Showing results for "The Book of Curses" in Historical Fiction

The riveting story of Margaret Pole, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, and was one of the few surviving members of the Plantagenet dynasty after the Wars of the Roses. Plantagenet, once carried proudly by Margaret like a crown upon her head, is now, at the end of the 15th century, the most dangerous name in England...

The sun rides high over the British Empire and the light still sparkles brightly in Amelia Peabody's eye as she returns for her second adventure in archaeology and romantic mystery as recounted in her lively journal, The Curse of the Pharaohs.

Are curses real? After a toymaker magician gives a lecture at a collector’s club soiree, an important spell is stolen and a man is found strangled. The investigation into his murder leads India and Matt to the colorful and dangerous world of the Romany gypsy where curses are used as weapons against their enemies. But nobody seems to know if curses are real or not. As Matt and India close in on the killer, old foes bring trouble into their lives. With the threat of exposure hanging over London’s magicians, disaster is never far away.

A centuries-old skeleton is discovered in a lonely Scottish Castle. It wears a crown and hides a curse. Swift, the detective friend of Major Heathcliff Lennox, now lives at Braeburn Castle and it was he who uncovered the skeleton. As ghosts are heard and treasure-seekers appear, the murders begin. Lennox must go to Braeburn and investigate as Halloween draws near.

With the secret of her divine heritage revealed, Freya finds herself on a path that could see thousands of lives lost to the magic in her blood. Desperate to avoid this dark fate, she risks an alliance with Skaland's greatest enemy to seek answers from the seer who foretold her future - the same seer who sent Bjorn to kill her. While Freya still seethes with rage over Bjorn's betrayal, the blood oaths that bind her demand that she keep him close as she hunts for a way to avert the looming war.

Warlords battle across Britain to become the first king of the English. After a stunning victory against the native Waelisc, Beobrand returns a hero. His valour is rewarded with wealth and land by Oswald, king of Northumbria. He retires to his new estate with his bride only to find himself surrounded by enemies old and new. With treachery and death on all sides, Beobrand fears he will lose all he holds dear. On a quest for revenge and redemption, he accepts the mantle of lord, leading his men into the darkest of nights and the bloodiest of battles.

September, 2001. As the world watches agape at the traumatic scenes coming out of the United States, its no different for Verity Hunter and Keith Malcolm in the tranquil surroundings of their new life in Cornwall. A call from Max Zeall soon has them summoned back to Oxford, however; it seems fate would not allow them to be away for long.

When a man wakes to find himself gripping a dagger and sprawled next to a corpse, what else can he do but board a boat sailing for India? But after five years spent avoiding the hangman’s noose, Hudson Lockhart has returned to England to prove himself innocent of any crime. Suspecting a family member conspired to incriminate him, Lockhart devises a plan to trap the culprit. All he needs now is someone to pretend to be his devoted wife.

After nearly two years and with one token left to hide, a powerful magical event hits Talohna and causes the failure of the most important spell Kael has ever cast. The horrific results leave him a wanted man and all of his efforts to form an alliance against the Ri’Tek fall apart. With the tokens hidden at last, Kael wants nothing more than to forget the past and to spend time with his family, but knowing they will never be safe no matter where they hide, he recruits Treach in a bid to scour the Arcane Library catacombs for an answer.

They call him Lord Lyon, proud, determined - and cursed. He is in need of a bride, but if he falls in love, he dies. His fervent hope is that by marrying - and having a son - without love, perhaps he can break the curse's chains forever. Enter beautiful Thea Martin - a duke's headstrong, errant daughter and society's most brilliant matchmaker. Years ago, she and Lyon were inseparable, until he disappeared from her life without a word. Now she is charged with finding Lyon's bride - a woman he cannot love for a man Thea could love too well.

