Paris, 1795. Marie Thérèse Charlotte de Bourbon lives locked up between the walls of the Temple Tower, imprisoned by the French revolutionaries. She has seen all her relatives die, one after the other, and has been subjected to the most terrible humiliation: rape; she fears there's no way out for her when she is offered her freedom, in exchange for twelve prisoners of war. On the same evening, while he's spending his time gambling and in the company of prostitutes, Leonardus Cornelius Van der Valck is visited by an Austrian nobleman who makes him an offer he cannot refuse: the Emperor himself has asked him to take his cousin, and sole survivor of the French royal family, under his custody. But there's a problem: the attractive and cunning libertine will have to marry the girl, who was made pregnant during her captivity. Will such badly mismatched persons manage to trust each other? And will Charlotte be able to leave behind the trauma to which she was subjected and open up her heart to true love? Burning passions, rape, identity swaps and political intrigue follow one after the other, bringing to life a novel in which love and courage keep the reader company, page after page.

The final book in the bestselling Books of Beginning trilogy that began with The Emerald Atlas, which the New York Times called “a new Narnia for the tween set.” The adventures of siblings Kate, Michael, and Emma come to a stunning conclusion when they must find the last Book of Beginning—the Book of Death—before the Dire Magnus does, for when all three books are united, their combined power will be unstoppable. Soon Emma is on a journey to places both worldly and otherworldly, confronting terrifying monsters and ghosts, and what is darkest within herself. As the fabric of time begins to fray, she becomes the final piece of an extraordinary puzzle. Only if she can master the powers of this most dangerous book will she, Kate, and Michael be able to save the world from the dramatic, deadly final confrontation between magical and ordinary people that the Dire Magnus has in store.

By day, Lady Donnatella is a duke’s silly daughter. So she can save London lives by night. When she stumbles into something larger than a street fight, everything she's balancing may come crashing down... It's another lonely season for Tella, dancing and gaming madly while keeping marriage away. She cannot tell her family or friends that her true self is the one battling danger in the city's dark streets. Nor will anyone guess; she's perfected her disguise. Then her night-time alter ego is seen — just when she can no longer count on her best friend, or her beloved great-uncle. And the resulting fuss in the newspapers isn't making any of this easier. Nor is the reporter who saw her. Henry Fitzwilliam, third son of a marquess, left London society to serve in the wars, and won’t go back. He’s devoted his life to telling the stories Britain needs to hear, and perhaps this Caped Count falls into that category. He can’t be sure until he gets much, much closer. Tella can handle a fight, but tracking a murderer is higher stakes. She might need someone at her back. Fitz might be the worst choice — or he might be more perfect than either of them suspects. A new kind of Regency romance, full of action, adventure, and forever love -- "Judith Lynne also demonstrates that it is possible to write a genuinely erotic sex scene that sizzles on the page without so much as a hint of coarseness." - Booklife Judith Lynne's Regency romances are for modern lovers of classic romance. Meticulously researched, these books bring to life a cast of characters as diverse as Britain herself in the world of 1812-1814. This series is light, fun reading with characters who face life's challenges with determination, wit, and each other. Fans of Mary Balogh and Grace Burrowes will love these books by Judith Lynne. Each book is unique, as each love story is unique; and readers will find themselves both utterly satisfied by the novel's end and also looking forward to the characters' returns in future books. Dukes and thieves, bakers and baronets, inventors and artists and late-night adventurers — you'll meet them all. Enjoy discovering Judith Lynne romance!

THE STORY: Atkinson in the NY Times, describes the play: THE DARK IS LIGHT ENOUGH is set in an Austrian country house in the winter of 1848-49 during a futile uprising of the Hungarians against Austrian rule. The play is concerned with the impact

The first major biography of one of France's most mysterious women--Marie Antoinette's only child to survive the French revolution. Susan Nagel, author of the critically acclaimed biography Mistress of the Elgin Marbles, turns her attention to the life of a remarkable woman who both defined and shaped an era, the tumultuous last days of the crumbling ancient régime. Nagel brings the formidable Marie-Thérèse to life, along with the age of revolution and the waning days of the aristocracy, in a page-turning biography that will appeal to fans of Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette and Amanda Foreman's Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire. In December 1795, at midnight on her seventeenth birthday, Marie-Thérèse, the only surviving child of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, escaped from Paris's notorious Temple Prison. To this day many believe that the real Marie-Thérèse, traumatized following her family's brutal execution during the Reign of Terror, switched identities with an illegitimate half sister who was often mistaken for her twin. Was the real Marie-Thérèse spirited away to a remote castle to live her life as the woman called "the Dark Countess," while an imposter played her role on the political stage of Europe? Now, two hundred years later, using handwriting samples, DNA testing, and an undiscovered cache of Bourbon family letters, Nagel finally solves this mystery. She tells the remarkable story in full and draws a vivid portrait of an astonishing woman who both defined and shaped an era. Marie-Thérèse's deliberate choice of husbands determined the map of nineteenth-century Europe. Even Napoleon was in awe and called her "the only man in the family." Nagel's gripping narrative captures the events of her fascinating life from her very public birth in front of the rowdy crowds and her precocious childhood to her hideous time in prison and her later reincarnation in the public eye as a saint, and, above all, her fierce loyalty to France throughout.

Her world has fallen to the Master of darkness, the souls of men consumed by death. Now, death wants her. It began with rumors whispered in secret and carried on the wind. The whispers spread, gaining power, until they became desolate houses with dark, wide-eyed windows and doors hanging agape, bewildered at their sudden emptiness. The rumors grew. The villages bled. The darkness spread. Then, it was too late. The night she realized her life was over was the night her mother died at the hands of a monster. One look at him and Kyra knew: this was the demon that fueled nightmares. Years later she's trained, she's skilled, and she's ready to fight.She finds other refugees like herself. She forms partnerships and joins alliances. Some will betray her. Others, defend her. All of them have their own goal - to bring about the world they desire. But the darkness has its own agenda, and humanity has already fallen. Death secures the bait and sets the trap. When Kyra finds herself ensnared by its grasping claws, can she stand against the darkness that destroyed humanity or will she succumb to the destruction of her soul?

“A lush and bloody historical thriller” based on the infamous real-life inspiration for Countess Dracula, a Hungarian noblewoman turned serial killer.(Kirkus Reviews) In sixteenth-century Hungary, Anna Darvulia has just begun working as a scullery maid for the young and glamorous Countess Elizabeth Báthory. When Elizabeth takes a liking to Anna, she’s vaulted to the dream role of chambermaid, a far cry from the filthy servants’ quarters below. She receives wages generous enough to provide for her family, and the Countess begins to groom Anna as her friend, confident and lover. It’s not long before Anna falls completely under the Countess’s spell—and the Countess t”akes full advantage. Isolated from her former friends, family, and fiancé, Anna realizes she’s not a friend but a prisoner of the increasingly cruel Elizabeth. Then come the murders, and Anna knows it’s only a matter of time before the Blood Countess turns on her, too. “Popovic balances lush, romantic language with gruesome imagery in this tale of innocence lost. Readers will likely be inspired to do actual research into Lady Bathory’s murderous misdeeds.” —Booklist “Popovic also touches on how a patriarchal society can drive women to extremes without letting the truly terrifying Bathory, or Anna, off the hook for their own actions.” —Kirkus Reviews “Hand to fans of dark historical fiction and powerful female characters.” —School Library Journal