When Miss Diana Dashwood accepts an invitation to Lady Prescott’s Christmas party, things do not go quite as she imagines. Through an unexpected event, she is forced to spend the night in a woodsman’s hut with one of the guests. What a scandal! Of course, Sir Gareth Blakely must propose, and he does. Unfortunately, Miss Diana Dashwood has already been engaged to and broken off her engagement from Sir Gareth Blakely after a bitter quarrel. Is it likely she will bow to social pressure and accept his proposal, one made only to save her reputation, and if they marry, does their union stand a chance of survival? And what about the pretty heiress, Miss Jemima Plymstock, whom everyone thinks is the lady Sir Gareth had his eye upon? Headstrong and proud, Miss Diana Dashwood is caught in a dreadful dilemma.
Mistletoe, Christmas and romance have become synonymous, and especially in Regency times when a young couple didn't get that much of a chance to display their feelings towards each other. Interestingly, there is a proper etiquette for kissing under the mistletoe: first, the man can only kiss a woman or girl on the cheek and second, when he does so, he removes one berry from the mistletoe sprig. After all the berries are gone, the kissing ends, too.
In the Regency era, daring young ladies were notorious for wearing the flimsiest of dresses, even on the coldest of days. Some even went so far as to dampen the thin fabric of their dresses ... leading inevitable to 'the Muslin Disease.'
Will she or won't she take him back?
Diana Dashwood is in a pretty pickle. The invitation to Lady Prescott's Christmas party includes Sir Gareth Blakely ... Diana's ex-fiancé. Should she accept... or should she refuse the invitation? Will she be able to hold her head up high in his company, especially as rumour has it that he is now romantically attached to the wealthy young heiress, Miss Jemima Plymstock?
Miss Helena Wainwright is determined to see her nieces and nephew well settled with their new guardian, the Duke of Rotherham. After six months of transition, the children are beginning to bond with their uncle, but Helena and the Duke aren’t able to get much past the barest of civilities. Now that the duke is poised to offer for the shy Miss Fanshawe, Helena is horrified to discover an awful secret about the young lady and her scheming mother. What is she going to do--keep the secret or reveal all in her own bid for the duke’s heart? Ready to settle down and provide a stable environment for his wards, Vernon Wroxby, the Duke of Rotherham, has decided the amenable Miss Fanshawe will do, even if he dislikes her outspoken, uncouth mama. If he could just quit wondering what Miss Wainwright is doing (and with whom) he’d be able to appreciate the match a bit more. But as his wards begin to rebel against the idea of this marriage, and he starts to realize that his affections really reside with Miss Wainwright, will one determined marriage-mart mama ruin any chance he might have for true happiness?
Wuffles, the pug in this tale, is quite a character, and in fact later in the story is quite the hero. Pugs feature in many Regency novels and, in most of them, this cheerful little pooch is not portrayed in a very flattering light. The pugs of literature are generally depicted as spoiled, temperamental little brutes. In contrast to those featured in Austen and Heyer, the pugs of history are much beloved little fellows. The most famous of their ranks is undoubtedly Pompey, the pug belonging to William the Silent, Prince of Orange. Pompey saved his master from villainous attack by waking him in the nick of time. Despite their bad rep in many Regency novels of the past, pugs are extremely brave little dogs, lavishing loads of affection on their owners, and being blessed with cheerful dispositions.
I love creating quirky, unusual characters and somehow animals always manage to sneak into my stories. They also somehow manage to play a memorable part, however small. Wuffles, Lady Ormsby's pug, expresses his poor opinion of Mrs. Fanshawe's elaborate and tasteless hat.
If the duke didn't think highly of Helena, she had an equally poor opinion of him, calling him insufferable and arrogant. How often do people who start off hating each other end up falling in love? But do they dislike each other far too much for this to be possible?
Characters are the heart of a story, any story, and the clash between individuals creates some interesting storms which they must weather during the course of the book. Rotherham finds Helena wilful and absolutely the most stubborn woman he has ever met. Her opinion of him is also not very flattering. Is it possible they would have anything in common? The Duke's godmother seems to think so...
