Showing results by narrator "Helen Taylor" in All Categories

Marianne’s brief time at Miss Wolfraston’s Seminary for Young Ladies is coming to an end, which is a relief for both of them. She has disconcertingly open manners and a liveliness that Miss Wolfraston deplores. When her aunt invites her to join her in Cheltenham for the summer, these traits inevitably lead her into a series of scrapes. After being disappointed in love seven years ago, Lord Cranbourne has acquired the reputation of being dangerous, heartless, and selfish.

Captain Charles Bassington of the 13th Light Dragoons is famed for his good luck, high spirits, and devil-may-care attitude. He escapes serious injury at Waterloo only to succumb to an inflammation of the lungs. When he returns home to recuperate, cracks begin to appear in his cheery façade. Lady Selena has adored Charles all her life, but when she receives a letter from him suggesting his friend Lord Carteret would make a good husband, she is forced to put aside childish dreams that he might one day love her.

Seven years ago, Miss Hayes’ world was turned upside down when she lost her father, her betrothed, and any prospect of a comfortable future. Too proud to live upon the charity of others, she became a teacher at Miss Wolfraston’s Seminary for Young Ladies. She has no wish to reenter the society that turned its back on her. But she has spent five years nurturing her pupil, Miss Charlotte Fletcher, and when she is asked to be her companion for the summer, her affection for the young lady overcomes her reservations.

She is past the age of falling in love - he does not think he is capable of it. Miss Katherine Lockhart is a woman of sense and reason. She has managed her brother’s household in an efficient manner for years. When he marries she finds her position in his household increasingly untenable and is sent to Helagon, his property in Cornwall. She finds a derelict house, an untamed landscape, and a man with a wild past. Harry, Viscount Treleven has a zest for life and an irrepressible sense of humor.

When Colin Cavendish, the new earl of Drayson, informs Lucy Beresford that she and her mother need to vacate the house they've called home for the past two years, Lucy is fit to be tied. They have no money, no relations they can turn to for help, and nowhere to go. How dare the earl break the promise his father had made to the Beresfords without so much as a twinge of conscience?

Viscount Derriford likes to keep a low profile. He avoids ton parties and the ladies who frequent them whenever possible, preferring to spend time with his fellow bachelors. A predictable, undemanding existence suits him perfectly. Marriage has never been part of his plans; he is convinced he could never make any woman happy. However, when his aunt dies, leaving him a property in Somerset, this safe, untrammelled existence is threatened by a condition attached to his inheritance. He must accept all invitations proffered by the local gentry.

Miss Euphemia Fleet, on her way to join her dear Felicity and her husband, is still fearing that she may be a burden to them. She meets Baron Balfour on the road, and after an accident to her only gown, finds out that she resembles his dead wife in stature when he offers her a change of clothes. But the shock of seeing Euphemia in the gown brings on an old illness, and she is forced by her kindly nature to stay with him, though his loud voice and blunt conversation terrifies her. Something stirs in Euphemia as they become acquainted....

Soon after her twin Leonora's marriage a bereft Marguerite Fortune is going home to Castle Fortune, with only her self serving male relatives for company. But Baron Fortune, her papa, has a diversion planned on the journey…one that concerns getting his last daughter wed.

London 1818: Destitute, disillusioned, and desperate, Lady Rosalind Marlowe sets the tongues of Regency London wagging when she becomes the "Mayfair Thief". Targeting only those who had won large sums of money from her father, bleeding him dry and causing him to take his own life, she decides to teach them a lesson. She takes something valuable from each, leaving her calling card with a bible quote behind. On her last outing, she is caught red-handed.

When Miss Coralynn Notley's father barters her off to the first titled gentleman to come along, she realizes she must flee her home or be forced to wed a despicable man. Driven by desperation, she applies for the position of housekeeper at Tanglewood Manor, the home of the handsome Mr. Jonathan Ludlow. The moment Jonathan sees Miss Notley, he is intrigued. She is far too young and inexperienced, yet there is something about her that that inspires a certain hope within him.

Leonora, one of two beautiful Fortune twins newly arrived in Town for their Season, had one aim in view: The Honourable Linton Carswell. She first met him at her home, Castle Fortune, three years ago, and now at 17, has arrived to claim her prize.

