A shy English Rose blossoms into an exotic bird of paradise in this thrillingly romantic twist on the tale of Cinderella. With her slender, graceful, almost elfin beauty, Odetta may not look like a Cinderella but it's she who must stay at home while her aristocratic friend is dressed by the great couturiers and dances at Society balls. That is, until she's whisked to Paris as her friend's lady's maid – and, on a crazy impulse, borrows a fabulous dress and a mask and slips unnoticed into a Venetian Masked Ball. As she's marvelling at the whirling waltzes, Chinese lanterns and glamorously costumed guests, a tall, handsome masked and cloaked man asks, 'Are you waiting for some laggard partner or have you just dropped down from the sky to bemuse us poor mortals?'Cinderella has gone to the ball! No longer 'Miss Nobody from Nowhere', she lives the dream, playing the part of a French Princesse and quickly finding her feet in the fashionable world... But just as...

Society beauty Galatea, 'the outrageous Lady Roysdon' is the talk of the town, especially of the Social whirl that surrounds the Prince Regent when his Court arrives in the spring in the fashionable spa town of Brighton. She is a magnet for countless suitors, not least the over-amorous D'Arcy, the Earl of Sheringham, whose advances she repels unceasingly – for Galatea is a married woman, unwillingly wed to an older man who has been in a coma for years. In a rash attempt to flee the attentions of the Earl by travelling alone in her carriage, she is held up and robbed by a dashing highwayman, who leaves her without her jewels, but with an unforgettable kiss. Then when her good friend, Lady Dorridge, comes to her with an appalling problem, Galatea has her most outrageous idea yet! She resolves to enlist the help of her handsome highwayman – a decision that sets her on a path to terrible danger, a thrilling swashbuckling adventure and the blossoming of a love more...

Handsome, dashing and a close friend of the Prince of Wales, Lord 'Buck' Melburne has London's Society ladies permanently swooning at his feet and so his nickname stuck with him. So, when Lord Melburne goes to his magnificent country seat at the urgent request of a young lady called 'Clarinda Vernon', a nearby neighbour of his, it turns out that she despises and hates him and so he is shocked and perplexed as this has never happened to him before. What could he possibly have done to offend her?He is even more shocked at Clarinda's request – that he agrees to marry her, purely to indulge the last wish of her dying uncle. Once Sir Roderick Vernon has passed away Clarinda will, she assures him, release him from his promise. Despite himself Lord Melburne is really fascinated by this innocent yet feisty red-headed beauty and he is deeply concerned for her safety when he hears of sinister Satanic goings-on in the nearby caves orchestrated by someone who means Clarinda harm and even...

After their beloved Mama passed away, Amalita and Carolyn's father, Sir Frederick Maulpin, could not bear living in the family home that reminded him so painfully of her. So he left his daughters behind for Paris, perhaps hoping to rediscover the raffish man-about-town he once was. To the girls' chagrin, he immediately fell in love with and married a Frenchwoman called 'Yvette', whom his daughters considered vulgar and quite unsuitable for their adored Papa. Now, to their horror, they receive a letter informing them that their father and Yvette have drowned in a yachting accident in Nice. Not only have they lost their parents, now eighteen-year-old Carolyn has no one to present her to Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace and chaperone her at debutante balls on which all her hopes are pinned. But her elder sister, Amalita, has a plan – A letter to her father's old friend, the Marquis of Garlestone, secures an invitation to stay in exalted...

When her chaise is damaged in an accident far from her home, the beautiful young Lady Athina Ling has no choice but to stay at a nearby Posting inn while awaiting its repair. There she is appalled to hear the pitiful screams of a young boy who is being savagely beaten by the 'gentleman' who appears to be his Guardian. After bravely going to the child's rescue, Athina discovers that he is Peter, the nephew of the handsome Marquis of Rockingdale whose estate neighbours her own and that he, Peter, is the heir to a very considerable fortune.Seeing the child's horrific wounds, the Marquis agrees to help Athina protect and look after him – but he also needs her help with a great problem of his own. Namely that he must become engaged to be married before Queen Victoria will allow him to take up the important position of State he craves of the Master of the Horse. Which the Marquis is superbly qualified to excel at as he has been closely involved...

