Showing titles in Historical

Reverend Augustus Shackleford's mission in life (aside from ensuring the collection box was suitably full every Sunday) was to secure advantageous marriages for each of his eight daughters. A tall order, given the fact that in the Reverend's opinion they didn't possess a single ladylike bone in the eight bodies they had between them. Quite where he would find a wealthy titled gentleman bottle headed enough to take any of them on remained a mystery and indeed was likely to test even his legendary resourcefulness.

Annis Wychwood delights in her independence. Beautiful, rich and far too busy for love, she has turned down the advances of many a hopeful suitor. But when she becomes entangled in the affairs of a runaway heiress, she encounters the girl's guardian, the notorious Oliver Carleton. While Oliver may be a reckless and uncivil rogue, Annis can't help but be drawn towards his wild ways.

When Mrs. Dashwood is forced by an avaricious daughter-in-law to leave the family home in Sussex, she takes her three daughters to live in a modest cottage in Devon. For Elinor, the eldest daughter, the move means a painful separation from the man she loves, but her sister Marianne finds in Devon the romance and excitement which she longs for.

Violet Garland may be a duke’s daughter, but she has a strong streak of daredevil. What she wants most in life is adventure—and when she spots a Bow Street Runner among the ton, she knows she’s finally found it. She’ll help the investigator track down his villain, whether he wishes her to or not!

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mary is the middle of the five Bennet girls and the plainest of them all, so what hope does she have? The Other Bennet Sister shows another side to Mary. Mary, it seems, is destined to remain single and live out her life at Longbourn, at least until her father dies and the house is bequeathed to the reviled Mr Collins. But when that fateful day finally comes, she slowly discovers that perhaps there is hope for her after all.

After the death of their mother, Mollie and Annemarie decide to escape from their tiny Irish village and head to Liverpool to board a ship to New York. But in a cruel twist of fate, the girls are separated when the boat leaves without Mollie.

Benedict Fairburn does not quite need his ailing great-aunt's fortune, especially since he'll have to marry to get it. His family, however, thinks otherwise - as do many of the eligible ladies in London - and the pressure is mounting. An embarrassment of attentions fill Benny's time, but the young lady he prefers roundly dislikes him. Claire Dalton, cousin to one of Benedict's oldest friends, is too busy debuting in Society to pay much attention to the Fairburn boy who once insulted her past bearing.

It is 1938 and for Manod, a young woman living on a remote island off the coast of Wales, the world looks ready to end just as she is trying to imagine a future for herself. The ominous appearance of a beached whale on the island's shore, and rumours of submarines circling beneath the waves, have villagers steeling themselves for what’s to come. Empty houses remind them of the men taken by the Great War, and of the difficulty of building a life in the island's harsh, salt-stung landscape.

The Four Swans is the sixth novel in Winston Graham's sweeping series of Cornwall, Poldark. Cornwall, 1795-1799. Although Ross Poldark - now something of a war hero - seems secure in his hard-won prosperity, a new dilemma faces him in the sudden infatuation of a young naval officer with his wife, Demelza.

Katherine Woodville's sister never gave her a choice. A happy girl of modest means, Kate hardly expected to become a maker of kings. But when her sister impulsively marries King Edward IV in secret, Katherine's life is no longer hers to control....

Sophy Hadlow does not want to return for another London Season. Her own debut into Society was marred by self-consciousness and her cringing embarrassment every time she was announced as ‘The Lady Sophronia Hadlow’. Yet, much to her dismay, Sophy is back in London to oversee the debut of her younger sister and their wild cousin, Susan Tyneham, who risks ruining both her own and her innocent cousin’s chances of marriage.

Compromise. Kidnap. Murder. Madness. And it all began at the Netherfield Ball…Ensnared in compromise; Elizabeth Bennet receives four offers of marriage. Not one is welcome. Tall, dark, and impossibly handsome, Darcy strides into every drama where someone needs help or assistance. But why, in heaven’s name, did he have to embroil himself this time?

Hailed as Charlotte Brontë’s “finest novel” by Virginia Woolf, Villette is the timeless semi-autobiographical tale of Lucy Snowe. Left with no family and no money, Lucy goes against her own timid nature and travels to the small city of Villette, France, where she becomes a school teacher in Madame Beck’s school for girls. During her stay, she falls in love—twice—and discovers an independent, inner strength rarely seen in women of her time.

Before his death, Elizabeth Stowe’s father sent her to live with the Bennets. She has lived most of her life at Longbourn and is startled to learn she is heiress to an estate in Scotland. Mr. Bennet adores his adopted niece, and he could not bring himself to tell Elizabeth the details of her long distant past ... but now he must. Fitzwilliam Darcy did not expect to fall in love with a beautiful orphan, but from the moment he met her, he was entranced by Elizabeth’s fine eyes and sharp wit, which relentlessly demand his attention.

After years of schooling, Beth Thatcher has graduated and is determined to become a teacher. But when she's assigned the position no one else wants - in the tiny mining town of Coal Valley, located in the rugged foothills of western Canada - she worries she doesn't have the courage to accept. Inspired by the diary of her aunt Elizabeth, who went west to teach school several years earlier, as well as her father's encouragement, Beth eventually decides to put her trust in God and leave behind all she's ever known.

Miles from anywhere, the isolated mansion Darracott Place is presided over by the irascible Lord Darracott. The recent drowning of his eldest son has done nothing to improve his temper. For now he must send for the unknown offspring of the uncle whom the family are never permitted to mention. Yet none of that beleaguered family are prepared for the arrival of the weaver's brat and heir apparent.

Exiled for 20 years, Lucien never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He's also inherited his family's enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn't expect it to turn up angry. Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane's family. Unfortunately, it's his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he's ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude...and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is the Crown's most formidable secret weapon—a Master Spy. His latest mission will test his limits when he's assigned to protect England's foremost code decipherer, Mr. Thomas Bennet… and his wife and five unmarried daughters. Elizabeth Bennet does not suspect that her father's puzzles are for anything more than the improvement of their minds and her sisters' dowries. When she's thrust into Mr. Darcy's company, she is captivated by the mysterious gentleman. There is something dangerous about him… something she can't quite put her finger on but is determined to discover.

As the daughter of a famed author, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens. She never doubted romance would be in her future, too. The storybooks offered endless possibilities. And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one by one....Now Izzy's given up yearning for romance. She'll settle for a roof over her head. What fairy tales are left over for an impoverished 26-year-old woman who's never even been kissed?

Everyone expects Billie Bridgerton to marry one of the Rokesby brothers. The two families have been neighbours for centuries, and as a child the tomboyish Billie ran wild with Edward and Andrew. Either one would make a perfect husband...someday. There is only one Rokesby Billie absolutely cannot tolerate, and that is George. He may be the eldest heir to the earldom, but he's arrogant, annoying and she's absolutely certain he detests her. Which is perfectly convenient, as she can't stand the sight of him, either.