The instant #1 New York Times bestseller from the bestselling author of the Selection series! Kiera Cass is back with a glittering royal romance sure to captivate her legion of loyal readers and lovers of courtly intrigue alike. A would-be queen. A handsome young king. A perfect match…or is it? When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked—and thrilled. After all, she’s grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king’s attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true. But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine.

The two cousins could not be more opposite. Louisa Elliot nurtures a defiant spirit, while Lady Meg never dares to rebel or speak out. Orphaned as children they were raised by their overbearing grandmother who has definite plans for them. The cousins are distraught when the countess decrees they shall be wed--Louisa to a timorous squire and Meg to the haughty Duke of Hargrove. From the moment the duke, Meg's intended, frees Louisa from a hollow log, his heart is ensnared and his carefully honed life set awry. Rumors of financial ruin put about to aid the duke's capture of an enemy agent add credence to the misinformation Louisa gathers to discredit him and save her cousin. Then Louisa discovers she loves the duke. Amidst madcap chases, nefarious dealings, and kidnappings, and despite mounting evidence that Hargrove is a traitor, Louisa risks all to prove his innocence.

Ludwig Tieck's novella 'The Betrothal' (Die Verlobung) was first published in Das Berliner Taschenbuch journal in 1822. Two young men, Alfred and Ferdinand, visit a respectable family of a Baroness, where they socialize with the Baroness's daughters. Meanwhile their other companion Baron Von Wallen, an older bachelor who has few kind words on marriage shocks them when he announces that he is to marry the governess Miss von Erhard, a relative of the Baroness's family. And a betrothal is sure to follow.

A sensual tale of mutual shyness and masterful slyness When the painfully shy Baron David Engleston receives an invitation to join a friend for a few days of playing cards and dancing at the Soho Club, he accepts. Given the incessant rain falling on all of England, he may as well spend some time in the capital. He can feel glum there just as well as in Kent—at least until the moment a young lady in a yellow gown appears from the room adjacent to his and asks, "Are you my betrothed?" Miss Marian Copper has come to the Soho Club in the company of her uncle and guardian, the Earl of Penhurst, believing he has arranged a marriage on her behalf. So when she nearly collides with a handsome man at the club, she assumes he's the one, especially when he doesn't hesitate to reply, "Why, yes. Yes I am." Without so much as an introduction, these two embark on one of the shortest betrothals possible. Given the earl's ridiculous terms and conditions, can there be a happily ever after in their future? Well, this is the Soho Club.

Edwin Hall's accessible study of Jan van Eyck's 1434 painting known as the "Arnolfini Wedding" makes a unique contribution to the fascinating history of betrothal and marriage custom, ritual, and ceremony, and offers a compelling new interpretation of this wonderful work of art. 16 color plates. 62 b&w illustrations.