Showing results by narrator "Esther Wane" in All Categories

In the scorched city of Rome, the cobbled streets hum with gossip and sin. Costanza Piccolomini is a respectable young wife - until she meets Gianlorenzo Bernini, the famed sculptor and star of Roman society, whose jet-black gaze matches his dark temper. From the second they set eyes upon each other, a fatal attraction is born. Their secret love burns with a passion that consumes them. But with every stolen kiss and illicit tryst, Costanza's reputation is at stake. Meanwhile, Bernini has a dangerous desire: he wants to make Costanza immortal.

Leadership can be learned: New evidence from neuroscience clearly points to ways that leaders can significantly improve how they engage with and motivate others. This book provides leaders and managers with an accessible guide to practical, effective actions, based on neuroscience.

1796, England. When Lady Ottilia Fanshawe finds herself launched into a river and fighting for her life, she becomes convinced someone pulled her under the water. And when a dead body washes up on the riverbank, her theory becomes a certainty. Lady Fan recognizes the dead woman as someone connected to one of her past cases. Had the woman been spying on her? Was she Lady Fan's attacker? If so, why was she killed? Lady Fan is desperate to unravel the mystery but her dedicated husband, Francis, is determined to keep her out of harm's way.

Longing to find true love, Kate Millington arrives in British Columbia on a bride ship. With countless men waiting to snag a bride, Kate has no trouble getting engaged. It's staying engaged that's the problem. After traveling to the remote mining town of Williamsville to marry her newest fiance, she finds herself single again. As the prosperous owner of a gold mine, Zeke Hart has everything he's ever wanted except for a wife. At Kate's arrival, he takes it upon himself to protect his childhood friend from the men clamoring to court her.

Dubbed 'Lady Scandal' thanks to her gossip-stirring past, Portia Fairhaven, the widowed Countess of Blakewell, is no stranger to rumors and innuendos. Although freed of her unhappy marriage, she is still forced to maintain as spotless a reputation as she can manage for the sake of her son. That is, until a desperate search for her lost half brother takes her to the darkest depths of London’s underworld and straight into the arms of one brawny, undeniably handsome East End rogue.

Melanie Summers presents Book 6 in the Paradise Bay Romantic Comedy series. Contains mature themes.

One dark and stormy night, lost and alone, Alyssa finds herself knocking on the door of a castle. After a lifetime spent in the deep forest, Alyssa has no idea what to expect on the other side. What she finds is two unruly young princesses and one very handsome prince. When Alyssa accepts the job of Princess Companion, she knows her life will change. What she doesn't know is that the royal family is about to be swept up in unexpected danger and intrigue, and that she just might be the only thing standing between her kingdom and destruction.

Rumors have long swirled about the strange kingdom of Eldon. The only thing more frozen than its mountains are the inhabitants themselves. But Princess Celine has never backed away from a challenge, so she eagerly accepts an invitation to visit. Yet the situation in Eldon is even worse than Celine feared. And if the kingdom is to have any hope of freedom or a future, she's going to have to call on new skills and new allies - including the crown prince, Oliver. But against an enemy stronger and colder than ice, all her fire may not be enough.

The Oxford Literary Festival is in full swing, but Detective Inspector Bridget Hart isn't there to learn about books. Instead, she's been given the task of protecting Diane Gilbert, a controversial author who has received a death threat. Diane doesn't seem to think she needs Bridget's protection, but when the worst happens, Bridget's role switches to running a murder enquiry.

Art teacher Walter Hartright is on the road to London when he encounters an enigmatic woman dressed entirely in white. She's an unnerving portent of strange things to come as Hartright starts a new job as drawing-master at Limmeridge House. There the teacher falls in love with Laura, his betrothed pupil, who bears a striking resemblance to the woman in white. Soon Walter is drawn into a family intrigue of greed, secrets, madness, and revenge.

