Anita Stansfield
England, 1857
The British aristocracy is an inflexible judge. And for Amala, a lovely young Indian woman, that judgment is most keenly felt. Raised from a child by the wealthy Hepworth family following the murder of her parents, Amala grew up alongside the Hepworth's own daughter, Katarina, and was loved as both sister and daughter. The family is part of the charmed circle of the upper class, but Amala's place in society is tenuous. As an Indian
...Samuel Blackwood will never love again. Following the untimely death of his wife, the grieving Earl of Grey Manor knows there will never be room in his heart for another. Yet, in spite of his reluctance to seek a wife, Samuel knows his children need a mother. A garden party at the estate gives him the perfect opportunity to meet the local young ladies who might fill that role in his children's lives. Everyone is in attendance—everyone, that
...12) Home to Somersby
Hazel Mae Hollingsworth is devastated following the unexpected death of her father, and she can't shake a sense of foreboding when the family solicitor arrives at the estate. Her intuition turns out to be well founded, for her father's will reveals a long-held family secret—Hazel's entire life has been a lie. Within hours of receiving the news, she is turned out by the man she once called her brother, dispossessed with little more than her
...Her husband is dead. But far from grieving, young widow Lady Meriwether Sturgess feels nothing but relief and release. After enduring years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her cruel husband, Meri is drawn to the comfort of the one place sure to offer healing both for her and her children: Rosewell Manor. The home of her beloved Aunt Annibel is the site of her happiest childhood memories, and it promises the new beginning for which
...Bess leads a quiet life, intent on easing the burdens of her widowed father. She acts as maid, cook, and assistant in his medical practice—but she is wearied by the thankless work and her father's lack of kindness. And then a miracle happens. Lady Agatha Buxton of Astoria Abbey is seeking a physician for her ailing son, Hugh, and, sensing that Bess is trapped in her situation, offers the young woman a position as nurse. Despite Bess's father's
...The position of nanny at an estate in Southern England seems too good to be true, offering Elsie Hartford the chance of escape she so desperately seeks. With only her few possessions, she flees her former life with no thought of returning. What she discovers upon her arrival at Rookhaven Hall, however, is quite different from what she anticipated.
When the enigmatic Lord Edmond Rookburne returns from his long travels in India, the handsome
...Upon the death of her beloved father, Deidre Miller is left penniless and alone. Her choices are few: if she is to survive, she has no choice but to assume domestic work. So when she is taken on as a maid in the vast manor of the powerful Hampton family, Deidre is determined to prove her mettle. But when she catches the eye of the young master of the house, she is set upon an unexpected new path.
Julian Hampton is immediately taken by the
...Vivian Peyton and Theodore Weatherby could not be more different: she is a penniless orphan, raised in humble circumstances by her grandfather, and he is the cold-hearted nephew of a wealthy widow. One common thread connects these strangers—the same shipwreck took their parents' lives. But the commonality has left Theo with a simmering hatred for the Peyton family. Or what's left of it.
As Vivian's grandfather's health begins to decline,
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