Showing results by publisher "Stella Riley" in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

At the end of his Grand Tour, somewhere between Athens and Constantinople, Christian Selwyn, the young Earl of Hazelmere, vanished—seemingly without trace. Time passes. In London, his uncle and cousin move into his home, while his unofficial fiancée, Sophia, is left desolate and in limbo.

Hazard: A game of Chance and Luck, made riskier when Fate is rolling the dice. For Aristide Delacroix, the first throw summons shades from his past. A man he had met, just once, over a card-table... and the lovely girl indirectly responsible for plunging his life into catastrophe. For Lord Nicholas Wynstanton, tired of waiting for Madeleine Delacroix to make up her mind, it slyly suggests he begin a whole new game with loaded dice; while for Madeleine, it devises a terrifying lesson in missed opportunities and the uncertainty of second chances.

The Duke of Rockliffe is 36 years old, head of his house, and responsible for his young sister, Nell. He is, therefore, under some pressure to choose a suitable bride. Whilst accompanying Nell to what he speedily comes to regard as the house-party from hell, he meets Adeline Kendrick - acid-tongued, no more than passably good-looking yet somehow alluring. Worse still, her relatives are quite deplorable - from a spoiled, ill-natured cousin to a sadistic, manipulative uncle.

Upon learning that his stepsister, Mariella Talbot, is the beneficiary of a surprise inheritance, Sir Jerome Farrell decides to seize it for himself. Already struggling to thwart her step-brother’s other wicked intentions, Mariella realizes two things: To claim the Montesoro legacy, Jerome must make a lengthy journey...but without a certain item in her possession, he will return empty-handed.

As England slides into Civil War, master-goldsmith and money-lender, Luciano Falcieri del Santi embarks on his own hidden agenda. A chance meeting one dark night results in an unlikely friendship with Member of Parliament, Richard Maxwell. Richard’s daughter, Kate - a spirited girl who vows to hold their home against both Cavalier and Roundhead - soon finds herself fighting an involuntary attraction to the clever, magnetic, and diabolically beautiful Italian.

Sebastian Audley has spent years setting every city in Europe by the ears and keeping the scandal-sheets in profit. Word that he is finally returning to London becomes the hottest topic of the Season and casts numerous young ladies - many of whom have never seen him - into a fever of anticipation. Cassandra Delahaye is not one of them. In her opinion, love affairs and duels, coupled with a reputation for never refusing even the most death-defying wager, suggest that Mr. Audley is short of a brain cell or two.

The marriage of a well-bred Royalist lady and an illegitimate Roundhead Colonel is less a match made in heaven than a union doomed to hell. Unfortunately, Sir Robert Brandon's last will and testament leaves Venetia Clifford and Gabriel Brandon with little choice in the matter - deeply though they both resent it. Their tempestuous relationship is reflected in the stormy events buffeting the nation as England slides inexorably into a second Civil War.