NCW Libraries

In every life there is a turning point. A moment so tremendous, so breathtaking, that one knows one's life will never be the same. For Michael Stirling, London's most infamous rake, that moment came the first time he laid eyes on Francesca Bridgerton.

"To escape the French Revolution, Comtesse Marie-Christine d'Estelle flees to London. But when she finds herself penniless, Christa hides her aristocratic background to become a lady's maid. Rebuffing advances from her mistress's husband gets Christa cast into the street--directly into a hero's arms. Captain Lord Alexander Kingsley must take charge of his sister Annabelle, a debutante in need of a maid. Alex is delighted to discover that the woman...

"A Marquess of Meager Means. Trevor, Marquess of Tavistock, has finally decided to stop larking around on the Continent, come home, and take a bride. His solicitors applaud his decision to settle down, provided he chooses a wealthy young lady to be his marchioness. To Trevor's dismay, the years he spent seeing the world went badly for the lordly coffers. Will it be truth or true love? Trevor is reluctant to consign himself to a mercenary marriage,...

After spending three seasons searching for a husband in Victorian London, Daisy Bowman, the sole "Wallflower" yet to be married, finally meets her match.

As part of a large, rambunctious family, Lady Eleanor Carpenter has gained some knowledge of what makes a successful marriage. She's even compiled a list of essential qualifications in a potential husband. John, the Marquis of Montagu, seems of good character (check), with money enough to support a family (check). But what of the many other requirements on her list?

"Debutantes, debates, and disasters abound when two former enemies join forces to maintain their freedom. James Aldwick isn't ready to settle down, but his father, Baron Retford, doesn't give him a choice. The stigma of illegitimacy has haunted the baron his whole life, and it's up to his son to reestablish their good name by marrying into a family with a perfect pedigree. A series of summer parties is the obvious course of action and the perfect...

"She's learned to ask for nothing... Miss Hecate Brompton is on the shelf and relieved to finally be there with her personal wealth in tact. She faces enough challenges keeping her rackety family from scandal and ruin without the added bother of marriage. When Phillip Vincent approaches her with a request to become his de facto finishing governess, she's both appalled by and sympathetic to his plan. She was once the awkward outsider, and knows exactly...

"Katherine Cartwright knows through bitter experience that true love is fiction and trust should not be bestowed easily. Now, after two unsuccessful London Seasons, her atrocious father has decided to marry her off to the highest bidder to pay for his gambling debts, ridding himself of the daughter he never wanted. A profitable deal is struck, and Kate is packed off to the home of her betrothed, an earl she has never met. Or so she believes. When...

Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford, has never made a fool of himself over a woman, until he meets Lady Yasmin Regnier. Yasmin is ineligible for his attentions in every way: not as a wife, certainly not as a mistress (she is a lady!), nor even as a friend, since they vehemently dislike each other. Her gowns are too low, and her skirts are dampened to cling to admittedly lovely thighs. She loves to gossip and giggle. She isn't dignified, or polite, or even...

"A budding artist, a gentleman-in-training, and a fake courtship that takes both of them by surprise. Caroline Clapham isn't a world renown artist-she's simply a farmer's daughter possessed of natural talent with a paintbrush. Talent that her mentor, the Countess of Inglewood, is happy to foster for a summer at her beautiful seaside estate. Caroline wants to see the world and commit its beauties to canvas, but she fears that the season will end and...