Dignified, reserved, and every inch the gentleman, Laurence Westerby, the fifth Viscount Carteret, finds his ordered and predictable world turned on its head when a mysterious lady steps into his private parlor. He thinks her spirited, reckless, and undoubtedly in need of his protection. Confident, frank, and used to managing her own affairs, Miss Cassandra Fenton does not like the role of damsel in distress. Laurence seems determined to help her out of her immediate difficulties, however. His chivalry reminds her of all the reasons she is so unsuited to marriage.

Lady Georgianna Voss bids adieu to her friend Marianne with a heavy heart. Before their friendship blossomed, she had been a stranger to affection. She returns to her home uncertain of her reception. She has spurned the advances of the eligible but dull man her mama wished her to marry. Having witnessed the cold, unhappy union between her parents, she is not at all eager to follow their example. Enraged, Lady Westbury sends Georgianna to her impoverished aunt, hoping that she will realize just how much a lady needs a wealthy husband, regardless of her feelings for him.

Alexander Wraxall, sixth Marquess of Eagleton, worries he may be cursed. Those close to him tend to die, and he believes he is, in part, responsible for their deaths. When he receives a packet of letters from a relative he thought long dead, he embarks on a journey that will change his life forever. Since washing up on the shores of Lake Garda, Nell Marsdon has put her nightmarish history behind her and, in the house of Angelica Montovani, has found some peace. It is shattered by the arrival of the Marquess of Eagleton, a man who represents everything she has learned to despise.

After fleeing her home, Lucy has spent the last two years at Ashwick Hall under Lady Westcliffe’s protection. Now that her godmother, Lady Frampton, has returned from abroad to take charge of her, the time has come for her to be reunited with her twin sister. Abby betrayed her, however, and she is unsure if she can forgive her. Lucy knows nothing of the world, and when she steps into it, she discovers far more than she ever imagined, not least that things are rarely quite as they seem.

When a dully dressed family arrive at Tremaine Towers, home of Cedric Marchmont, Earl of Tremaine, the other residents are shocked, thinking them some poor relations. The earl's family have been dubbed The Royals by his youngest sister Ophelia, for since unexpectedly becoming the family of an earl, they have been encouraged in every fashionable excess to fit their new position in society. Agatha, the countess, Charles the dandified brother, Ophelia and Queenie, the sisters, must hold themselves with new dignity, says the earl.

Lucille Abbey runs her London secretarial agency with utmost efficiency. When, therefore, a certain Professor Hallam rejects three girls sent by her to apply for the post of his secretary and they each pronounce him "impossible", Lucille herself sets out to interview the Professor at his home in Hampshire. He is, she finds, eccentric—even impossible; but he represents a challenge and, what is more, an excuse to delay what promises to be a trying holiday in Paris. She stays on to tame and to organize him—a less formidable task than she had imagined; in fact, she grows fond of him.

When wills clash and hearts collide, who will reign victorious? Termed an Incomparable during her first London season, Lady Harriett Cavendish is beautiful, spirited, and confident, capturing the attention of a great many suitors. Unfortunately, they all failed to capture her attention, and she concluded the season as unattached as she'd begun it. Only weeks prior to her second season, Harriett encounters Lieutenant Christopher Jamison while visiting Tanglewood Manor.

When her sister decides to throw an impromptu summer house party, Sophia reluctantly agrees to help. What she doesn’t realize is that her sister has plans of her own — plans that would bring a certain childhood friend back into Sophia’s life. It’s been nearly a decade since Sophia has seen Hugh Quinton. He’s grown into a handsome, charming, and successful — yet completely unacceptable — tradesman. Her mother looks down on him, her father detests him, and society would snub him in an instant. Sophia shouldn’t even consider him.

For as long as Prudence can remember, it has been understood her sister will one day wed the eldest son of their nearest neighbor. Prudence, an aspiring romance novelist, believes her sister is mad to consider marrying a man she hardly knows, even if he will one day make her a countess. Unable to stand by and do nothing, Prudence sets out to help the awkward couple discover the best in each other with the hope they will eventually find love. What she neglected to foresee, however, was the possibility she might fall in love with Lord Knave herself.