho, Lucrecia, que estás tratando de provocarme deliberadamente, y no sé si besarte, o darte una azotaina… - Lo siento, milord, pero tales libertades, por deliciosas que sean, se las permito únicamente a mis amigos íntimos. Y usted…, usted es sólo mi marido…”

Teresa Rothley, al quedar-se sin un centavo, tras la muerte de su padre, Lord Rothley, tendría que pensar en un plan, para sobrevivir. Ella y su hermosa madrastra, no tenían otra esperanza, si no que casarse pronto, con alguien de la aristocracia. A Lady Rothley, su madrastra, le llegó primero la oportunidad, al recibir una invitación, para pasar unos días en el Castillo del Duque de Chevingham. Pero, la invitación creaba un cierto problema, es que el Duque esperaba, que su invitada llegara con su doncella personal, y como no tenían dinero para contratar a una, la bella Teresa, tuvo que hacerse pasar por doncella y acompañar a su madrastra. En el Castillo, Teresa andaba desolada en medio de la exuberante belleza de la Riviera, allí se sentía una “asustada doncella” , pero en el corazón, no dejaba de ser quién era, y se estaba enamorando de un Duque. ¿Y que haría? ¿Cuál serían las consecuencias, cuando contara, la verdad de su condición verdadera?

Lisa viajaba en un confortable carruaje, cuando le salió de repente, un salteador de caminos, se les cruzó por el camino, y le robó todas las joyas que llevaba con ella, pero ella se le resistía, y sobre todo, a entregarle un pequeño anillo, por ser el único recuerdo que tenia de su fallecida madre. "Usted no olvide, que yo soy un asaltante", le dijo él, " y si usted quiere conservar su anillo, debe darme algo a cambio, de igual valor". Ella no tenía ninguna otra joya que darle. Pero él, galán y dominador, se acercó a ella sonriendo y decidido, la tomó entre sus brazos y la besó apasionadamente en los labios. Algo ocurrió en el alma de Lisa, porque en aquel instante, supo que él, se había apoderado de su corazón. ¿Cómo podría Lisa vivir en paz, después de quedarse atrapada por un desconocido, que además de ladrón de joyas, le “robó” su corazón? ¿Será que podría liberarse, de esa “extraña pasión”?

Amanda Burke, hija de un modesto vicario, tenía poca experiencia con los hombres, hasta el día en que el disoluto Lord Ravenscar la vio en su jardín y decidió que ella debía ser suya. La familia de Amanda se mostró muy impresionada y complacida a la vez, ante la proposición matrimonial de Lord Ravenscar. Amanda, en cambio, se sintió horrorizada, pues nunca iría permitir, que ese hombre despreciable siquiera la tocara. Entonces Amanda se enamoró de Peter Harvey, un misterioso desconocido, que necesitó refugio en el jardín de la vicaría, y cuando la vida de Peter quedó en las manos de Lord Ravenscar y Amanda comprendió, que tendría que casarse con el hombre que odiaba… para poder salvar la vida, de aquél que más amaba…

Cynthia había perdido las dos cosas que más amaba en el mundo: primero Peter, el hombre con el que se iba a casar, y luego Birch Vale, la finca que había sido el orgullo de su familia. Ella no había podido ayudar a no perder a Peter. Birch Vale era otro asunto. Quizás ella podría aferrarse a eso. Pero estaban las deudas de su padre para pagar ... Al final, vendió la propiedad a un hombre ardiente llamado Robert Shelford, un hombre misterioso, al que odiaba a pesar de su buena apariencia y a pesar de la resistencia de Cynthia, Shelford, se propuso atraerla a su vida, una vida llena de escándalo, misterio y pasión…

Lady Marisa Berrington había decidido escribir un libro, divertido y escandaloso, que pusiera en su lugar a la decadente sociedad eduardiana. ¿Y qué mejor lugar para reunir información que el Castillo de Vox, que el hogar del Duque de Milverley, atractivo viudo famoso por sus amoríos? Con tal propósito, obtuvo el puesto de institutriz, usando un nombre ficticio, pero su intención de no enamorarse jamás, se vino a tierra, cuando conoció al noble caballero, por quien también se sintió cautivado por Marisa. Un día, el Duque descubrió el manuscrito, y se llenó de furia, ordenando que se marchara de su casa. Marisa comprendió entonces, que había perdido a su único y verdadero gran amor

El bisabuelo de Minerva Linwood gastó todo su dinero en la construcción de un Castillo que el padre de esta, al heredarlo, no pudo mantener. Cuando Minerva y sus hermanos se enteraron de que el nuevo dueño del Castillo había muerto y se lo había dejado a Wogan, Conde de Corleston, un hombre que sentía una fatal debilidad por las mujeres. Entonces, su padre decidió que no era conveniente que la joven se dejara ver por él. Sin embargo, el destino haría que sus caminos se cruzaran, en unas cuantas circunstancias, que los pusieron al borde de la muerte. Como se escaparon, como se enamoraron y como encontraron juntos la felicidad… se relata en esta emocionante novela.

