Showing results by author "Maria Grace" in All Categories

Many Christmas traditions and images of "old fashioned" holidays are based on Victorian celebrations. Going back just a little further, to the beginning of the 19th century, the holiday Jane Austen knew would have looked distinctly odd to modern sensibilities. Take a step into history with Maria Grace as she explores the traditions, celebrations, games and foods that made up Christmastide in Jane Austen's era. Packed with information and rich with detail from period authors, Maria Grace transports the listener to a longed-for old fashioned Christmas.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh is very generous when it comes to medical care for her sickly daughter, Anne - generous enough to lure noted physician Dr. Thomas Bennet to give up his London practice and move his family to Rosings Park. But his good income comes with a price: complete dependence on his demanding patroness’s every whim. Now the Bennet family is trapped, reliant on Lady Catherine for their survival. Now she has chosen a husband for headstrong Elizabeth Bennet - Mr. George Wickham. But the Lady’s nephew, Fitzwilliam Darcy, is not so sure about his aunt’s choice.

Elizabeth anxiously anticipates her new duties as mistress of Pemberley. Darcy is confident of her success, but she cannot bring herself to share his optimism. Unexpected guests unsettle all her plans and offer her the perfect Christmastide gift, shattered confidence. Can she and Darcy overcome their misunderstandings and salvage their first Christmastide together?

England is overrun by dragons of all shapes and sizes. Most people are blissfully unaware of them and the Pendragon Treaty that keeps the peace between human and dragon kind. Only those born with preternatural hearing, like Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are able to hear and converse with dragonkind.

Elizabeth Bennet's father, Admiral Thomas Bennet, assures his daughters his retirement from His Majesty's Navy will be the start of a new life for them all. Little does he know his family's battles have only just begun.

One would think Anne Elliot, a baronet’s daughter, would find the marriage mart far easier to navigate than a more ordinary woman. One would be wrong. After refusing a poor, but otherwise perfect sailor, on the advice of her friend Lady Russell, Anne finds an unhappy choice before her: marry deathly dull Charles Musgrove or hope against hope that another suitable proposal might come her way before she becomes a spinster on the shelf.

Baby dragon debutantes. Territory challenges. Dragon battles. When will the chaos end? Dragon Sage Elizabeth Darcy longs for life to return to normal, at least as normal as it could be for a Blue Order officer who lives with more household dragons than most small villages. Having two sisters and an infant dragon to present as debutantes to the Order makes "normal" difficult. The fine ladies - she-dragons one and all - of the Cotillion Board make it impossible.

Darcy thought his problems were over when Pemberley hatched and successfully imprinted on humans. But baby dragons prove far more difficult than any dragon lore prepared him for. Only Elizabeth Bennet's notes offer him any help. When his imperious Aunt Catherine takes matters into her own hands, things take a turn for the worse and Pemberley’s life hangs in the balance. He desperately needs more of Elizabeth’s help, but she ignores all of his requests. Elizabeth, though, has problems of her own.

Most people were blissfully unaware that England was overrun by dragons. Only those born with preternatural hearing could hear and converse with dragonkind, and even those rarely came into their hearing before they were fifteen. It was not Elizabeth’s fault that she discovered the truth about dragons when she was only four years-old. It was also not Elizabeth’s fault that the old tatzelwurm, Rumblkins, who lived in the woods near Longbourn House befriended her.

Dive into the hidden-in-plain sight world of the Blue Order dragons. A heartwarming collection of short stories peeking into the hidden lives of the dragons, their friends and keepers. Birth, death, love, loss, and the amazing relationships that underscore them all. Visit with familiar characters and learn their stories. Meet entirely new dragons and their friends, while delving deeper into the mysterious world of Blue Order dragon.

The Blue Order and the Pendragon Accords kept England safe from the threat of dragon war since the days of Uther Pendragon and Dewi. Until now. Bad enough to face a dragon war, but to be the only man able to change its course? Frederick Wentworth faces the unthinkable. Not what he signed on for when he accepted his title as baronet. Sir Walter Elliot's arrival brings a different sort of war to Lyme when he demands his daughter Anne Wentworth resolve his latest crisis.