Finally home in Kent after her recent adventures in Yorkshire and Cornwall, Lady Anne Addison is shocked to spy her erstwhile suitor, the Marquess of Darkefell, skulking around the gypsy camps near her property. Outraged that he has followed her there, she writes a scathing letter to him and his family, which brings Darkefell - and his denials that it was he - to Kent. Despite Darkefell's arrival, Anne is preoccupied with the troubles that plague her family and loved ones. Is it the old gypsy woman's curse that is making her friends ill, or something far more sinister?

The year is 1348, and the plague is set to sweep through England, leaving tragedy in its wake. Unaware of what awaits her, Agnes is in love and betrothed to Ted. But her life is about to be torn apart, and nothing will ever be the same again. Jennifer’s life has changed for the better since she arrived in Italy. She’s put her past behind her and can finally look forward to a brighter future with boyfriend, Francesco, and her Italian relatives, if it wasn’t for the disturbing visions she keeps having of a pregnant young girl. Who is she? And what is her connection to Jennifer?

The ancient curse of Carnaby Castle has begun taking victims again—either that, or someone’s very cleverly done away with the new young bride of the philandering family patriarch, and the chief suspect is none other than Carnaby, London’s finest club steward. Anty Boisjoly’s wits and witticisms are tested to their frozen limit as he sifts the superstitions, suspicions, and age-old schisms of the mediaeval Peak District village of Hoy to sort out how it was done before Carnaby’s served his last scotch-and-soda.

Argoth and Shim have only a short season before Mokad comes to annihilate them. If they're going to survive, they will need to raise an army of dreadmen and fell-maidens and train them in the lore. Argoth sends out a call to Groves throughout the western lands and begins to train Talen, Sugar, and 30 others. But Mokad isn't waiting. Mokad has already sent an armada with armies from four glorydoms. It has also sent its Guardian - a terrifying Divine everyone thinks is a sleth ally, coming with an invitation from Argoth himself to join Shim's men.

The histories of Old Earth record that in the Year of Our Lord 778, Charlemagne’s rearguard under the command of Count Roland of the Breton March was ambushed and slain to a man. But Roland and his men were drawn through a magical gate, to a new and strange world of magic and deadly creatures. A world where every man, no matter what his estate or rank, no matter how poor or common or rich and influential, was born with the power of magic. But the magic of this world carries a deadly curse, and the price for abusing its power is ruinous.

Marcas Matheson’s life has spiraled out of control. A fatal illness has ravaged his clan, taking not only his parents and his wife, but so many others of the clan. It’s called the curse of Black Isle. Worse, as heir to the chieftain, now Marcas must be both leader and savior to his people - but they are losing faith in him. Already there are murmurs that his poor decisions brought the curse, causing him to doubt his own ability to head the clan. But when his small daughter takes sick, Marcas has no problem making a decision: He must find a healer.

1922. Since the Great War, Ruby Vaughn has made a life for herself running a rare bookshop alongside her octogenarian employer and housemate in Exeter. She's always avoided dwelling on the past, but it has a way of finding her. When Ruby must deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she'd never return: Penryth Hall.

Set in 1928 in Victoria, Australia. The Thornton family made its money in the goldfields during the 1850s and the antiques trade. Their principal home is Thornton Park, a lavish mansion close to Melbourne. They also own a home and a goldmine in Daylesford, where their close friends, the Bassetti family, are part of a thriving Swiss-Italian community.

They call her the Unattainable. Lady Margaret Chattan spurned every suitor for her hand, vowing never to marry. The only way to break the curse plaguing her family for two centuries is this ultimate sacrifice. But now her brothers' lives are in danger. Determined to save them, she risks her very soul by traveling into the heart of the Highlands to battle a force that has transcended time.

A centuries-old curse, a mysterious amulet, and a young love reignite a vendetta that had died down long ago…When seventeen-year-old Samantha goes on a school-exchange trip to Scotland, she takes with her an old pendant that she found amongst her grandmother's belongings. As soon as she arrives at her host family's home, she is drawn into the country's tales and myths. Then she meets the dangerously attractive Scot Payton - a mysterious Highlander who soon conquers Sam's heart.