Showing results by narrator "Susan Duerden" in All Categories

That Nelda Roundheels had been murdered would have been of little interest to anyone - except that her body turned up in the bishop of Winchester's bedchamber with a letter to the bishop, from the king's most important enemy, rolled up in her breastband. The bishop and his knight, Sir Bellamy of Itchen, realize immediately that the purpose of putting the body in Winchester's bedchamber is to embarrass and discredit the bishop. And the reason for this attack on Winchester is his calling of a convocation to chastise the king for acting high-handedly against the bishop of Salisbury.

Lord Rimswell is a man of honor and absolutes. If he says something is impossible, it is. Yet his life of right and wrong is turned upside down when he finds himself in a compromising situation with the most unyielding, yet maddeningly beautiful, woman in London. If only he had not given in to the irresistible temptation to kiss her. Now he must marry her. Miss Roselie Stratton is the very definition of impossible - headstrong, outspoken, and carrying a reticule of secrets that could ruin more than her reputation.

Though she can't afford the coal to heat her drafty Mayfair mansion, Felicity Langley still clings to her dream of marrying a duke - one she's had since her very first curtsy. After all, she's been promised to the very lofty duke of Hollindrake for the last four years. Now all she has to do is meet him. But what Felicity doesn't realize is that she has met her duke - he's the altogether too handsome man who Felicity has just mistaken...for her new footman!

Harriet Hathaway has only ever wanted one man: The Earl of Roxley. After a passionate interlude at a house party, Harriet is convinced Roxley will do the right thing and propose. But when she returns to London, she finds the roguish earl on the verge of proposing to another. Yet Harriet refuses to believe that her hopes of a happily-ever-after are completely lost - for she can see the desire still flickering in the earl's eyes when he looks at her from across the dance floor.

The Jacobs family has lived at Orley Court for generations. But when Vanessa Jacobs is widowed and left to manage the property, she finds costs spiralling out of control. In order to stay in their beloved home, she and her daughters will have to sell part of it off - a decision that drives a wedge between Vanessa and her mother-in-law. The new owners of the north wing are Laurence Sturridge and his father, Marcus. Both of them long for an escape: Laurence from the monotony of his City career; Marcus from the grief of losing his wife.

The Christmas season brings strange guests to the medieval nunnery of St. Frideswide's. They bear with them the badly mangled body of a villager, swearing they found the drunken fool lying in a ditch. But Meg, the victim's wife and a scullery maid of the cloister, thinks there are far fouler deeds afoot. As the players rehearse for the nativity, ancient scandals lick at their heels and dark desperation haunts Meg's steps as she finds cruel feudal laws threatening to strip away the lands that would support both her and her sons in the wake of her husband's death.

Delusion's Master is the third book of the stunning arabesque high-fantasy series Tales from the Flat Earth, which, in the manner of The One Thousand and One Nights, portrays an ancient world in mythic grandeur via connected tales. Come within this ancient world of brilliant darkness and beauty, of glittering palaces and wondrous elegant beings, of cruel passions and undying love. Discover the exotic wonder that is the Flat Earth.

"People your age belong at home," 73-year-old Mrs. Perivale is told when she tries to volunteer. With her son grown and gone, and her community turning their backs on her, the gravity of no longer being needed sinks her spirits deeply. She wonders if she has outlived her usefulness until a mystical little creature sneaks into Alice Perivale's home and begs her to come with him; there is a prophecy about her, and she must help save his world!

Lady Arabella Tremont has spent her entire life protected and overshadowed by her restrictive father. But she is a Tremont, after all, and the morning after she is nearly ruined at a ball by a handsome stranger, Arabella's father demands she make an arranged match with the heir to a dukedom. In desperation, Arabella takes matters into her own hands.

Leaving the safety of her nunnery walls behind, Dame Frevisse is drawn into an unholy web of treachery and deceit. Waylaid on the King's Highway by a band of outlaws, Frevisse is shocked to discover that their leader is her long-lost cousin Nicholas. When he pleads with her to help him obtain a pardon for his crimes, she finds herself trapped between the harsh edicts of the law and the mercy of her vows. But even as she struggles to restore his fortunes, Frevisse must fight to save his soul...and his life.

A notorious rake, the marquis of Bradstone stole young Olivia Sutton's heart...and then ruined her life. For seven years she has been forced to hide her past behind a false identity. And now the dashing scoundrel has returned a different man: more handsome, more serious, more desirable...and far more dangerous than the cad who brought scandal and shame into Olivia's world.

London, December 1943. As the Russian army repels German forces from Stalingrad, Maggie Hope takes a much-needed break from spying to defuse bombs in London. But Maggie herself is an explosion waiting to happen. Traumatized by her past, she finds herself living dangerously - taking huge risks, smoking, drinking, and speeding through the city streets on a motorbike. The last thing she wants is to get entangled in another crime.

A series of baffling murders among a group of imprisoned agents threatens the outcome of World War II in this chilling mystery from the New York Times best-selling author of Mr. Churchill’s Secretary. World War II is raging, and former spy Maggie Hope knows too much. She knows what the British government is willing to do to keep its secrets. She knows the real location of the planned invasion of France. She knows who’s lying. She knows who the double-crossers are. She knows exactly who is sending agents to their deaths.

December 1941. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C., along with special agent Maggie Hope. Posing as his typist, she is accompanying the prime minister as he meets with President Roosevelt to negotiate the United States’ entry into World War II. When one of the First Lady’s aides is mysteriously murdered, Maggie is quickly drawn into Mrs. Roosevelt’s inner circle—as ER herself is implicated in the crime.

After being forced into a brief marriage with an elderly earl, Celia Dorsett is ready to embrace her freedom, and take a lover. A masquerade with the demimonde sounds like the perfect way to find a companion for the evening without revealing her identity. But days after the most perfect evening of her life, she comes to realize her Lord Desire is none other than Christopher Sinclair, Viscount Stormont, her younger brother's best friend. The man who sits with her at the breakfast table nearly every morning making her laugh.

Deceptively fragile-looking, Eleanore of Ashlin had promised her life to God...until fate intervened. With her brother's untimely death, Eleanore - known as Elf to those who love her - becomes the heiress of an estate vital to England's defenses. She is ordered by royal command to wed one of the king's knights rather than take her final vows. With resistant heart, but ever obedient to King Stephen's will, she complies.

In the age of demons, when the Earth was still flat, a daughter was born to a mortal beauty and Azhrarn, Demon Lord of the Night. This Daughter of the night was called Azhriaz, and she was hidden away on a mist-shrouded isle, spirit-guarded, to spend her life in dreams. But Azhriaz was destined for more than dreaming. For if her father was the Lord of Night, her mother was descended from the Sun itself.

Maggie Hope has come a long way since she was Mr. Churchill’s secretary. In the face of tremendous danger, she’s learned espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance. But things are different now that she has so much to lose, including the possibility of a family with John Sterling, the man who’s long held her heart.

The death of her husband freed Serena Riverton from life as an abused sex object. Now, her brother plans to sell her to another vile man. This time, Serena flees, but finds herself stranded and near penniless. When a passing gentleman offers help, Serena accepts, and develops a new plan: become a rich man's mistress so she can leave at any time. Believing herself barren, Serena initiates a passionate encounter with her rescuer. However, Francis, Lord Middlethorpe, is already committed to a lady. Then Serena discovers she's pregnant. Is there any hope for the future they both seek?

When Gia Landon is tricked into a London season by her father, she is pleased to have found a friend who shares her love of horses in the Duke of Roxburghe. The surly Scot enjoys living in London and hates the country, while Gia despises everything about society.