Captain Peregrine Tracey was humiliated when the rich but common Ansteys rejected his suit for their eldest daughter Mary, but he never gave up hope that they would one day marry. After 10 years of serving in the military, Peregrine inherited the title of the Earl of Devenahm and was instantly acceptable to the Ansteys as a son-in-law. Determined to erase the memory of his earlier humiliation, the new Earl immediately sets out for the Ansteys country estate to claim Mary’s hand in marriage. Unfortunately, it is immediately apparent to Emily, Mary’s younger sister, that whatever affection used to exist between Mary and Peregrine is no longer there. Indeed, Mary seems quite in love with the vicar, Reverend Peter Cummings and he with her. However, [...]
Nannerl is hailed as a musical prodigy. She is a gifted musician and can perform musical pieces that should be far too difficult for a girl her age to play. Her hands dance along the keys and everyone is always amazed at her talents. Then her little brother is born. A little boy named Wolfgang Mozart. At first, it appears that there will be room in the spotlight for both of them, but Nannerl slowly finds herself pushed to the side as Wolfgang’s musical genius is recognized. For Wolfgang can not only perform difficult compositions, he can also improvise, do tricks and compose. And, most importantly, he is a male in 1700s Europe. Nannerl still dreams of [...]
Elise Laffont is only 25 years old, yet she is already a widow – and perfectly happy to be one! All of the bachelors around Fort Rosalie, and there are many as it is a military post, are positive that she cannot make her small holding in Louisiana Territory profitable without a man by her side. Yet Elise has nothing but disgust for men, her brutal husband having done nothing but hurt her, mock her and cause her trouble. Elise was proud of her small farm and had made a modest success, but she lost it all one morning when the Natchez attached Fort Rosalie and the outlying areas, killing or enslaving all of the French. Elise managed to escape into the forest and find [...]
Catalina Lane had just been jilted, almost left at the alter! It is true that there was no real physical attraction between her fiancé, Wilson Ross, and herself, but they were good friends and had agreed that that was a good basis for marriage. Until that spineless coward told her he couldn’t marry her just as she was about to walk up the aisle! She couldn’t even yell at him because he had tears in his eyes! Furious and humiliated, Catalina swept out of the church and into her Mustang convertible without looking back. Several hours later, she was broken down on a little two-lane Arizona highway in the middle of nowhere. Resigned, Catalina picks up her satin and lace wedding skirts and starts hiking [...]
Will and Bet grew up together and are as close as brother and sister. Only Will is the orphaned son of a wealthy man and Elizabeth “Bet” is the illegitimate child of a lowly kitchen maid. Both of them want what they cannot have. Will wants to join the military, but his Uncle Paul forbids it, afraid that Will will die in a foreign war. Bet wants a formal education and is frustrated that Will keeps getting kicked out of school after school. Will & Bet are doomed to disappointment, until Bet hatches a daring plan that will enable them both to achieve their dreams! Bet will take Will’s place at his new school, where no one knows him, [...]
Horace Carpetine is apprenticed to Enoch Middleditch, a society photographer in 1872 New York City. He has been raised to believe only in science and rationality, but thinks of his trade as being quite scientific and thus worthy of learning. So far, he has only been able to prep and clean the equipment, but Mr. Middleditch has promised that Horace will soon get to take photographs. His moment comes when wealthy society matron Mrs. Frederick Von Macht hires Mr. Middleditch to take a photograph of her to put on her niece’s grave. Mr. Middleditch decides that he can make more money if he can insert the ghostly image of Eleanora, Mrs. Von Macht’s niece, into the photograph. He assigns [...]
More pilgrims than usual have the priority in Walsingham on St. Anne’s Day so, when a young priest comes to Anselm to inform him of a death, Anselm assumes one of the sickly passed away after a long journey. Unfortunately, a rather grotesque, ill-liked merchant appears to have been murdered in the chapel. With a limited number of suspects available, Anselm determines that he will solve the mystery himself rather than open up the priory to the local sergeant-at-arms and his men.
James Cameron awakens on the battlefield of Culloden, injured and woozy, to see that he is surrounded by the bodies of his kinsmen, his father, his laird and everyone who matters to him. Thinking of his mother, James manages to stumble away and thinks he is heading home. Instead, he finds himself at an ancient ring of stones, one of which opens, and leads him down to the land of the Faerie. Three sisters tend to him and heal him. They then ask him to go confront the King of the Underworld, who has captured their mother, ensuring that spring and summer will not come. James accepts the challenge, hoping to regain his honor and place in the world.
William’s liege lord, Count Roger, has been betrayed, captured by invading knights and accused of treason. In order to prove his innocence, Count Roger must find a champion to joust for his honor in a tournament against the invader’s best knight. Unfortunately, all of Count Roger’s knights are away in another part of Italy and Roger has to rely on William, a skilled artisan who makes jewelry for his wife and daughters, to find a way to save him. William barely escapes with his life and find himself seeking refuge in a deserted, run-down temple where a mysterious, old woman appears. William is not sure if he is hallucinating, but he finds refuge and hope in the temple for the 7 days leading up to [...]
Cirrus Flux is one of the orphans being raised in the Foundling Hospital on the outskirts of London. He is one of the oldest boys left there as all of his other friends are slowly apprenticed to wigmakers, printers, and scientists, but Cirrus remains at the orphanage. Cirrus doesn’t mind until his best friend, Bottle Cap, is apprenticed and Cirrus is left alone with the younger boys. Pandora, another orphan, spends her days in a monotonous round of dusting, scrubbing floors and doing laundry until she is caught eavesdropping in the Governor’s office. Then she finds herself apprenticed to Madame Orrery, a cold, distant woman with a touch of evil about her. The longer Pandora remains in Madame’s employ, the [...]
Conor MacCloud returned from the Crusades a bitter and slightly broken man. Most of his fellow clansmen were dead and the small band that was left had barely escaped the vile dungeons of the East. Conor wanted nothing more than to return home and try to let his native Scotland heal his wounds. But Conor was not destined to have peace for quite some time. Conor returned home to his beloved Inverness, Scotland, but he returned to find his mad Uncle Simon ruling as laird of the area. Conor and his small band valiantly tried to take the castle from him, but failed. Conor had refused to take the witch Magdah’s advice, but he swore to his dying kinsman that he would seek out the [...]
Anne Durham had lived her whole life with her eccentric painter father. She didn’t remember her mother, who died when she was young, and her older sister, Catherine, lived with her aunt and uncle, so she did not know her either. So when her father suddenly dropped dead, Anne did not know what to do. Her father had been on his way to Tavistock Castle, in Britain, to try and discover what had happened to Catherine, who had disappeared while excavating a dig there. With no other recourse, Anne felt that a slight deception on her part was justified and she set sail for Tavistock Castle in her father’s place.
When she arrived, the Marquess of Tavistock was upset that her father had not come for [...]
