The long-anticipated sequel to Fortune's Soldier, from the author of the Empire of the Moghul series. In his Himalayan retreat of Glenmire, Nicholas Ballantyne is determined his days of bloodshed and intrigue in the service of the British East India Company are over. Yet the Battle of Plassey, where he fought with Robert Clive, has delivered only a short-lived peace and the 1770s are precarious times in India. Martial Marathas, formidable Sikhs and wild Afghan Rohillas threaten not only each other, but the Company’s very existence. Most dangerous of all are the militarily astute Hyder Ali and his charismatic son Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, who – with strong French support – are intent on driving the British into the sea. When Warren Hastings, the Company’s newly appointed Governor-General, beset by internal rivalries, seeks Nicholas’ help, he agrees. Though long-cynical about the Company, he foresees a bloodbath that could rip India apart, cause thousands of deaths and imperil his own family. A quiet life must wait.

Just a kiss at New Year's That was all Natalia Serrano had intended. She couldn't believe she had slept with a complete stranger! Lia had never done anything so out of character in her life. Now, against all odds, she was pregnant—and she had no idea how to find her mysterious, memorable lover. It had been months since Shane Fortune had been in Red Rock. But no amount of time could have prepared him for the revelation that Lia was expecting. His child, she said. The distrustful Fortune executive vowed to take control of the situation. What he couldn't control, however, was the hold the beautiful Latina and her unborn baby were quickly taking over his heart….

A Change In Fortune Cool, confident and in control: that's Ben Robinson, the billionaire COO of Robinson Tech. With his imposing height and sharp blue eyes, he can convince anyone to do anything, but suddenly he feels like a fraud. The handsome Texan has just discovered his entire life has been a lie. With the news that his father might actually be a long-lost—and very prodigal—Fortune, Ben trains his laser focus on determining the truth. He persuades sweet, earnest Ella Thomas to help him in his research; no one would ever suspect the part-time college student of subterfuge. Ella is sensitive and highly intuitive…in other words, Ben's total opposite. And as she digs for his Fortune roots, she may also uncover the billionaire's long-shuttered heart…

This compelling book chronicles a young boy’s journey from the horrors of Jamaican slavery to the heart of London’s literary world, and reveals the unlikely friendship that changed his life. Francis Barber, born in Jamaica, was brought to London by his owner in 1750 and became a servant in the household of the renowned Dr. Samuel Johnson. Although Barber left London for a time and served in the British navy during the Seven Years’ War, he later returned to Johnson’s employ. A fascinating reversal took place in the relationship between the two men as Johnson’s health declined and the older man came to rely more and more upon his now educated and devoted companion. When Johnson died he left the bulk of his estate to Barber, a generous (and at the time scandalous) legacy, and a testament to the depth of their friendship. There were thousands of black Britons in the eighteenth century, but few accounts of their lives exist. In uncovering Francis Barber’s story, this book not only provides insights into his life and Samuel Johnson’s but also opens a window onto London when slaves had yet to win their freedom.

Everything changes when Isabelle discovers that she is the heir to Fortune's Farm, a wondrous place where the final remnants of magic grow. For as long as she can remember, ten-year-old Isabelle has dreamed of escaping her home in Runny Cove, a gray village where it never stops raining, and where she is forced to work at Mr. Supreme's Umbrella Factory. Journeying across the ocean, Isabelle finds a sunny new home filled with magical delights, including Curative Cherry trees that can heal all kinds of sickness, and Floating Fronds that make her fly. But Isabelle still feels the call to return to Runny Cove and use the secrets of the farm to stop the rain. With the magic of Fortune's Farm behind her, will Isabell be strong enough to bring back the sun and stop the despicable Mr. Supreme? From the author of Smells Like Dog comes a magical journey about loyalty, family, and the magic within.

Vanderbilt: the very name signifies wealth. The family patriarch, "the Commodore," built up a fortune that made him the world's richest man by 1877. Yet, less than fifty years after the Commodore's death, one of his direct descendants died penniless, and no Vanderbilt was counted among the world's richest people. Fortune's Children tells the dramatic story of all the amazingly colorful spenders who dissipated such a vast inheritance.

Oil tycoon J. Paul Gerry created the greatest fortune in America - and came close to destroying his own family in the process. Of his four sons who reached manhood, only one survived relatively unscathed. One killed himself, one became a drug-addicted recluse and the third had to bear the stigma all his life of being disinherited in childhood. The unhappiness continued into the next generation, with the name Getty, as one journalist put it, 'becoming synonymous for family dysfunction'. Getty's once favourite grandson was kidnapped by the Italian mafia, lost his car and, after a lifetime of drink and drugs, became a paraplegic. A granddaughter is currently suffering from AIDS. And the Getty family itself has been torn apart by litigation over their poisoned inheritance. But did the disaster have to happen? John Pearson, who has specialized in biographies of families as varied as the Churchills, the British Royal Family, the Dcvonshires and the Krays, sets out to find the answer. The result is a fascinating saga of an extraordinary dynasty. He traces much of the trouble to the bizarre character of the avaricious, sex-obsessed billionaire, J. Paul Getty himself - and demonstrates how much of his behaviour has been repeated in succeeding generations. He describes the famous kidnapping of his grandson in graphic detail, revealing how the old man's attitude added considerably to the boy's sufferings. And he shows how the family has coped with the latest modern scourges: drugs and AIDS. ForPainfully Richis not a hopeless story. While some of the family have been damaged by the Getty legacy, others have saved themselves from disaster, most notably the cricket-loving philanthropist, J. Paul Getty jr. Pearson's moving story of his recovery from drugs and deep personal tragedy shows that there is hope for future generations of this stricken family - and demonstrates that money can be used to buy survival and even happiness.

