Showing results by narrator "Elizabeth Jasicki"

Jane Bell is torn. Gabriel Locke is back and has made his intentions clear. But Jane is reluctant to give up her inn and destine another man to a childless marriage. Then someone she never expected to see again returns to Ivy Hill. Mercy Grove has lost her school and is resigned to life as a spinster, especially as the man she admires seems out of reach. Should she uproot herself from Ivy Cottage to become a governess for a former pupil? Her decision will change more lives than her own.

The year is 2016. Not our 2016. Theirs. Earth is dying, the result of a worldwide nuclear holocaust caused by America’s dictatorial President-for-Life Lewis Henderson, a man who will use any means necessary to maintain power and survive. Enter: The Splitter. A machine capable of splitting off an exact replica of Henderson’s world. A world where the cataclysmic events causing its destruction have yet to occur. That world is ours. In August of 1945, our postwar Europe becomes the battleground for Henderson’s operatives - led by his sociopathic son - as they engineer a complete redo of their history. By changing ours.

The lifeblood of the Wiltshire village of Ivy Hill is its coaching inn, The Bell. But when the innkeeper dies suddenly, his genteel wife, Jane Bell, becomes the reluctant owner. Jane has no notion of how to run a business. However, with the town's livelihood at stake and a large loan due, she must find a way to bring new life to the inn. Despite their strained relationship, Jane turns to her resentful mother-in-law, Thora, for help.

Living with the two Miss Groves in Ivy Cottage, impoverished gentlewoman Rachel Ashford is determined to earn her own livelihood...somehow. When the village women encourage her to open a subscription library with the many books she has inherited or acquired through donations, Rachel discovers two mysteries hidden among them. A man who once broke her heart helps her search for clues, but will both find more than they bargained for?

Living with the two Miss Groves in Ivy Cottage, impoverished gentlewoman Rachel Ashford is determined to earn her own livelihood - somehow. When the village women encourage her to open a subscription library with the many books she has inherited or acquired through donations, Rachel discovers two mysteries hidden among them. A man who once broke her heart helps her search for clues, but will both find more than they bargained for? 

A long time ago magic faded away, leaving behind only yo-yos, the extremely useful compass-pointing-to-North enchantment and the spell that keep bicycles from falling over. Things are about to change. Magical power is on the rise and King Snodd IV of Hereford has realised that he who controls magic controls almost anything. One person stands between Snodd and his plans for power and riches beyond the wildest dreams of avarice.

RITA Award finalist and Christy Award winner Julie Klassen delivers historical romances brimming with the eloquence and intensity of Jane Austen. In an abandoned gatehouse on an old estate, Mariah Aubrey lives in seclusion. She supports herself by writing novels in secret—at a time when such writing is considered improper and unladylike. Soon the wealthy and ambitious Captain Bryant leases the estate and is intrigued by the beautiful girl in the gatehouse.

In The Marketplace, the first book of the series, follow the trials and tribulations of four aspiring slaves as they undergo training hoping to be accepted into the secret underground society of masters and slaves known as the Marketplace. Under the firm hand of Grendel, the sharp eye of Alexandra, and the painful leather strap in the hands of Chris, these men and women will find some of their hardest challenges come from within themselves.

Robin wants to be a slave in the underground world of the Marketplace. She falls under the tutelage of the infamous trainer Chris Parker and spends an intense few weeks with him. Little does she know that her adventures as a slave are just beginning, taking her from one coast to the other, into the whirlwind party world of a California gay couple and their house full of slave boys

Orphaned with a substantial inheritance at the age of 10, Pauline Quenu is taken from Paris to live with her relatives, Monsieur and Madame Chanteau and their son Lazare, in the village of Bonneville on the wild Normandy coast. Her presence enlivens the household and Pauline is the only one who can ease Chanteau's gout-ridden agony. Her love of life contrasts with the insularity and pessimism that infects the family, especially Lazare, for whom she develops a devoted passion. 

Michael LaGuardia loves being part of the Marketplace and loves the sex slaves he regularly trains. After a couple of years in California, though, Michael thinks he is ready for a step up, an apprenticeship with Anderson. He's wrong. Michael arrives at Anderson's Brooklyn brownstone with a chip on his shoulder and promptly trips over his own, oversized ego. There are some very important lessons Michael needs to learn, about humility, respect, and even sex.

In The Reunion, we visit a vacation resort for a Marketplace "family" gathering, where slaves, former slaves, trainers, and their spouses, significant others and family members can relax, let their hair down, and connect with each other. But the "reunion" that matters most is that of Robin Cassidy (the slave from The Slave) and her first trainer, Chris Parker (the trainer from The Trainer).

In the good old days, magic was indispensable - it could both save a kingdom and clear a clogged drain. But now magic is fading: drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets are used for pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for magicians - but it’s hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. And then the visions start, predicting the death of the world’s last dragon at the hands of an unnamed Dragonslayer.

Abigail Foster fears she will end up a spinster, especially as she has little dowry to improve her charms and the one man she thought might marry her - a longtime friend - has fallen for her younger, prettier sister. When financial problems force her family to sell their London home, a strange solicitor arrives with an astounding offer: the use of a distant manor house abandoned for 18 years. The Fosters journey to imposing Pembrooke Park and are startled to find it entombed as it was abruptly left.

Tumultuous. Passionate. Timeless. The marriage between Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry Plantagenet was like no other, born of power, politics, and an all-consuming, fiery love. Within two years of their wedding, Henry conquered England and together they ruled a vast kingdom. At first they worked to unify and repair their war-torn lands - before being torn apart by intrigue, adultery, and deadly revenge.

Tall and handsome, Abdul was just 24 years old when he arrived in England from Agra to wait at tables for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Within a year Abdul had grown to become a powerful figure at court; the queen's teacher, or Munshi; her counsel on Urdu and Indian affairs; and a friend close to the queen's heart. "I am so very fond of him," Queen Victoria would write in 1888. "He is so good and gentle and understanding...a real comfort to me."

RITA finalist Julie Klassen has earned numerous awards for her popular historical romance novels. In The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, pampered Margaret Macy flees her home in London to avoid marrying a dishonorable man. Now, with no money and no place to stay, Margaret does the unthinkable: she takes a job as a housemaid in the home of two brothers - both of whom are former suitors. As an “invisible” observer, Margaret realizes she may have misjudged one brother and wonders if it’s too late to win his admiration.

Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, but with her father's passing and her uncle's decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone. The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron's legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron's only living son, Harry - the man who broke Eleanor's heart.

Julia Probyn, like most people, knew very little about anonymous numbered accounts in Swiss Banks. Until her cousin, Colin Munro, asked her to look into the matter of one containing a fortune, for his fiancée Aglaia Armitage, left to her by her Greek grandfather. Then Julia learned a great deal. But besides bonds and debentures, old Mr. Thalassides, proved to have left documents of vital interest to the British Secret Service, and to other Powers as well, in the vault with them. When these disappear, the hunt begins.

In The Academy, we follow Chris Parker and his trainee, Michael LaGuardia, to Japan, where a conclave of trainers is taking place. While the trainers swap cautionary tales and debate protocol, though, moves are being made that may change the Marketplace, and Chris's place in it, forever.