Showing results by narrator "Mary Wells" in All Categories

Despite a hero’s return to England from the Napoleonic Wars, Wesley Audley isolates from the ton. Deep wounds from the horrors of combat—and the despair of a broken heart—left him scarred. As he struggles to cope and resume his place in Polite Society, Wesley is quick to cut himself off from everyone…except for Ellie Balfour.

Former tennis prodigy Scottie Sinclair is a cheat. Or at least, that’s what the world thinks. After all, who would believe she was secretly drugged by her own father before winning the women’s singles title at Wimbledon? The tabloids have called “Game, Set, Match” on Scottie’s career—but an offer at redemption, and more importantly revenge, may give her the chance at a clean serve.

London, 1899: When a mysterious packet is stolen from a diplomatic courier, Sherlock and Lucy are called upon to recover it before its ominous contents fall into the wrong hands. The Baker Street gang uncovers a dark, tangled web of intrigue and an evil plot that could very well bring all of England to its knees. When a notorious criminal is found dead in the bookstore basement, and the bookseller is arrested for the crime, the danger becomes very real, and very personal. Can Holmes and Lucy find the perilous packet, catch the murderous mastermind, and foil the fiendish plot?

London, 1813. In the gilded corridors of St. James's Palace, Lord Percy and Lady Grace face a mystery that could shake the throne itself. A murder and audacious theft of the Prince Regent's new ruby dagger thrusts them back into a web of deception and treachery. Tarnished by his past behavior, Lord Percy is focused on regaining favor with the ton. When the queen demands he deliver the murderer and the stolen gift, he cannot refuse.

Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants portrayed in Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, Margaret Powell’s classic memoir of her time in service, Below Stairs, is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman who, though she served in the great houses of England, never stopped aiming high. Powell first arrived at the servants' entrance of one of those great houses in the 1920s. As a kitchen maid - the lowest of the low - she entered an entirely new world; one of stoves to be blacked, vegetables to be scrubbed, mistresses to be appeased, and bootlaces to be ironed.

Milan, 1899. A desperate musical colleague smuggles an envelope to Zoe, Lucy's mother, begging her to deliver it to Sherlock Holmes. When her colleague is killed, Zoe must act quickly to avoid the same fate. She flees to London, only to find she’s been followed by Black Hand thugs determined to retrieve the envelope’s contents - a code which Holmes must decipher.

Antonetta Ostwind is about to get everything she’s ever wanted. If all goes to plan, she’ll end the fae, steal back what was stolen, and win the post she’s always dreamed of in time to dress for supper. There’s just one problem. His name is Gideon Alexander.

London, 1813. With his reputation and inheritance on the line, Lord Percy is determined to win the heart of the coveted diamond of the season. When that beautiful woman vanishes, his failure seems all but certain. Unless, that is, he can find her. Lady Grace is devastated when her best friend disappears. Society may be willing to believe the worst, but Grace knows her friend would never run off without leaving her a clue. Someone kidnapped her—but who?

Nickolas Brigham was meant to marry a princess. Everyone said so. His mother, mostly, but it wasn’t the time to quibble. If he doesn't marry a woman of station soon, he’ll be tied to a fate worse than ruination. When he’s dragged bodily into a compromising situation, his only choice is to accept the aid of the doe-eyed damsel he chances upon in his attempt at escape.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse brightens up the Winter Solstice with another delightfully spooky novel following Bowen Penhallow and the girl he feels strangely drawn to—especially when she becomes his only hope of salvation after a strong spell sends them to a Yuletide celebration... more than 50 years in the past.

In this extraordinary new life, Astrid will forge friendships and confront ancient creatures. Through perilous trials and breathtaking adventures, she will have to decide what promises are worth keeping and which must be broken. Immerse yourself in this spellbinding retelling of the classic fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon—where romance and adventure collide in an unforgettable tale of love and magic.

Claire is one of Paris’s most esteemed behavioral biologists, with an enviable career and family. But she has become increasingly frustrated by the stasis of her marriage, including her husband’s unremarked-on affairs, and feels caged by the obligations she took on too early in life. As she and her family prepare for their annual holiday to the Brittany coast, her son, Nico, comes to her with a request: Can his new girlfriend, Julie, join them for the summer?

1740s France and England—the age of hedonism and enlightenment. Antonia must flee the Court of Versailles and the predatory schemes of the Comte de Salvan. She orchestrates an escape with the unwitting assistance of the all-powerful Duke of Roxton, a man she has been warned against as too dangerous for her to know.

Desperate after her Season comes to a spectacularly disastrous end, the Honourable Miss Clara Vetry jumps into a carriage hired to take a housekeeper to Scotland. The laird of Castle CaerLaven has no interest in a wife, especially a love match - but when Caelan sees his new housekeeper, he changes his mind. Marriage to a delectable bookworm strikes him as a perfect arrangement. To his surprise, Clara refuses his proposal once . . . and again . . . yet again.

When book lover Jade Taylor applies to manage the Little Bay Book Shack on Nantucket Island over the summer, the last thing she needs is the distraction of billionaire resort owner, Liam Haven. But things take an unexpected turn when Liam becomes Jade’s boss—a man who only reads contracts for pleasure…

From the grand houses of Brighton to imposing London mansions, life as a kitchen maid could be exhausting and demoralizing. It's not just being at the beck and call of the people upstairs, when even the children of the family can treat you like dirt, but having to deal with temperamental cooks, starchy butlers, and chauffeurs with a roving eye. Marriage is the only escape, but with one evening off a week Margaret has no time to lose.

Nimona Weston has a debt to pay. Her father’s dealings with the dark society known as the Trust cost Nim her freedom. There’s one way out of the contract on her life and that’s to bide her time and pay the tithes. But when the Trust assigns Nim to a task in the king’s own castle, her freedom is not the only thing she’ll risk.

This Very Short Introduction introduces the life, work, and influence of one of the greatest dramatists of all time, Sophocles the Athenian. Placing his plays within their historical context, and explaining the conventions of ancient Greek tragic theatre, Edith Hall spotlights their distinctive features—tight plots, titanic personalities, lucid style, sympathetic women, exquisite poetry, and stagecraft. This analysis is followed by an account of how and why Sophoclean dramas have survived to be read and widely performed into the twenty-first century.

Every debutante aspires to snag a duke. Elin Morris just happens to have had one reserved since birth. But postponements of her marriage to London's most powerful peer give Elin time to wonder how she will marry Gavin Baynton when she cannot forget his brother, Benedict.

What happens when a bride says no? He is the bastard son of a duke, arrogant, handsome, a little bit dangerous, and, of course, one of the most sought-after bachelors in London. He is also about to be publically jilted by some chit of a girl! Blake Stephens' pride isn't about to let him be humiliated, so he charges after his bride to the wilds of Scotland, determined to bring her to the altar. What happens when the heart says yes? He is promised to one woman, but discovers his soul stirred by…the chit's sister!