Richard Hill, the Earl of Windermere, might desperately require a wife and heir, but thoughts of duty fly from his mind when he rescues Esme, Lady Heathcote, from the embarrassment of a failed affair. They usually never agree about anything. He’s never even kissed the vexing widow. But when the opportunity arises to whisk her away for a no-strings-attached rendezvous, Richard can’t imagine a better way to spend a moonlit evening. Esme has never lacked for admirers, but having Lord Windermere’s company goes a long way to ease the pain of losing her suddenly betrothed lover. And when Windermere suggests an affair, Esme is intrigued by the blazing-hot connection even while knowing their relationship has no future beyond his house party. But as with any temptation, it’s a bargain they’ll soon regret. ~ * ~ Reason to Wed is the seventh story in the Distinguished Rogues series. Other titles are: Book 1: Chills Book 2: Broken Book 3: Charity Book 4: An Accidental Affair Book 5: Keepsake Book 6: An Improper Proposal ** Views: 67
While vacationing in Greece in 1956, Lily Tassos, the hard-partying daughter of a powerful arms dealer, has a sudden change in plans. After her sometime boyfriend —a CIA agent— is murdered before her eyes, she finds herself holding a ticket to Moscow and a mysterious metal card. A far cry from her usual pairing of a Faulkner novel and bottle (or two) of white Bordeaux. Alone and haunted by her lover’s death, apolitical Lily resolves to complete his mission and find out who killed him. Masquerading as a gung-ho member of the American Communist Party, she travels to Moscow, where she is contacted by Pasha Tarkhan. Brutal, yet charismatic, Tarkhan is both a high-ranking Soviet official and CIA asset, not to mention a covert supporter of the Russian Spiritual Underground. This alliance of self-styled “deists” have rejected the secular Soviet state and vowed to bring it down by means of faith, prayer...and blood. Grinding her old life beneath the heel of her Dior stiletto, Lily puts her new one on the line, surrendering to fate, love and, for once, events bigger than herself.
** Views: 67
A brilliant crime fiction debut, which introduces a sparky new double act in Inspector Joseph Rafferty and Sergeant Dafyd Llewellyn.
Inspector Rafferty is under pressure. Not only has he got his Ma on his case – expecting him to spring a distant cousin from the cells, but the naked body of a teenaged girl has been found in the grounds of Elmhurst, a private psychiatric hospital. And with the help of upright Welsh sergeant Dafyd Llewellyn he must track down the killer. But Rafferty’s first murder case since his promotion is not going to be4 easy. The girl’s face has been mutilated beryond recognition. And Elmhurst’s owner De Anthony Melville-Briggs – the suave social climber who thinks his wife’s money can buy everything, including the police – claims he has no idea who the victim might be. Perhaps, he suggests, the killing might be the work of a jealous rival doctor.
Rafferty takes an instant and deep dislike to Dr Melville-Briggs and his high-ranking connections. His desire to prove the arrogant doctor guilty of murder begins to border on obsession. Sergeant Llewellyn, however, doesn’t share the Inspector’s conviction – the doctor has a seemingly solid alibi. Then the identity of the girl is finally discovered, and a whole host of new suspects emerge – each with a motive that gives the police plenty to think about. It is only when Rafferty remembers his forgotten promise to his Ma that he go to see the cousin still languishing in the cells, that he gets his just reward, He begins to turn the case around in time to get the press and an angry superintendent off their backs. Views: 67
Lizzie Kershaw is an independent spirit. At twelve, she loses her father and her happy family life ends as her mother grows to resent her. Then circumstances push Lizzie into an early marriage, where she finds her mother's petty cruelties replaced by her husband's frequent beatings.But she is a survivor. When World War I breaks out, Lizzie's husband is forced to join up and she seizes the opportunity to run away. She finds independence and friendship in a munitions factory - plus the promise of a new love. But as war ends, the shadow of her husband looms again. Can she break free of him and find happiness?This is a vivid and engrossing tale of endurance, set in Lancashire from 1909-1914. Anna Jacobs has once again created characters so real you laugh and weep with them and you will never forget Our Lizzie. Views: 67
Rosemary is in the middle of planning her wedding. Tasting cakes, touring venues, planning her honeymoon. She and Simon are looking forward to their big day and some well-deserved time off.
When Rose and Simon go to visit a local resort, they expect to try out some of the food and check out the ballroom. They certainly don't expect to trip over a body on the golf course or to get sucked into yet another murder. Will they be able to discover the murderer before someone else falls victim? Views: 67
Travel to a German settlement in Sauers, Indiana, and meet Regina Seitz. Her sisters were allowed to marry for love, but Regina has been told by her father she must marry a man she has never met—just so Papa can have a German son-in-law to inherit the family homestead. Diedrich Rothhaus is as reluctant as she is, until her striking beauty and deep faith stir emotions he hadn’t expected. Against both their wills, love claims their hearts. Then a cruel family secret is revealed, and Diedrich must fight to save the most precious thing in his life—Regina’s love.ReviewA sweet historical romance filled with romance, family secrets and mystery. Cecil's characters are written well and realistically. They are aware of their shortcomings and are determined to turn themselves into people they can be proud of.(Patsy Glans Romantic Times Book Reviews 20120401) Book DescriptionLife isn’t fair. As a carefree, young American woman Regina Seitz shouldn’t have to submit to an arranged marriage. But when she finds her heart beguiled by her German fiancé, a cruel family secret threatens to take away the love of the man she once thought she could never want. Views: 67
At last, the book more than a million fans are waiting for: the sequel to The Last Templar.
