Download or read book A Counterfeit Courtesan written by Jess Michaels and published by The Passionate Pen. This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The final book in the popular series by 10 time USA Today bestselling author Jess Michaels The last of the Shelley triplets to remain unmarried, Juliana Shelley has never felt like she’s recognized as her own person. But now, scarred by a terrible attack, she’s never felt so alone. Or so tired of cleaning up every else’s mess. She longs for something just for herself. A taste of the desire that seems to make her sisters so very happy in their marriages. One desperate night, she goes to the wicked Donville Masquerade, looking for trouble and finds a handsome, masked stranger more than willing to provide it. Ellis Maitland’s dangerous desperation caused the injuries Juliana suffered and he has felt guilty about it since. And drawn to her unlike anyone else he’s ever met. When he realizes she’s masquerading as a courtesan his best impulses, rusty as they are, cause him to try to stop her from making a mistake. Only Juliana isn’t as easily deterred as Ellis believes she will be. And the desire that sparks between them soon cannot be denied. Although they begin a passionate affair, Ellis knows it cannot last. After all, he has a plan to take care of the villain behind all the trouble plaguing his family and it’s one he knows he won’t survive. Will Juliana’s help and faith save him? Or will it be too little, too late. Length: Novel Length Heat level: Sticky and sweaty The book is part of the Shelley Sisters series, but can be read as a standalone novel.

Download or read book Courtesans at Table written by Laura McClure and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-02-25 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Witty nicknames, crude jokes, public nudity and lavish monuments, all of these things distinguished Greek courtesans from respectable citizen women in ancient Greece. Although prostitutes appear as early as archaic Greek lyric poetry, our fullest accounts come from the late second century CE. Drawing on Book 13 of the Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae--which contains almost all known references to hetaeras from all periods of Greek literature--Laura K. McClure has created a window onto the ways ancient Greeks perceived the courtesan and the role of the courtesan in Greek life.

Download or read book The Duke of Desire written by Jess Michaels and published by The Passionate Pen. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 9th Book in the beloved 1797 Club series from USA Today Bestseller Jess Michaels Robert Smithton, Duke of Roseford is known for his lusty appetites and his cold, cold heart. Still thanks to his title and his fortune, everyone wants him and he’s bored of it all. He wants something, but he cannot place what exactly that is. Until he meets Katherine, the Countess of Gainsworth. Married for six months to an old man who died when they were making love, Katherine is just returning to Society. Although scandal follows her, so does interest, as the men of Society wonder about her prowess if it could kill a man. When Robert begins to pursue her, she is horrified. After all, she blames him for the circumstances that sent her into her loveless marriage in the first place. When Katherine ignores him, Robert only pushes harder and ultimately she begins to wonder if revenge is a dish best served through desire. What she finds when she touches him at last is pleasure unlike any she’s ever known, and a connection she does not wish to feel. Now she must decide if she wants revenge or happiness and Robert must determine if love is worth fighting for. Length: Full-length novel Heat Level: Seduction, scandal and lots of sin! This book is part of a series (The 1797 Club), but can be read as a standalone book.

Download or read book The Shelley Sisters Series Collection written by Jess Michaels and published by The Passionate Pen. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 786 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All three books from the The Shelley Sisters Series in one collection! A set of triplets is a rare thing in the Regency era, so the three Shelley sisters have always been an oddity. But now they are about to be thrown into a wild series of events, kicked off by one of them deciding to become a runaway bride. Will any of these three remarkable women find her perfect match? And will their bond of sisterhood survive betrayal, loss and danger? A Reluctant Bride When the Jasper Kincaid, the Earl of Harcourt, offered to marry one of the infamous Shelley triplets, he was doing it for the dowry to refill his depleted coffers, not for anything so silly as love. But when he realizes it is Thomasina Shelley masquerading as his fiancée at their final engagement ball, not his true intended, a desire for her that he has been ignoring sparks. And when it becomes clear her sister has run away with another, an opportunity arises for a marriage with a much deeper connection. A Reckless Runaway Anne Shelley has always been known as the “wild” one of the infamous Shelley triplets and never has that been truer than when she ran away from her engagement with a scandalous man. She expects to be taken to Gretna Green for a hasty marriage, but instead she is dumped off on a remote island in Scotland with his grouchy cousin, Rook Maitland. She isn’t supposed to like him, but as their time together stretches out she can’t help but develop more than a passing interest in her temporary guardian. A Counterfeit Courtesan The last of the Shelley triplets to remain unmarried, Juliana Shelley has never felt like she’s recognized as her own person. But now, scarred by a terrible attack, she’s never felt so alone. Or so tired of cleaning up every else’s mess. She longs for something just for herself. A taste of the desire that seems to make her sisters so very happy in their marriages. One desperate night, she goes to the wicked Donville Masquerade, looking for trouble and finds a handsome, masked stranger more than willing to provide it. Only by the light of day, she realizes he’s no stranger at all, but Ellis Maitland, the architect of her destruction.

