Showing results by author "Georgette Heyer" in All Categories

The legend of the Headless Horseman and a proposed marriage de convenance both have their impact on the mystery of a golden talisman ring and Lord Lavenham's young heir, Ludovic. Neither Sir Tristram Shield nor Eustacie, his young French cousin, shares the slightest inclination to marry one another, yet it is Lord Lavenham's dying wish. For there is no one else to provide for the old man's granddaughter while Ludovic remains a fugitive from justice.

When Sophy is sent to stay with her London relatives, she finds her cousins in quite the tangle. Cecilia is besotted with an attractive but feather-brained poet, Hubert has fallen foul of a money-lender and the ruthlessly handsome Charles is engaged to a pedantic bluestocking who seems to bring out the worst in him. Fortunately, Sophy has arrived just in time to sort them all out - but Charles is eager to rid his family of her meddlesome ways. Has the grand Sophy finally met her match?

Renowned gamester and the first to admit that he is entirely void of a romantic disposition, Max Ravenscar regards all eligible females with indifference and unconcern. But when he meets the woman his young cousin Adrian is bent on marrying - the beautiful Deborah Grantham, mistress of her aunt's gaming house - he finds that none of his experience in risk and gambling has prepared him for such a worthy opponent.

Arabella, the daughter of an impoverished country parson, dreams of a new life in London. But her beauty and charm will only get her so far - and when Arabella embarks on her first London season armed with nothing but a benevolent godmother and her own notoriously short temper, she quickly runs afoul of Robert Beaumaris.

Hero Wantage is desperate to change her fate. When the dashing Lord Sherry proposes out of the blue, Hero is overjoyed—she'll escape a life as a governess and, once they wed, he can finally claim his inheritance. But as Hero attempts to social climb in glamorous London society, Sherry is concerned that her naivety will ruin them both and takes drastic action. The chaos that follows will push friendships—and hearts—to breaking point.

Abigail Wendover has no time for love. She is far too busy protecting her niece, who has fallen madly in love with a suspected fortune-hunter. But her efforts become vastly more complicated with the arrival of Miles Calverleigh, the black sheep of his family - a reckless bachelor with a scandalous past. Abby soon discovers that, despite successfully managing her niece's love life, she has far less control over her own unruly heart.

Her eccentric and childless guardian, Mr. Penicuik, is leaving Kitty all of his vast fortune - but with one condition. She must marry one of his five grand-nephews. However, Kitty's clear favourite - the rakish Jack Westruther - doesn't appear at all interested in the arrangement. To make Jack jealous, Kitty impulsively convinces his cousin, the kind-hearted and chivalrous Freddy Standen, to enter into a pretend engagement. But the more time she spends with Freddy, the more Kitty wonders whether Jack is the right choice after all....

Adam Deveril, the new Viscount Lynton and a hero at Salamanca, returns from the Peninsula War to find his family on the brink of ruin and the broad acres of his ancestral home mortgaged to the hilt. It is Lord Oversley, father of Adam's first love, who tactfully introduces him to Mr Jonathan Chaleigh, a city man of apparently unlimited wealth with no social ambitions for himself, but with his eyes firmly fixed on a suitable match for his one and only daughter.

Endowed with rank, wealth and elegance, Sylvester, Duke of Salford, posts into Wiltshire to discover if the Honorable Phoebe Marlow will meet his exacting requirements for a bride. If he does not expect to meet a tongue-tied stripling wanting both manners and conduct, then he is intrigued indeed when his visit causes Phoebe to flee her home. They meet again on the road to London, where her carriage has come to grief in the snow. Yet Phoebe, already caught in one imbroglio, now knows she soon could be well deep in another....

Society believes the worst of Justin Alastair, the notorious Duke of Avon. When he encounters a young boy, Léon, who is running from his abusive brother, Avon employs the boy as his page, parading him around parties and other society events in full view of his bitter rival, the Comte de Saint-Vire. But the truth is soon uncovered: Léon is a girl named Léonie and is actually the legitimate child of the Comte and his wife. While Avon is intent on his plan to reveal the Comte’s duplicity and ruin him, he is charmed by Léonie’s kindness, falls in love, and becomes a changed man.

Beautiful heiress Judith Taverner has her pick of London suitors. But her luck takes a turn for the worse when her hapless brother, Peregrine, becomes the target of a would-be-assassin. To Judith's great annoyance, their mysterious guardian - the handsome Earl of Worth - seems far more intent on wooing her than saving her brother, but all is not as it seems. When the truth is revealed, Judith will finally discover if the earl is after her money or her heart.

Stepping into the wrong carriage at a Sussex village, Elinor Rochdale is swept up in a thrilling and dangerous adventure. Overnight the would-be governess becomes mistress of a ruined estate and partner in a secret conspiracy to save a family's name. By midnight, she is a bride, by dawn, a widow.

When Gervase Frant, Seventh Earl of St Erth, returns at last from Waterloo to his family seat at Stanyon, he enjoys a less than welcome homecoming. Only Theo, a cousin even quieter than himself, is there to greet him - and when he meets his stepmother and young half-brother he detects open disappointment that he survived the wars. But the dangers of the Lincolnshire countryside are quite different to those of the battlefield.

Robin and Prudence Merriot have been dissemblers since they were children. And in this age of slippery politics, they need to be. So it is nothing for them to rescue a rich heiress from her abductor. But once committed to their masquerade, they must see it through.

The shy, young Duke of Sale has never known his parents, Instead, his Grace Adolphus Gillespie Vernon Ware (Gilly for short) has endured 24 years of rigorous mollycoddling form his uncle and valet. But his natural diffidence conceals a rebellious spirit. So when Gilly hears of Belinda, the beautiful foundling who appears to be blackmailing his cousin, he absconds with glee. No sooner has he entered this new and dangerous world than is he plunged into a frenzy of intrigue, kidnap and adventure.

The only question which hangs over the life of Sir Richard Wyndham, notable whip, dandy and Corinthian, is one of marriage. On the eve of making the most momentous decision of his life, he is on his way home, a little worse for drink, when he chances upon a beautiful young fugitive climbing out of a window by means of knotted sheets - and so finds a perfect opportunity for his own escape.

Horry Winwood doesn't play by the rules. So when her family are near ruin and her sister is about to enter a loveless marriage to a wealthy man to settle the family debts, young and headstrong Horry proposes to marry him instead. As her new husband's attentions fall elsewhere, Horry feels increasingly unhappy. Then she meets the attractive and dangerous Lord Lethbridge, and her days suddenly become more exciting. But there is bad blood between Horry's husband and Lord Lethbridge, and as complications and deceptions mount, the social tangle grows ever trickier to unpick.

Sir Waldo Hawkridge - wealthy, handsome, eligible, illustrious and known as 'The Nonesuch' for his athletic prowess - believes he is past the age of falling in love. But when he comes North to inspect his unusual inheritance at Broom Hall in the West Riding, his arrival leads to the most entertaining of ramifications.

Vernon Alverstoke sees no reason to put himself out for anyone. But when a distant connection asks for help, he is quickly plunged into one drama after another by the disorderly Merriville family. Surprisingly, he finds himself far from bored - especially when he encounters their strong-minded daughter, Frederica. However, she seems far more concerned with her family's welfare than his romantic advances.

Miles from anywhere, the isolated mansion Darracott Place is presided over by the irascible Lord Darracott. The recent drowning of his eldest son has done nothing to improve his temper. For now he must send for the unknown offspring of the uncle whom the family are never permitted to mention. Yet none of that beleaguered family are prepared for the arrival of the weaver's brat and heir apparent.