Once Lady Leonie cursed 'the Black Wolf' - handsome Rolfe d'Ambert, the mercenary Lord of Kempston - for his bloody deeds and cruelty to the local peasants. Now she must marry the magnificent blackguard to bring peace to the land. Young, innocent, and possessing a rare and exquisite beauty, Leonie would be a prize for any man - yet Rolfe seeks the match solely for revenge. But her sensuous kiss ignites within him the fiery need to claim her - and...

In the third Friarsgate Inheritance novel, New York Times bestselling author Bertrice Small takes us back to the sensuality, drama, and intrigue of King Henry's sixteenth-century court to tell the story of the daughter of one of her most beloved characters. The eldest child of Rosamund Bolton and heiress to the Friarsgate manor, Philippa Meredith is devastated when she discovers that the man she sought to marry has rebuffed her. But it is this sudden...

"Life has never been quiet for Frances Gorges at the court of King James I of England. After finding herself at the center of plots and conspiracies for many years both as an accused witch and a secret Catholic, by 1614 Frances hopes to distance herself from the decadence and ruthlessness of the aging and venal monarch. However, when a handsome stranger appears at a courtier's country estate, he immediately draws the wandering eyes of the King, throwing...

"Rarely if ever has the inner life of an Oriental court been laid bare as in this book. The romance and the terror of the harem, the splendor of vast palaces amidst the squalor of the City of Women, comedies and tragedies...cruelties and gentle wisdom --are all there....The time is the 1860's when King Mongkut was feeling the impact not only of western imperialisms but of western knowledge. He engaged Anna Leonowens, an English woman, to teach English...

"Lady in Waiting brought us royal magic, beguiling insight, and jaw-dropping stories from life inside Anne Glenconner's privileged circle, which though golden didn't always glitter. As she revealed in her memoir, it has been one of stark contrasts--from growing up in the splendor of Holkham Hall to living in a tent in the jungle of Mustique, from traveling the world with Princess Margaret to coping with her wildly unpredictable husband Lord Glenconner....

The extraordinary true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria's remarkable rule. When Abdul Karim, a young clerk, travels from India to participate in the Queen's Golden Jubilee, he is surprised to find favor with the Queen herself. As the Queen questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance with a loyalty to one another that her household and inner circle all attempt...

In March of 1603, as she helps to nurse the dying Queen Elizabeth of England, Frances Gorges dreams of her parents' country estate, where she learned to use flowers and herbs to become a much-loved healer. When King James of Scotland succeeds to the throne Frances is only too happy to stay at home. His court may be shockingly decadent, but his intolerant Puritanism see witchcraft in many of the old customs -- punishable by death. Yet when her ambitious...