A private detective finds passion, danger, and the love of a lifetime when he hunts down a lost earl in Victorian London. On the trail of an aristocrat’s secret son, enquiry agent Mark Braglewicz finds his quarry in a music hall, performing as a trapeze artist with his twin sister. Graceful, beautiful, elusive, and strong, Pen Starling is like nobody Mark’s ever met—and everything he’s ever wanted. But the long-haired acrobat has an earldom and a fortune to claim. Pen doesn’t want to live as any sort of man, least of all a nobleman. The thought of being wealthy, titled, and always in the public eye is horrifying. He likes his life now—his days on the trapeze, his nights with Mark. And he won’t be pushed into taking a title that would destroy his soul. But there’s a killer stalking London’s foggy streets, and more lives than just Pen’s are at risk. Mark decides he must force the reluctant heir from music hall to manor house, to save Pen’s neck. Betrayed by the one man he thought he could trust, Pen never wants to see his lover again. But when the killer comes after him, Pen must find a way to forgive—or he might not live long enough for Mark to make amends. Don’t miss any of the captivating Sins of the Cities novels: AN UNSEEN ATTRACTION | AN UNNATURAL VICE | AN UNSUITABLE HEIR And look for the enticing Society of Gentlemen series by KJ Charles: THE RUIN OF GABRIEL ASHLEIGH | A FASHIONABLE INDULGENCE | A SEDITIOUS AFFAIR | A GENTLEMAN’S POSITION This ebook includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

A unique and fascinating look at Victorian society through the remarkable lives of an enlightened and philanthropic aristocratic couple, the Marquess and Marchioness of Aberdeen, who tried to change the world for the better but paid a heavy price. This is a true tale of love and loss, fortune and misfortune. In the late 19th century, John and Ishbel Gordon, the Marquess and Marchioness of Aberdeen, were the couple who seemed to have it all: a fortune that ran into the tens of millions, a magnificent stately home in Scotland surrounded by one of Europe’s largest estates, a townhouse in London’s most fashionable square, cattle ranches in Texas and British Columbia, and the governorships of Ireland and Canada where they lived like royalty. Together they won praise for their work as social reformers and pioneers of women’s rights, and enjoyed friendships with many of the most prominent figures of the age, from Britain’s Prime Ministers to Oliver Wendell-Holmes and P.T. Barnum and Queen Victoria herself. Yet by the time they died in the 1930s, this gilded couple’s luck had long since run out: they had faced family tragedies, scandal through their unwitting involvement in one of the “crimes of the century” and, most catastrophically of all, they had lost both their fortune and their lands. This fascinating family quest for the reason for their dramatic downfall is also a moving and colorful exploration of society in Victorian Britain and North America and an inspirational feast for history lovers.

In 1999, when Napster made music available free online, the music industry found itself in a fight for its life. A decade later, the most important and misunderstood story—and the one with the greatest implications for both music lovers and media companies—is how the music industry has failed to remake itself. In Fortune’s Fool, Fred Goodman, the author of The Mansion on the Hill, shows how this happened by presenting the singular history of Edgar M. Bronfman Jr., the controversial heir to Seagram’s, who, after dismantling his family’s empire and fortune, made a high-stakes gamble to remake both the music industry and his own reputation. Napster had successfully blown the industry off its commercial foundations because all that the old school label heads knew how to do was record and market hits. So when Bronfman took over the Warner Music Group in 2004, his challenge was to create a new kind of record executive. Goodman finds the source of the crisis in the dissolution of the old Warner Music Group, the brilliant conglomerate of Atlantic, Elektra, and Warner Bros. Records. He shows how Doug Morris, the head of Atlantic Records, rose through the ranks and rode the CD bonanza of the 1990s to enormous corporate and personal profit before becoming embroiled in an ego-driven corporate turf war, and how all of Warner’s record executives were blindsided when AOL/Time-Warner announced in 2003 that it wanted nothing more to do with the record industry. When the music group was finally sold to Bronfman, it was a ghost of itself. Bronfman built an aggressive, streamlined team headed by Lyor Cohen, whose relentless ambition and discipline had helped build Def Jam Records. They instituted a series of daring initiatives intended to give customers legitimate online music choices and took market share from Warner’s competitors. But despite these efforts, illegal downloads still outnumber legitimate ones 19–1. Most of the talk of a new world of music and media has proven empty; despite the success of iTunes, even wildly popular sites like YouTube and MySpace have not found a way to make money with music. Instead, Warner and the other labels are diversifying and forcing young artists to give them a cut of their income from touring, publishing, and merchandising. Meanwhile, the average downloader isn’t even meeting forward-thinking musicians halfway. Each time a young band finds a following through music websites, it’s a unique story; no formula has emerged. If one does, Warner is probably in a better position than anyone to exploit it. But at the end of the day, If is the one-word verdict on Bronfman’s big bet.