Passion and treachery give this Regency romance a gothic twist—from the USA Today–bestselling author, “a most gifted storyteller” (RT Book Reviews). As the third and last unwed daughter of an earl, Lady Anne Davies doesn’t expect her marriage to be a love match. She is in need of a husband. Lord Michael St. Ledgers needs a woman to run his home and be a mother to his orphaned niece and nephew. It seems the ideal business arrangement. When Anne travels to Michael’s ancestral estate, the Priory, deep in the Derbyshire countryside, she starts to uncover his disturbing secrets. Michael’s brother perished under mysterious circumstances, and now someone at the Priory is stalking her. As Anne begins to fear for her life, she realizes that the greatest danger may come from the man she has come to trust—and love.
MAN ON A MISSION Robert MacAulay, heir to the influential Baron of Ardincaple, will risk everything to help his father and his clan. But when Rob becomes involved in a legal tempest stirred by an irresistibly maddening lady, his mission is threatened before it begins . . . RECKLESS LADY Lady Muriella MacFarlan is impulsive, mercurial, and sometimes illogical. She is a spinner, not just of yarns and threads but also of stories. She can gild the lily or tell a half-truth. When her active imagination lands her in the suds, she's forced to turn to the ever truthful and blunt-spoken Rob for help. Their destinies now entwined, Rob and Muriella may discover that love is one truth that cannot be denied . . .
The warriors of Asgard Island are keeping a secret from their new brides… Kidnapped from a trade fair by a mysterious swordsman, Lady Avril de Varennes awakens on Asgard Island, an enchanted paradise cloaked in mists and mystery, kept secret from the world for centuries. Against her will, Avril weds her arrogant captor, Hauk Valbrand—even as she vows to escape. Hauk believes himself beyond the reach of love, until his fiery captive bride begins to melt his heart of ice. But soon he must reveal the stunning truth about Asgard and its people—and Hauk and Avril must choose between love and honor, duty and desire...now and forever. "Powerful. From the very first page you're whisked away to a world where anything is possible." -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “An involving, beautiful story. I thought about the characters often at work, at the grocery store, in my car—wherever I was until I could get back to the book. A definite keeper. Five hearts (highest rating).” -TheRomanceReader.com "An utterly absorbing read! With its richly drawn characters, powerful conflict and vividly imagined setting, His Captive Bride is a romantic fantasy lover's dream. When it comes to sweeping, sizzling historical romance, Shelly Thacker is a shining star!" -Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author “If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would! I loved Asgard Island and Shelly’s descriptions made it feel so real, as if I’m there with them. Highly recommended. I loved all the books but this was by far my most favorite!” – Goodreads reviewer “I'm in awe of this author's talent. Thacker has made me want to read all her books. She is so skilled at telling a story with strong, well defined characters and original storylines. This one blew me away!” – Goodreads reviewer “Take me to Asgard Island, please! His Captive Bride is totally engrossing, passionate and SEXY! The chemistry between Avril and Hauk is electric. I highly recommend every one of the books in this series as perfect escape reads.” – Reading Between the Wines Originally published by Dell under the title Timeless. This revised and expanded Author's Preferred Edition includes new scenes never before published. The Stolen Brides Series These regal brides are about to discover that falling in love with a warrior is the most dangerous adventure of all. Each book is a stand-alone, steamy historical romance: Book 1: HIS STOLEN BRIDE (Darach and Laurien) Book 2: FOREVER HIS (Gaston and Celine) Book 3: HIS FORBIDDEN TOUCH (Royce and Princess Ciara) Book 4: HIS CAPTIVE BRIDE (Hauk and Avril) Book 5: HIS SCOTTISH BRIDE (Henri and Aileen)
In this first novel in the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling McKettrick Cowboys trilogy, three brothers are in a race against time to inherit their father’s ranch. One ranch. Three sons. Only one will inherit, and on one condition. Tired of waiting for his sons to settle down, Arizona-territory rancher Angus McKettrick announces a competition: the first son to marry and produce a grandchild will inherit Triple M ranch. Now, three distinctly different, equally determined cowboys are searching high and low for brides. Rafe McKettrick loves only one thing more than his freedom—the Triple M ranch. In his bid to win it, he marries a woman he’s never met. To his surprise, Emmeline is as beautiful as she is spirited…but she’s clearly hiding a secret. Emmeline Harding discovered she couldn’t hold her liquor the hard way. Uncertain why she woke up next to a stack of gold coins in a brothel and fearing the worst, she fled town as a mail-order bride. Now, she must confess her past to her handsome new husband. But as the newlyweds are suspiciously circling each other, a visitor from the past enters the high country. Can Rafe and Emmeline give up on a marriage in name only and seek a union that satisfies them body and soul?
