Showing results by narrator "Rachael Beresford" in All Categories

Stolen as a baby by an egotistical enchanter, Aurelia has spent her entire life locked in a tower, her impractically long hair serving as a vessel in which her captor can store his magic. Every day is predictable—at least, until Cyfrin's manner and experiments take an inexplicable turn. Now Aurelia's biggest challenge is convincing her fellow prisoner—the only mother she's ever known—that she's strong enough to handle the truth behind the enchanter's strange behavior. The trouble is, she'll first need to convince herself.

Princess Wren is not the crown princess. Everyone else might think her six older brothers are dead, but she knows the truth. They're very much alive, and her oldest brother will absolutely assume the throne. Once he becomes a little less feathered . . . and beaky. The trouble is, that requires Wren to fulfill the terms of the curse that transformed her brothers into swans—which means she can't speak a word to a living soul. For six years.

Born into a kingdom where power is outlawed, Penny has little reason to love her magic. She barely remembers her mother, and even her father dies unaware of her abilities. Now, magic or not, Penny is powerless to escape the bitter tangle of competition her stepmother has created between her and her stepsisters. And a series of chance encounters with the crown prince only adds to her troubles. The last thing she needs is to attract the notice of the very royals who have turned her existence into a crime.

When Inge Maria arrives on the tiny island of Bornholm in Denmark to live with her grandmother, she's not sure what to expect. Her grandmother is stern, the people on the island are strange, and children are not allowed to run wild or express themselves the way they did back in Copenhagen -- especially if you are a girl. Inge Maria tries not to feel sorry for herself, but she misses her mama. And on top of everything else, mischief seems to have a way of finding her no matter how hard she tries to be good.

While fleeing an arranged betrothal to a heartless lord, Lady Isabelle becomes injured and lost. Rescued by a young peasant man, she hides her identity as a noblewoman for fear of reprisal from the peasants who are bitter and angry toward the nobility. Cole Warwick cannot turn his back on a person in need and soon finds himself falling for Izzy, the gentle and beautiful runaway who is mending in his cottage. As the leader of an imminent uprising against the nobility, he tries to resist his growing feelings for Izzy.

When Lady Olivia's castle is besieged, she and her sister are taken captive and held for ransom by her father's enemy, Lord Pitt. Loyalty to family means everything to Olivia. She'll save her sister at any cost and do whatever her father asks - even if that means obeying his order to steal a sacred relic from her captor. As Lord Pitt's commander, Sir Aldric is in charge of the beautiful but feisty new prisoner. He has his hands full attempting to keep Lady Olivia out of trouble.

Galanta is only one step away from successfully releasing Santanas. The faeries must either stop her or hope that their allies stand strong in the coming storm. While they seek her out, they are forced to cement old allegiances and create new ones. With this in mind, Orion offers himself as a groom to the treacherous night faeries, asking only that Aethan go in his stead to choose his bride. Meanwhile, Galanta's spell means that while Izzy now remembers Aethan, he has no memory of her.

In a world of honor and obligation, falling in love can be a dangerous game. Jane Dawson would pay any price to renew her family’s happiness, but is the cost of marrying Lord Litchfield too high? A woman of virtue and honor, she cannot break a promise once given, especially when doing so would ruin those she seeks to protect. But can she ignore the connection she feels to the wild soldier who understands both her duty and her heart?

For Miss Phoebe Lockswell, fashionable London tea parties and balls aren't her style. Instead, she prefers to tinker tirelessly with a clockwork diffuser she's built from scratch. If only she can get the invention to work on command, she might earn her way out of an arranged marriage to a repugnant member of the House of Commons.

A lady seeking forgiveness for her past, Lady Viola Haversham is determined to put her past where it belongs. A woman forging a new path in life, Mrs. Ruby Jakeston is tired of others taking care of her. A girl lost and in search of a place to belong, Lady Ellington is on the brink of losing the only home she's ever known. A trio of women holding out hope for three different holiday miracles: Christmas ever more.

