Showing results by narrator "Wren" in All Categories

Queen Victoria sends for the Duke of Sherbourne and asks him to undertake a very secret mission on her behalf. It is so secret that only his loyal valet is told. The Duke agrees and it takes him to Greece. He visits King George who is the same age as he is and whom he has known in the past. He has been a great success as King, although he was only eighteen when he took over the throne and he is married to Princess Olga of Russia and they are extremely happy. The Duke envies them and, although he has been pursued by a great number of beautiful women in London, he has never yet fallen in love.

Beautiful Lady Lucilla Welton is all alone in the world, having lost both her parents in a tragic accident. She has nowhere to go and so she stays with her cruel and distant Aunt Maud, who wants to marry her off as soon as possible. An ardent suitor is at hand – the rich Texan, Harkness Jackson – but his proposal is not one Lucilla could ever contemplate. She has already met the only man who will ever find the key to her heart – but the handsome Marquis of Castlebury is enthralled by another and for him, Lucilla seems to be no more than a casual friend.

Lord Waincliffe breaks his horse’s bridle out one day and calls at the nearest house for help so that he can ride home in safety. It belongs to Terence Stourton, a Professor of Literature, and he meets his daughter, Rosetta, who repairs the bridle for him. Not only does he think that Rosetta is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, but he feels there is something unusual about her. Only when he returns home, does he realise that she bears an extraordinary resemblance to his sister, Dolina.

Lady Galina More and her brother, Georgie, the Earl of Ranmore, are in despair because they own two large historic houses which are entailed. Georgie decides he will have to marry an American heiress, so he opens his house in London, but has no idea how he can staff it or afford to entertain. He meets Mr. Craig Farlow, one of the richest oil millionaires in America who has brought his daughter, Ellie-May, to London as he wants her to marry a title and he becomes a tenant at Georgie's house in Park Lane.

Keeping up appearances for her older brother, 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 unsavory and raffish reputation, she is mortified. In utter desperation, Minerva dresses herself up as a highwayman, creeps into The Castle and tries to blackmail the Earl at gunpoint.

Lady Novella Crownley has been teaching at a girl's school far from her ancestral home, Crownley Hall, and one day her mother asks her to return. She leaves at once only to find that so much has changed since her last visit home. Her beloved father, the Earl of Crownley, had died some years earlier, leaving her mother lonely and unable to cope on her own. Unknown to Novella her mother had remarried and the first time she met her new stepfather, Lord Buckton, she did like him at all.

Boomtown Los Angeles, 1929: Into a world of movie lots and speakeasies comes Xas, stunt flier and wingless angel, still nursing his broken heart and determined only to go on living in the air. But there are forces that will keep him on the ground. Forces like Conrad Cole, movie director and aircraft designer, a glory-seeking king of the grand splash who is also a man sinking into his own sovereign darkness. And Flora McLeod, film editor and maimed former actress, who sees something in Xas that no one has ever seen before, not even God, who made him, or Lucifer, the general he once followed.

Simona Bell, the lovely daughter of Lord Belgrave, has been invited by her friend, Karoline von Honentaal to stay with her family in Berlin. Simona finds that Karoline's father, the Baron, owns an amazing collection of art which interests her greatly. Alone for a moment, she finds her way into the Baron's private Sanctuary, where she admires an unusual Sedan Chair. Hearing voices and frightened she might be discovered, she slips into the Sedan Chair and closes the door.

Rupert Fitzalan has succeeded his grandfather, Lord Fitzalan. Leaving behind his life in America, Rupert goes to claim his inheritance in the Scottish Highlands. This includes Castle Fitzalan, which he last saw at the age of eight. A series of revelations awaits him. First, the Castle is a wreck. Then there is the Fitzalan feud with the MacLeans, who are demanding the return of an heirloom they claim has been stolen from them. They are desperate to obtain it and attack and kidnap Rupert. Finally he meets the beautiful Celina Stirling who is engaged to her cousin, Hamish MacLean.

