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Find out moreMary Balogh is a New York Times bestselling author. A former teacher, she grew up in Wales and now lives in Canada.
This is a new six part series following the lives and loves of the Bedwyn family. The first is about a marriage of convenience with all the romance, humour and compelling characters you could possible want from a regency romance. Cleverly written so that the characters on the periphery are given enough substance to have you longing for the next in the series.
In the first in a dazzling new quartet of Regency novels, Mary Balogh invites us into a special world – a select academy for young ladies – a world of innocence and temptation.
The Double Wager is the digital reissue of a previously published and long out-of-print novel by New York Times Bestselling author Mary Balogh. Henrietta Tallant has always preferred the company of her brother and his rough-and-tumble friends to that of other ladies. She rebels at the prospect of making her debut into London society and the great marriage mart. However, when her brother's friends challenge her to entice the toplofty, unattainable Duke of Eversleigh into offering her marriage within six weeks, she recklessly accepts and wagers her beloved horse. The Duke of Eversleigh, who has always adamantly proclaimed his determination never to marry, is beginning to feel the pull of duty and the need to produce an heir. His friends do not believe he will give in so easily, however, and wager with him that he will not make a marriage offer within a month. When Henrietta deliberately collides with the duke in a London ballroom, then, each is intent upon winning a wager--without any thought to what will happen after it is won.
Viata grea l-a invatat pe Lucas Kendrick, Duce de Harndon, sa-si pastreze o inima de piatra si sa nu-si dezvaluie sentimentele. Respins de logodnica, tradat de fratele lui, alege sa se dueleze cu acesta si aproape il ucide. De aceea, este nevoit sa fuga la Paris unde locuieste timp de 10 ani. Aici ajunge cel mai cautat burlac, un adevarat dandy al vremii respective in societatea mondena. Dupa moartea fratelui, unchiul lui insista sa se intoarca acasa pentru a prelua titlul de duce si sa se ocupe de propritatile familiei. Lucas este amuzat de sfatul de a se insura cat mai repede pentru a-i fi mai usor sa tina in frau certurile din familie si sa aiba grija de uriasa mostenire. Totusi, atunci cand o cunoaste pe Lady Anna Marlowe la un bal, se hotaraste indata sa o ia de sotie si se casatoresc in doar o saptamana. Frumoasa si vesela fata ascunde insa un secret infiorator din trecutul ei. Un necunoscut o ameninta si va fi in pericol sa fie rapita, pericol care il va ameninta si pe copilul lor nenascut. Nici familia nu-i ofera lui Lucas prea multa liniste. Intrigile sunt la ele acasa in castelul ducelui: mama, sora, fratele mai mic si sotia fratelui decedat nu se lasa si incearca sa puna mana pe putere. Iar ceva - mai degraba cineva - ii va inmuia inima lui Lucas si il va schimba in mod neasteptat.
A Masked Deception is the digital reissue of a previously published and long out-of-print novel by New York Times Bestselling author Mary Balogh. Margaret Wells has been deeply, hopelessly in love with the handsome, dashing Richard Adair, Earl of Brampton, since she met him at a masquerade ball six years ago. Passion had flared between them then, but she had fled before the time for unmasking. Now Richard merely needs a wife to give him an heir, and the quiet, demure Miss Wells seems as suitable as anyone else. Margaret, longing to ignite some sort of passion in her dull marriage, wonders what would happen if she were to become that masked enchantress once more and met her husband by chance in some secluded, romantic setting. Little does Margaret suspect that Richard has never forgotten the nameless charmer for whom he had searched in vain for weeks and months after the masquerade ball. And little does she suspect that he is falling in love with his wife.
