Publisher: Phoemixx Classics Ebooks
The House by the Church-Yard - Sheridan Le Fanu - The House by the Churchyard (1863) is a novel by Sheridan Le Fanu that combines elements of the mystery novel and the Historical novel. Aside from its own merits, the novel is important as a key source for James Joyce's Finnegans Wake
The great statue of Apollo, which had fallen to the ground, was gradually broken up and pieces were carried away to England and France. Much of the statue, Valona knew, remained in Delos, but it lay too far for her to go and see it. Yet she was aware that it was still there and was, according to what she had read, filled with a tremendous power. One visitor to the statue had written, “It was splendid in its loneliness, its perfect beauty and its terrible power.” Valona was miles away, but as she stood looking towards the East, she could feel the magic of the young God, once thirty feet high. In her mind she could see his parted lips, his uplifted hands and his eyes gazing out to sea. More than two thousand years had passed since Apollo’s statue had been erected on the island, yet she knew in her heart that time had in no way weakened him. It was then that she began praying to Apollo with all her heart and soul. She asked him to bring her the true love she longed for. As the God of Light and Love, Apollo represented the fulfilment of dreams to all who worshipped him. ‘Help me, please help me!’ she begged. ‘The love I seek is the same love you give to the world and it is even more powerful than anything else mankind could possess.’Show book
The Duke of Laverdale is ambitious to be appointed Master of the Horse and the new Queen Adelaide is determined that behaviour at Court should be moral after the licentiousness of King George IV. The Duke therefore ends his affaire de coeur with the enchanting Lady Sybil Mersham and drops his ballet dancer mistress as well. Up to now he has been determined not to be married, but he now decides to become respectable and find a suitable bride as befits his standing. As he has always avoided debutantes, he asks the Marquis of Coleburn, whom he has known since he was a boy, to help him. The Marquis is delighted and tells the Duke that he has the perfect wife for him in his beautiful daughter Oleta, who would have been a debutante by now but for family mourning. The Duke arranges to visit the Marquis, who returns home to tell his daughter that she is a very lucky girl. Oleta, however, is horrified at the idea of marrying a man she has never seen and who obviously cannot be in love with her. She is very romantic and loves the country especially the woods, which have a magical influence on her and she talks to them when she rides through them on her beloved horse, Apollo. When the Marquis tells her that she cannot refuse the Duke, even if he has to drag her to the altar, Oleta runs away to her old Nanny in Norfolk, having no idea of the dangers she might face on the journey. When the Duke arrives to stay with the Marquis, he is appalled to learn that, because she is afraid of him, Oleta has ridden off on her own. He then follows her as he has a much faster horse than anyone else. How the Duke finds Oleta in a dangerous predicament and how he saves her. How, not knowing who he is, she is impressed by his intelligence, his kindness and his bravery. And how, when they finally escape from horse-thieves, he takes her to a place where they can be alone and how there they can both dream the same dream of love, is all told in this thrilling romance by BARBARA CARTLAND.Show book
INTRIGUE. TENSION. LOVE AFFAIRS: In The Historical Romance series, a set of stand-alone novels, Vivian Stuart builds her compelling narratives around the dramatic lives of sea captains, nurses, surgeons, and members of the aristocracy. Stuart takes us back to the societies of the 20th century, drawing on her own experience of places across Australia, India, East Asia, and the Middle East. Doctor Sarah Hamilton came to the little mid-west town of Granville in an effort to make herself more acceptable to the American people. She hoped that by taking over as locum to one of the towns best-loved doctors she would get to know the people and their way of life. But there were two other strangers in town . . . one an ex-patient of Sarah's, the other a deranged and dangerous man with whom Sarah was to become involved to a degree she had never anticipated. Were they, in fact, one and the same man? Was Sarah right to trust and believe in Steve Gresham, with his tragic past and uncertain future . . .Show book
At The Battle of Worcester in 1651, Prince Charles with thirteen thousand troops, both English and Scottish, is heavily defeated by Oliver Cromwell and flees to France. Clive More escapes the battlefield to a friendly house and is saved from Cromwell’s men by the Nanny of Alissa aged nine. Nanny disguises him as a girl and hides him in her bedroom. After the Prince is restored to the throne as King Charles II in 1660, Alissa, her father the Earl of Dalwaynnie, her stepmother and her stepsister Nancy, move to London. The King, grateful for the Earl’s support, gives them Apartments at the Royal Palace of Whitehall. Clive More, who is now the Marquis of Morelanton, comes down from the North. He and the King are the same age and spent a great deal of time together including playing tennis at which they both excel. The Countess, the new wife of the Earl of Dalwaynnie, is determined that her daughter Nancy should marry Clive now he is a Marquis and contrives to keep him away from Alissa, who has grown in the nine years since they last met into an outstanding beauty. How the Countess intrigues with a strange man called Lord Pronett to remove Alissa from the Court and away from Clive. How Nancy helps Clive save her. And how they find love and happiness is all told in this exciting historical romance by BARBARA CARTLAND.Show book
Handsome, wealthy and some might say spoilt, Hugo, Lord Roxburton, the ‘Don Juan of St. James’s Street’ has all London’s beauties falling at his feet. But, one day when skiing in the mountains above St. Moritz, one of those feet lets him down. In agony from an injured ankle, he’s at the mercy of the icy elements – until a lovely Swiss girl called Utta comes to his rescue. And instantly his whole life and outlook are transformed.Discovering that this innocent young beauty is a gifted skater competing for the Swiss Championship, he’s suddenly revolted by the attentions of high society fraud Carole Munton. When he finds out that Utta is none other than his deceased, older brother Andrew’s long-lost daughter, Hugo is determined to take her to Rox, his English family estate, to meet his sister Pamela and Grandmother Lady Loth.Utta arrives in London bewitched and bewildered by its glamour. How is she to know Carole is lying when she claims to be pregnant with Hugo’s child? How is she to know the evil in her heart or that of the predatory ‘talent scout’ who tries to seduce her? Overwhelmed by the hopelessness of her love, Utta flees to the closest thing to home she can find, working at a tawdry London ice rink where the man who gave wings to her heart can never find her…Show book
'This beautifully observed Regency romance, with hints of Heyer, had me hooked.' - Jessica Bull, author of Miss Austen Investigates London, 1815. Cassandra Hazeldon is on the run. Under duress to marry a repellent friend of her uncle, Cassandra has made her escape, but now she is very much alone. With luck and quick thinking, she finds a refuge in a grand mansion in Mayfair, and a protector in Lord Irlam, or Hal to his friends. Posing as a friend of Hal's sister, Cassandra is swept up into the social whirl of a Brighton summer. But the attraction between her and Hal is starting to scorch, and when jealousy is added to the mix, things are set to reach boiling point. Dear Reader, this wonderfully romantic story has passionate and steamy scenes, enjoy .Show book
