Showing results by narrator "Matthew Brenher" in All Categories

Thomas Carrick is a gentleman driven to control all aspects of his life. As the wealthy owner of Carrick Enterprises, located in bustling Glasgow, he is one of that city's most eligible bachelors and fully intends to select an appropriate wife from the many young ladies paraded before him. He wants to take that necessary next step along his self-determined path, yet no young lady captures his eye, much less his attention - not in the way Lucilla Cynster does, even though she lives miles away.

Neville Roscoe, notorious and enigmatic, lives resolutely outside society, bound only by his own code of honor - until challenged by his desire for the one woman he cannot have. Miranda Clifford is a lady imprisoned by rigid respectability - until tempted by a passion beyond her power to deny. Flung together in peril, through danger and intrigue, they discover a love impossible to ignore...or keep.

Lord Drake Varisey, Marquess of Winchelsea, eldest son and heir of the Duke of Wolverstone, must foil a plot that threatens to shake the foundations of the realm, but the very last lady - nay, noblewoman - he needs assisting him is Lady Louisa Cynster, known throughout the ton as Lady Wild.

Ravaged by the Nazi Secret Service during World War II, Romanian resistance forces turn to one of their leaders, Professor Van Helsing, for any way out. To fight these monstrous forces, Van Helsing raises a legendary monster from centuries of slumber - Prince Dracula himself. Once he was the ruler of Transylvania. Prince Dracula, is, above all else, a patriot. He proves more than willing to once again drive out his country's invaders.

It's December 1837, and the young adults of the Cynster clan have succeeded in having the family Christmas celebration held at snowbound Casphairn Manor, Richard and Catriona Cynster's home. Led by Sebastian, Marquess of Earith, and by Lucilla, future Lady of the Vale, and her twin brother, Marcus, the upcoming generation has its own plans for the holiday season.

Restless and impatient, Marcus Cynster waits for fate to come calling. He knows his destiny lies in the lands surrounding his family home, but what will his future be and with whom will he share it? Of one fact he feels certain: his fated bride will not be Niniver Carrick. His elusive neighbor attracts him mightily, yet he feels compelled to protect her - even from himself. Fate, he's sure, would never be so kind as to decree that Niniver should be his. The best he can do for them both is to avoid her.

In the leadup to her tenth Season, Meg Cynster—known to the ton’s eligible bachelors as Miss Prim—takes to the country to ponder the question: If not marriage, then what? She has yet to find an answer when she comes upon a supremely elegant curricle, drawn by a pair of high-spirited horses presided over by an unconscious gentleman. Others present know where he’s staying, but can’t manage the horses. With no real choice, Meg accepts the responsibility and drives the gentleman home. Unfortunately, he’s too inebriated to just leave, so she rouses him enough to help him inside.

In the aftermath of the Great War and a devastating family tragedy, Laurence Bartram has turned his back on the world. But with a well-timed letter, an old flame manages to draw him back in. Mary Emmett's brother John - like Laurence, an officer during the war - has apparently killed himself while in the care of a remote veterans' hospital, and Mary needs to know why. What connects a group of war poets, a feud within Emmett's regiment, and a hidden love affair? Was Emmett's death really a suicide or the missing piece in a series of murders?

The Honorable Miss Mary Cynster always gets what she wants. As the last unwed Cynster of her generation, she is determined to remain in charge of her life and of the man she will marry. At the very bottom of her list of potential husbands is Ryder Cavanaugh, the daring and devastating Marquess of Raventhorne, an overwhelming and utterly unmanageable lion of the ton. But destiny has a different plan.

Lucas Carr went to Glenbury Hall, an old country manor house turned hotel. He signed in at reception, took his key, and went upstairs to his room. But he never got there. Somehow he vanished along the way, with not a single clue to suggest what might have happened to him. Lucas belonged to the same mysterious organization that employs Ishmael and Penny, so they are sent in to solve the mystery. But when they arrive at grim and isolated Glenbury Hall, they discover it has a reputation as one of the most haunted old houses in England.

With his older brother's betrothal announced, Lord Michael Cynster is freed of all familial expectations. But the allure of his previous hedonistic pursuits has paled. Then he learns of the mission his brother and his fiancée have been assisting with and volunteers to help by hunting down a hoard of gunpowder now stashed somewhere in London.

When a dispute among the fellows of St. Severin's College, Oxford University, reaches a stalemate, Lord Peter Wimsey discovers that as the Duke of Denver he is "the Visitor" - charged with the task of resolving the issue. It is time for Lord Peter and his detective novelist wife Harriet to revisit their beloved Oxford, where their long and literate courtship finally culminated in their engagement and marriage.

Melissa North had assumed that after eight years of not setting eyes on each other, her youthful attraction to - or an infatuation with - Julian Delamere, once Viscount Dagenham and now earl of Carsely, would have faded to nothing and gasped its last. Unfortunately, during the intervening years, she has failed to find any suitable suitor who measures up to her mark, and she is resigned to ending her days an old maid. Then she sees Julian across a crowded ballroom, and he sees her, and the intensity of their connection shocks her.

Toby Cynster is not amused when informed that his new mission is to be his last in the shadowy service of Drake, Marquess of Winchelsea. Courtesy of Toby being the last unmarried Cynster of his generation and the consequent martial obsession of his female relatives, he will be given no more excuses to avoid society and, instead, expected to devote himself to finding a suitable bride. But Toby sees no point in marrying—thanks to his siblings, he has plenty of nephews and nieces with whom to play favorite uncle, and he has no thoughts of establishing a family of his own.

Sebastian Cynster knows time is running out. If he doesn't choose a wife soon, his female relatives will line up to assist him. Yet the current debutantes do not appeal. Where is he to find the right lady to be his marchioness? Then Drake Varisey, eldest son of the Duke of Wolverstone, asks for Sebastian's aid.

Bold, passionate, and possessive, the Cynster men let nothing stand in their way when it comes to claiming the women of their hearts. Gerrard Debbington, Vane Cynster's brother-in-law, is one of London's most eligible gentlemen. Uninterested in marriage, his driving passion is to paint the fabled gardens of Lord Tregonning's Hellebore Hall, an opportunity that is now at hand - if Gerrard agrees to create an honest portrait of Tregonning's daughter as well.

Martin Cynster arrives at Carmichael Steelworks set on acquiring the business as the jewel in his industrialist’s crown, only to discover that the lady owner is not at all what he expected. Miss Sophia Carmichael learned about steelmaking at her father’s knee and, having inherited the major shareholding, sees no reason not to continue exactly as she is—running the steelworks and steadily becoming an expert in steel alloys. When Martin Cynster tracks her down, she has no option but to listen to his offer—until impending disaster on the steelworks floor interrupts.

The world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Angus Deaton - one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty - tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world.

Auggie loves his job at the Fabled Stables, but he fears the day when it will come to an end. Fen keeps dropping hints that caretakers don’t stay forever, and it’s giving Auggie the grumps. Thankfully, there always seems to be a new stall to fill. This time, the stables set Auggie on a quest to rescue a beast called the Shibboleth - but, the portal leads Auggie and Fen to the lair of the evil Rooks!

Prudence Cynster has turned her back on husband hunting in favor of horse hunting. As the head of the breeding program underpinning the success of the Cynster racing stables, she's on a quest to acquire the necessary horses to refresh the stable's breeding stock.