From the legendary New York Times bestselling author of Only a Kiss and Only a Promise comes the final book in the rapturous Survivor's Club series, where the future of one man will be decided by a lost - but never forgotten - love . . . For the first time since the death of his wife, the Duke of Stanbrook is considering remarrying and finally embracing happiness for himself. With that thought comes the treasured image of a woman he met briefly a year ago and never saw again. Dora Debbins relinquished all hope of marrying when a family scandal left her in charge of her younger sister. Earning a modest living as a music teacher, she's left with only an unfulfilled dream. Then one afternoon, an unexpected visitor makes it come true. For both George and Dora that brief first encounter was as fleeting as it was unforgettable. Now is the time for a second chance. And while even true love comes with a risk, who are two dreamers to argue with destiny? 'Mary Balogh is the writer I read for pleasure' Susan Elizabeth Phillips 'A matchless storyteller' RT Book Reviews
Edward Marsh, Earl of Raymore, is a connoisseur of beauty, whether it be music or art or women. When he inherits two wards, however, and decides to marry them off as soon as possible during a London Season, he finds one of them virtually unmarriageable. Rosalind Dacey has none of the delicate, blond beauty of her cousin, and a pronounced limp resulting from a childhood riding accident has robbed her of grace and self-assurance. She resents what she sees as Edward's ruthless, high-handed tyranny, and he is infuriated by her outspoken stubbornness. Their volatile quarrels soon lead to passion of a different sort, however. And Rosalind possesses talent as a pianist that draws Edward secretly and against his will to listen, enthralled, to her daily practices in his music room.
Giles Fairhaven, Viscount Kincade, does not believe his life can get much worse after his purse is stolen at an inn before he has paid his bill and then he is set upon by three ruffians in the inn yard before he can leave. But it does grow worse when a little slip of a lady clad only in a flannel nightgown and wielding a large black man's umbrella comes to his rescue and puts his assailants to rout and then--after he has left--pays his reckoning at the inn plus the money he lost the evening before in a card game with a fellow guest plus what he owed the barmaid with whom he spent the night. The ensuing gossip is almost too much humiliation for Giles to bear. Yet when he finds and confronts Daisy Morrison in London, far from being cowed by his displeasure, she declares with sunny good nature that if he insists upon repaying the slight favour she was able to do for him, then he can recommend a lady sponsor to her so that she may find a husband for her younger sister among the gentlemen of the ton. Inexplicably, Giles finds himself agreeing. His troubles are only just beginning.
Piers Westhaven and Alice Penhallow have always been close friends, even during their marriages to other partners. Now they are both widowed, and Piers, who needs an heir, has asked his friend to help him choose a new bride. Alice has always been in love with him herself, but hiding her feelings has become second nature to her. As a boy, he dearly loved her too until his best friend announced his intention of courting and marrying her. Soon their mutual passion begins to break through the careful bonds each has imposed upon it just as Piers is being trapped into offering marriage to someone else. Will honor permit them to speak the heart's truth before it is too late? Or is it already too late for them--again?
A very proper aristocrat, who always does his duty and never sets a foot wrong, the young Duke of Mitford is on his way into the country to propose marriage, sight unseen, to a young lady of equal virtue and propriety chosen for him by his grandfather and hers. For once in his life, Paul decides to have a little adventure by traveling there incognito and without his usual ducal entourage. He finds the experience disappointing until at an inn one evening he rescues a female from certain ravishment and then learns that she is fleeing from the dreadful fate of having to marry the Duke of Mitford. Before Josephine Middleton discovers the true identity of her rescuer, the two of them are embroiled in a very big, mad adventure after she finds that her would-be abductor has stolen her jewels.
