The English Aristocrat's Bride (Harlequin Presents, No. 2465)

• 2005 - Harlequin Presents - Paperback - 1st Edition
• The English Aristocrat's Bride
• Written By Sandra Field
• The Passion Series - Book #2465
• New - Collectible

An Unexpected Encounter

For a few moments on a moonlit balcony, Nicole Beaumont was just a beautiful woman catching the eye of the handsome Lord Devlinâ€"but she knew the illusion couldn't last. If the enigmatic aristocrat knew her secret, he'd realize that her disability left her unfit for love. So who could blame her for hiding the truth a little longer?

Devlin had never met a woman like Nicole. Her unique combination of innocence and wisdom left him utterly intrigued. Yet what was she hiding? For a man who did not trust easily, discovering her secret was devastating. Overcoming their pasts and forging a future would take faith, forgiveness and trust. And second chances could lead to new beginn! ings…You were living it up with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and then the tides turned. Now the king and queen have lost their heads and you're stuck in a filthy jail without a morsel of pate to eat. Quelle horreur! Could anything be worse?

By the author of the acclaimed The Rise and Fall of the British Empire comes a "grand tour of the lives and impact of this truly remarkable breed." (The Washington Times)

Aristocracy means "rule by the best." For nine hundred years, the British aristocracy has considered itself ideally qualified to rule others, make laws, and guide the fortunes of the nation. Tracing the history of this remarkable supremacy, Aristocrats is a story of civil wars, conquests, intrigue, chicanery, and extremes of both selflessness and greed. 

Lawrence James also illuminates how the aristocracy's infatuation with classical art has forged English heritage, how its love of sport has shaped its pastimes and value! s, and how its scandals have entertained the public.

Imp! eccably researched, balanced, and brilliantly entertaining, Aristocrats is an enthralling history of power, influence, and an extraordinary knack for survival.

When Count Guillermo de la Cruz announced his engagement to plain-Jane heiress Kara deMontaine just minutes after meeting her, the jet-set gaped in shock. But none was more stunned than Kara. The man of her dreams had just offered marriage--as an act of revenge against his former lover. She should have said no. But something in Gui's primal stare showed her he was far from indifferent to her. Could Kara tame this royal playboy and show Gui they could find happily ever after...with each other?Rapscallion! Rake! Wanderer! Adventurer!

All accusations that the Earl of Treyford acknowledges with pride. The scandalous son of a disgraced mother, he has no time for the pretty niceties of the ton, nor the simpering debutantes who populate its ballrooms.

He has returned to England to aid an "aging" spinster facing a! n undefined danger. But Miss Latimer's dark and sultry beauty, her fascinating mix of knowledge and innocence, arouse far more than his protective instincts.

Can such an improper aristocrat learn to be the true gentleman Miss Latimer deserves?

Handsome English aristocrat Lord Simon Morton-Blake is reluctant to get involved with anyone on his visit to Australia--especially a single mother like Kate Petherbridge! But Simon can't deny his attraction to vivacious Kate, or refuse her offer of a place to stay.

Thrown into the middle of Kate's lively family, Simon finds his buttoned-up manner slowly undone. A happy family isn't something Simon's known before, but he's starting to realize there's one ready-made, just for him....

The Lennox Sisters--great-granddaughters of a king, daughters of a cabinet minister, and wives of politicians and peers--lived lives of real public significance, but the private texture of their family-centered world mattered to ! them and they shared their experiences with each other in coun! tless le tters. From this hitherto unknown archive, Stella Tillyard has constructed a group biography of privileged eighteenth-century women who, she shows, have much to tell us about our own time.

I must confess that initially I tried to skim this book. But it was far too good, and I ended up spending hours totally engrossed in the lives, loves, and letters of the Lennox sisters--Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah. Author Stella Tillyard gives a second life to these 18th-century aristocrats, whose extended family included some of the most significant and colorful British political figures of the era. She mixes impeccable research, a sharp eye for detail, and a writing style that's both precise and lively to produce a biography of a clan that doubles as a panoramic history of the aristocracy in the 1700s.

Each sister's defining characteristics shine through her letters, portraits, and Tillyard's terrific storytelling. Caroline, the eldest, is deeply pessimistic, intell! igent, and moral but fascinated by and attracted to "wickedness" (she eloped with the naughty-but-nice Henry Fox and lived happily ever after). Emily: beautiful, loving, dictatorial, and unbelievably fertile (22 children, 10 of whom survived into adulthood). Louisa was good, gentle, always unwilling to believe ill of anyone, and when she died, was mourned not only by family and friends, but also by the whole of the Irish town in which she lived. And Sarah--flighty, flirtatious Sarah, with whom the young King George III fell blushingly and tongue-tiedly in love. Who, after disgracing herself and her dull, uninterested husband with the moody younger brother of Lord Gordon (of Gordon riots fame), finally found happiness and respectability, in her late 30s, with an understanding soldier. Unmissable. --Lisa Gee, Amazon.co.uk This book provides an in-depth account of the process of transformation from the curfewed city of the Tang period to the open city of the Song. It a! nalyzes the multi-dimensional factors that gradually led to th! e develo pment of an urban culture which in turn helped cement the trend towards the open city in China with its irregular layout and distinct urban features.

The English aristocrat...

Blue-blooded millionaire Rafe Holden needed a wife, one who would agree to a loveless marriage. And he had a most suitable candidate in mind...

The wrong twin...

But she had an identical twin sister. Karyn aroused the kind of desire in Rafe that he'd been hoping to avoid....

Or the right bride?

Rafe was no stranger to making ruthless choices. So would he decide to risk more than a marriage in name only, and take Karyn as his arranged bride?