I watch him watching us, imagining how he would take me. I send him the message with my eyes. This is who I am. I am Veronica Franco. I am a COURTESAN. I court the cultural elite for fame and fortune, giving my body to many. And I'm good. So very good. After all, I was taught by my mother, and mother always knows best. How else to please the future King of France than with the imaginative use of Murano glass? How else to fulfill the desires of all yet keep my sense of self-worth?

While the elusive Secret Symphony of Giovanni St. John captivated the world's fascination, it left his daughter closed away in the Silent House; she, the one who holds the fullness of truth about the ninth symphony. Now Aria St. John is determined to not only break free of the loss that has defined her, but to honor her father through one final gift in his last days.

This magical fantastical story is about a house for sale which, when cleared, reveals cracks in the walls and ground floor which cannot be explained. We find that underneath the house is a lake inhabited by a sea dragon, Zadie, and her friends and slaves. She has a Tall Ship, and she yearns to return to warmer times and Utopia. Her slaves are "fish people" who have to live partly in the water below and partly in the house, which they enter via the cracks.

The veil is sealed for 30 days and Izzy is looking for distractions to help her forget about Aethan. When a strange dragon and rider appear in Eynsford, Izzy and Isla travel with Emerald to another world. There, they discover the mystical city of Millenia; home to to a band of renegade dark faeries, Ubanty, and dragons. Unable to return, Izzy is forced to battle pirates, assassins, and the advances of the devastatingly handsome Turos. But at home, the shadow of war is marching across the land. Santanas is back and gathering an army, and Izzy is needed.

Iris Bennington is furious when she discovers her younger brother is following the instructions found in the advice columns on How to Be a Gentleman. The so-called "advice" is more likely to turn her brother into a scoundrel. Iris decides to locate the author and confront him. Merritt Steel, the Earl of Ashby, cannot help but be amused by the slip of a woman who comes calling. Unwilling to let such a delightful potential conquest go, he proposes a wager: bring him anyone off the street and he can pass them off as a gentleman. It's a bargain she readily accepts—but with a twist.

Ember's defiance has always been a frustration to the rest of her island community. But even she didn't expect to be selected as the next sacrifice, years before another is due. She can't help but wonder if it relates to the strange new ability that's just begun to stir within her. She doesn't intend to go down without a fight—in fact, the chance to confront the monster demanding sacrifices is a more welcome path than the marriage her parents had arranged to a local farmer.

Die Aldridge. The painted words pierced Nicole's soul like the fatal stab of a dagger . . . Nicole Aldridge whisks her father into hiding to protect him from merciless blackmailers who have threatened his life for refusing to throw a race. With Nick forced to give up his career and go into hiding, Nicole, an expert rider who grew up at her father's knee, disguises herself as a boy to compete in the celebrated Epsom Derby and answers an ad addressed to her father by Dustin Kingsley, the Marquis of Tyreham.

After over forty years of interpreting birth charts, astrologer Andrea Taylor has made a revolutionary discovery: your rising sign represents more than how you appear to the outside world-it is tied to your most recent past life. This book explores each rising sign, its significance in your natal chart, and how it's connected to the south node, which is a common past-life marker.

Ariana Caldwell has grown up in the shadow of a secret family tragedy, at the heart of which lay Trenton Kingsley. Forced to marry a man she had been led to hate-and fear-Ariana is helplessly caught in the renewed fury of an ancient feud. But despite the danger, her husband's unaccountable torment only draws Ariana closer, and her instincts will not allow her to retreat. Caught between Trenton's brooding desire and her brother's imperious demands, Ariana is on an odyssey for the truth . . . consumed by the promise of a passionate, overwhelming love.

Harriet Wheatley is the mastermind behind the Ladies of Virtue's quest to rehabilitate the gentlemen of the ton. So when it comes to selecting her own target, she knows who to choose: Oliver Weeks, Marquess of Davenport—the most extravagant wastrel in all of London. Known for his opulent lifestyle, Oliver isn't surprised by Harriet's confrontation. It's obvious Harriet longs for any way to take him down a notch. She says she'll help him find a bride, but he knows it's only because it gives her the excuse to chastise his indulgent ways.