Showing results by narrator "Virginia Ferguson" in All Categories

Can a Duke's bastard win the heart of a lady? Plucked as an orphan from the slums of St. Giles' by his half-brother, the Duke of Blackmore, Sebastian Black soon rises to become one of the richest men in London, and a notorious rake to boot. His time at Eton has left him with a healthy disregard for the aristocracy - that is until he inadvertently becomes involved in the affairs of the prim, proper, and snooty Aurelia St Claire. Aurelia's brother, Lord Theodore Epsom, was reported missing after Waterloo, but she is convinced that she has sighted him alive and well in London.

A Christmas Surprise: Lord Robert, the Viscount of Marchwood, throws a Christmas Ball every year, and this year his daughter, Lady Audrey, has just turned 18. With the Marchwood family fortune all but gone, Lord Robert is keen to secure her a prosperous match. But when a handsome, masked stranger threatens to steal Audrey's heart, will it prove to be a good or bad Christmas surprise?

Some might see the lessons in Odoyevsky's short and charming life manual for children old-fashioned and outdated. Some might even bristle at certain suggestions. However, we would like to urge our listeners to look beyond the somewhat antiquated rhetoric and consider these lessons as they were intended - guidelines for bringing up intelligent, well-educated, considerate, and industrious future spouses, parents, and, most importantly, engineers of the future world.

An old-fashioned ghost story with a twist and a chuckle, The legend of Countess Bertha shows us the more playful side of Alexander Dumas.

A child turns up at a rural police station in Yorkshire, with a tale that will shock the nation. As Thea Watts begins her investigation, she realizes she can't trust the system to keep the boy safe, so she calls on the one man she knows won't let her down, Jack Quinn, a vigilante with his heart set on doing one thing: the right thing.

Pierrot is one of Alexandre Dumas' stranger tales, a delightful mishmash of humor, adventure, satire, and poignancy. While presented as a children's tale, it has plenty of layers making it a satisfying story for grownups as well.

Fitzwilliam Darcy had grown unused to female society during his five years of seclusion since Georgiana had her illegitimate child. That was why he accidentally insulted Mrs. Bingley’s sister. And why he kept thinking about her. Elizabeth thought Mr. Darcy was a grand philanthropist: His rudeness provided everyone with a handsome and rich man to hate. But why, if he was actively determined to sneer at all the company, had he bothered to attend their assembly? Still, he was a very handsome man. Darcy needed to overcome his bad first impression if he wanted Elizabeth.

Snuffy Cod is the sole caregiver for her dying husband... okay... stop. He does die, but sometime in the future—a future she visits on and off through popovers to past and present. Snuffy’s visits occur in fits and starts via some perceived time travel portal. She embarks on these excursions several times throughout the day, hour, minute, second—sometimes simply during a thought.

Fainting in the notorious nobleman’s arms is the smartest move the self-proclaimed spazz ever made. Now her picture decorates every gossip rag in Britain, and the public wants to know who the Devil Duke’s new squeeze is. Offered a sizable sum, Izzy De Luca travels to England where she will pose as the Duke of Devoy’s new bride. It seems the rake’s reputation needs some rehabilitation, and the fresh-faced orphan is just the girl to brighten his tarnished image.

Abigail Sutton does not take kindly to being dumped. Desperation leads her to seek comfort in the arms of her surly horse trainer, Jack Johnson from America. A night of fleeting passion results in a life-altering “predicament”. Now, the baroness finds herself fighting for the attentions of an entirely different sort of man - a man who is much more than he seems - a man who might just offer her the family she’s never had. That is, if she can prove to him she is not just a pampered pain in the ass. Her pursuit of the handsome but stubborn drifter lands the baroness in Montana.

Columbine Pepper Drugget's background wasn't one that equipped a young woman to manage a motel worth a million dollars, or cope with rude guests, jewel thieves, an unscrupulous competitor - or even the attentions of a brassy but oddly attractive lawyer. She had spent her life so far as an assistant to her aunt at Miss Cordwainer’s School for Girls from 5-to-10. What she knew about the world was limited to the novels of Jane Austen and such bits of knowledge as the pupils possessed.

When marine biologist Jeddediah Walker discovers the fish contain a high concentration of chemicals, he suspects they are being deliberately dumped in Puget Sound. And he has another problem - an unexpected, beautiful, and suspicious new tenant renting his cabin. Later, when someone hacks into his computer, he realizes it is no coincidence and sets out to find out more about his mysterious tenant.

Jeb Jackson, a once famous rodeo star, lives in isolation on his family’s storied ranch in Montana. Until the day a mysterious and complex young woman pays him a visit. Less of a visit and more like the surprise of his life - an unwelcome one at that. Or so it seems, when the beautiful stranger (who claims to know him) announces she needs “straightening out”. Now he’s got a drugged-up, freshly-divorced, sequin-encrusted beauty queen passed out in his bed and has no idea what to do with her or himself. Falling in love seems like the only option.

Now, Emma is a back-to-school PhD student with bigger and better things to worry about. That is, until one night, exhausted, slightly tipsy, and on her way home from a party, the glaring white light of a car comes crashing toward her, changing her life forever. Instead of waking up in a 21st-century hospital, she finds herself waking up in the backwaters of London, Victorian England, 1881.

Beautiful, titled, and wealthy to boot, Lady Lydia Beaufort was expected to have a spectacular London Season. There was just one problem; the eccentric daughter of the Earl of Galway had no intention of becoming the ton’s darling. Especially if it involved humoring the awful herds of fortune hunters and greedy second sons, intent on making her their bride. All Lydia wanted was to be left alone in peace, to read her beloved Lord Byron. That is, until an incorrigible rogue of a Marquess burst into her life and turned all her ideas about love upside down.

Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, has fought through a childhood of intrigue and peril to her place as the heir to the English throne. But as her sister, Mary I, the first anointed and sole Queen of England takes the crown, Elizabeth must face her most dangerous challenges yet, for Mary I is determined to return England to the Catholic faith, and will have none stand in her way.

This short collection of Alexander Kuprin's stories and novellas is intended as light listening - to amuse, puzzle, entertain, and enchant.

An accidental trophy wife must survive the deepest depths of high society. Meet Amy, the world's most improbable trophy wife. She has a degree, ambitions, and something resembling a mind of her own. The trouble is, she just doesn't use it anymore. Married to handsome aristocrat, Harry Green, Amy's world is a whirlwind of luxury, labels, and lunches. But amidst the peerages and polo of the privileged, few lie wolves in minks' clothing. Before she knows it, Amy's perfect existence is plunged into chaos by the poshest of plots.

Anyone who likes to go out in a little black dress can thank Coco Chanel for making it fashionable. The French designer behind the iconic brand of haute couture grew up in poverty, though. Delve into this biography to learn all about the rags-to-riches life of this fashion icon.

At the age of 19, Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth of Hesse, stepped into the glittering court of the Romanovs, beginning a journey that would lead her from the shimmering ballrooms of St. Petersburg to the back streets of Moscow. Through intrigues, assassination, war and revolution, to the tragedy of her own horrific murder, she remained true to her calling to bring beauty into the world. Based on the true story of "the most beautiful princess in Europe", this novel is written in tribute to a remarkable and courageous woman.