When scandal strikes her family, this debutante must act quickly!Welcome to book 1 in the steamy new series Determined Debutantes by bestselling author Bianca Blythe.Eloisa Holt is not the type of woman to wander London on her own. In fact, she's not even the type of woman to consider such a thing. After all, her governesses hailed her as a paragon of everything proper. But when a nude painting of her mother scandalizes the ton, Eloisa must stop more paintings from being displayed. This debutante is desperate.Lord Cornelius Chichester knows the first rule of being a best friend:Don't fall in love with your best friend's sister.Unfortunately, that rule becomes difficult to follow when he discovers Eloisa by herself at an indecent hour. Still, perhaps helping his best friend's younger sister is honorable. He may have promised his friend long ago he would never marry one of his sisters, but Cornelius never promised he would not be of assistance.Determined DebutantesThe Secret Life of a DebutanteYou've Got an EarlThe Duke Trap
Cotillion: A formal gathering of bright young women on the verge of entering adulthood, the society pages, and prospective high-tax-bracket marriages. Think a Civil War reenactment with crisp, clean white dresses. Catfight: An impromptu gathering of not-so-young women on the verge of losing their cool. Think a cotillion with hair-pulling. It’s been more than a year since the Kudzu Debutantes exacted sweet, merciless revenge on their cheating husbands, but the repercussions are still palpable throughout Ithaca, Georgia: Nita is anxiously preparing herself for marriage to Jimmy Lee, a man thirteen years her junior; Lavonne, despite having dropped her husband–and eighty pounds–and launched her own business, longs for love; and while Eadie remains married to Trevor, she feels more neglected than ever. So the occasion of Nita’s second wedding seems like just the ticket to cheer up the disconsolate Debs. But they’ve made a formidable enemy in Virginia Broadwell, first lady of Ithaca and the bride’s ex-mother-in-law. Hell-bent on vengeance and determined to restore old-school social mores, Virginia hatches a plan so devious it makes her pedicured toes curl in anticipation. Soon enough, the women are knocked for a loop–but you can keep a Kudzu Debutante down for only so long. The one thing stronger than Virginia’s wrath is the bond between the three friends, who soon learn that one of Virginia’s Jimmy Choos contains an irresistible Achilles’ heel. With spirit, wit, and down-home gumption, the take-no-prisoners trio decides it’s time to ditch their cotillion manners as they rally to save Nita’s marriage, Lavone’s business, Eadie’s sanity . . . and the honor of Kudzu Debs the world over. Packed with authentic Southern flavor and characters as colorful as an azalea in full bloom, The Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes serves up stinging one-liners and earthy wisdom in equal measure.
Just another dull debutante? From boxing at Jackson's to dancing starry-eyed society belles around London's ballrooms, Beldon Stratten is the perfect English gentleman. And he's looking for a perfectly bland, respectable wife. Appearances can be deceiving... Exotic Lilya Stefanov is anything but bland. Beldon is intrigued to see that the ragamuffin girl he once knew has matured into an elegant lady, poised and polite But beneath the mysterious beauty's evening gowns and polished etiquette lies a dangerous secret--and a scandalous sensuality...
Amidst the glamour of high society, a tawdry secret will change Lily’s life forever... 1958. The last year debutantes will be presented at court to the young Queen Elizabeth and officially come out into society. To appease her traditional mother, aspiring university student Lily Nicholls agrees to debut and do the Season – a glittering and gruelling string of endless balls and cocktail parties. There she befriends two women: aloof Leana Hartford, whose apparent perfection hides a darker side, and ambitious Katherine Norman, who dreams of a career after helping her parents find their place among the elite. But the sparkle of the Season dims when Lily learns a devastating secret that threatens to destroy her entire family. Faced with a murky past, what will she choose for her future: her family legacy, or her own, uncertain happiness? A fast-paced and compelling historical novel for fans of Kate Morton and The Crown. Praise for The Last Dance of the Debutante "Between the crinkling of crinolines and the popping of champagne corks, Last Dance of the Debutante leads us on a glorious dance through the traditional glamour and suffocating expectations of a bygone era." Genevieve Graham, bestselling author of Letters across the Sea "Julia Kelly elegantly brings to life the last official presentation of debutantes at court with her exquisitely researched and beautiful written detail. This story was so decadent, I wanted to don silk and crinoline and read it with a glass of champagne." Madeline Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London "Refreshing, intriguing, oozing with elegance, and with three female leads who will keep you thoroughly engrossed, a charming gem of a novel which will delight fans of The Crown." Hazel Gaynor, New York Times bestselling author of The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter "An insightful and engaging look at this neglected subject ... an unforgettable journey of a young woman's liberation." Piper Huguley, author of By Design: the story of Ann Lowe, Society's Best-Kept Secret "Peels back layers of lush glamour and the extraordinary expectations of the London Season to give us a glimpse into a world teetering on the brink of change and the choices facing those who navigated it. Woven with heartfelt emotion, this novel is a captivating, unforgettable story of one woman's journey to find love, truth, and, most importantly, herself." Kelly Bowen, author of The Paris Apartment "Kelly's descriptions of the glamorous, though long nights, are captivating. The pressure these young women feel to impress and make the right match is exhausting, and Kelly evokes compassion for her characters. The story is full of allure, society scandals, and the determination for these young women to eschew the dying traditions of the time." Booklist "The engrossing narrative dishes out the right amount of tension while moving the plot forward at a satisfying pace... Kelly succeeds at bringing a bygone world to life." Publishers Weekly
The lush Scottish Highlands are a tempting setting for seduction in New York Times bestselling author Julia London’s sparkling novel. Who is the captive and who is the captor? When a sexy laird holds a spirited English lady for ransom, she turns the tables and steals his heart. The last person Daria Babcock expects to find in her grandmother’s home is a brawny, naked Highlander. She doesn’t buy Mamie’s explanation about finding the poor man shot in the woods. Nor does she trust the gorgeous laird, who insists his own memory fails him. But Daria came to Scotland looking for adventure and romance, and after the intriguing stranger kidnaps her, she gets her wish—and so much more....