The lovely young orphan Sedela Craven is very excited to hear that the Marquis of Windlesham is returning home from active service in the Duke of Wellington's Army in France at the end of the long war against Napoleon Bonaparte.He, however, lingers on in London with his beautiful lover Lady Esther Hasting, an exquisite yet unscrupulous woman who is unfaithful to him while striving to ensnare him into marriage for his riches and his celebrated title.Informed of this by her Nanny, Sedela dresses up as the Windles's family ghost, Lady Constance, who appears as a warning whenever the family is in danger.Entering the Marquis's bedroom at midnight through a secret passage she warns him that he is in grave peril from a woman who is unfaithful to him with a man he trusts as his friend.To his fury the Marquis soon discovers that the 'ghost' spoke the truth when he catches Esther in bed with his friend.It is only back at his estate preparing with Sedela for a lavish party for his...

Life has not been kind to Lydia Bryant – and love has been downright cruel. Orphaned at 16 and brought up by her uncle, a Shropshire Rector, she marries Donald, a handsome soldier many years her senior at 21. But tragedy strikes once more as his terrifyingly violent mood-swings are revealed, condemning her to a lifetime of torture and torment.So when Donald dies, some 6 years later, her first thought is that she is free at last! Free of her hateful husband, but facing a life without love. Throwing off the shackles of stiflingly shallow English Society, Lydia embarks on a thrilling adventure – and, from genteel Malvern via the heat and hustle of Cairo, she finds herself in the parched and primitive Sudan – surely the last place on Earth anyone would hope to find love?

After serving with distinction in his Regiment with the Duke of Wellington, civilian life bores the handsome Marquis of Heroncourt and he fills his time with empty affaires de coeur that bore him even more. But when his demure, humbly-dressed but beautiful young neighbour Lady Mimosa Field arrives unannounced at his ancestral home, Heron Hall, to beg for his help, he is instantly intrigued. Mimosa's villainous cousin, Norton Field, is plotting to murder her young brother, Jimmy, in order to inherit the title of the Earl of Petersfield and his valuable estate. Girded by the challenge, the Marquis takes Mimosa and Jimmy under his wing and soon has a strategy to defeat this dastardly enemy. And, as he wins the day, he also wins Mimosa's heart. Captivated though he is by her beauty, he feels that this naïve country bumpkin can never be a bride for a dashing war hero at the apex of the Social world and who counts the Prince Regent amongst his close friends. Mimosa is desolate as she...

Prince Metternich of Austria is growing weary of the political machinations of the European nations arguing over the spoils of Napoleon's Empire, especially those of the duplicitous Czar of all the Russias, Alexander I. They are all gathered for the Congress of Vienna in 1815Presented with an exquisitely beautiful young girl with eyes as piercingly blue as his own Prince Metternich is powerfully reminded of a siren he once loved in his past and accepts Wanda as his Ward. But he has an ulterior motive – he persuades the naïve Wanda to go undercover in the Court of the Czar to glean information on his real intentions for Europe. Meanwhile the Czar has his own suspicions of Metternich and arranges for his English friend Richard Melton to take his place, as they have similar physical characteristics.Richard Melton is an exile from his home in England because he has been accused of duelling and, although he is innocent, no one believes him. So begins a tortuous tangle of deceit,...

Shortly after the death of her father, the Earl of Weir, the stunningly beautiful Lady Arletta is penniless, having been ousted from the family estate by her cousin, who has now inherited everything from her father. Desperate to escape the misery of her situation, she is heartened to hear that her close friend, Jane Turner, is to be married very soon to the new Bishop of Jamaica. The trouble is that at the same time she had agreed to travel to France to be the Governess to the children of the Duc de Sauterre's late brother and to teach them English.Jane is in a serious quandary as she cannot possibly let her fiancée down nor can she disappoint her new employer, the Duc.But Arletta has dreamed up a solution for them both. So that Jane is free to get married, Arletta will travel to the Duc's Dordogne Château posing as Jane!On arrival at the enchanting Château, she finds the Duc as surly and rude as he is handsome. Worse still he hates the English and she struggles to win him over...