Anne escuchó voces que se acercaban y se preparó para su encuentro con el marqués, un hombre cuya crueldad y extravagante reputación la aterrorizaban. - Este es Gallen, quiero que lo conozcas- oyó decir a su prima. Anne levantó la vista. El corazón le dió un vuelco en el pecho y todo pareció girar a su alrededor. Había reconocido, en el Marqués de Havingham, al atractivo desconocido que la había salvado del peligro la noche del accidente de la diligencia.

El Duque de Strathvegon tenía que encontrar una salida. George Wallington había descubierto el romance que mantenía con su esposa y amenazaba con matarlo. En tales circunstancias, a la madre del Duque se le ocurrió una solución: su hijo debía salir de Londres y anunciar su compromiso matrimonial para evitar el escándalo. Con este fin decidió dar una gran fiesta en su Castillo de Escocia e invitó a tres jóvenes casaderas más bellas de Londres para que el Duque tomase a una de ellas por esposa. Todo estaba perfectamente planeado… pero el destino se encargaría de introducir algunas sorpresas…

Debido a la muerte de unos familiares Lytton, el joven caballero, se encontró de la noche, a la mañana convertido en Conde de Rockbroock, pero este hecho que debía ser un momento especial y haberle alegrado, se convertido en un fuerte momento de complicaciones y de insatisfacion. Ahora que era rico y influyente, todos lo buscaban hipócritamente y querían su amistad. Lady Louise Welwyn pretendía ser algo más y estaba obstinaba en convertirse su esposa, pues pensaba tener supuestos derechos, por haber vivido una aventura amorosa con él, en el pasado. El nuevo Conde no sabía cómo había de escapar aquella trampa… hasta que el destino puso en su camino Priscilla, una joven ingenua, pura y enamorada ¿Podría ser ella su heroína? ¿Podría ella salvarle ?

El Marqués de Anglestone encontró la manera de escapar del enredo en el que quería envolverlo Lady Hester, quien pretendía hacer creer a todos que el niño que iba a tener era de él… algo totalmente falso. La forma de escapar consistía en aceptar una apuesta en la que el Marqués se comprometía a entrar a la Meca. Como viajó a Egipto y posteriormente a un oscuro puerto de Arabia Saudita, guiado por un jovencito llamado Alí y como descubrió el noble inglés el secreto que rodeaba al joven árabe, es relatado en esta fascinante novela de Barbara Cartland.

Uno de los más apuestos y codiciados solteros de Londres,lordMelsonby se encuentra inesperadamente, atrapado en el problema de la hermosa fugitiva, Perlita Lyford, heredera de una fortuna inmensa, huérfana de madre y pierde por último,  su progenitor, que la deja al cuidado  de una  prima hermana suya, ladyWhitton. Lo que su padre no sabía, es que ella se había casado con sirGerbold, un hombre mucho más joven que ella, y cuando ladyWhitton, se murió… él vio la oportunidad de echar mano a su fortuna y de autoproclamarse su tutor. Es este hombreperverso y cruel, que Perlita huye, que solamente quiere casarse con ella, para quedarse con su dinero. Perlita, desesperada e infeliz con el destino que le esperaba, en uno de sus usuales viajes, consiguió escaparse del faetón y llegar a una modesta posada llamada La Cabeza del Reyy enseguida encuentra a lordMelsonby y le pide ayuda. Ahí, empieza un enredo fascinante, entre él y la misteriosa dama, donde se ven mezclados en una romántica aventura,  que los conduce desde la resplandeciente sociedad victoriana, hasta una peligrosa intriga en Marruecos. Esta es una más, de las muchas obras magistrales, de la más famosa autora moderna del romanticismo, Barbara Cartland.

Cuando Lord Rupert Brooks y su esposa mueren en un accidente su única hija, Titania, tiene que ir a vivir con su Tío, el Sexto duque de Starbrooke. Ella es muy desdichada porque su Tío no la considera digna de ser miembro de la familia y la obliga a servir a su prima Sophie.Al contraer matrimonio Sophie con Su Alteza Real, el Principe Fredrick de Velidos, Titania se va con ella como Dama de Honor. En Velidos, conocería al Monarca, medio hermano del Principe Fredrick, un hombre solitario que había perdido el corazón.Como Titania logra salvarlo de ser asesinado y como eventualmente encuentra la felicidad, se relata en esta excitante y emocionante novela de Barbara Cartland.

Tras servir en el Ejército de Ocupación en Francia, el Conde de Monkforde regresó a Inglaterra. El panorama no podía ser más desolador, pues su casa y su Finca se hallaban empobrecidas y sus recursos eran muy escasos. Linka, una prima lejana del Conde que siempre había vivido en la Mansión también estaba muy preocupada. Como única esperanza, ambos se dedicaron a buscar en la casa, que un día fue un convento, algo que los antiguos residentes pudieran haber dejado .Al final encontraron algo más que un tesoro….*Originalmente publicada bajo el título de:El Mejor Tesoro por HARLEQUIN IBERICA S.A.por Harmex S.A. de C.V.

