Download or read book La Belle Cr ole written by Alina García-Lapuerta and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2014-09-01 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The adventurous woman nicknamed La Belle Créole is brought to life in this book through the full use of her memoirs, contemporary accounts, and her intimate letters. The fascinating María de las Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo, also known as Mercedes, and later the Comtesse Merlin, was a Cuban-born aristocrat who was years ahead of her time as a writer, a socialite, a salon host, and a participant in the Cuban slavery debate. Raised in Cuba and shipped off to live with her socialite mother in Spain at the age of 13, Mercedes triumphed over the political chaos that blanketed Europe in the Napoleonic days, by charming aristocrats from all sides with her exotic beauty and singing voice. She married General Merlin in Napoleon's army and discussed painting with Francisco de Goya. In Paris she hosted the city's premier musical salon where Liszt, Rossini, and great divas of the day performed for Rothschilds, Balzac, and royalty. Celebrated as one of the greatest amateur sopranos of her day, Mercedes also achieved fame as a writer. Her memoirs and travel writings introduced European audiences to 19th-century Cuban society and contributed to the debate over slavery. Mercedes has recently been rediscovered as Cuba's earliest female author and one who deserves a place in the canon of Latin American literature.

Download or read book Blood Countess written by Lana Popovic and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A lush and bloody historical thriller” based on the infamous real-life inspiration for Countess Dracula, a Hungarian noblewoman turned serial killer.(Kirkus Reviews) In sixteenth-century Hungary, Anna Darvulia has just begun working as a scullery maid for the young and glamorous Countess Elizabeth Báthory. When Elizabeth takes a liking to Anna, she’s vaulted to the dream role of chambermaid, a far cry from the filthy servants’ quarters below. She receives wages generous enough to provide for her family, and the Countess begins to groom Anna as her friend, confident and lover. It’s not long before Anna falls completely under the Countess’s spell—and the Countess t”akes full advantage. Isolated from her former friends, family, and fiancé, Anna realizes she’s not a friend but a prisoner of the increasingly cruel Elizabeth. Then come the murders, and Anna knows it’s only a matter of time before the Blood Countess turns on her, too. “Popovic balances lush, romantic language with gruesome imagery in this tale of innocence lost. Readers will likely be inspired to do actual research into Lady Bathory’s murderous misdeeds.” —Booklist “Popovic also touches on how a patriarchal society can drive women to extremes without letting the truly terrifying Bathory, or Anna, off the hook for their own actions.” —Kirkus Reviews “Hand to fans of dark historical fiction and powerful female characters.” —School Library Journal

Download or read book The Crimson Countess written by Brynn Myers and published by . This book was released on 2021-06-02 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a god and a vampire queen desire you, things can get complicated. Nola Blair is a free-spirited artist who's been offered a hefty sum to create a unique piece for a party at Elizabeth Bathory's ruined castle. It's an assignment she declined--twice. However, at the behest of her sister and her best friend, she finally gave in, choosing her career over her annoyance with the misogynist ass trying to secure her services. Erzsebet Bathory has been trapped for centuries and would do anything to escape, including using her own son, Paul, to do her bidding. Soon she'll be free and take her place among the ferals as their queen. Andrik Kane had no idea his life would change when he saved Nola from a band of rogue vampires. Charged with the hunting of ferals and their creators, one broken rule and the blood of a beautiful brunette in distress ends up giving him more than he ever bargained for. One wants her blood, the other wants her to be his. Who will decide Nola's fate? (Previously published as Captivated by Crimson)

Download or read book Courting the Countess written by Jenny Frame and published by Bold Strokes Books Inc. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor of Archeology Henrietta “Harry” Knight becomes Countess of Axedale upon her father’s death and takes a sabbatical from Cambridge University to begin refurbishing the long-neglected and run-down Axedale Hall. The child of a loveless marriage, witness to her father’s infidelities and her mother’s pain, Harry has no intention of ever falling in love. Annie Brannigan is a survivor, remaining positive through hardships. As an agency housekeeper, she moves from post to post with her daughter Riley, taking care of people who have everything she will never have. Annie’s greatest wish is to find her happy ever after. Can love restore the countess’s heart and the crumbling Axedale Hall, or will the first foundations of love turn to dust?

Download or read book Courting the Countess written by Donna Hatch and published by The Wild Rose Press Inc. This book was released on 2016-10-05 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When charming rake Tristan Barrett sweeps Lady Elizabeth off her feet, stealing both her heart and a kiss in a secluded garden, her brother challenges Tristan to a duel. The only way to save her brother and Tristan from harm—not to mention preserve her reputation—is to get married. But her father, the Duke of Pemberton, refuses to allow his daughter to marry anyone but a titled lord. The duke demands that Elizabeth marry Tristan’s older brother, Richard, the Earl of Averston. Now Elizabeth must give up Tristan to marry a man who despises her, a man who loves another, a man she’ll never love. Richard fears Elizabeth is as untrustworthy as his mother, who ran off with another man. However, to protect his brother from a duel and their family name from further scandal, he agrees to the wedding, certain his new bride will betray him. Yet when Elizabeth turns his house upside down and worms her way into his reluctant heart, Richard suspects he can’t live without his new countess. Will she stay with him or is it too little, too late?