Since the loss of her parents, the beautiful young Filipa Seymour runs the family's ancient Manor House alone with very little money and only her beloved dogs and horses and ageing housekeeper, Mrs. Smeaton, for company. So she looks forward with excitement to every visit from her brother, Sir Mark Seymour, except that invariably he is looking for yet another heirloom in the house to sell in order to finance his extravagent Society lifestyle in London. So when Mark suggests a crazy plan for Filipa secretly to take the place of the glamorous 'Pretty Horse-Breaker' with whom he is due to ride at the Marquis of Kilne's prestigious horse race meeting, she reluctantly agrees. Introduced to the Marquis and the other house guests as 'Fifi', Filipa is intimidated yet strangely enthralled by his dismissive attitude. But, even as she realises that she is falling in love with him, the Marquis seems oblivious to her and convinced that she is just another gold digger – until she foils...

Having retreated to his country estate to escape the amorous attentions of his mistress Lady Fiona Faversham, who is determined to marry him, the dashing Duke of Moorminster out riding when he is captivated by the sound of a church organ being played beautifully. Entering the small church, he is equally captivated by a young woman of almost angelic loveliness who is leading her choir of children with her own wonderful voice.She is perfect for a special role in the play he has written – and which is to be the debut performance at his newly built private theatre with the Prince and Princess of Wales in attendance. And so young Vicar's daughter Lavela Ashley finds herself and her choir of children rehearsing for the great event at Moor Park and becomes embroiled in the devious scheming of Lady Fiona and the Duke's wicked cousin Joscelyn – both of whom are plotting to force the Duke into a marriage by the foulest of means. For his part, as the romantic drama unfolds in his own...

Amidst the exciting preparations for the grand opening of Prince Albert's prized Crystal Palace, a young orphan, Sorilda, is being forced into marriage by her recently cuckolded uncle, the Duke of Nuneaton. Having sheltered lovely Sorilda since the tragic death of her parents, the usually fair-minded Duke has been driven to jealous retaliation by his deceitful new Duchess. Suspecting his close neighbour, the Earl of Winsford, of ungentlemanly conduct with his beautiful wife, the Duke issues an ultimatum. The Earl must renounce the Duchess and marry the Duke's flame-haired niece or face the public embarrassment of a scandal.Handsome, intelligent and fabulously wealthy, the Earl makes his choice and reluctantly marries Sorilda, his helpless bride. Angry at being pressured into such a union and aghast that he does not know, let alone love, his wife, the Earl remains distant and determined not to let Sorilda into his life. Enjoying the freedom from the miserable prison of her...

Two fair-haired, blue-eyed beauties named Noella whose destinies are intertwined before they're even born... One lives the high life in Europe with her mother and her rakish lover while the other leads a sheltered, quiet life... Until, alone, penniless and desperate, a beguiling stranger lures her into a web of deceit from which there's no escape. Posing as her now-dead namesake, Noella Wakefield ingratiates herself with her estranged 'brother', the handsome but bitter Earl of Ravensdale. Too late, she realises that she is part of a murderous plot – and then, after saving him from a dagger-wielding assassin, she realises she's in love. But how could the Earl ever love a liar? And how can true love be based on a lie?

When a startlingly beautiful young girl with brilliant red-golden hair falls at speed from her horse before him, the dashingly handsome Osric, Earl of Helstone is uncharacteristically caught off his guard. Not only one of the richest men in England but also, in many women's opinion, by far the best-looking, 'The Elusive Earl' as he is known, is accustomed to Society Beauties falling at his feet – but not in so literal a fashion!Rushing to her aid, he finds that the girl has not fallen – but made her horse throw her deliberately in a cunning ruse to talk to him without her groom being aware. She introduces herself as Calista, the headstrong daughter of Lady Chevington and warns the Earl he must decline her mother's invitation to stay at her estate for the duration of the Epsom Races, claiming that her mother is bent on duping him into marrying Calista. Laughing at the claim, the Earl accepts the invitation to Chevington Court – and in no time finds himself tricked...