Showing results by narrator "Jill Tanner" in All Categories

Set in Regency England, Stephanie Laurens' New York Times best-selling Bastion Club series evokes a bygone era where romantic entanglements rule the day - and inflamed desires rule the night. In A Fine Passion, Jack, Baron Warnefleet, narrowly avoids marriage when he flees London for the refuge of his estate. But there waits Lady Clarice Altwood, whose beauty is impossible to ignore.

As betrayal and intrigue swirl around her, Lady Penelope finds herself inexorably drawn into the strong arms of the man she cannot resist.

NOW A MAJOR BBC DRAMA starring Romola Garai, Chris O'Dowd, Gillian Anderson, Richard E. Grant, Shirley Henderson and Mark Gatiss. 'Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them....' So begins this irresistible voyage into the dark side of Victorian London. Amongst an unforgettable cast of low-lifes, physicians, businessmen, and prostitutes, meet our heroine Sugar, a young woman trying to drag herself up from the gutter any way she can.

The distinguished veterans of the Bastion Club represent England's finest eligible bachelors. Among them is Deverell, a strapping man about to meet his match in the alluring Phoebe Malleson.

Alexander and Hervi de Montroi, half-brothers with no inheritance, meet in France. Hervi is a professional jouster and Alexander, fleeing the beatings of an English monastery, needs a trade. Despite misgivings, Hervi takes him on as his squire, introducing him to the travelers' immoral lifestyle. He befriends a girl, Monday, taking care of her after her parents die until, pregnant with Alexander's child, she leaves, finding shelter in a castle as a seamstress. Noticed by King John, she becomes his mistress in England, bearing his son and gaining a house.

Viscount Torrington is the hottest commodity in town as London's matchmaking season begins. But the viscount only has eyes for the penniless Widow Carrington, who has recently been accused of murder.

Stephanie Laurens' hot-blooded romances, including her New York Times best-selling Bar Cynster series, have earned her legions of loyal devotees. The beginning of an exciting new saga, The Lady Chosen introduces the distinguished war veterans of the Bastion Club, single gentlemen not entirely committed to staying that way.

When a comet appears in the sky over England in 1066, Ailith, a young Saxon wife, feels sure that it can only bode well, in spite of her husband's fears. With a child on its way, the couple are prosperous and content. Yet, within a year, Ailith's joy turns to heartache as her husband and her child are taken from her and the conquering Normans' advance.

Daisy Bumgarten isn't thrilled to be trying to catch a duke's attention while dressed like a flowerpot caught in a swarm of butterflies. But, after all, when in Rome (or, in this case, London society)... Since her decidedly disastrous debut among New York's privileged set, the sassy Nevada spitfire's last chance to "marry well" lies across the pond, here in England. If she must restrain her free spirit, not to mention her rib cage, so be it. She knows she owes it to her three younger sisters to succeed. Now, under a countess's tutelage, Daisy appears the perfect duchess-in-training.

Adam Bede (1859), George Eliot's first full-length novel, marked the emergence of an artist to rank with Scott and Dickens. Set in the English Midlands of farmers and village craftsmen at the turn of the 18th century, the book relates a story of seduction issuing in "the inward suffering which is the worst form of Nemesis". But it is also a rich and pioneering record - drawing on intimate knowledge and affectionate memory - of a rural world that we have lost.

It has been 12 years since a dark, murderous figure stalked the alleys and courts of Whitechapel. And yet, in the summer of 1900, East London is still poor, still brutal, still a shadow city to its western twin. Among the reformers is an idealistic young woman named India Selwyn-Jones, recently graduated from medical school. With the help of her influential fiance - Freddie Lytton, an up-and-coming Liberal MP - she works to shut down the area's opium dens that destroy both body and soul.

Reluctant love and shared faith blossom during the daily chores and arguments of tobacco farmer Drew O'Connor and Lady Constance Morrow. Constance is everything Drew despises in a wife - she cannot cook and she prefers mathematical equations to cleaning. Worst of all, she has red hair! But when the two are forced into a marriage of convenience, Drew soon realizes how blessed he truly is.

Sorcha knew the mission was dangerous. Leaving the safe grounds of her brother's kingdom and parlaying with the elves across their border...well, treachery seemed at least as likely as true peace. But to support her sister, Sorcha would brave far more than the underhanded ways of the elves. Or so she thought, before she was taken hostage.

A best-selling author of more than 25 historical romances, Jane Feather boasts more than 10 million copies of her books in print. Rushed to the Altar kicks off a new trilogy in high style. In order to inherit a fortune, Jasper Sullivan, Earl of Blackwater, must rescue a “fallen woman.” So when a lady of the night attempts to pick his pocket, he makes a daring proposal. Everything seems to have dropped into place for Jasper—but he may have made a colossal blunder.

First contact with a mysterious race of aliens reveals an unusual request; a family's pet dog comes to grips with the newly bestowed gift of human-like intelligence; a poet, in danger and alone on a distant world, makes unlikely allies; hundreds of years in the future, a famous hermit lives in the sea above the now-underwater Harvard University; former friends navigate unsteady peace between human refugees and the technologically superior race that saved them; in a future where human life can be infinitely extended through cybertronic rebirth, one woman declines immortality.

In The Paper Garden, celebrated poet Molly Peacock explores the remarkable life of 18th-century British gentlewoman-turned-artist Mary Delany. In the 1770s, at the age of 72, the twice-widowed and nearly broke Delany turned her interest in botany into beautiful paper “mosaick” flowers still revered today.

It’s the summer of 1891, New York City, in the early days of Fiona Finnegan’s marriage to Nicholas Soames. When Fiona senses a quiet love blossoming between her widowed uncle, Michael Finnegan, and his neighbor, Mary Munro, she’s thrilled and hopes that Michael will soon propose to Mary. But one night, at a family supper, a surprise announcement tears these hopes asunder.

It’s the summer of 1900 in London’s gritty East End. The ruthless, complicated gangster Sid Malone rules the streets of Whitechapel with an iron fist, but cannot rule his own heart. A forbidden love for India Selwyn Jones, an idealistic young doctor, torments Sid. He’s certain the violence of his underworld life will only lead to tragedy for a soul whose kindness and decency are like nothing he’s ever known.

The year is 1173. King Henry's efforts to crush his rebellious sons ignite bloody border skirmishes throughout the land. Yet it is a time of triumph for mercenary Josceline de Gael, bastard son of the king's most trusted ally. Victorious on the battlefield, de Gael suffers sweet defeat when his heart is conquered by the lovely Linnet de Montsorrel. But their love will find its greatest challenge as the torments of jealousy, suspicion, pride—and an enemy from beyond the grave—threaten all they hold dear.

Gwendolen Harleth gambles her happiness when she marries a sadistic aristocrat for his money. Beautiful, neurotic, and self-centered, Gwendolen is trapped in an increasingly destructive relationship, and only her chance encounter with the idealistic Deronda seems to offer the hope of a brighter future. Deronda is searching for a vocation, and in embracing the Jewish cause he finds one that is both visionary and life-changing.