An authentic regency romance about the beautiful but impoverished Fenella Hawke. When Fenella takes up the position of Companion to the elderly Dowager Duchess of Wyndlesham, she is unprepared for the hostile attitude of the current Duke. The handsome and arrogant Devlin Deverell suspects Fenella has secrets to hide. From the moment they meet, Devlin and Fenella experience an overpowering and frightening attraction. They try to fight their growing arousal, but find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. However, when Lady Penelope Vane, Devlin’s extremely jealous mistress, discovers that Devlin’s attentions are wandering, she sets in motion a ruthless plot to discredit Fenella, with the help of her ally, the rakish Sir Marcus Solesby. Can Fenella keep her secret from the dangerous Duke? Or will Lady Vane’s diabolical plan succeed?
"Louche" is a wonderful word to describe Sir Marcus Solesby, He is a rake who seems irretrievable, but in fact we see another side to him. Villains are so interesting because they are deeply flawed, but have interesting facets to their characters.
The Cygnet Club was just one of the many Regency 'gentlemen's clubs' which men frequented to escape their wives and families, indulge in gambling, drinking, and of course the company of rather scantily clad young women, in this case the Cygnets... When the duke repairs to such an establishment, he's not quite sure why he's even there, because he's not having a very good time at all!
Fenella has heard mostly bad things about what a rake the duke is ... and he's decided well in advance that she must be some kind of a con artist, eager to prey on a susceptible old lady. Fenella is unprepared for just how handsome and sexy the duke actually is, bad reputation or not! His physical magnetism comes as such a shock that she'd do anything to run out of the room. Alas, she can't...
Devlin is not at all happy about his ancestral home being invaded by his Mama's choice of companion. Although he tries to talk her out of it, the old lady digs her heels in and won't budge. Used to getting his own way, the duke is determined that the young woman, when she arrives, will not stay very long. And now the fun begins...
When the Earl of Pennington discovers the inheritance from his great-uncle depends on him marrying at midnight on the eve of his thirtieth birthday, he is irate. Marriage is not part of his plan to save his impoverished estates. He crosses paths unexpectedly with the beautiful Roxanne Chesney, who is fleeing from her abusive husband. He offers her a contract: marriage for six months to help him fulfill the conditions of his great-uncle’s will, enabling him secure his inheritance. In return he will pay her a small fortune. Can Roxanne resist this offer? What about the revolting Edgar Doyle who forced her into a loveless marriage that has not been consummated? Roxanne has escaped Edgar’s clutches, but she wonders how long she will manage to evade him. The Earl’s contract has no strings attached. The offer is irresistible except for the fact that Roxanne is already married!
Every family has an eccentric relative, usually very wealthy, that must be either tolerated or fussed over. I love the opportunity to create these characters, and maybe drawing on my own family's collection of weird and wonderful great-aunts and uncles. In this bubble Roxanne meets Julian's formidable Aunt Semphronia.
Roxanne, once rescued by Julian, has to think about what to do next. However, the most important decision to make is this: does she wear her horrible old dress, which was stained with blood and mud from Edgar's attack and her escape, or should she accept the offer of a gorgeous and fashionable gown that used to belong to the earl's younger sister. Pride wrestles with vanity here... who could say no to a gorgeous new dress?
Can one marry for money in all good conscience? What kind of man offers a woman a fee to marry him ... and what kind of woman would accept?
Marriages of convenience were not uncommon in the Regency era, either to secure or gain a fortune. It was not easy for a woman to escape an abusive marriage, so when the young and handsome Earl of Pennington accidently knocks over a young woman, he has no idea just what events have been set in motion and how this will change both his and his victim's life!
Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. Miss Letitia DeVere adopts this tactic when she returns to London after a two-year absence to find her former admirer Lord Charles Blackwood on the verge of proposing to Miss Patience Cherwell. Lord Blackwood’s Valentine Ball proved to be the turning point in his fledgling romance with Patience. Letitia is not the kind of woman that gives up easily, as Patience and Charles soon find out. She stoops at nothing to achieve her aims.
Isn't it just the limit when your gentleman friend's hated ex appears at an inopportune moment, but not only appears ... she appears looking utterly gorgeous. And even more annoying is when your gentleman friend falls under her spell before your very eyes! Slap that man!!