<p>El trebuie sa fie bogat, de vita nobila si dispus sa-i ofere o viata fara griji. Acestea sunt conditiile obligatorii pentru barbatul pe care Cassandra Belmont, Lady Paget, il va alege drept iubit. Casatoria iese din discutie pentru vaduva cu o reputatie sinistra, acuzata ca si-a ucis in mod brutal fostul sot si care acum este nevoita sa faca uz de frumusetea ei pentru a gasi mijloacele de supravietuire pentru sine si pentru cei care depind de ea. Cassandra considera ca tanarul si atragatorul Stephen Huxtable, cel mai eligibil burlac din Londra, este exact ce ii trebuie. Si doar o privire aruncata misterioasei si superbei Lady Paget il convinge pe acesta ca a gasit femeia ideala cu care sa-si imparta patul pentru o vreme. Insa o singura noapte de pasiune schimba toate regulile pentru amandoi. Cassandra, a carei reputatie este deja distrusa, este acum in pericol sa piarda singurul lucru pe care a jurat ca niciodata nu il va ceda - inima ei. La randul lui, Stephen, care o doreste pe Cassandra mai mult decat a dorit vreodata o femeie, nu va avea liniste pana cand ea nu ii va apartine cu tonul - dar nu ca amanta, ci ca iubita si sotie...</p>
<p>El trebuie sa fie bogat, de vita nobila si dispus sa-i ofere o viata fara griji. Acestea sunt conditiile obligatorii pentru barbatul pe care Cassandra Belmont, Lady Paget, il va alege drept iubit. Casatoria iese din discutie pentru vaduva cu o reputatie sinistra, acuzata ca si-a ucis in mod brutal fostul sot si care acum este nevoita sa faca uz de frumusetea ei pentru a gasi mijloacele de supravietuire pentru sine si pentru cei care depind de ea. Cassandra considera ca tanarul si atragatorul Stephen Huxtable, cel mai eligibil burlac din Londra, este exact ce ii trebuie. Si doar o privire aruncata misterioasei si superbei Lady Paget il convinge pe acesta ca a gasit femeia ideala cu care sa-si imparta patul pentru o vreme. Insa o singura noapte de pasiune schimba toate regulile pentru amandoi. Cassandra, a carei reputatie este deja distrusa, este acum in pericol sa piarda singurul lucru pe care a jurat ca niciodata nu il va ceda - inima ei. La randul lui, Stephen, care o doreste pe Cassandra mai mult decat a dorit vreodata o femeie, nu va avea liniste pana cand ea nu ii va apartine cu tonul - dar nu ca amanta, ci ca iubita si sotie...</p>
La varsta de nouasprezece ani, Hannah Reid a devenit ducesa de Dunbarton. Un deceniu mai tarziu, dupa moartea sotului ei, mai frumoasa ca niciodata, este in sfarsit libera si bogata. Ca sa-si socheze cunoscutii conventionali, intentioneaza sa guste din placerile interzise ale vietii si sa-si ia un amant. Dar nu orice amant, ci pe insusi Constantine Huxtable, cel mai periculos, dar si cel mai atragator barbat din lumea buna londoneza.Faptul cA naE terea lui a fost consideratA ilegitimA i-a rA pit lui Constantine titlul de conte. E i deE i i s-a refuzat astfel pe nedrept intrarea n rndurile aristocraE iei, Constantine nu-E i refuzA nimic, cnd vine vorba de deliciile vieE ii. Se zvoneE te cA reE edinE a lui de la E arA este martora unor nopE i fierbinE i, iar vA duvele sunt E inta lui cu predilecE ie pentru aventurile care nu E in mai mult de un sezon. Ducesa de Dunbarton pare sA se potriveascA perfect rolului, fiind singurA , vA duvA , independentA E i aparent superficialA E i vanitoasA . Dar oare aE a sA fie? CA ci odatA ce aceste douA fiinE e pasionale E i scandaloase se ntlnesc, descoperA cA nu este deloc uE or sA ncerce flA cA rile dorinE ei... fA rA sA cadA n mrejele iubirii.
CHRISTMAS MIRACLES brings together three previously published and long out-of-print novellas, each of which demonstrates how the wonder of the season can bring together two would-be lovers or two estranged lovers and create a bond between them that will last a lifetime and beyond. In "e;The Wassail Bowl"e; an aristocrat has summoned his young son to a family house party but is disconcerted when his estranged wife and her illegitimate daughter arrive with him. When he expresses his displeasure, she picks up a large bowl of wassail from the hall table and dumps its sticky contents over his head. The only way for the story to proceed after that is up! In "e;The Bond Street Carolers"e; a gentleman who hates Christmas is appalled when his ears are assailed on fashionable Bond Street by a group of inferior carolers--until, that is, he is rooted to the spot by the pure soprano voice of a young boy soloist. As a connoisseur of music and the arts, he must have the boy to sing at one of his concerts--but the child's widowed mother will have nothing to do with what she sees as exploitation. In "e;Guarded by Angels"e; an estranged couple are separately marooned at the same cottage by a snow storm and must spend Christmas together without coming to blows. But they have a great deal of assistance from their very different guardian angels.
