Historical Romance Thriller

Phillippa Benning is the unrivaled beauty of the Season. But when another lady challenges her for a marquis's attentions, Phillippa entices him to a secret rendezvous only to stumble upon The Blue Raven, England's most famous spy, lurking at the site of her planned tryst. The Blue Raven has uncovered an enemy plot directed at upcoming society functions, but he's unable to infiltrate London society.

1789. Pierre and Catherine Aubert, the Comte and Comtesse de Verais, have fled the palace of Versailles for their château, deep in the French Alps. But as revolution spreads through the country, even hidden away the Auberts will not be safe forever. Soon they must make a terrible decision in order to protect themselves and their children, from harm.

Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she's accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to burn at the stake.

Paris 1930s. Childhood companions Fleur and Colette make a vow, under the trailing ivy of their secret garden, that they will be secret sisters forever. But as they grow up, the promises of childhood are put to the ultimate test. For Colette is the daughter of the house, and her life is all jazz clubs, silk dresses and chilled champagne, while Fleur is the orphan niece of the housekeeper and doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere. Years later, in 1939, life as they know it will never be the same.

The heroines of Lauren Willig's best-selling Pink Carnation series have engaged in espionage all over 19th-century Europe. In the sixth stand-alone volume, our fair English heroine travels to India, where she finds freedom-and risk-more exciting than she ever imagined.

Abby Kimball has slowly accepted her recently discovered ability to see the dead, but none of the harmless sightings she's experienced could have prepared her for the startling apparition of a centuries-old courtroom scene - where she locks eyes with a wicked and gleeful accuser. Thrown back more than 300 years, Abby realizes she's been plunged into a mystery that has fascinated people throughout American history: the Salem witch trials.

As the daughter of a famed courtesan, Julianna de Lacy had seen more than her share of heartbreak. As a child, her own heart was broken the night her mother dragged her from the Marquess Devereaux’s mansion and forced her into a stranger’s carriage. It was not the fear of meeting her mother’s new lover that had Julianna sobbing, but the fact she was leaving Bennet Devereaux - the marquess’ young son and Julianna’s only friend. Their parting words became a mantra she recited every night before bed.

Once upon a time a young couple met and fell in love. You probably know that story, and how it ended (hint: badly). Only here’s the thing: That’s not how it ended at all. Romeo and Juliet are alive and well and the parents of seven kids. I’m the oldest, with the emphasis on ‘old’—a certified spinster at twenty, and happy to stay that way. It’s not easy to keep your taste for romance with parents like mine. Picture it—constant monologues, passionate declarations, fighting, making up, making out … it’s exhausting.

August 1856. The Dickinson family is comfortably settled in their homestead on Main Street. Emily’s brother, Austin Dickinson, and his new wife are delighted when famous thinker and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to Amherst to speak at a local literary society and decides he and his young secretary, Luther Howard, will stay with the newlyweds. Emily has been a longtime admirer of Emerson’s writing and is thrilled at the chance to meet her idol. She is determined to impress him with her quick wit, and if she can gather the courage, a poem.

Ghostly images appear and float across the stage, objects levitate into the air, and a beautiful assistant disappears inside a glass box, then reappears inside a second glass box. All while the audience at the Crystal Palace, including amateur investigator Mikaela Forsythe, watch the performance. Is it real? Then, an evening with her friend, Theodora Templeton, attending the one-night performance by master illusionist Jean Luc Betard, takes a ghastly turn and plunges Mikaela headlong into murder when the illusionist's young assistant is found dead at the end of his newest stunt.

London,1925. Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter finds himself in the middle of a series of upper-class deaths in London. Bright young people are being extinguished in their favorite night spots, from a sleazy private jazz club to the Savoy ballroom. Dev knows just the person to help him navigate the treacherous society waters: Lady Adelaide Compton, a marquess's daughter and widow of a Great War hero. Unfortunately, he has put her in jeopardy once before, nearly leading him to turn in his warrant card.

The year 1777: In the Revolutionary War, Landon Mansion is commandeered by British Lord “Butcher” Bedford. He stabs Lucy Tarleton - who spurned his king and his love - leaving her to die in her father’s arms. Now: After the day’s final tour, docent Allison Leigh makes her rounds while locking up…and finds a colleague slumped over Bedford’s desk, impaled on his own replica bayonet. Resident ghosts may be the stock-in-trade of stately Philadelphia homes, but Allison - a noted historian - is indignant.

As the year 1349 approaches, the Black Death continues its devastating course across England. In Dorseteshire, the quarantined people of Develish question whether they are the only survivors. Guided by their beloved young mistress, Lady Anne, they wait, knowing that when their dwindling stores are finally gone they will have no choice but to leave. But where will they find safety in the desolate wasteland outside? One man has the courage to find out. Thaddeus Thurkell, a free-thinking, educated serf, strikes out in search of supplies and news.

The Pink Carnation, history's most elusive spy and England's only hope for preventing a Napoleonic invasion, returns in Lauren Willig's dazzling, imaginative new historical romance. The Masque of the Black Tulip opens with the murder of a courier from the London War Office, his confidential dispatch for the Pink Carnation stolen.

Ten years ago, Thomas Paxton was sent by Revolutionary France to infiltrate the British Intelligence Service. Now his sense of honor brings him back to London to confess. But instead of facing the gallows, he is given one last impossible assignment to prove his loyalty. Lovely, lying former French spy Camille Leyland is dragged from obscurity by threats and blackmail.

In 1914, while visiting her friend Madeleine, Lady Elspeth Douglas's life is thrown into chaos when war breaks out and the Germans quickly overrun Belgium, threatening France. Having just agreed to marry Alain, Madeleine's dashing brother, Lady Elspeth watches him leave to join his unit, and then she sets out for England, only to find herself trapped on the French coast.

Between creating precious glass parts for one Professore Galileo Galilei’s astonishing invention and attending lavish parties at the Doge’s Palace, Sophia crosses paths with influential people, including one who could change her life forever. But in Venice, every secret has its price. Soon, Sophia must decide how much she is willing to pay for her family, the glass, and love.

In 1540, newly married and pregnant Isobel Devlin vanished from a tiny island in Lancashire, never to be seen again. In 2020, leaving London for the first time since the pandemic began, Nicole Rayburn and Kyle Walsh head to a guesthouse in the Lake District for a much-needed holiday. Across from the historic manor house, on an island in the middle of a lake, are the ruins of Montrose Abbey, the last known abode of Lady Isobel Devlin. Intrigued, Nicole begins to research Lady Isobel’s disappearance as the subject for a new book.

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Laurens brings you a tale of unexpected romance that blossoms against the backdrop of dastardly murder. Well-born rakehell and head of an ancient family, Alaric, Lord Carradale, is finally preparing to find a bride. But loyalty to his childhood friend Percy Mandeville necessitates attending Percy's annual house party, held at neighboring Mandeville Hall. Alaric decides that as soon as he's free, he'll hie to London and find the mild-mannered lady he believes will ensure a peaceful life. But the following morning he comes upon the corpse of a young lady-guest.

After the scandal of his broken engagement, Nathan Dunbridge accepted his fate as a bachelor—so of course that’s when the most ineligible woman of all turns up in disguise at a society event: Verity Cole, former spy and Stonecliffe’s resident troublemaker… a woman Nathan finds equal parts alluring and irritating. Living in London under an assumed name, Verity runs an investigation agency. So when a stranger shows up claiming to be the rightful Dunbridge heir, Nathan turns to Verity to help him uncover the truth. Verity agrees, always eager to unravel a mystery.