Now that Letitia DeVere has returned, ostensibly from the dead, will she be able to re-establish herself in London society? Will her less than spotless past come back to haunt her? Will she be able to get her ex fiance back?
At the end of Lord Blackwood's Valentine Ball, it was very clear that his Lordship had developed feelings for Patience, feelings which were reciprocated... However, shocking news comes in the form of Henrietta Paisley, town match maker and sniffer outer of scandalous news extraordinaire! Lord Blackwood's former fiancee, considered dead, is alive and well!
Curl up with this delightful collection of authentic Regency romance novels by Arabella Sheraton. Within these pages, you’ll find four fabulous stories of love and romance, mayhem and misunderstanding, mystery and intrigue – all set in traditional Regency England. In The Dangerous Duke, Fenella Hawke must conceal both her true identity and her feelings for her employer, the Duke of Wyndlesham, in order to keep her job…and her heart…intact. Married at Midnight sees the handsome and impoverished Earl of Pennington considering a marriage of convenience to save his family estate. The problem is, his perfect bride is already married. The Wayward Miss Wainwright pits the feisty Helena Wainwright against her arrogant and very attractive brother-in-law, the Duke of Rotherham, when it comes to decisions about family matters. The Reluctant Bridegroom is a comedy of errors as Miss Miranda Lavenham and her proposed suitor, the Earl of Wenham, do everything they can to avoid their respective family’s tactics to marry them off. But Fate has other plans in store for them. Sparkling and witty, these Regency romances will transport you back in time!
The handsome Earl of Wenham has no intention of marrying any time soon. His sister Almeria points out to Hugo that he owes it to the title and the estates to marry and produce an heir. Failure to do so means the entire lot devolves upon his second cousin, the Honourable Felix Barstowe. She also reminds him that their father had promised an old friend, Lord Lavenham, that his son should marry Lord Lavenham’s daughter, Miranda. Out of respect for his father’s dying promise (which he had never taken seriously), the earl sets off for Lavenham House. He is stranded by snow a few miles away from his destination and takes refuge in a local inn. He meets up with a heavily veiled, mysterious young woman, who, by her confidences to him, he realises is the elusive Miranda. To his shocking surprise, the feisty Miranda declares she will not have anything to do with someone whom she declares, “is possibly so fat and gouty, that he needs to have a wife found for him.” In fact, she would rather run away with a childhood friend. Intrigued, the earl makes it his business to get to know Miranda better by inviting her to stay in London with his sister. Unfortunately, this strategy annoys his dandyish cousin Felix Barstowe who is determined that the young and healthy earl should not marry and cheat him out of his birthright. Will Felix succeed in a dastardly plan to murder his cousin?
Imagine someone you thought of as the dowdiest female imaginable (and even worse, a female your sister is bullying you to marry) turns into a radiant vision of loveliness ... and she's not interested in you at all. Poor Hugo!
Hugo has heard so much about Miranda from her childhood friend Fred, and also that Miranda has passed some very uncomplimentary remarks about him (fat and gouty!), that he is keen to meet this termagant. She takes him quite by surprise. He's not used to a woman who has no intention of falling victim to his charms...
Hugo is astounded to discover that his bride-to-be has said the most unflattering things about him and decided to enlist the aid of a childhood friend, the hapless Fred, and elope with him to prevent any chance of Hugo proposing. Hugo is insulted, and then intrigued. Miss Miranda Lavenham must be a force to be reckoned with. Eloping in the Regency era was one of the most scandalous acts and a young woman who embarked upon such a venture would certainly lose her reputation and bring social disgrace upon her family. Will Miranda go that far to avoid a proposal from Hugo?
Hugo is the typical young Corinthian of the Regency era, when hunting, riding, shooting, and other manly pastimes were more important than settling down and producing a family ,,, and heir. However, in Hugo's case, it's imperative he does so otherwise Cousin Felix is the next in line. Almeria's a clever older sister and she knows how to press all Hugo's guilty buttons to get him to go down to Little Twilling to meet Miranda Lavenham, to whom he was betrothed before birth! Hugo thinks he can agree to Almeria's demands, yet still manipulate things to his advantage.