For four years Jessica has never doubted that her sister Isabel’s death was an accident. But when Jessica’s young daughter seems to know long-forgotten details about her aunt’s past, Jessica can’t shake the feeling that there’s a more sinister truth behind the tragedy. As Jessica unearths disturbing revelations about her sister, and about the people she loved and trusted most, it becomes clear Isabel’s life was less than perfect and that Jessica’s might also be at risk.

Only her personal bodyguard, Hans, remains loyal. Hans claims to know the real Ava but she finds that hard to believe - after all, she's been the villain so long that she can't remember anything else.Deep in exile, Ava learns her kingdom needs a hero, and she might be the only one who can save it. The catch? She'll have to ally herself with the people she blames for her downfall. But in a game of life and death where the stakes are an entire kingdom, winning over her enemies will only be the beginning. Can one fugitive save her people, her kingdom, and - hardest of all - herself?

Princess Adelaide has been missing for years. And that's exactly the way she wants it. Haunted by her past, not even the curse that entraps her is enough to make her long for her old home. But her past finds her anyway, in the form of a handsome prince from her childhood. Adelaide doesn't want to let Gabe in, but a sinister force is spreading fear throughout her new kingdom, and only Gabe has the will to help her. Adelaide can't refuse his assistance - not when the evil might soon ensnare much more than a solitary princess.

Twenty-six-year-old single mum Brianna Lewis (a.k.a. Bree) doesn't believe in fairy tales - not after being abandoned by the father of daughter, Isabelle. Suddenly finding herself in dire straits, she converts her garden shed into a rental suite in hopes of climbing out of the financial hole she's in. But when the only person interested in renting the suite turns out to be to Leopold Davenport, the ridiculously good-looking co-worker she loves to hate, she knows she must choose between being happy and being broke.

It's a prick of blood, the bite of an apple, the evil eye, a wedding ring, or a pair of red shoes. Curses come in all shapes and sizes, and they can happen to anyone, not just those of us with unpopular step-parents.... Here you'll find unique twists on curses, from fairy tale classics to brand-new hexes of the modern world - expect new monsters and mythologies as well as twists on well-loved fables. Stories to shock and stories of warning, stories of monsters and stories of magic.

Heavily pregnant Lady Ottilia Fanshawe should not really be traveling. But when her sister-in-law dies, she goes with her husband Francis to comfort her brother and her two nephews. And of course it's not long before the services of her alter ego, Lady Fan, are required.

Withering and waspish, Ursula Smart (not her real name) gate-crashes her mother's book club at an isolated country house for a long weekend retreat. Much to Mother's chagrin. Joining them are Mother's best friend, Mirabelle, Aunts Charlotte and Less, and Bridget with her dog, Mr. Bojangles. It doesn't matter that they've read Gone Girl three times this year already, this retreat is their chance to escape bustling suburbia. But someone has other ideas. A body is found in the grounds.

Will, Viscount Wingrave, whiles away his time gambling and bedding married women, thwarted in his wish to serve his country by his controlling father. News that his errant son has fought a duel with a jealous husband is the last straw for the Earl of Marstone. He decrees that Will must marry. The earl's eye lights upon Connie Charters, unpaid housekeeper and drudge for a poor but socially ambitious father who cares only for the advantage her marriage could bring him.

In the tradition of Antonia Fraser and Alison Weir, prize-winning historian Helen Castor delivers a compelling, eye-opening examination of women and power in England, witnessed through the lives of six women who exercised power against all odds - and one who never got the chance. Exploring the narratives of the Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Margaret of Anjou, and other "she-wolves," as well as that of the Nine Days' Queen, Lady Jane Grey, Castor invokes a magisterial discussion of how much - and how little - has changed through the centuries.

Nora Cooper is about to get her shot at 'the big time.' The Paradise Bay Resort is hosting the World Bartending Championships and she's been asked to lead the hospitality team. If all goes well, she'll be getting the promotion she's been working toward for years. There's only one problem—billionaire Theo Rojas, the major sponsor of the event, who seems determined to make Nora's life a living hell.