Download or read book A Scandalous Countess written by Jo Beverley and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-02-07 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lady May is back. And so is the scandal that sent her tumbling from her position as the toast of London, when her husband, the Earl of Maybury, was killed in a duel. Even a year of mourning hasn't quieted the rumors of her infidelity. Georgia Maybury is determined to regain her position in the beau monde, but a scarred ex-naval officer threatens her plans...

Download or read book The Duchess Countess written by Catherine Ostler and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-04-15 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A scintillating story superbly told... [Ostler] packs every paragraph with eye-opening detail' The Times 'A rollicking read... [Ostler] tells Elizabeth's story with admirable style and gusto' Sunday Times 'Terrifically entertaining: if you liked Bridgerton, you’ll love this...and her research is impeccable' Evening Standard 'Fascinating. Magnificent.​ Sensitively told' Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five 'Catherine Ostler’s superb, gripping, decadent biography brings an extraordinary woman and a whole world blazingly to life' Simon Sebag Montefiore When the glamorous Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, Countess of Bristol, went on trial at Westminster Hall for bigamy in April 1776, the story drew more attention in society than the American War of Independence. A clandestine, candlelit wedding to the young heir to an earldom, a second marriage to a Duke, a lust for diamonds and an electrifying appearance at a masquerade ball in a diaphanous dress: no wonder the trial was a sensation. However, Elizabeth refused to submit to public humiliation and retire quietly. Rather than backing gracefully out of the limelight, she embarked on a Grand Tour of Europe, being welcomed by the Pope and Catherine the Great among others. As maid of honour to Augusta, Princess of Wales, Elizabeth led her life in the inner circle of the Hanoverian court and her exploits delighted and scandalised the press and the people. She made headlines, and was a constant feature in penny prints and gossip columns. Writers were intrigued by her. Thackeray drew on Elizabeth as inspiration for his calculating, alluring Becky Sharp. But her behaviour, often depicted as attention-seeking and manipulative, hid a more complex tale – that of Elizabeth’s fight to overcome personal tragedy and loss. Now, in this brilliantly told and evocative biography, Catherine Ostler takes a fresh look at Elizabeth’s story and seeks to understand and reappraise a woman who refused to be defined by society’s expectations of her. A woman who was by turns, brave, loving and generous but also reckless, greedy and insecure; a woman totally unwilling to accept the female status of underdog or to hand over all the power, the glory and the adventures of life to men.

Download or read book The Countess written by Tim Clarke and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2016-07-15 with total page 687 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leader of society, lover of the Prince Regent and contemporary of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, Frances Villiers had a reputation as a scandalous woman.

Download or read book An Illusion of Love written by Patricia Rice and published by Book View Cafe. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NYT bestselling author Patricia Rice presents the third book in her beloved School of Magic series: Victorian Edinburgh belongs to staid professors, not the flamboyant daughter of a Hindu princess. Lacking any of her Malcolm family’s psychic abilities, Azmin Dougall flees her ancestral home of India for Edinburgh, fearing she’ll be a pigeon in a family of peacocks. But she’s willing to risk everything to aid a friend’s escape from an abusive husband—and to test her newly discovered, weirdly-perceptive photography skills. Dr. Zane Dare is done with risk. Because his work introduced disease into his family home, his sister is dead, and his niece, Louisa, is an invalid left in his care. As a bachelor, and one who spends all his waking hours researching a cure, he has no means of entertaining an adolescent girl. In desperation, he asks the School of Malcolms to provide a governess. Zane is appalled when they send Azmin. A decade ago they shared an enchanted summer that ended in crushed dreams. Worse yet, introducing a defiant Hindu princess into his household will jeopardize Zane’s precarious research position. And Azmin isn’t about to trust a man who scoffs at her incipient psychic abilities—until his frail niece wins her love. But after Azmin’s photograph reveals the man courting Louisa may be dangerous, Zane and Azmin must set aside their differences to protect the girl who could teach their hearts to love again . . .

