Showing results by narrator "GL Robinson" in All Categories

Like the Roman matron for whom she is named, plain but clever Octavia seems destined for abandonment. Handsome, fun-loving and heir to an earldom, Dorian is the opposite. In Regency London, life for him is a game in which other people, including Octavia, are his pawns. Everyone loves him until he does the unspeakable: he runs off with anther man's wife. Despite the permanent ache in her heart, Octavia spends her early and middle years building a life she loves as a village apothecary with people who love and appreciate her. Exiled Dorian spends most of his in regret.

Nowadays the Marquess of Hastings would probably be described as having Asperger's. He's good-looking and rich, but his lack of social skills make it hard for him to find a much-needed wife. He scandalizes the ton by putting an advertisement in the newspaper describing the type of spouse he requires and the marriage of convenience he envisages. Amazingly, he finds a suitable candidate. Elisabeth is an impoverished gentlewoman with literary aspirations. But can this oddly-assorted pair possibly coexist, let alone find happiness?

The first story in this collection features a young woman determined to get the man she wants. But is it A Perfect Match? Then there's a story about a Juliet who meets a man called Romeo. Surely a Perfect Match? A father is so focused on his daughter making a Perfect Match, he doesn't see what's under his nose.

After harrowing experiences in the Napoleonic Wars and suffering from what we would now recognise as PTSD, half-English, half-German Lukas is making a home for his mother and sister in the leafy green of England. At least, he is in the country while his sister and mother are in London, falling under the sway of Lady Beatrix, a frivolous socialite who appears to think of nothing but fun and pairing up other people, whether they like it or not.

She's a born organizer and a redhead to boot. Can she get everyone around her marching to her tune? Amelia and Aurelius are orphaned twins. She's a bossy, fiery red-head. Her handsome brother wants to join Wellington's army. But she wants him to become a diplomat. She talks her way into a man's job - as secretary to an aristocrat - hoping he will provide the contacts.

When the two plainest people in London enter into an arranged marriage, the ton isn't so much surprised as counting the days to an arranged separation. Louise is too short, too dull, and too dowdy, and the earl is positively frightening, with his frowning demeanor and massive shoulders. He's willing to marry her because he doesn't expect a dowdy wife to impact his lifestyle and other relationships. She's willing to marry him because ugly and unmannerly as he is, she is—for some unaccountable reason—drawn to the man.

In the title story it's just before Christmas and an unexpected visitor arrives, claiming to be the fiancée of the son of the house. But he knows nothing about it. This muddle has to be sorted out, or it's not only Christmas that will be ruined.

When Marianne's father dies, she and her governess Rosemary are forced to go and live with her guardian, the Earl of Tyndell. The Earl has strict ideas about how young ladies should behave. He isn't impressed by the romantic notions Marianne has absorbed straight from the pages of a Gothic novel.

The lovely and mysterious Héloise Ramsay is available...for a price. The Earl of Dexter is prepared to pay it, and more, but she refuses him. He knows she's had other lovers, so why not him? This is the story of a woman who makes a mistake in her youth, and finds that someone in her circumstances has no choice but to sell her only asset: herself. Told against the background of a family fleeing the French Revolution and making its way the best it can, this story celebrates a strong woman who will do whatever she must to ensure a safe future for those she loves.

She thought Harry loved her and she was prepared to wait for him, but Lyla is devastated when he becomes engaged to someone else. He writes to explain his reasons and she wants to forgive him, but all she can think of is escape. She persuades her father to send her to Ireland to help in purchasing horses for the family business. In spite of meeting the engaging Finn and all sorts of other new people, from camp followers to the Colonel's lady, Lyla still falls asleep with Harry's folded and re-folded letter against her breast.