Showing results for "penelope rawlins" in Historical

Paris, 1750. In the midst of winter, as birds fall frozen from the sky, a new maid arrives at the home of a celebrated clockmaker and his clever, unworldly daughter. But rumours are stirring that Reinhart's uncanny mechanical creations - bejewelled birds, silver spiders - are more than mere automata. That they might defy the laws of nature, perhaps even at the expense of the living. But Madeleine is hiding a dark past, and a dangerous purpose - to discover the truth of the clockmaker's experiments and record his every move, in exchange for her own chance of freedom.

In England, 1939, talented pilot Skye Penrose is flying for the Royal Air Force. She soon meets a mysterious Frenchwoman named Margaux Jourdan, and with her is Catherine Dior, the sister of the renowned designer. Together, they have no idea of the danger that lies ahead....

Every Season the beaux mondes of the Regency would hire a house in the heart of London's fashionable West End at a disproportionately high rent for often inferior accommodation and yet No.67 Clarges Street, a town house complete with staff, remains vacant from year to year.

With her four older sisters now married, it's Patience Shackleford's turn to take charge of her younger siblings' education. But given that Patience's most prodigious skill is lock picking, any abilities she passes on to her younger sisters are unlikely to provide any assistance in the drawing rooms of the genteel, especially as she has no interest in either high society, or horror of horrors… marriage. Indeed, her father the Reverend Augustus Shackleford is firmly of the opinion that the less society knows about his fifth daughter the better…

1940: Parisian seamstress Estella Bissette is forced to flee France as the Germans advance. She is bound for Manhattan with a few francs, one suitcase, her sewing machine and a dream: to have her own atelier. 2015: Australian curator Fabienne Bissette journeys to the annual Met Gala for an exhibition of her beloved grandmother's work - one of the world's leading designers of ready-to-wear. But as Fabienne learns more about her grandmother's past, she uncovers a story of tragedy, heartbreak and secrets - and the sacrifices made for love.

With her signature blend of 'lose yourself' love stories and buried secrets, Sunday Times top ten best seller Tasmina Perry is back with this gorgeously romantic read, perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore and Rachel Hore. From Paris to St Petersburg, this spellbinding tale of love, loss and long-buried secrets is guaranteed to break your heart.... Everyone remembers their first kiss. You never forget the last.... It's 1961. Bright-eyed young journalist Rosamund Bailey is determined to change the world.

Lord Guy Carlton, late of His Majesty's Regiment and weary from the war in France, has only wine, women and song in mind when he rents No. 67 Clarges Street for the season. He certainly has no desire for a serious attachment - and as for marriage: never!

It's up to the servants of No. 67 Clarges Street to hatch a scheme... and arrange a match! "Oh, to be as beautiful as Euphemia!" sighs plain Jane Hart when she joins her sister at No.67 for the Season, as then Lord Tregarthan might notice her... as she has noticed him and forever lost her heart. And while it is Euphemia's fate to flit her way through balls and into the arms of a marquis, Jane's is to stay at home... until the Downstairs staff transform the plain Miss into the Season's sensation and send her waltzing into a daring liaison with the man of her dreams!

Lovely but penniless Harriet Metcalf is horrified when she is named in a nobleman's will as guardian of his two ghastly and snobbish twin daughters. The innocent Harriet doesn't feel wily enough to cope with the intricacies of the London Season - not to mention two of its most eligible bachelors, the Marquis of Huntington and Lord Vere.

When the Duke of Pelham returns to his town house at 67 Clarges Street he is grimly determined to find himself a suitable wife, and love will have nothing to do with his selection.

In the genteel squares and stuccoed villas of late-Victorian Brighton, Ellen and Reynold Harper - twins, companions, colleagues, - ply their trade as portrait photographers. But at the golden hour, the girls arrive to pose for the lucrative - and dangerous - illicit photographs that really keep the Harpers' business afloat. This is the other, shadowy world of the city: a world of erotic tableaux, boundary-crossing music hall artistes, and the sinister figure of the local gangster, the Croc.

Elena MacKinnon has spent the last seven years training to become a proper English lady. When her childhood friend, Captain Theo Donovan, returns from serving in the Navy, he brings along with him Elena’s humiliation for the ill-advised and ardent love letter she wrote him before his departure, which he ignored entirely. Elena hopes to simultaneously stifle his memory of the letter and make him regret overlooking her, showing him just how fine an English lady she can be. The only problem? She is not English but a proud Scot—and her heart may be more enamored with Theo than ever.

Young theatre nurse Clare Maitland is devastated when her fiancé calls off their dream wedding because he wants to marry someone else. Her friendship with charming surgeon Andrew Darvie provides comfort, but is it enough to mend a broken heart? Meanwhile, Clare's feelings are hurt by the harsh comments of moody but talented Dr. Hugh Sanders. The chance of a nursing job in Scotland seems the answer to all of Clare's problems. But she soon discovers that escaping the men in her life won't be as easy as she imagined.

When 17-year-old Stella Whittaker is offered the chance to study at the Academy of Music in Vienna it's a dream come true, made possible by old family friends, Rainer and Marthe Kraus, who offer her a place to live. Seduced by the elegant beauty of the city, Stella explores the magnificent palaces, gardens, and fashionable coffeehouses, and after a chance meeting in an art gallery, falls in love with Harri Reznik, a young Jewish doctor.

The whole of society knows there isn’t a redeemable bone in Riordan Barrett’s sinfully sexy body. Suddenly Riordan finds himself not only an earl…but father to two young wards! His only experience is in the art of irresponsibility. This rake needs help--and hiring a pretty young governess won’t be such a hardship! Sweet, innocent Maura Caulfield is seemingly unaware of Riordan’s disreputable ways. But it won’t stay like that for long. He’ll show her just how much fun sinning can be…

After years in Italy, honing his skills in the delicious art of seduction, Ashe returns to London’s high-class establishments. There, his scandalous ways are abruptly ended by his father’s death. To claim what is rightfully his, Ashe must do the inconceivable – take a wife! But who could possibly even think about marrying such a man? Certainly not the lovely Genevra Ralston. After all, she’d be finished in polite society. Wouldn’t she?

When an eager and curious Jane Eyre arrives at Thornfield Hall her sexual desires are instantly awakened. Who is the enigmatic Rochester whom she instantly feels attracted to? What are the strange and yet captivating noises coming from the attic? Only one thing is certain: Jane Eyre may have arrived at Thornfield an unfulfilled and tentative woman, but she will leave a very different person.…

Hannah French has always wanted more from life than her sleepy village in Devon can offer. And there are two men who are willing to give her that escape: William and Ralph Lawlor. They are brothers but their bloodline is all that they have in common. When events in Hannah’s life take a devastating turn, will somebody come to her rescue or will she have to accept that hope is all she has left?