Verlag: Thomas Hardy
Though he is best remembered today for Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Far From the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy's 1881 novel A Laodicean is also a worthy read for fans of his work. An architect falls madly in love with a young heiress, but his feelings initially are not requited. Along the way, a number of unsavory secrets are revealed.
Employed by the beautiful but mean Mrs. Schuster as a lady’s companion on her trop to Morocco, Melina Lindsay is thrilled to at last visit the beautiful land of which her late father had talked with such fondness. But when , jealous of the attention Melina’s beauty and youth attract, Mrs. Schuster peremptorily sacks her, she finds herself her alone and helpless in a strange country . Suddenly, a dashing stranger disguised as an Arab appears on her balcony seeking refuge. And, when Melina hides him from his murderous pursuers, it transpires that he is an English agent on a desperate mission to save a young boy who has been kidnapped by evil subversives and whom they will surely murder. Joining the handsome Bing Ward on his perilous mission, she puts her life in his hands and very soon he will also possess her heart – but only if they survive!Zum Buch
As daughter of a well-known matchmaker, Catríona Daly is no stranger to the business of love--and sees it as her ticket away from the sleepy village that only comes alive during the annual matchmaking festival. Enter Lord Osborne's son, Andrew, who has returned to the festival after being disappointed by a rival matchmaker's failed setup. Catríona seizes the opportunity to make a better match for the handsome man--and for herself! Cattle farmer Donal Bunratty is in desperate need of a wife after loss left him to handle the farm and raise his daughter on his own. Shy and lacking the finer social graces, he agrees to attend the matchmaking festival to appease his daughter. But when he arrives, it's not any of the other merrymakers that catch his eye but rather his matchmaker--who clearly has eyes for someone else. Catríona will have to put all her expertise to work to make a match that could change her life forever. Will her plan succeed? Or will love have its own way?Zum Buch
The bestselling author of Tame the Wild Wind delivers a western historical romance of a lonely trapper and a woman with a deep and wounded past. When Sage MacKenzie comes across a wild-eyed beauty in obvious distress, his first instinct is to turn and flee like the native tribes who fear this “crazy woman.” As a man of the mountain, affairs of the heart are low priority. But her violet stare has him ensnared, and Sage knows he has to help her in any way he can. Taking this silent beauty as his new travel companion, Sage begins a journey to find out where she’s from and who took her away from her home and family. With her memory seemingly vanished, the girl Sage refers to as Venado (“Little Deer” in Spanish) has a past she knows must be terrible—why else would she have erased it from her mind? But now, in the protective arms of Sage, she finds herself living for his gentle touch and ready to confront her deepest, darkest secrets.Zum Buch
Arriving exhausted in Ampula, the Capital of the tiny nation of Kozan on the Black Sea, and carrying top secret information from India for the Viceroy, adventurer and British Secret Service agent Drogo Forde is in need of fresh air and decides to go for a walk in the City. To his amazement he encounters a beautiful young woman hanging perilously down a high wall from a rope. She calls to him for help and, Master of disguise though he is, Drogo can barely cover the fact that he is instantly smitten with her. With revolution in the air, the violent streets are no place for a young woman, so chivalrous Drogo escorts Thekla, for that is her name, to his rather sparse lodgings. To his amazement she reveals that she is none other than the daughter of the King. And since the revolutionaries have now stormed the Royal Palace and killed the King, he has no choice but to save her and take her with him on his dangerous mission. As love blossoms between them, despair fills Drogo’s heart. Having spent what little money he had on care and nursing for his dying mother, he cannot possibly marry his lovely young Princes and, with great anguish, he resolves to let her go.Zum Buch
A devilish rake will do anything to learn the secret of a straitlaced schoolmarm in this Regency romance by the bestselling author of The Troublemaker. Word has it that every awkward young lady sent to Mrs. Hester Poitevant’s Mayfair Academy inevitably becomes marriage material. With her students going on to have any eligible bachelor they wish, Hester is able to live comfortably and in the background. And no one knows that under the guise of a stuffy widow, she is a beautiful woman who has never been married. Although Adrian Hawke is a dashing and successful businessman, his scandalous birth makes him a less-than-ideal candidate for a husband. When he draws attention from one of Hester’s favorite students, the prim Mrs. Poitevant forcefully puts a stop to it—and falls victim to his charms herself. Adrian, meanwhile, is not fooled by the feisty widow’s facade. Intrigued, the clever rogue is determined to uncover what Hester is hiding in more ways . . . than one. Perfect for fans of the Bridgerton series! “With this sparkling romance between a highly regarded widow and a thoroughly charming rake, Becnel . . . breathes life into the rigid Regency-era romance genre. . . . Hester’s spirited personality and Adrian's devil-may-care attitude will appeal to a broad readership. Playful in tone and rich in character, this book is fun, breezy entertainment.” —Publishers Weekly “A real treat.” —BooklistZum Buch
A half-English, masked but clearly beautiful young girl flees an arranged marriage to an aging Marchese into the gaiety and chaos of the Venice Carnival… A dashingly handsome Marquis in Venice on a top-secret mission for the English Prime Minister… A terrible storm that blows the Marquis’s yacht off course and into the hands of murderous and lustful Barbary Pirates… A hastily arranged prison wedding to save her from a Fate worse than death. And a kiss that changes two lives forever…Zum Buch
