Pride and pleasure

Sample

Julie Klassen

To escape a scheme to marry her off to a dishonorable man, Margaret Macy flees London disguised as a housemaid. If she can remain unwed until her next birthday, she will receive an inheritance, and with it, sweet independence. But she never planned on actually working as a servant. And certainly not in the home of Nathaniel and Lewis Upchurch--both former suitors. As she fumbles through the first real work of her life, Margaret struggles to keep her identity secret when suspicions arise and prying eyes visit Fairbourne Hall. Can she avoid a trap meant to force her from hiding? Brimming with romance and danger, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall takes readers inside the fascinating belowstairs world of a 19th-century English manor, where appearances can be deceiving.

Sample

Joan Aiken

Some of them belonged to the elegance and intrigue of Mansfield Park... others could not stay away Mary -- the charming, duplicitous lady, determined to defy her fatal illness and to find a match for her bachelor brother... Henry -- the ever-fickle suitor, soon to be outfoxed at his own game... Tom -- the handsome, profligate gentleman whom love may soon civilize... Susan -- the poor cousin who must brave the obstacles of class and convention to win the man she has always loved, and the prize of Mansfield Park... Inspired by Jane Austen's beloved masterpiece Mansfield Park, Joan Aiken has written a brilliant novel of love and manners, status and social sham, and the gentle scheming of unforgettable characters.

Sample

Gayle Buck

A most painful experience in love sent beautiful, young Miss Miranda Wainwright from her home in America to the estate of her aristocratic cousin in England. Here she could start a new life, far from humiliating memories of betrayal. Burned once by a man's lying lips, Miranda vowed never again to put her heart and her fate in romantic jeopardy. Then she met the arrogant - if undeniably dashing - Viscount of Wythe .

Sample

Lisa Kleypas

She was unmarried, untouched, and almost thirty, she wasn't going to greet her next birthday without making love to a man. He appeared at her door, and she thought he was her gift. He tempted her in ways she never thought possible, but he stopped before fulfilling her dream ... Jack Devlin's determination to possess Amanda became greater when she discovered his true identity. But gently bred Amanda craved respectability more than she admitted, while Jack, the cast-off son of a nobleman and London's most notorious businessman, refused to live by society's rules. Yet when fate conspired for them to marry, their worlds collided with a passionate force neither had expected... but both soon craved.