No one is quite who they seem to be in the twisty, soapy, gasp-inducing world of the Debutantes by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, #1 bestselling author of The Inheritance Games. Think of the White Gloves like the Junior League— by way of Skull and Bones. Reluctant debutante Sawyer Taft joined Southern high society for one reason and one reason alone: to identify and locate her biological father. But the answers Sawyer found during her debutante year only left her with more questions and one potentially life-ruining secret. When her cousin Lily ropes her into pledging a mysterious, elite, and all-female secret society called the White Gloves, Sawyer soon discovers that someone in the group's ranks may have the answers she's looking for. Things are looking up . . . until Sawyer and the White Gloves make a disturbing discovery near the family's summer home—and uncover a twisted secret, decades in the making. ** Check out Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s bestselling The Naturals and Inheritance Games series!!
Fans of The Kennedy Debutante and Next Year in Havana will love Georgie Blalock’s new novel of a world on the cusp of change...set on the eve of World War II in the glittering world of English society and one of the last debutante seasons. They danced the night away, knowing their world was about to change forever. They were the debutantes of 1939, laughing on the outside, but knowing tragedy— and a war—was just around the corner. When Valerie de Vere Cole, the niece of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, makes her deep curtsey to the King and Queen of England, she knows she’s part of a world about to end. The daughter of a debt-ridden father and a neglectful mother, Valerie sees firsthand that war is imminent. Nevertheless, Valerie reinvents herself as a carefree and glittering young society woman, befriending other debutantes from England’s aristocracy as well as the vivacious Eunice Kennedy, daughter of the U.S. Ambassador. Despite her social success, the world’s troubles and Valerie’s fear of loss and loneliness prove impossible to ignore. How will she navigate her new life when everything in her past has taught her that happiness and stability are as fragile as peace in our time? For the moment she will forget her cares in too much champagne and waltzes. Because very soon, Valerie knows that she must find the inner strength to stand strong and carry on through the challenges of life and love and war.
"Socialite Anna Blanc fancies herself a Sherlock Holmes, but in her world women don't solve crimes. Anna escapes her chaperone and using an alias, takes a job as a police matron with the Los Angeles Police Department"--Back cover.
A Smithsonian Best History Book of 2019 In this enthralling history of the debutante ritual, Kristen Richardson sheds new light on contemporary ideas about women and marriage. Kristen Richardson, from a family of debutantes, chose not to debut. But as her curiosity drove her to research this enduring custom, she learned that it, and debutantes, are not as simple as they seem. The story begins in England six hundred years ago when wealthy fathers needed an efficient way to find appropriate husbands for their daughters. Elizabeth I’s exclusive presentations at her court expanded into London’s full season of dances, dinners, and courting, extending eventually to the many corners of the British empire and beyond. Richardson traces the social seasons of young women on both sides of the Atlantic, from Georgian England to colonial Philadelphia, from the Antebellum South and Wharton’s New York back to England, where debutante daughters of Gilded Age millionaires sought to marry British aristocrats. She delves into Jazz Age debuts, carnival balls in the American South, and the reimagined ritual of elite African American communities, which offers both social polish and academic scholarships. The Season shares the captivating stories of these young women, often through their words from diaries, letters, and interviews that Richardson conducted at contemporary balls. The debutantes give voice to an array of complex feelings about being put on display, about the young men they meet, and about what their future in society or as wives might be. While exploring why the debutante tradition persists—and why it has spread to Russia, China, and other nations—Richardson has uncovered its extensive cultural influence on the lives of daughters in Britain and the US and how they have come to marry.
Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes in this new Regency mystery series Newly returned from finishing school, Lady Juliette Thorndike is ready to debut in London society. Due to her years away, she hasn't spent much time with her parents, and sees them only as the flighty, dilettante couple the other nobles love.But when they disappear, she discovers she never really knew them at all. They've been living double lives as government spies--and they're only the latest in a long history of espionage that is the family's legacy. Now Lady Juliette is determined to continue their work. Mentored by her uncle, she plunges into the dangerous world of spies. From the glittering ballrooms of London to the fox hunts, regattas, and soirees of country high society, she must chase down hidden clues, solve the mysterious code her parents left behind, and stay out of danger. All the while, she has to keep her endeavors a secret from her best friend and her suitors--not to mention the nosy, irritatingly handsome Bow Street runner, who suspects her of a daring theft. Can Lady Juliette outwit her enemies and complete her parents' last mission? Best-selling author Erica Vetsch is back with a rollicking, exciting new series destined to be a hit with Regency readers who enjoy a touch of mystery in their love stories. Fans of Julie Klassen, Sarah Ladd, and Anne Perry will love the wit, action, and romance.
