Showing results by narrator "Victoria Aston" in All Categories

After enduring five interminable seasons, Lottie Carlisle has had enough of shallow London society, her boring little life, and her uncle Alfred's meddling. When he demands she accept a proposal by the end of next season or else he will choose a husband for her, she devises a plan: create a scandal shocking enough to make her unmarriageable and spend her spinsterhood far enough away in the countryside where no one will ever recognize her.

Chief Officer of the Society for the Intellectually Advanced, Lord Matthew Strathmore, Earl of Whittingham, takes his position very seriously. Not only does it distract him from the painful aftermath of a gunshot wound to the leg, earned most honorably, it is important work. So he feels duty-bound to question esteemed scientist Lord Talbot about a suspect article. Matthew dashes from London to Oxfordshire, despite wretched weather that only exacerbates his injury, reminding him he is far from the dashing gentleman he once was.

Tea leaves and tarot cards are entertaining ways to predict the future, but when Evelyn Osbourne finds herself unexpectedly thrust into the public eye on stage in Vauxhall Gardens, not even the most reliable crystal ball can prepare her for what happens next. Evelyn has always known love wasn't written in the stars, not with her family turmoil, and yet when she meets Malcolm Walker, she can't help but question her fate.

In the hedonistic world of Vauxhall Gardens, a place where London's aristocracy pursues daring entertainment and sensual pleasures, desire overrules status, prejudice, and societal censure. When Lola York meets Theodore Coventry, Earl of Essex, their chemistry is undeniable, but she knows better than to yearn for forbidden love. That is, until their involvement becomes unavoidable and Lola realizes the most dangerous risk of all is the one that threatens her heart.

Vauxhall Gardens may be London's ideal attraction with its diverse population, unusual entertainment, and illicit pleasure walks, but for Sofia Gallo, it's also a safe haven. Leaving Italy with her brothers, she escaped the threat of scandal and the longer she performs as a tumbler, the more Vauxhall feels like home. Especially when she meets Noah Wright, a handsome bachelor seeking work as a magician. Yet predicting the future is far from a magician's illusion and when Sofia's past collides with her present, she discovers forbidden love is more dangerous than she ever dared to imagine.