The mesmerizing biography of one of the world's richest, most intriguing women—philanthropist and socialite Lily Safra In the early morning of December 3, 1999, Lily Safra stood shivering in her nightgown on the grounds outside her sumptuous Monte Carlo penthouse where, just hours before, her fourth husband, reclusive billionaire Edmond Safra, died in a fire. An American nurse employed by the Safra family was eventually convicted of the arson death. Overnight, Lily became one of the wealthiest widows in the world. The Brazilian-born Lily Safra was no stranger to tragedy. In 1969, her second husband, the Brazilian multimillionaire Alfredo Monteverde, died from two gunshots to the chest. The Brazilian authorities ruled it a suicide. In 1989, her beloved eldest son and four-year-old grandson died in a car accident. But just who is Lily Safra? Despite having become a fixture in society columns for her generous charity work and lavish parties, the elegant and enigmatic widow has remained in the background. Gilded Lily tells Lily Safra's story for the first time. Using archival sources, court documents, and interviews with childhood friends and former employees in South America, investigative journalist Isabel Vincent chronicle's Safra's rise from humble origins in Brazil to fabled wealth in London, New York, and Monaco.

Winter, 1661. In her short life Sadie Appleby has never left rural Westmorland. But one night she is rudely awoken by her older and bolder sister, Ella. She has robbed her employer and is on the run. Together the girls flee their home and head for London. But London may not be the promised land she expects. Work is hard to find, until Ella takes up with a dashing and dubious gentleman with ties to the London underworld. Meanwhile, her old employer's twin brother is in hot pursuit of the sisters. Set in a London of atmospheric coffee houses, gilded mansions, and shady pawnshops hidden from rich men's view, Deborah Swift's The Gilded Lily is a dazzling novel of historical adventure.

They say there's no such thing as perfect.But I've built my life to perfection-the perfect boyfriend, the perfect apartment, the perfect career planning celebrity weddings. My job-my only job-is to make sure every event is absolutely and completely perfect.What's not perfect? Kash Bennet. And I wish I didn't find that so appealing. I could have told you every perfectly imperfect thing about the gardener at Longbourne. Like his hair, lush and black and far too long. Or his nose, the flat bridge of a Greek god, bent a little like it's been broken. Or his size. Beastly. Roped and corded with muscles, gleaming with sweat and peppered with dirt. There's no escaping him, not if I'm going to use his family's flower shop for my events.But nothing is what it seems. And in the span of a heartbeat, my perfect life is turned inside out. They say the best way to get over somebody is to get under somebody new. When Kash offers his services to the cause, it sounds like the perfect plan.What's not part of the plan? Falling in love with the gardener.But they were right-there's no such thing as perfect. And I'm the fool who finds out the hard way.

When Amy starts her new job at a book shop she has no idea what kind of merchandise her two bosses have stored in a private back room for select customers. She's never been allowed back there. One night, when she's closing shop alone she decides to take a look. Big mistake. Brad and Eric (her bosses) catch her snooping around. They don't tolerate rule-breakers and Amy must be punished. Will her secret desires plunge her deeper into their world? Or will she run back to the safety of her normal life and the dull boyfriend who has a dark side of his own? Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: BDSM theme and content includes: dubious consent, bondage, spanking, toys, anal play, and menage m/f/m and m/f/f.

A “bittersweet romance” of family secrets, forbidden love, and the true price of wealth among Hollywood elites—“a charming and well-crafted read” (Library Journal, starred review). When young journalist Thomas Cleary is sent to dig up quotes for the obituary of a legendary film producer, he gains access to the exclusive upper echelons of Hollywood society. Entering a world of private jets and sprawling mansions, his life and career take off beyond his wildest dreams. Then he meets Matilda Duplaine . . . Beautiful and mysterious, Matilda has spent her entire life within the walls of her powerful father’s Bel-Air estate. Thomas is entranced, and the two begin a secret love affair. But the more he learns about the mysterious woman’s identity, the more he realizes that privilege always comes with a price.

Hired to court spoiled heiress Frederique Murcheson, Barnabas Smith-Grenville discovers that she holds the key to finding his missing brother as they are both drawn into a scandalous mystery and a dangerous game of the heart.

No woman in the Gilded Age made as much money as Hetty Green, America’s first female tycoon. A strong woman who forged her own path, she was worth at least $100 million by the end of her life in 1916—equal to about $2.5 billion today. Green was mocked for her simple Quaker ways and her unfashionable frugality in an era of opulence and excess; the press even nicknamed her “The Witch of Wall Street.” But those who knew her admired her wit and wisdom, and while financiers around her rose and fell as financial bubbles burst, she steadily amassed a fortune that supported businesses, churches, municipalities, and even the city of New York. Janet Wallach’s engrossing biography reveals striking parallels between past financial crises and current recession woes, and speaks not only to history buffs but to today’s investors, who just might learn a thing or two from Hetty Green.

Haunted by childhood losses in spite of successful medical careers in 1883 New York City, surgeon Anna Savard and her obstetrician cousin, Sophie, consider taking in a child and helping a desperate young mother, while avoiding dangerous anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock.

Burlesque. A unique form of entertainment...and one of the most celebrated forms in burlesque was that of the inimitable Lili St. Cyr. Her body of work as a striptease artist - featuring her innovative on-stage bubble baths and reverse stripteases - was on a level with such dazzling performers as Gypsy Rose Lee and Blaze Starr. And wherever the glamorous Queen of Burlesque appeared, controversy followed. Gilded Lili is the first biography of this pioneering artist, sure to be a smash as burlesque enjoys its own resurgence. Her tempestuous love affairs and troubled life mirror the social changes in sexual politics and the commercialisation of sexuality. A compelling biography and an intriguing take on feminist history, Gilded Lili is golden indeed.