Lady Of Fortune

True love crosses all boundaries in award-winning New York Times bestselling author Mary Jo Putney’s captivating historical romance, in which a young countess flees revolutionary France for London, becomes a maid, learns about life downstairs, and finds unexpected love. A countess turned servant . . . Forced to escape the French Revolution, resilient young Comtesse Marie-Christine D'Estelle flees to London. But when she finds herself unexpectedly penniless, Christa hides her aristocratic background to become a lady's maid. . . . Until rebuffing advances from both her tyrannical mistress’s husband and her lover gets Christa cast into the street—directly into a hero’s arms . . . A Royal Navy commander . . . After a long absence, Captain Lord Alexander Kingsley has returned to England on medical leave. Now head of his family, he must take charge of his younger siblings. He feels a special duty to his sister Annabelle, a shy debutante in need of a maid. So Alex is delighted to discover that the intriguing, outspoken, and lovely young woman who serendipitously landed in his arms is in need of just such a position . . . The heart of a household . . . With her warmth, charm, and surprisingly refined intellect, Christa soon wins the hearts of all the Kingsleys—especially Alex. And while their mutual attraction deepens to something more, the gap in their social stations seems an impossible obstacle. Only when Alex and Annabelle become the targets of fortune hunters, will the truth about Christa have a chance to be revealed. But will it mean a chance for true love to triumph?

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the “equal parts intoxicating and dazzling” (Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Wolves) first book in a captivating new duology following an ill-matched pair of spies posing as a married couple to investigate a series of brutal murders in 1930s Shanghai. It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue. Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption for her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country. Code name: Fortune. But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed. To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.

Lady Eliza Sumner is on a mission. After losing her family, her fiance, and her faith, the disappearance of her fortune is the last straw. Now, masquerading as Miss Eliza Sumner, governess-at-large, she's determined to find the man who ran off with her fortune, reclaim the money, and head straight back to London. Much to Mr. Hamilton Beckett's chagrin, all the eyes of New York society--all the female ones, at least--are on him. Unfortunately for all the matchmaking mothers and eligible daughters, he has no plans to marry again, especially with his hands full keeping his business afloat and raising his two children alone. When Eliza's hapless attempts to regain her fortune put her right in Hamilton's path, sparks instantly begin to fly. The discovery of a common nemesis causes them to join forces, but with all their plans falling by the wayside and their enemies getting the better of them, it will take a riot of complications for Hamilton and Eliza to realize that God just might have had a better plan in mind all along. "Set in New York City circa 1880, Turano's historical romance has witty dialogue, a spunky heroine, a bounty of humor, and a fast-paced plot. There are wonderful secondary characters, too, including an ankle-biting boy, a relentlessly matchmaking mother, and a full cast of despicable villains. A Change of Fortune will make a delightful addition to any library." --Booklist (starred review) "Turano's charming story of losing and gaining both wealth and love in 1880s New York City will certainly please fans of witty and classic romance stories."--RT Book Review "[A] delightfully lighthearted debut novel."--Desert News

They were shrewd and uncompromising, the Watsons, and all the arrogance and acumen with which old Tom Watson had built up the family's banking business was there in his children and grandchildren. Their methods were as aggressive as their lifestyle was opulent, and they could stab each other in the back or drive a competitor to ruin as calmly as a bank clerk counting out change. In time, their empire was to encompass the great financial capitals of the world. As it grew, so too did their power and influence. First published in 1984, Lady of Fortune is the story of the Watson family, and of the remarkable woman at its head. Graham Masterton has created a pulsating saga of seven decades of ambition and ruthlessness, of public feuding and private passions, of a will to succeed so powerful that not even the ties of kinship could hope to contain it.