CHRISTMAS GIFTS brings together three previously published and long out-of-print novellas, each on the theme of Christmas gifts that will last forever because the gift, in essence, is love. In "e;The Best Christmas Ever"e; a boisterous house party is in progress and all the children when asked are eager to tell what they want for Christmas. But one man feels sad, for his young child has not spoken since her mother died and he does not know if the gifts he has bought her will be what she really wants. Unknown to him her one fervent wish is for the new mother for Christmas, and when she sees one of the guests she knows who that will be. But the lady concerned has an unhappy history with the child's father. In "e;The Porcelain Madonna"e; a gentleman becomes involved with helping an impoverished lady, who thinks of everyone's happiness but her own. However, he has seen her gaze with longing at a porcelain madonna well beyond her means displayed in a shop window. In "e;The Surprise Party"e; a man and woman who are antagonistic to each other find themselves landed with the care over Christmas of children who are related to each of them. They quarrel over which of them should undertake the task. It is not a happy situation until the children teach them the true meaning of Christmas and of love and they discover that they can do it together.
Enter the world of The Survivor's Club, where Regency England, in its drama and romance, comes vibrantly to life Six men and one woman, injured in the Napoleonic Wars, their friendships forged in steel and loyalty. But for one, her trials are not over . . . Since witnessing the death of her husband during the wars, Imogen, Lady Barclay, has secluded herself in the confines of Hardford Hall, their home in Cornwall. The new owner has failed to take up his inheritance, and Imogen desperately hopes he will never come to disturb her fragile peace. Percival Hayes, Earl of Hardford, has no interest in the wilds of Cornwall, but when he impulsively decides to pay a visit to his estate there, he is shocked to discover that it is not the ruined heap he had expected. He is equally shocked to find the beautiful widow of his predecessor's son living there. Soon Imogen awakens in Percy a passion he has never thought himself capable of feeling. But can he save her from her misery and reawaken her soul? And what will it mean for him if he succeeds? 'Mary Balogh is the writer I read for pleasure' Susan Elizabeth Phillips 'A matchless storyteller' RT Book Reviews
Numai disperarea l-ar fi putut aduce pe Duncan Pennethorne, infamul conte de Sheringford, înapoi acasa dupa spectaculosul scandal pe care l-a stârnit cu cinci ani în urma. Caci dependent financiar de bunicul sau, Duncan a primit de la acesta un ultimatum: se însoara în doua saptamâni sau ramâne fara nici un ban. Si iata ca soarta i-o scoate în cale pe singura femeie din Londra care are tot atâta nevoie ca si el sa-si gaseasca un sot.PusA într-o situaE ie jenantA din pricina unei minciuni spuse pe negândite, Margaret Huxtable se vede nevoitA sA accepte cererea în cA sA torie fA cutA de un necunoscut misterios. Dar când descoperA cine se ascunde de fapt în spatele chipului fermecA tor al peE itorul ei, este deja prea târziu: tocmai s-a logodit cu cel mai notoriu seducA tor al Londrei. E i pe mA surA ce pasiunea se aprinde între ei, doi oameni care se cA sA toresc din motive greE ite descoperA cA niciodatA nu este prea târziu sA aparA dragostea...
Dupa o noapte de chef ocazionata de împlinirea vârstei de douazeci si cinci de ani, Jasper Finely, baronul de Montford, îsi pune în joc reputatia de barbat fatal al Londrei pentru o femeie. Pariul facut cu prietenii lui este sa o seduca pe superba si inocenta Katherine Huxtable în maximun doua saptamâni. Dar în ultima clipa, Jasper descopera ca lucrurile nu decurg conform planului, asa ca hotaraste sa puna un pariu cu sine însusi – unul pe care îsi doreste cu ardoare sa-l câstige.Pentru Katherine, care deja se simte foarte atrasA de el, provocarea lui Jasper este irezistibilA : el, cel mai irezistibil crai al Londrei, o sA o convingA sA se îndrA gosteascA . ÎnsA când Jasper ridicA brusc miza, Katherine E tie cA ar trebui sA refuze sA continue acest joc periculos. Dar confruntatA cu izbucnirea unui scandal E i cu riscul de a rA mâne cu reputaE ia pA tatA , ea acceptA , plinA de îndoieli, sA îi devinA soE ie. Abia acum, când pasiunea izbucneE te nestA pânitA , lecE ia de seducE ie poate începe cu adevA rat. Iar de data aceasta premiul cel mare este chiar inima lor...
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