Elizabeth was not running away from danger like prey when she left Pemberley for London. No, protecting Little Anne and the baby she carried was the right, sensible and courageous thing to do. It was what any maternal dragon would do. And what place could be safer than Blue Order offices in London? But where dragons were involved, safe was a relative term. With threats to the Blue Order on every side, everyone is stepping lightly around the Council dragons.

Elizabeth Bennet thought she was prepared to do anything to make the Dragon Conclave accept her beloved young dragon, Pemberley, into the Blue Order, but she had not anticipated it would leave her banished from her ancestral home and betrothed to none other than Mr. Darcy. But before Elizabeth and Darcy wed, they must find a dangerous rogue dragon before it provokes a war amongst the dragons and brings the fragile peace between dragons and mankind to a catastrophic end.

Twelfth Night - a night for wondrous things to happen. At least for other people. In the months after her sisters' weddings, nothing has gone well for Kitty Bennet. Since Lydia's infamous elopement, her friends have abandoned her, and Longbourn is more prison than home. Not even Elizabeth's new status as Mrs. Darcy of Pemberley can repair the damage to Kitty's reputation. More than anything else, she wishes to leave the plain ordinary Kitty behind and become Catherine Bennet, a proper young lady. Her only ray of hope is an invitation to Pemberley for the holidays.

Smugglers. A kidnapping. A fire-breathing fairy dragon? The Blue Order is falling apart at the seams. After months in Bath mentoring Dragon Keepers and Friends, Dragon Sage Elizabeth Darcy actually anticipates traveling to London for the Keeper’s Cotillion. Which says a great deal considering the she-dragons who make up the Cotillion board would very much like to show the Sage her proper place. The she-dragons, though, are no match for what Sir Fitzwilliam Darcy finds waiting for him in London.

After a visit to London that nearly cost her everything, Lady Elizabeth Darcy, Dragon Sage, desperately needs the solace of her country home, Pemberley. Sir Fitzwilliam Darcy, knight of the Pendragon Order and Keeper to Pemberley, counts the minutes until Pemerbley's walls protect his family once more. Their homecoming cannot happen soon enough. Pemberley and its substantial population of minor dragons welcomes them home with open arms. But those open arms contain more than happy dragons.

Keeping a hibernating dragon should have been a simple thing. Should have been, but it was not. Apparently, nothing involving dragons was ever simple, at least not for Anne Elliot, junior keeper to dragon Kellynch. With the estate in debt, Anne’s father in denial, and the dragon’s treasure missing, Kellynch’s awakening is shaping up to be nothing short of catastrophe. Not to mention, there was the pesky matter of her own broken heart and resentment against the old friend who had caused it.

Six months after his father's passing, Fitzwilliam Darcy still finds solace in his morning reflections at his parents' graves. Only in the quiet solitude of the churchyard does he indulge his grief. None but his unlikely mentor recognize the heartache and insecurity plaguing him as he shoulders the enormous burden of being Master of Pemberley. Not all are pleased with his choice of adviser. Lady Catherine complains Darcy allows him too much influence.

Life was definitely better when one’s fondest dreams came true. Better indeed for newly made baronet, Sir Frederick Wentworth. Enjoying a title, a sea-side estate, a dragon to keep, and most importantly—marriage to his dearest Anne. Life was far better than he dreamed it could be. Better, but not easier.

For nearly 200 years, the Wrights have controlled the Elements, shaping them to their will. But, the new era of industrialization threatens their extinction. Journeyman Wright Rebecca Fuller has more important things to worry about, though, like paying bills and keeping a roof over her head. Unfortunately, she inherited her father’s debts along with his shop. With the Guild limiting her prices, even a brisk business barely makes ends meet. If only the Guild would consider her application for Mastery.