Download or read book The Courtesan and the Gigolo written by Aaron Freundschuh and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2017-01-11 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intrigue began with a triple homicide in a luxury apartment building just steps from the Champs-Elyseés, in March 1887. A high-class prostitute and two others, one of them a child, had been stabbed to death—the latest in a string of unsolved murders targeting women of the Parisian demimonde. Newspapers eagerly reported the lurid details, and when the police arrested Enrico Pranzini, a charismatic and handsome Egyptian migrant, the story became an international sensation. As the case descended into scandal and papers fanned the flames of anti-immigrant politics, the investigation became thoroughly enmeshed with the crisis-driven political climate of the French Third Republic and the rise of xenophobic right-wing movements. Aaron Freundschuh's account of the "Pranzini Affair" recreates not just the intricacies of the investigation and the raucous courtroom trial, but also the jockeying for status among rival players—reporters, police detectives, doctors, and magistrates—who all stood to gain professional advantage and prestige. Freundschuh deftly weaves together the sensational details of the case with the social and political undercurrents of the time, arguing that the racially charged portrayal of Pranzini reflects a mounting anxiety about the colonial "Other" within France's own borders. Pranzini's case provides a window into a transformational decade for the history of immigration, nationalism, and empire in France.

Download or read book The Silent Duke written by Jess Michaels and published by The Passionate Pen. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A hot historical from 5 time USA Today bestselling author Jess Michaels Born mute, Ewan Hoffstead, Duke of Donburrow was abused by his wicked father and wretched younger brothers until an uncle swept in to save the day. Still, he carries the scars of his past with him, including a terrible belief that perhaps a “person like him” truly doesn’t deserve the title his uncle fought so hard for him to earn. Recently widowed Charlotte may be the proper Countess of Portsmith to Society, but when she is around Ewan, she still feels like the enraptured little girl who met him decades before when her brother was best friends with him and his cousin. A planned trip to spend Christmas with their families at Ewan’s estate reunites the old friends. But when a storm keeps the others from arriving on time, Charlotte decides to stop living in fear and pursue the man she has desired and loved her entire life. Ewan cannot resist her seduction, but he fears giving in to his heart. Especially when the family that disposed of him returns and threatens not only his life, but that of the woman he loves. Length: Full Length Novel (70,000 words) Heat Level: Might burn your swiping finger This book can be read as a standalone but is the fourth book in the 1797 Club series.

Download or read book Thomas Middleton The Collected Works written by Thomas Middleton and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-03-25 with total page 2017 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Middleton is one of the few playwrights in English whose range and brilliance comes close to Shakespeare's. This handsome edition makes all Middleton's work accessible in a single volume, for the first time. It will generate excitement and controversy among all readers of Shakespeare and the English classics.

Download or read book The Undercover Duke written by Jess Michaels and published by The Passionate Pen. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book His Brazen Tart written by Victoria Vale and published by Victoria Vale. This book was released on 2021-09-29 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Widowhood has offered Joan Durbin the chance to experience life as she never has before. When rumors of an agency of male courtesans in London bring her face to face with Sir Piers Lovelace, she is introduced to a world of enticing pleasures—those of domination and submission, pleasure and discipline, and utter abandon. Unlike most Gentleman Courtesans, Piers is a paramour to wealthy women not out of financial need—but because it allows for illicit affairs with no strings attached. After a previous heartbreak, Piers has no interest in being trapped into marriage by the devious ladies of high society. But Joan Durbin is unlike any woman Piers has ever known. Her brazen nature and uninhibited charm make it difficult to remember that their arrangement is one of pleasurable business only. Neither of them is looking for love … but both will be hard-pressed to deny it's call.

