Showing results by narrator "Jessica Bright" in All Categories

Lady Phoebe Fairchild is well aware that the ton would be appalled to learn of a young lady of quality involved in a trade. Therefore, she resorts to selling her beautiful handmade gowns under a fictitious name: Madame Dupree. So when circumstances force her to visit the estate of William Darby, the Viscount of Summerfield, to design ball gowns for his sisters, she assumes Madame's identity. Phoebe's discomfort in her new position as hired help is nothing compared to her visceral attraction to the viscount himself.

Lady Greer Fairchild's only hope of avoiding marriage to the first bidder lies in journeying into the untamed Welsh countryside in search of an inheritance she's not sure even exists—one reportedly controlled by Rhodrick Glendower, Earl of Radnor, also known as the Prince of Powys. Rumor has it that the prince is rough, ruthless—even a murderer. But Greer never imagined that the brute would refuse to let her leave his remote castle until she has proven her identity.

Other young ladies might occupy their spare time with drawing or needlework, but Sophia Monmouth spends hers scaling rooftops and shadowing suspicious characters. Her objective: to gain information that will free a friend wrongly accused of murder. She hasn't bargained on being spotted and followed back to the Clifford School by a mysterious earl who holds almost as many secrets as she does. Tristan Stratford, Lord Gray, earned the nickname the Ghost of Bow Street because no man has ever escaped him.

Lady Phillipa's heart is on the verge of being broken. The man she has exchanged letters with for months now refuses to answer her missives. That man, after the death of his older brother, is now the Duke of Grey, one of the most powerful lords in the land. When his sister invites Phillipa to the country, she jumps at the chance to discover why the duke forsook their love. When she arrives, she finds a broken, brooding man who insists keeping her away is for her own protection. But in his beautiful face, marred by scars, she sees the soul of the man she loves.

The young ladies of the Fairchild family have just learned that their stepfather has absconded with their late mother's fortune. Ava, the eldest, decides to take matters into her own hands and hunts down the notoriously wealthy rakehell Jared Broderick, the Marquis of Middleton and heir to a dukedom. Much to her shock and delight, the marquis sweeps her into a whirlwind romance and proposes marriage. But after their passionate wedding night, Ava discovers Jared has ulterior motives of his own.

Black women have never been more visible or more publicly celebrated. But for every milestone, every magazine cover, every new face elected to public office, the reality of everyday life for black women remains a complex, conflicted, contradiction-laden experience. An American journalist who has been living in London for a decade, Kenya Hunt has made a career of distilling moments, movements, and cultural moods into words. Her work takes the difficult and the indefinable and makes it accessible; it is razor sharp cultural observation threaded through evocative and relatable stories.

Abducted from a life of privilege, she was sold into slavery in a distant land. For Lady Janet Leslie there would be no escaping the harem of the wealthy and powerful Sultan Selim. But from the moment the handsome ruler spied his breathtaking "Cyra," he was captivated—by the fiery desire that coursed through his veins. She belonged to him, body and soul-yet it was he who was enslaved.

A dutiful lady's maid, Miss Madeline Atwater knows precisely what her future holds: countless nights of dressing her mistress in silk gowns, pinning her hair in elegant curls, and selecting the perfect pair of slippers before sending her off to the ball. But Madeline harbors a secret dream. Just once, she'd like to be the one who attends the grand party—and tonight could be her chance. All she needs to do is borrow her mistress's cast-off dress and sneak downstairs during the Twelfth Night Ball . . .

Archer Tierney has devoted his life to becoming one of the most powerful men in London. He's cutthroat and merciless to anyone who crosses him and ruthless in his determination to always maintain the upper hand over friends and foes alike. There's no situation he can't control, no battle he can't win. Until one fierce woman enters his carefully guarded world, leaving danger and desire in her wake and bringing Archer to his knees.

In London's brothels and bawdy houses, sin and scandal run rampant. Yet as Emma Downing knows, worse perils lurk within the lavish homes of high society. Emma has been tasked with uncovering secrets at the Lymington family's country estate - the scene of a rash of mysterious disappearances. Samuel Fitzroy, Marquess of Lymington, is no easy mark, and Emma fears he may see through both her disguise and her feigned indifference to his seductive charm....

