Carlton’s an oddity within the New Canton Republic: a human raised by one of the aliens everyone calls monsters. He’s used to the ways of monsters and magic, but when he meets a monster named Mathis, he doesn’t expect the way his magic, or his body, responds. Carlton fires the blood of Mathis’s monster and stirs up every mating instinct Mathis has. Mathis wants Carlton, and he’ll do whatever it takes to have him, even barter with another of his kind. Then he discovers just who Carlton is. Carlton’s not afraid of monsters. But maybe he should be… Because Mathis has decided, why barter for what he can steal?
After building a fortune in the exotic East, American adventurer and merchant prince Gavin Elliott sets his sails for London to begin a new life. Then fate intervenes on an infamous island in the East Indies where a European woman faces degradation and peril. Though saving her may cost Gavin his life, he cannot refuse to help the fierce beauty who touches his heart and soul with her indomitable spirit. Alexandra Warren is returning home from Australia as a widow and mother when a pirate attack condemns her to a life of servitude. A miracle arrives in the form of a steely-eyed Yankee captain, whose reckless courage wins them freedom and a safe passage home to London. Intimate strangers joined by too many secrets, they slowly begin to heal the past with attraction and tenderness—until an old enemy reaches out to threaten the passionate love Gavin has found with his irresistible bartered bride. From the Paperback edition.
From Elizabeth Mansfield, the author known for her “deliciously different Regency romances” (Affair de Coeur), comes a classic Signet Regency Romance. Available Digitally For the First Time Lord Kittridge thinks he has made a great bargain in agreeing to marry Cassandra Chivers for 40,000 pounds of her father’s money, but his new bride turns out to be quite a handful. “Elizabeth Mansfield is one of the best-loved authors of Regency romances.”—The Romance Reader Don’t miss Elizabeth Mansfield’s beloved Signet Regency classics A Very Dutiful Daughter and The Counterfeit Husband, and the trade paperback omnibus Lords and Ladies.
"Bartered Lives" is the tale of two married couples from different economic, religious, and social strata. Their relationships, based on mutual trust and love, break the barriers laid down by caste and community. Though their paths keep crossing, all have to face huge challenges and moments of extreme conflict due to the independent choices they make. The story juxtaposes once-tolerant Hindus against Muslims and other minorities, encouraged by ruthless politicians. The vacuum created by indifferent governance is filled by the slum lord, "Commando," who creates his own rules of reward and punishment. He is a self-made man, charismatic, often crude and vulgar, generous, helpful, brutal, and very wealthy. He pays no taxes but governs the Basti with an iron fist. In particular, it is the story of Shaku, a teacher from a rich Brahmin home, that employs as servants Durgi and her daughter Gulabo, both from the lower castes. Their large family has to seek ethically variant ways of earning to keep their stomachs full. Their actions clash with the very conservative rules set by the higher classes. Shaku understands this and tries to share her privileges with Durgi's family. Her journey into Afghanistan to educate her cousin-in-law Aziza is catastrophic. One of India's dream projects to help the very poor, the Aanganwadi, is described in realistic detail as an example of the state's failure and apathy. The narrative explores differences between education provided for well-to-do children in private schools as compared to those from the slums. This is a portrait of twenty-first-century India, whose youth are educated but have no jobs, whose government creates food programmes but is defeated by its own corruption and selfishness. It is the tale of many who seek a place in the sun but cannot due to paucity of funds, space, and jobs. And yet, through it all, India smiles and is hospitable to a fault!
Marriage... To the highest bidder Lady Lydia Barton cannot seem to avoid Owen Wolfe since he’s returned after being wrongly transported for stealing her family’s jewels! But Lydia has more pressing problems, like her impending arranged marriage. Until Owen makes her father a counteroffer for her hand. Is Owen purely after her society connections, or dare Lydia hope that the charming stable boy she once loved is still within her ruthless, wealthy new husband? “Virginia Heath’s writing is as warm, witty, and insightful as ever...one of the best authors of historical romance around.” —All About Romance on The Determined Lord Hadleigh “I loved every minute of this story along with the wonderful witty moments that I have come to love from Virginia Heath’s writing.” —Rae Reads on The Determined Lord Hadleigh From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.