Patience Cherwell is resigned to a life of spinsterhood. When her young friend comes to stay for a London season, Patience decides the eligible Lord Blackwood is the perfect match for her guest and determines to see the pair united. So why is Patience anything but happy when the pair seems to actually like each other? And, when a mysterious Valentine corsage arrives, who will Patience discover is the anonymous admirer?
Surprisingly, it was not that easy for marriageable women to meet eligible men. In Regency times, a man could never approach a lady without first being introduced. But who could do the introducing? Matrons, widowed or otherwise, like Henrietta Paisley served a valuable function in facilitating introductions that appeared to be completely 'by accident' - and very often anxious mamas would seek assistance in helping their daughter find the right kind of man to be introduced to.
During the Regency period, a young lady, or even a tongue-tied suitor, could say what otherwise they did not dare to, by wearing a flower or presenting one, even scenting a handkerchief with a particularly recognizable fragrance. In the Victorian era, the popularity of flowers truly 'blossomed.' Their language was spoken everywhere. Flower dictionaries, including an actual "The Language of Flowers," were published, to make sure the sender got it right when conveyed a surreptitious, romantic message.
Well, nothing much has changed in that of course the man's age did not matter. These days many young women marry much older men for ... let's be blunt ... for the money. Way back in the Regency era, an older man had no problems getting a young and beautiful wife, as long as he was 'plump in the pocket!'
When Patience is invited to Lord Blackwood's Valentine Ball, she has the eager support of Henrietta Paisley, her mama's dearest old friend, who is determined to see Patience make a fine match. Henrietta is an unofficial matchmaker - she has never been wrong before when pairing couples, and she has many successful matches to her name!
Are you making the same mistakes over and over in #relationships? Are you struggling to find that special person to share your life? Do you always make a hash of a first date? Why do you seem to attract the same losers time and again? There is a reason and you will find out how to fix past mistakes with this 10-step guide. Romance author Arabella Sheraton uses Jane Austen's witty and pith advice for the best guide to finding the love you deserve and desire. Make love last by making the right choice!
“Life, if you live it right, keeps surprising you, and the thing that keeps surprising you the most … is yourself.”―Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey. This is excellent advice from Miss Austen, and highlights that eventually we have to take our hands off things and let life take us on the path we're meant to be on.
The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!”―Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility. Why do things seem to fizzle out when they began so wonderfully just a short while ago? No, it's not something you said ... it's something else...
“Perhaps it is our imperfections that make us so perfect for one another!”―Jane Austen, Emma. Making the dating experience work for you is easier if you meet someone on a first and maybe even a second date, but have absolutely no preconceived ideas. Be open to new possibilities.
“If I could but know his heart, everything would become easy.”―Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility. Miss Austen hits the nail on the head here; if only we knew what the other person wanted or was thinking.
“One man’s ways may be as good as another’s, but we all like our own best.”―Jane Austen, Persuasion. Don't rush into a relationship because you feel anyone is better than no one.
"A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”―Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. What Jane is telling us is NOT to have preconceived ideas....
“To you I shall say, as I have often said before, do not be in a hurry, the right man will come at last ...”―Jane Austen, Jane Austen’s Letters. As the advice says, you'll never meet anyone sitting around moaning about never meeting someone...
“I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other.”―Jane Austen, Emma. Take Miss Austen's advice and get what you want, not what you have been settling for!
“Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience, or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.”―Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
“One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.”—Jane Austen, Emma
Here is Rule #4. I hope this will inspire relationship seekers to read my book, which will be available very soon!
Here is Rule #3 in finding the love you deserve and desire!
Here is Rule #2 in finding the love you deserve and desire!
Here is Rule #1 to start you off in finding the love you desire and deserve!
For many who have read all the books possible on mind power, and perhaps found it's not working for you, observe the 3 laws of the mind for success!
The Alpha state is the level where you can easily and happily transform your previous negative or deep-rooted beliefs, and create a completely new vision of life and love, as you would like it to be.
Jane Austen's sharp and unerring eye when it comes to finding the right person for a loving relationship is spot on: no one knows us like we know ourselves, but we just have to learn the trick to it. “We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.”—Jane Austen, Mansfield Park This book can show you how.
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