She is Catriona, Countess of Glenkirk, the dazzling green-eyed beauty whose silken sensuality fires the passion of men's very souls—making her a pawn in a dangerous game of royal intrigue. Wife to a count, unwilling mistress to the king, she has the undying love of the most courageous lord in all of Scotland . . .

When a governess of great talents is required, there is only one place the nobility of England go: the Governess Bureau. It was why Miss Meredith Hubert had worked so hard to gain her place there. Finishing with the Earl of Marnmouth's children, she is about to be given her next assignment—a Duke called Alfred Carmichael with a reputation to maintain and a half-brother who needs controlling. But Meredith has a secret to hide, and she's not the only one. Maids sent away in secret, items missing from the house—there is more than one mystery at Rochdale Abbey.

Lady Janet Fraser didn't earn her reputation as Scotland's most notorious sinner by following the rules. A former mistress of King James IV, she's content to live her life from pleasure to pleasure. Even if those pleasures - and people - are forbidden.

Going undercover as a governess is a first for Cecilia Gilchrist. But once she's installed in Darlington Castle, discovering whether the mysterious marquess murdered his wife proves more daunting than she imagined. Dashing widower Gideon Rhys, marquess of Darlington, is clearly harboring secrets - but is it possible a cold-blooded killer lurks behind his devastating gaze? Trailing his every move only brings her closer to him. But if her heart misleads her, she could pay with her life....

The only thing Georgiana Harley despises more than chaos is bad behavior. So when the duchess of Kenilworth pleads for help to escape her witty, charming, handsome, heartless monster of a husband, she's come to the right place. Calm and logical, with nerves of steel, Georgiana is uniquely qualified to safely disappear the duchess, along with her young son. Her greatest challenge is Her Grace's brother, Lord Haslemere. An arrogant scoundrel, he keeps interfering with Georgiana's methodical plans.

Lady Philippa Shaw had it all - a husband who was madly in love with her, a sweet baby daughter, and a house in the most exclusive square in London - until a shocking discovery revealed that her happy life was a lie. After her husband's death, his past crimes return to haunt her, bringing danger, devastation, and the one man she’s spent the past few years despising.

When Veronica said "I do" to Sebastian Sinclair, Duke of Edgefield, she thought all her dreams had come true. He was dashing and doting, and she absolutely adored him—until he betrayed her trust, shattering their marriage, and her heart, into a million tiny bits. She hasn't seen her husband in the two years since, and she'd just as soon make it twenty. But when she learns that her beloved grandfather's dying wish is for her and Sebastian to attend the family's Christmastide celebration, she swallows her pride and asks him a favor: to pretend they're the happy couple they once were.

Lady Augusta Penworthy is in dire straights. Her father has spent every last coin, and she and her sisters cannot even afford coal. One chance encounter and a torn gown changes everything. While one might think a sudden marriage to a wealthy lord a relief if that marriage is to the Duke of Blacktower, one would be vastly mistaken. For no young lady wishes to be that infamous rake's bride.

Lily Sutton has been running wild for years beneath her siblings’ noses. Born and raised in the rookeries, she is not afraid of anything or anyone. And she is most certainly not cowed by arrogant scoundrels like the owner of London’s most prestigious shop, Bellingham and Co. She is determined to right the wrongs of her world, even if it means resorting to devious methods, such as absconding with some overpriced fripperies and baubles.

When Fiona Hay offers Angus Gordon her virtue in exchange for a dowry for her sisters, she so intrigues the rogue that he demands a higher payment: She will be his mistress. Thus begins a battle of wills and sensual delights. Destiny soon draws the ardent lovers into the turbulent court of King James. But soon the king's political schemes force Fiona away from the man she loves...and into the arms of a wild and passionate highlander, The MacDonald of Nairn. Will this coldhearted and callous betrayal forever destroy Fiona's chance at happiness?