With its iconic title and unmistakable cover, Raymond Khoury's million-copy- selling The Last Templar remains one of the most memorable thriller publications of the last decade. Finally, after four long years, Khoury returns to the world of the Templars with The Templar Salvation, a sequel that's every bit as eye-popping and as gripping as its predecessor. Constantinople, 1203: As the rapacious armies of the Fourth Crusade lay siege to the city, a secretive band of Templars infiltrate the imperial library. Their target: a cache of documents that must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the Doge of Venice. They escape with three heavy chests, filled with explosive secrets that these men will not live long enough to learn. Vatican City, present day: FBI agent Sean Reilly infiltrates the Pope's massive Vatican Secret Archives of the Inquisition. No one but the Pope's trusted secondi get in-but Reilly has earned the Vatican's trust, a trust he has no choice but to violate. His love, Tess Chaykin, has been kidnapped; the key to her freedom lays in this underground tomb, in the form of a document known as the Fondo Templari, a secret history of the infamous Templars... With his trademark blend of incendiary history and edge-of-your-seat suspense, Raymond Khoury's The Templar Salvation marks a triumphant return to the rich territory that launched his bestselling career. Views: 67
One day, long before the troubles, he slipped away without saying a word to anyone and never went back. And then another day, forty three years later, he collapsed just inside the front door of his house in a small English town. It was late in the day when it happened, on his way home after work, but it was also late in the day altogether. He had left things for too long and there was no one to blame for it but himself. Abbas has never told anyone about his past - before he was a sailor on the high seas, before he met his wife Maryam outside a Boots in Exeter, before they settled into a quiet life in Norwich with their children, Jamal and Hanna. Now, at the age of sixty-three, he suffers a collapse that renders him bedbound and unable to speak about things he thought he would one day have to. Jamal and Hanna have grown up and gone out into the world. They were both born in England but cannot shake a sense of apartness. Hanna calls herself Anna now, and has just moved to a new city to be near her boyfriend. She feels the relationship is headed somewhere serious, but the words have not yet been spoken out loud. Jamal, the listener of the family, moves into a student house and is captivated by a young woman with dark-blue eyes and her own, complex story to tell. Abbas' illness forces both children home, to the dark silences of their father and the fretful capability of their mother Maryam, who began life as a foundling and has never thought to find herself, until now. Views: 67
It began with a simple note: a letter of rejection from Miss Temple’s fiancé, written on crisp Ministry paper and delivered on her maid’s silver tray. But for Miss Temple, Roger Bascombe’s cruel rejection will ignite a harrowing quest for answers, plunging her into a mystery as dizzying as a hall of mirrors—and a remote estate where danger abounds and all inhibitions are stripped bare.…Thus begins Gordon Dahlquist’s debut novel of Victorian suspense—at once a dazzling feast for the senses and a beguiling, erotic literary adventure. Nothing could have prepared Miss Temple for where her pursuit of Roger Bascombe would take her—or for the shocking things she would find behind the closed doors of forbidding Harschmort Manor: men and women in provocative disguise, acts of licentiousness and violence, heroism and awakening. But she will also find two allies: Cardinal Chang, a brutal assassin with the heart of a poet, and a royal doctor named Svenson, at once fumbling and heroic—both of whom, like her, lost someone at Harschmort Manor. As the unlikely trio search for answers—hurtling them from elegant brothels to gaslit alleyways to shocking moments of self-discovery-- they are confronted by puzzles within puzzles. And the closer they get to the truth, the more their lives are in danger. For the conspiracy they face—an astonishing alchemy of science, perverted religion, and lust for power—is so terrifying as to be beyond belief. Views: 67
A search for historic secrets may uncover a present day love... Writer-historian Jenna Cade has spent her life in search of the past, particularly with her latest quest to document abandoned cemeteries of the South and the stories behind the stones. But her search for a forgotten graveyard in quaint Sylvan Spring leads her to more than the ghosts of graves untended by human hands—it leads her to the doorstep of reclusive stone carver Con Taggart. Still grieving his wife's death, Con has shut himself away from the world, But then a beautiful historian shows up at his door seeking a link between mysterious burial stones and a legend that lingers in the town's history. Working together to uncover the truth behind the lost cemetery may form a deeper connection between them than either realizes. Can the ghosts of graveyards past show these two how to trust in God and to find a love more tangible than any legendary tale of apparitions? Views: 67
