"When Lynn meets Ruth and falls deeply in love, both women must make irrevocable decisions about their lives--and to choose each other is to risk everything. As Lynn gathers all her inner resources, she has already begun a journey into the deepest recesses of the past and her own identity that will show her true shape of her life."--Publisher's description.

A book that challenges our notions of family honour and morality Sometime, somewhere, the conspiracy of silence around Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in Indian homes had to be shattered. This path-breaking book"the first of its kind in the country and subcontinent"attempts to give that sexually abused child a powerful voice. It provides damning disclosures about men, and some women, in middle and upper-class families who sexually abuse their children, then silence them into submission. Based on studies, reports and investigation, this book reveals that a minimum of twenty per cent of girls and boys under the age of sixteen are regularly being sexually abused; half of them in their own homes, by adults who have the child's trust. In Bitter Chocolate, journalist and best-selling author Pinki Virani travels across the country to record the testimonies of the police, doctors, child psychologists, mental health professionals, social workers, lawyers and the traumatized victims themselves. The book opens with an account"brave and devoid of self-pity"of the author's own experience. Going beyond blaming, Pinki Virani then proceeds with her insightful analysis of the issue in three notebooks. The first spells out what constitutes CSA, why and how this happens, its devastating after-effects which haunt the victims as they grow into adulthood. The second notebook describes these effects through two real-life stories of women who were betrayed as children by men of their family. The third provides practical solutions on how to counter CSA, including a framework involving the law, the parent and their child. A special chapter addresses adults who have never before disclosed their sexual abuse as children. Plus: a nationally coordinated helpline. Accessible yet comprehensive, Bitter Chocolate is written for the young parent and guardian, principal and teacher, judge and police, lawyer and public prosecutor, teenager and tomorrow's citizen.

This book explores the rich, complex, literary tradition of the medieval go-between. Idealized going between usually leads to marriage and it develops a new dimension of the much debated question of courtly love and woman's part in it. Chaucer's Pandarus's place in this go-between tradition is a tour de force.

When the police bring Mary Brown, an old street woman dressed in rags before judge Alsia Caneron, she sits silent and unresponsive to the questions put before her. Alisa, deeply perturbed by this enlists the aid of Camilla, a social worker. Together, they help reveal Mary Brown's past as an accomplished opera singer. Could she be the mysterious opera star Magdalena who disappeared three years before after the death of her lifelong companion?

His love for her is real. But is she telling him the truth? Horse trainer by day and agent of the Crown at night, when Sir Randolph receives an offer to help a baroness train a timid filly, he’s happy to oblige. But with no horse in sight and the sneaking suspicion he’s been set up for love, he and the beautiful young widow Lady Xenobia hit it off immediately. There’s only one problem – what is the fine Lady doing with a hidden stash of suspicious-looking bank notes? Yearning for an independent life, Rachel spends her days balancing the books for her mother’s business. But when a dashing son of an earl with a need for an accountant sets his sights on her, she finally sees her chance. He might not be heir to the earldom, but Mark Merriweather is a cunning businessman searching for a wife… and he feels an attraction to Rachel which is impossible to deny. With a matchmaking cousin pulling strings in the background and secrets bubbling to the surface, will this pair of budding couples find the happiness they desire? And as passion begins to flare amid rumors of embezzlement and counterfeit banknotes, will their relationships fall apart before they even begin? If you adore gripping Regency Romance novels set in the heart of 19th-century British Aristocracy, then The Knot of a Knight is a tale you won’t want to miss. With a dash of mystery and plenty of romantic suspense, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Scroll up and grab your copy now.

Four sensual Regency romances—nearly 900 pages—make up this boxed set about six couples set during Christmas. Spending Christmas in a remote hunting lodge with a warm, cozy fire is exactly what Milton, Earl of Torrington, and his new bride, Adele, need. When the coach carrying their trunks—and servants—doesn’t reach its destination, they are left to fend for themselves in THE CHRISTMAS OF A COUNTESS. Meanwhile, Alice and Alonyius are stuck sharing a coaching inn, and her distain for him just seems to further ignite the infuriatingly tempting man’s desire to thaw her chilly disposition. Sir Randolph’s daytime occupation collides with his nocturnal avocation of service to the Crown when he discovers Lady X's hidden stash of bank notes. They might be counterfeit—but are his feelings for her? Meanwhile his sister, Rachel, returns to London after a lengthy absence. Like Randolph, she’s illegitimate, but her father insists she have a come-out. She has other plans, but then so does an admirer in THE KNOT OF A KNIGHT. When a last will and testament reveals her late husband's secret, Elaine succumbs to Edward's advances and discovers a second chance at love is possible at the Soho Club in THE HOLIDAY OF A MARQUESS. A blizzard brings half-frozen Thomas to Katherine's door, but providing hospitality to the man who left her at the altar twenty-five years ago isn’t exactly her idea of a happy Christmas. He hadn't exactly been planning a happy one for himself—until he learns Katherine's secret in THE WINTER KISS OF A ROGUE.