Cara Danforth, a beautiful young woman with a fiery temper and the tenacity to match, is setting out to save her beloved home, Danforth House, and protect her three siblings from the ruination left in the wake of their father’s death. Piecing together reasons for their current economic state, Cara devises a plan to take back what was rightfully theirs. Arriving home after years in the field, Roland Acworth, the Duke of Fairhaven, pondered his current situation. He was a spy not a guardian. What on earth was he going to do with four small children? It would appear, he would have time to figure it out. For before he could venture to Danforth Estates, Roland’s superiors tasked him with finding the thief responsible for a string of robberies amongst England’s elite.

In this study the author analyses similarities, differences and contradictions in the cultural norms about gender expressed in proverbs she has found in oral and written sources from over 150 countries. Grouping the proverbs into categories as the female body, love, sex, childbirth and the female power, the author examines shared patterns in ideas about women and how men see them.

Dear Reader, What comes to mind when you think of a diamond slipper? Cinderella, perhaps? That's what Cordelia Brandenburg imagines when her godparents arrange a marriage for her with a man she's never met--a marriage that will take her to Versailles, far from the rigid confines of her childhood home. The betrothal gift is a charm bracelet with a tiny, glittering diamond slipper attached...as befits a journey into a fairy-tale future. But Cordelia--young, headstrong, and completely adorable--runs into trouble right away. Her escort to the wedding is the golden-eyed, sensual, teasing Viscount Leo Kierston. For Cordelia, it's love at first sight. Yet Leo seems to see only a spoiled child--perhaps it's the way she cheats at chess--and Cordelia is determined to show him the woman beneath. There is, however, no escaping her arranged marriage. She's devastated to discover that her new husband is an utterly loathsome tyrant who will stop at nothing to satisfy his twisted desires. My heart went out to Cordelia as she struggles courageously against a man determined to break her spirit. But her husband has a secret, one that will bring down the vengeance of Viscount Kierston and all who have reason to hate him. I hope you'll enjoy this love story of two of my very favorite characters. Warmest wishes, Jane Feather P.S. The charm bracelet makes its next appearance in The Silver Rose. Look for it next summer.