Antes de morir, la madre de Victoria le había dicho que fuera a Madrid, y ella no sabía el porqué de su ultimo deseos, pero sabía que, por alguna razón desconocida, su destino estaba en esa ciudad y hacia allí se dirigió viajando como paje de Lord Lynke, un aristócrata inglés que iba a contraer matrimonio con una de las mujeres más ricas de España; Doña Alicia. LordLynke fue engañado por la “mascarada” hasta que un intento de medianoche, a la vida de Victoria, la llevó  a sus brazos para protegerse y su embuste cayo por tierra, pues el destino quiso que de alguna forma, sus corazones se acercasen y que ella se rindiera al creciente amor por él,  pero antes debería conocer  el secreto de su nacimiento, el secreto que se encuentra en algún lugar de Madrid,  la capital española y  el destino quiso, que los dos sumergieran en una dulce aventura inesperada…

A Ilesa le sorprendió la llegada a su casa de su hermanastra Doreen luego de años de ausencia, indiferencia y silencio. Doreen pretendía casarse con el Duque de Mounteheron y lo había citado con el pretexto de mostrarle unos cuadros de su Padre y así evitar que el Duque se enterara de un turbio asunto de amores en el que estaba involucrada. El Duque luego de visitar el lugar decide invitar a ambas y a su Padre a visitar su Mansión. Como los planes de Doreen se vendrían abajo por la inoportuna presencia de un leopardo indio y como el Duque encuentra el amor…es relatado en esta sorprendente historia de Barbara Cartland.

Una emocionante historia de amor, entre una dama y un caballero aristócrata… Druscilla, había capturado al soltero más codiciado del Londres de la Regencia, el apuesto y joven Marqués de Lynche. La boda iba a ser una ceremonia muy impresionante. Sin embargo, le aterrorizaba el futuro.  ¿Iba a ser perseguida, para siempre, por las mujeres que él había amado? ¿Se tropezaría continuamente con muchas hermosas damas rubias, que le reclamarían a él, las caricias que le pertenecían a su esposa? ¿Alguna vez soñó ella, con un matrimonio ideal? Se imaginó que amaba a un hombre y él la amaba a ella, pero comprendía que para ella, eso le parecía imposible alguna vez suceder. Por si fuera poco, la vida del Marqués estaba en peligro, y Druscilla ya lo había salvado una vez ¿Tendría ella la oportunidad de protegerlo cuando el asesino decidiera atacar de nuevo? Sería el amor, suficientemente fuerte para luchar, contra la fatalidad del Destino?

Cuando el fuego destruye la casa de su familia, Erlina no tiene más remedio que buscar refugio en Meldon Hall. La casa está en mal estado, por lo que se sorprende al encontrar al Marqués de Meldon, viviendo en un lugar apartado y solitário, ya que un accidente ha dejado al Marqués ciego y amargado, pero con el tiempo, Erlina cura su alma herida con la alegría del verdadero amor…y así se realizan los sueños más increíbles de imaginar…

Cuando la bella ladyGwendolyn Sherbrooke, se encuentra por primera vez con sirPhilip Chadleigh, un miembro del parlamento devastadoramente guapo, hay algo que extrañamente le es familiar, algo   estremece entre ellos, pero ella está segura de que nunca lo había visto antes, y es advertida, que él estaba irremediablemente poseído por el recuerdo de un amor perdido, una hermosa joven que había muerto por él, hace algunos años atrás. Ninguna otra mujer, parecía estar destinada a reclamar su corazón, pero desde el primer encuentro, que ladyGwendolyn, se sintió irresistiblemente atraída por el melancólico sirPhilip. Él tampoco pudo negarlo, desde las primeras palabras que ella pronunció ante él, algo familiar se reveló y este se encontró fascinado por ella. Pero, instintivamente, ladyGwendolyn se da cuenta de la verdad; ella le hacía recordar a su amor perdido, por eso él le daba especial atención ¿Debería Lyn alejarse,  antes de que fuera demasiado tarde? o confiar en ese amor que le atrapaba el corazón? ¿Podria ella ser verdaderamente amada por él, o ser solamente, un recuerdo de su amor perdido? ¿Habrá algún vínculo misterioso entre el nacimiento de Gwendolyn, y la muerte del único amor de la vida de sir Philip?

El Duque de Kerncliffe, uno de los caballeros favoritos de la Reina Victoria, nunca sospechó que, a causa de un imperdonable desliz suyo en el Castillo de Windsor, la soberana inglesa le ordenaría que contrajera matrimonio. Impenitente soltero, pero abocado a perder el favor de la reina si no cumplía su mandato, buscó esposa entre las debutantes de la alta sociedad londinense. La personalidad de la novia ni siquiera le preocupaba. Pero ésta, elegida casi al azar, enamorada de otro hombre, fue sustituida durante la ceremonia por una prima suya, de enorme parecido, dando así comienzo a una extraordinaria aventura.

Meta Lindley es una guapa joven inglesa inteligente y una espía de la Reina Victoria. Meta y su hermano habían acordado alquilar la casa de su familia a un Príncipe ruso, pero Meta se da cuenta que se siente atraída por el apuesto Príncipe extranjero a quien debe espiar. El peligro y el romance llenan el aire, cuando Meta debe elegir entre su lealtad a su país y la promesa tácita al destino de su corazón…