Download or read book A Bewitching Governess written by Patricia Rice and published by Book View Cafe. This book was released on 2020-05-26 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: She’s the mistress of illusion; How can he trust her lessons on love? Lady Olivia Malcolm Hargreaves is a viscountess, a widow, a governess, the adopted mother of a disabled toddler—but above all else, she is a survivor. When the father of the young children she’s been caring for arrives on Christmas Eve, drunk and ranting, his aura and her own sad experience tell her he’s dangerous. Heart hardened after the murder of his beloved wife, Simon Blair is an industrialist who has no use for another psychic Malcolm. His late wife’s weird family is more than enough interference. But his twin daughters are talking to their mother’s ghost, his son and heir is floating objects that shouldn’t float, and he’s beleaguered by aristocrats who refuse to acknowledge his plebeian existence. When Simon learns that Lady Olivia is in a position to help him obtain the land he needs for his business, and she recognizes that by helping him, she might regain the home she’s lost, they must fight their respective prejudices and forge an uneasy alliance. It might take a ghost, an army of children, and a criminal gang to force them to recognize that they want far more than real estate.

Download or read book The Librarian s Spell written by Patricia Rice and published by Book View Cafe. This book was released on with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can a timid librarian and a bold engineer save a castle's toppling tower of books? The stereotypical reserved librarian, Lydia Wystan has only one true love, the books that whisper to her. But unless she can understand the whispers, she cannot become what she wants to be more than anything—the Malcolm Librarian. Maxwell Ives has a disastrous gift for attracting women, a trait that has resulted in three sons and a desire for solitude. Returning to England to find a school for one of his boys, Max seeks privacy in the isolated Malcolm library. But to Max’s dismay, the old librarian dies, leaving Miss Wystan, a female, in charge. Before he can run far, far away, he learns the library tower is in danger of toppling, and his cousin is stealing from his mother’s School of Malcolms. To save the library and Max’s family funds, Lydia must claim to be what she is not—a real librarian. Fascinated that his magnetism doesn’t affect the one woman who can help him, Max must choose between his freedom and his family. In the process of helping others, Max and Lydia just might learn that sometimes, love is the secret that makes magic happen. Quote for Lesson in Enchantment: “. . .transports readers to Victorian-era Scotland with the appealing . . . fantasy romance that opens her School of Magic series. . . Rice does a good job fleshing out her protagonists, imbuing them with convincing motivations and worthy ambitions outside of the central romance.”—Publishers Weekly School of Magic series in order: Lessons in Enchantment A Bewitching Governess An Illusion of Love The Librarian’s Spell

Download or read book Graham s Illustrated Magazine of Literature Romance Art and Fashion written by George R. Graham and published by . This book was released on 1833 with total page 622 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Atkinson s Casket written by and published by . This book was released on 1833 with total page 652 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Foreign quarterly review ed by J G Cochrane written by John George Cochrane and published by . This book was released on 1837 with total page 582 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Captivating the Countess written by Patricia Rice and published by Book View Cafe. This book was released on 2021-07-13 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can a ghost help a marquess to save his father and captivate a countess? A spinster countess with a penniless estate, Lady Isobel Malcolm Ross faints when startled, allowing spirits to enter her head. Undeterred by her impairment, Bell learns of a position in a quiet ducal household where she might earn her way. Jasper Winchester, Marquess of Rainford, comes from a long line of healers, but he’s unable to cure his own father. The duke's dying request is that Rainford marry to protect the family fortune. The marquess has dutifully acquired a suitable candidate, but Bell's arrival unleashes the ghost of Rain's grandmother, who frightens his fiancée into fleeing. Much as Rain would like to toss the haunted countess into the snow, only Bell can calm the furious ghost, hush his heir’s opera singers, and manage his unruly sisters. Soon, his family insists that Rain marry Bell before all their fortunes are lost. Except Bell wants no part of this tumultuous household, where slamming doors startle her into falling down staircases. But how can she abandon the eccentric family—and distraught marquess—who accepts her foibles? The ghost’s demands for Bell to help Rain save the duke result in mayhem and catastrophe. Now the two must find a way to heal each other—before the duke is gone, the family's future is lost, and any hope of love vanishes. Lesson in Enchantment: “. . .transports readers to Victorian-era Scotland with the appealing . . . fantasy romance that opens her School of Magic series. ” Publishers Weekly The School of Magic series in order: Lessons in Enchantment A Bewitching Governess An Illusion of Love The Librarian’s Spell Entrancing the Earl Captivating the Countess

Download or read book Duchess of Sin written by Laurel McKee and published by Forever. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blonde and beautiful Lady Anna Blacknall is in the mood for mischief. Entering Dublin's most notorious den of vice, she finds herself in the arms of a mysterious, emerald-eyed Irishman. And although he is masked, his tender kiss is hauntingly familiar. Conlan McTeer, Duke of Adair, has come to Dublin to fight for a free Ireland. But he's suddenly reunited with the young Englishwoman who had once claimed his heart, and his passion turns from politics to pleasure. When their sizzling encounter brings danger to Anna's door, she must decide where her loyalties lie-and quickly. For someone will do whatever it takes to destroy Conlan . . . and anyone he dares to love.

Download or read book The Pets of the Parterre Or Love in a Garden A Romantic Comedietta in One Act Etc written by Joseph Stirling COYNE and published by . This book was released on 1861 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: