Historical Fiction Well

Miss Cassandra Holwell is too tall, too bookish, and too smart - but she does have money and a father who wants a grand title for her. Cassandra hasn’t felt a desire to marry until she meets the sinfully handsome Duke of Camberly, who captures her imagination...until Soren York, Earl of Dewsberry and her family’s sworn enemy, steps in the way.

"The Well-Beloved" is a beautifully crafted novel by Thomas Hardy, exploring the complexities of love and desire. Set in the scenic Isle of Slingers, it tells the story of a sculptor, Jocelyn Pierston, and his obsessive search for his perfect muse, who he calls his "well-beloved". As he searches for this elusive figure, he faces a series of trials and tribulations, each leading him closer to his ultimate desire. This poignant and lyrical tale is a must-read for any lover of classic literature.

One year ago, Sergeant Rosemary Booker violently ended crime lord Erkan Waldemar’s reign of terror - and in doing so, unwittingly awakened in his wife, Isabel, the sleeping soul of the legendary Blood Countess Erzsébet Báthory. Hellbent on avenging her husband’s death, Báthory sets out to gather to her side history’s most notorious criminals and killers - an army of the damned to carry out her vendetta against Rosemary. The sins of Rosemary’s past are returning with a vengeance.

In this audiobook, master storyteller Jim Weiss introduces young listeners to some of the most fascinating people and events of the Middle Ages. Attila the Hun makes an empire shake with fear. Sir William Marshall outfights every opponent - yet shows mercy even to his enemies. Hildegard of Bingen writes beautiful music - and writes advice letters to kings and queens! Muhammad changes the map of the world, and inspires a faith that guides millions of people. Eleanor of Aquitaine fights for power in a world ruled by men. Moses Maimonides heals illnesses of the body and the spirit.

Twice he has been close to the altar and still no duchess. Will the third time be the charm? A duke can't marry just anyone. His wife must be of good family, be fertile, and be young. Struggling playwright Sarah Pettijohn is absolutely the last woman Gavin Whitridge, Duke of Baynton, would ever fall in love with. However, there is something about her that stirs his blood, which makes her perfect for a bargain he has in mind: In exchange for backing her play, he wants Sarah to teach him about love.

When computer game designer Traci Campbell gets too close and personal with a bottle of Glenfiddich while vacationing in Scotland, she whisks her kilt-obsessed sister back to 1689 to prove hot guys in kilts are a myth. Hello, hundred bucks! But all bets are off when she meets Iain, the charming playboy in a to-die-for kilt.

The penniless orphan of a disreputable earl, Lady Charlene Blanchard thrives on the adventure of picking the pockets of unsavory gentlemen to survive. But due to her extraordinary beauty and prized bloodlines, she is hand chosen as a potential bride for the duke of Baynton, who is on the hunt for a suitable wife to provide heirs. All Char has to do is act the part she was born to play and charm a duke she's never laid eyes on into proposing.

She'd once been the toast of London, but now scandal has brought her down. Still, pretty, petted Lady Tara Davidson can't believe her new fate. She had wanted to marry for love…but her profligate father has promised her hand to none other than Breccan Campbell, the "Beast of Aberfeldy" and laird of the valley's most despised clan! Well, Tara may have to marry him, but Breccan can't make her love him…can he?

All Highland warrior Gavin Patrick wants is to get back to his native Scotland. Before Gavin leaves the battlefield, he's given a final mission - escort Lady Marie Colette to her fiancé. Under no circumstances is he to lay hands on the beautiful heiress...no matter how desperate the temptation. Forced to pose as a married couple to escape from France, Gavin and Marie Colette find themselves thrown into peril...and each other's arms. As the danger mounts, so does forbidden passion.

Is it wrong for a woman to want more? Not if she is a Spinster Heiress. They do not settle. Any young miss would be very lucky to find herself promised to a man like the duke of Camberly. However, Miss Willa Reverly has watched her friends marry for love. Camberly may be the prize of the season, but she will not be “sold” to any man. She wants his devotion or she wants nothing at all.

Highland Games fanatic Fiona Campbell believes her only value is her family's history, myths, and legends. So when she travels back to 1689 Scotland and discovers she's the Fiona of family legend, you'd think she'd be excited. And she is. Except that the legendary warrior she's to save her ancestor from is the hottie in a kilt she just handfasted. Duncan MacCowan once trusted his heart to the wrong woman, but when a strange lass drops into his life and pries opens his heart again, he impulsively handfasts her.

The rumors fly throughout the Scottish countryside about Lady Alanna, the beautiful and mysterious displaced mistress of Fionnaway Manor. And now she has emerged from hiding, only to find her beloved estate besieged by greedy relatives...and coveted by a darkly handsome Englishman. Ian Fairchild knows that Fionnaway belongs to him alone. For years he yearned for the cherished place where he passed his childhood. He can secure his rights to the manor only through marriage with the enigmatic Alanna, but the exquisite hellion has warned him at knifepoint to leave her house.

Prim, plain, desperately virtuous Lady Mary Fairchild stares at the seductive gentleman and wonders - does he remember the night they met? Surely not. In the ten years since, she left behind her youthful impetuousness and transformed herself into a housekeeper - disguising her beauty beneath a servant's dour clothing.

After years of war, the residents of Coronation Street are looking forward to saying goodbye to rations books, blackouts and bombs. However, life is slow to change, and they are still waiting for the good times to return. Ida Barlow thought she was happy to have her husband back from the war. Frank can’t understand that his wife has no intention of giving up her new independence to wait on him hand and foot. Wendy Collins, a new arrival to the street, wants a fresh start but struggles to fit in to her teaching job at the local school.

Lucy Bell burns with determination. Convinced an arrogant aristocrat is to blame for her expulsion from her beloved school, the penniless girl sets out to visit her best friend to help her undo the catastrophe. But when a storm on the road leaves her in a compromising position with a handsome gardener, she is swept away by his gruff kindness.

Weary of his decadent life, the wicked Duke of Rochford arrives in Bath with every intent to turn over a new leaf. But when the prim, meddling, feisty headmistress of the neighboring school unleashes her outspoken opposition to Marcus’s presence, he decides to turn his new house into a gambling den, if only to vex her.

Lord Theodore Rockley, Eleventh Duke of Pembridge, is endowed with everything a man could desire. Good looks. Charm. Intellect. A wealthy estate. And an enormous specimen of...masculine splendor. So formidable, in fact, that no woman has been able to conquer its summit. Scandalous adventuress Estela Bongorge wants only one thing from delicious Lord Rockley, and she's never yet been beaten in a challenge.

Every debutante aspires to snag a duke. Elin Morris just happens to have had one reserved since birth. But postponements of her marriage to London's most powerful peer give Elin time to wonder how she will marry Gavin Baynton when she cannot forget his brother, Benedict.

Lucy’s Chantress magic will make her the most powerful - and most hunted - girl in England. “Sing, and the darkness will find you.” This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now, it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing - and soon she is swept away into the darkness.

'Tis the season when lovers' eyes shine by the light of a blazing Yule log, when a quick kiss is shared beneath the mistletoe, and when love is the most splendid gift of all. Savor the beauty and passion of Christmas with two heartwarming stories by outstanding Regency author Elizabeth Mansfield. From A Sneeze on Tuesday: A broken engagement and a miserable cold were not in Elinor's holiday plans. But her spirited heart found its own remedy: a true and lasting love.