Few of those Philippa loves in London return her affection. Not the love of her life, who has a new bride. Not even her widowed mother, Makepeace Burke. So Philippa decides on a marriage of convenience to a prudish, if kind, man. Across the Channel in France, the Reign of Terror is causing the beheading of thousands from the French nobility. Among those in danger is Philippa's friend, the Marquis de Condorcet. Not only has Philippa the means of rescuing him from the guillotine, she's got the courage. And as fate would have it, Philippa will find love where she least expects it-while staring death in the face.

It's 1664 and Puritan Penitence Hurd arrives from America armed with nothing but her faith, a bag filled with wampum and tobacco and the address of her long lost aunt. The address takes her to the Cock and Pie on Dog Street, a brothel with a Madame who goes by the moniker of "Her Ladyship". Told that her aunt is long gone and most likely dead and with no where else to go Penitence accepts a position as seamstress as Her Ladyship is surprisingly reluctant to allow her to whore like the others. Plague soon breaks out and all on Dog Street are quarantined in their homes to catch it and die or survive the forty days and be freed. Penitence's room is across the way from room rented by the mysterious Henry King and they strike up a strange friendship as Henry teaches her to use The Vizard Mask to become someone else and thus lose her terrible stutter As the plague loosens its hold Henry and Penitence share one night of passion before he gains his freedom and disappears from her life. Fate has a few unfortunate surprises for Penitence (pregnancy, Newgate, illegal pamphlet printing to name a few) and many times the only way to get past it is the oldest way in the world, but she will do anything to keep her independence. Once she sees the glitter and magic of the King's Theater she is determined to beat the odds and make it - although when she crosses one of King Charles' rowdy noblemen and he strikes back she's willing to give up her freedom for royal protection (no it's not who you are thinking it is). As she settles into a safe, albeit boring life with her royal protector, Penitence gets a shock when Henry King once again drops into her life and his name is not Henry King....... That's as far as I'm going, if you want to know more then read it for yourself. Penitence's story begins just before the Great Plague of London through to the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion and it's aftermath to the coronation of William and Mary. Fans of Charles Stuart be warned, he does not come off looking too pretty in this one, he's portrayed at his rutting, double dealing worst here.

From the author also known as Ariana Franklin-the thrilling sequel to A Catch of Consequence that "moves at a cracking pace."( London Times) Makepeace Hedley is frantic when she learns that her young daughter, sailing home to England from the rebelling American colonies, has been taken prisoner by the British. With her usual determination, Makepeace sets out for Plymouth to rescue her child. And when Countess Diana Stacpoole is asked by an American friend to help his son, also a British prisoner, Diana responds quickly and leaves her genteel past behind. In the chaos of wartime Plymouth the two women face social outrage, public scandal, and even arrest. Amidst docks and prisons, government bureaucracy and brothels, they forge an unlikely and unshakable friendship. And in freeing others, they discover their own splendid liberty.