Sir Robin Dunstead returns from India after his father's death to find that he now owns two of the largest ancestral houses in the country both containing superb art collections, but the houses and the pictures are in a very poor state of repair. Unfortunately Sir Robin's father had sold everything that was saleable in both houses and everything of value is entailed for future generations of Dunsteads. Robin is left with no income and finds he has not enough money to buy food for himself and sister Alena.

If you like Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland. Beautiful Jasmina Winfield is a thoroughly modern American girl who likes to make her own decisions. A skilled and daring horsewoman, she is used to taking care of herself and takes orders from no one - especially not a man. Arriving in Yorkshire from Missouri to visit her relations, the Duke and Duchess of Harley, Jasmina is captivated by the sad romantic tale of her near neighbour the reclusive Earl of Somerton.

The beautiful Lady Elva Chartham had returned to her family home in the country from her Season as a debutante as she had become disenchanted by the endless balls and empty-headed young suitors. She much preferred to be with her horses. Her father was away fishing and her beloved Aunt Violet came to coax her into returning to London to finish her Season. Elva was persuaded by Aunt Violet and in her London house, she overheard a conversation between her aunt and her cousin, the Duke of Sparkbrook, that would dramatically change her life.

Tania, the lovely daughter of the late Lord Amesly, leaves her school in Paris and is travelling by train to Boulogne when her train crashes into another one. She is helped and befriended by a charming young Englishman - Captain Rupert More - and with him she reaches the ferry and unexpectedly meets two friends of her parents, Charles and Selina Bracebridge. Rupert becomes captivated by Tania, but since he is a soldier he may be sent away to war at any moment and cannot declare his hand.

A bearded and dishevelled figure in the tattered dress of a Muslim Holy Man struggled to a Fort in India and saves it from attack by tribesmen supported by the Russians. The Holy man is Captain David Ingle, one of the members of The Great Game. In a week or so David arrives back in Calcutta and is sent for immediately by the Viceroy, who tells him he has done wonderful service for his country. At the same time his life is in danger from the Russians and, more important his grandfather, the Marquis of Inglestone, has died in an accident and the family title and estate is now his.

Leonora Cressy and her school friend Isobel have sworn never to fall in love. They prefer their books to men and scorn other girls whose heads are full of storybook romance. Leonora is convinced that no man could be as perfect as her late father. Little does she know that life has decided to put her conviction to the test. Her mother comes to tell her that she has a new stepfather and she does not like the sound of him at all.

"Get away from me. As far as I am concerned, David, you are dead to me and this entire family!" The handsome Viscount Kennington has never enjoyed a good relationship with his father, the Earl, but he loves his grandparents and they love him. But when a family scandal is aired after the sudden death of the Viscount's grandfather, the Marquis, the family feud grows worse. The Viscount retreats to the huge mysterious house in Devon left to him by his grandfather.

An empowering and exhilarating look at the girls who went before us, and the way they shaped the world. Twelve-year-old Ming Qong is convinced that girls must have changed the world, even if they are rarely mentioned in history books. So when Ming gets the chance to go back in time, she imagines...

Hugo, Earl of Ruven, is sailing home after ten years in India, where he served with his regiment. His grandfather, the old Earl, has died and Hugo has inherited the title and estate of Castle Ruven. He has also inherited his late brother's fiancee, Felice de Lisle. No one who sees the handsome man standing at the rail with his face turned toward the approaching coast suspects the truth. During one of the first battles of the Indian Mutiny, Hugo was severely injured. The new Earl of Ruven is returning home blind.

In Your Brain Is Lying to You, Julian Shaw takes you inside the hidden mechanics of the human mind, showing how your thoughts manipulate your perception, distort your confidence, and quietly sabotage your progress. Blending neuroscience, psychology, and practical storytelling, this book reveals how to catch your brain in the act, challenge its illusions, and rewrite the mental code that shapes your life.

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.