Download or read book The Scandal Sheet Collection Volume 1 written by Jess Michaels and published by The Passionate Pen. This book was released on with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of the first 3 scandal sheet stories from 10 time USA Today Bestselling author Jess Michaels The most wicked secrets in Society are being revealed in a weekly newsletter sent only to the elite of the ton. These are the stories behind those scandals. Love and passion, betrayal and forgiveness, sin and seduction are all to be found in The Scandal Sheet, Volume 1. The Return of Lady Jane After a surprisingly passionate wedding day, Viscount Colin Wharton begins to believe he could overcome a painful betrayal in his past and truly make a future with his new wife Jane. But a shocking betrayal crushes his heart. He sends her away, determined to forget her. Viscountess Jane Wharton has no idea what hardened her husband's heart to her, but she is trying to make the best of her banishment. When she returns to London, she hopes to simply avoid Colin. But that is not to be. As the couple reunites in a clash of harsh words and heated passions, both begin to wonder if they could overcome the past. Only a secret lurks that is darker than anything either could have imagined. And they will have to fight to survive, as well as fight for the love they both deserve. Stealing the Duke When the Earl of Martingale died, his daughter Marianne discovered he had been stealing. When she tried to return the items, it only created a scandal that could destroy her and her beloved younger sister. Now she's found one more item and decides to just sneak it back to the victim in the hopes to keep her disgrace from growing. Alexander Wittingham, the Duke of Avondale, has isolated himself since his sister died. But when he catches the fetching Marianne trying to return his sister's stolen broach, her presence awakens desires in him, longings he hasn't allowed himself to feel in years. When he realizes her dire straits, he makes her a shocking offer that could save her...if she's willing to surrender her body. Their affair draws them close physically...and emotionally. But will Alexander ever accept Marianne to be more than his lover? If he does, will it be too late? Lady No Says Yes Stunning heiress Sophie is known in Society as Lady No because she's spent the past few years refusing the advances of every suitor. But when her beloved aunt challenges her to say yes for just one Season, she can't refuse. Rowan Sinclair has just had his inheritance stripped and is in dire straights. When he discovers Sophie's secret reason for suddenly saying yes, he knows he can use it to his advantage, even if he doesn't feel good about it. Their unexpected connection quickly turns passionate and grows into something deeper than either ever could have expected. But can Sophie overcome her reasons for saying no in the first place? And when she finds out the truth about his courtship, will she ever forgive him?

Download or read book The Countess of Pembroke s Arcadia The Old Arcadia written by Philip Sidney and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1999 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two young princes, Pyrocles and Musidorus, disguise themselves as an Amazon and a shepherd to gain access to the Arcadian Princesses, who have been taken into semi-imprisonment by their father to avoid the dangers foretold by an oracle. The text was a vehicle for Sidney's ideas on versification.

Download or read book Dangerous Pleasures written by Gail Hershatter and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-09-01 with total page 631 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This pioneering work examines prostitution in Shanghai from the late nineteenth century to the present. Drawn mostly from the daughters and wives of the working poor and declassé elites, prostitutes in Shanghai were near the bottom of class and gender hierarchies. Yet they were central figures in Shanghai urban life, entering the historical record whenever others wanted to appreciate, castigate, count, regulate, cure, pathologize, warn about, rescue, eliminate, or deploy them as a symbol in a larger social panorama. Over the past century, prostitution has been understood in many ways: as a source of urbanized pleasures, a profession full of unscrupulous and greedy schemers, a changing site of work for women, a source of moral danger and physical disease, a marker of national decay, and a sign of modernity. For the Communist leadership of the 1950s, the elimination of prostitution symbolized China's emergence as a strong, healthy, and modern nation. In the past decade, as prostitution once again has become a recognized feature of Chinese society, it has been incorporated into a larger public discussion about what kind of modernity China should seek and what kind of sex and gender arrangements should characterize that modernity. Prostitutes, like every other non-elite group, did not record their own lives. How can sources generated by intense public argument about the "larger" meanings of prostitution be read for clues to those lives? Hershatter makes use of a broad range of materials: guidebooks to the pleasure quarters, collections of anecdotes about high-class courtesans, tabloid gossip columns, municipal regulations prohibiting street soliciting, police interrogations of streetwalkers and those accused of trafficking in women, newspaper reports on court cases involving both courtesans and streetwalkers, polemics by Chinese and foreign reformers, learned articles by Chinese scholars commenting on the world history of prostitution and analyzing its local causes, surveys by doctors and social workers on sexually transmitted disease in various Shanghai populations, relief agency records, fictionalized accounts of the scams and sufferings of prostitutes, memoirs by former courtesan house patrons, and interviews with former officials and reformers. Although a courtesan may never set pen to paper, we can infer a great deal about her strategizing and working of the system through the vast cautionary literature that tells her customers how not to be defrauded by her. Newspaper accounts of the arrests and brief court testimonies of Shanghai streetwalkers let us glimpse the way that prostitutes positioned themselves to get the most they could from the legal system. Without recourse to direct speech, Hershatter argues, these women have nevertheless left an audible trace. Central to this study is the investigation of how things are known and later remembered, and how, later still, they are simultaneously apprehended and reinvented by the historian.