DIVDIVOn the eve of the French Revolution, the daughter of a traitor might be the only one who can save the British Crown/divDIV /divDIVCassandra Merlin is in dire straits. Her father, Patrick, has just been executed for treason against the British Crown. Her aunt, Lady Elizabeth Sinclair, is eager to marry her off rather than bear the expense of sheltering a turncoat’s daughter. And when a handsome young patriot named Philip Riordan enters her life, Cass knows he is destined to complicate matters further./divDIV /divDIVRiordan wants her to enter the spy game, to provide valuable information about her father’s plot against the monarchy in order to save the king’s life. But the intelligence game is never a simple one, and even a heart as jaded as Cass’s may not be safe from the charms of Philip Riordan, renowned cad, Member of Parliament . . . and die-hard loyalist./div/div

Is he a half-mad court jester or a brilliant spy for the king? Lady Julianna knows this much for certain: He is no fool when it comes to the art of seduction. Nicholas Strangefellow is a scoundrel prized by King Henry himself--a court jester. Now sent to the wedding of the Earl of Fordham to entertain, but secretly under orders from the King to bring back a legendary chalice, Nicholas is a man on a mission that could easily be bollixed. Suddenly the chances of bollixing increase merrily when he meets irresistible Julianna, the widowed daughter of the bride-to-be. After a loveless arranged marriage, Julianna plans to join a convent. Yet she finds herself in wickedly provocative conversation with, of all men, the king's mocking, ribald "wedding present" to the Earl. Nicholas--the jester, the fool, and a mere commoner, who immediately decides to seduce her while procuring the chalice for King Henry. What follows is a rollicking comedy, an intrigue spiced with villains and danger, but most of all, a tender and sexy romance. Nicholas is hardly the husband a noblewoman should choose, and when he's faced with a choice between desire and betrayal, or loyalty to King and a comfortable life, he'll have to confront the shocking truth. That he's become a fool for love.

“A sharp, modern, and absolutely delicious take on the marriage plot. Sophie Irwin’s debut is one of the most fun, romantic books I’ve read in a long time. I cannot wait to see what she does next.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Malibu Rising A whip-smart historical rom-com debut that follows an entirely unconventional heroine who throws herself into the London Season in hopes of finding a wealthy husband to save her family from ruin. But the last thing she expects is to find love… When Kitty Talbot is jilted by her fiancé three months before their wedding, the future looks dark. Without his fortune to pay off her late father’s gambling debts, she and her four sisters face certain ruin. But Kitty has never backed down from a challenge, so she leaves the countryside and heads toward the most dangerous battleground in all of Regency England: The London Season. The aim is simplee: find a wealthy bachelor to wed in order save the Talbot family from destitution. Kitty is neither accomplished nor all that genteel, but she is utterly single-minded; imbued with her father’s gambling spirit, Kitty knows that risk is just part of the game. What she doesn’t anticipate is Lord Radcliffe, elder brother of the deliciously wealthy Archibald de Lacy. Radcliffe sees Kitty for the fortune-hunter that she really is, and is determined to scotch her plans at all costs… A scintillating mano-a-mano between Kitty and Lord Radcliffe will turn into the romance of the year, one whose brilliant repartee and enticing wit make A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting a pure delight.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The House of the Spirits, Isabelle Allende, comes a passionate tale of one young woman's quest to save her lover set against the chaos of the 1849 California Gold Rush. Orphaned at birth, Eliza Sommers is raised in the British colony of Valparaíso, Chile, by the well-intentioned Victorian spinster Miss Rose and her more rigid brother Jeremy. Just as she meets and falls in love with the wildly inappropriate Joaquín Andieta, a lowly clerk who works for Jeremy, gold is discovered in the hills of northern California. By 1849, Chileans of every stripe have fallen prey to feverish dreams of wealth. Joaquín takes off for San Francisco to seek his fortune, and Eliza, pregnant with his child, decides to follow him. As Eliza embarks on her perilous journey north in the hold of a ship and arrives in the rough-and-tumble world of San Francisco, she must navigate a society dominated by greedy men. But Eliza soon catches on with the help of her natural spirit and a good friend, the Chinese doctor Tao Chi’en. What began as a search for love ends up as the conquest of personal freedom. A marvel of storytelling, Daughter of Fortune confirms once again Isabel Allende's extraordinary gift for fiction and her place as one of the world's leading writers.