Download or read book A Reckless Runaway written by Jess Michaels and published by The Passionate Pen. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second in the bestselling series by USA Today Bestselling Author Jess Michaels Anne Shelley has always been known as the “wild” one of the infamous Shelley triplets and never has that been truer than when she ran away from her engagement with a scandalous man. She expects to be taken to Gretna Green for a hasty marriage, but instead she is dumped off on a remote island in Scotland with his grouchy cousin, Rook Maitland. She isn’t supposed to like him, but as their time together stretches out she can’t help but develop more than a passing interest in her temporary guardian. Rook knows his cousin’s game and he has serious doubts he’ll ever return for the fetching Anne, fool that he is. After all, the woman is fascinating and the more time they spend together, she proves to be irresistible. When she asks him to help her get back to her family, time alone on the road will lead to passions that can no longer be denied. But Rook’s cousin has an ulterior motive for everything he’s done. And the danger that will be brought down on their heads could destroy the love they’re beginning to develop and end their future before it has time to begin. Length: Novel Length Heat Level: Steamy fun is had by all. This can be read as a standalone novel, but is part of the Shelley Sisters series.

Download or read book Into Print written by Leah L. Chang and published by University of Delaware Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Printers were powerful figures in the creation of early modern books: they determined the physical appearance of books, changed content, and even altered or eliminated the name of the author to suit their own commercial and cultural interests. These interventions encouraged the birth of modern notions of authorship, for they compelled writers, editors, and printers to confront questions of textual ownership and authority. In the publication of female authors, however, book producers had to grapple with new concerns about authority and value since female authors were few and far between and their appeal was far from guaranteed. Certainly, the novelty of female authors could represent both an economic and cultural niche for the enterprising printer, but that same novelty in a culture unaccustomed to women's literary production was also a risky investment.

Download or read book The Redemption of a Rogue written by Jess Michaels and published by The Passionate Pen. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The next steamy historical romance from USA Today Bestseller Jess Michaels. Imogen Huxley was already questioning her decision to seek out a lover at a notorious brothel, but never more so than after she witnesses a murder! She flees for her life and runs right into the arms of Oscar Fitzhugh, a mysterious club owner. She has no choice but to take his offer of protection while he tries to save her life. The passion that comes with that protection is just a bonus. Oscar Fitzhugh was at the brothel investigating the death of his former mistress. He’s one of the infamous by-blows of the Duke of Roseford, but he cut himself off from that life long ago. Now he lives his life, trying desperately to keep everyone around him at arm’s length. But Imogen is too intriguing not to protect and seduce. Danger is at every turn, pleasure in each touch. But as they circle ever closer to a future that could be everything they’ve ever needed, the murderer looking for Imogen is also coming nearer. If he finds them, all will be lost. Heat Level: Very sexy and a little frisky. Length: Full Length Novel This book is part of the Duke’s By-Blows series but can be read as a stand-alone novel.

Download or read book The Duke Who Lied written by Jess Michaels and published by The Passionate Pen. This book was released on 2018-07-24 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Courtesan s Arts written by Martha Feldman and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2006-03-23 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Courtesans, hetaeras, tawaif-s, ji-s--these women have exchanged artistic graces, elevated conversation, and sexual favors with male patrons throughout history and around the world. In Ming dynasty China and early modern Italy, exchange was made through poetry, speech, and music; in pre-colonial India through magic, music, chemistry, and other arts. Yet like the art of courtesanry itself, those arts have often thrived outside present-day canons and modes of transmission, and have mostly vanished without trace.The Courtesan's Arts delves into this hidden legacy, while touching on its equivocal relationship to geisha. At once interdisciplinary, empirical, and theoretical, the book is the first to ask how arts have figured in the survival or demise of courtesan cultures by juxtaposing research from different fields. Among cases studied by writers on classics, ethnomusicology, anthropology, and various histories of art, music, literature, and political culture are Ming dynasty China, twentieth-century Korea, Edo and modern Japan, ancient Greece, early modern Italy, and India, past and present. Refusing a universal model, the authors nevertheless share a perception that courtesans hover in the crevices of space, time, and practice--between gifts and money, courts and cities, subtlety and flamboyance, feminine allure and masculine power, as wifely surrogates but keepers of culture. What most binds them to their arts in our post-industrialized world of global services and commodities, they find, is courtesans' fragility, as their cultures, once vital to civilizations founded in leisure and pleasure, are now largely forgotten, transforming courtesans into national icons or historical curiosities, or reducing them to prostitution.