A Man of His Sward Border lord Walter Scott of Rankilburn, grief-stricken after burying his father, goes to the forest seeking solace. Instead he finds a half-naked young lady fleeing pursuit. Wat offers his protection, but honor demands that he return the golden-eyed beauty to her rightful husband-even though the last thing he wants is to see her in another man's arms. A Runaway Bride Molly Cockburn has fled her home, family, and the brutal scoundrel she was forced to wed. Her pursuers are closing in when the powerful new Lord of Rankilburn bravely intervenes, then promises to help prove her marriage unlawful. Though fiercely loyal to her family, Molly fears they might harm the man she is coming to love, and now she must decide whether to remain faithful to her blood . . . or to her heart.
A groundbreaking, candid, well-sourced--but definitely unauthorized--biography of the celebrity chef and TV star Anthony Bourdain, based on extensive interviews with those who knew him intimately. Anthony Bourdain's death by suicide in June, 2018 shocked people around the world. Bourdain seemed to have it all: an irresistible personality, a dream job, a beautiful family, and international fame. The reality, though, was more complicated than it seemed. Bourdain became a celebrity with his bestselling book Kitchen Confidential. He parlayed it into a series of hit television shows, including the Food Channel's Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and CNN's Parts Unknown. But his charisma belied a troubled spirit. Addiction and an obsession with perfection and personal integrity ruined two marriages and turned him into a boss from hell, even as millions became intrigued by the ever-curious and genuinely empathetic traveler they saw on TV. Bourdain was already running out of steam, physically and emotionally, when he fell hard for an Italian actress who could be even colder to him than he sometimes was to others, and who effectively drove a wedge between him and his young daughter. Down and Out in Paradise is the first book to tell the true and full Bourdain story, relating the highs and lows of an extraordinary life. Leerhsen shows how Bourdain's never-before-reported childhood traumas fueled both his creativity and the insecurities that would lead him to a place of despair.
Christian Dumont Had Been To Hell To Pay For The Sins Of His Father Now a royal command to wed would restore all he had lost—but at what price? For though marriage to landed, beauteous Emalie Montgomerie seemed to present no hardship, his countess harbored a secret dangerous enough to destroy them both! Though she held her honor unblemished in her heart, Emalie Montgomerie knew coming unchaste to the bridal bed was a sin unforgivable in a noblewoman. Still, the desire flaring in Christian's eyes offered her hope…but would the prideful Dumont ever accept another man's babe as his own?
Captured in 1388 in the act of stealing back his own cattle, young Sir William Scott faces hanging, then gets one other choice--to marry immediately his captor's eldest daughter, the lady Margaret Murray, known by all as Muckle-Mouth Meggie. With the line between England and Scotland shifting daily, the Earl of Douglas wants to win back every inch of Scotland that the English have claimed; whereas the equally powerful English Percies (under Hotspur) want to win back the land between Northumberland and Edinburgh; and the Murray family is caught in the middle, shifting its alliances to try to survive. Uncertain whether she is English or Scottish and abruptly married to Sir William who is staunchly loyal to the cause of Scottish independence but who also has promised he'll never take up arms against her family, Meg Murray learns two things: first, Will's word is his bond; second, her favorite brother is spying on Douglas for Hotspur. As Sir Will faces the dilemma of honoring his word to the unscrupulous Murray without betraying Douglas, Meg must choose between betraying the husband with whom she is rapidly falling in love, or betraying her own family and best-loved brother.
Lady Sorcha Macleod is certain that the man her sister Adela loves, the dashing Scottish Knight Templar Sir Hugo Robinson, is the masked rider who kidnaps Adela on her wedding day. When she learns he is not, she sets off to rescue Adela with Hugo in hot pursuit. On the road with the irrepressible Sorcha, Hugo soon discovers a woman of fire and beauty, a woman he longs to touch and taste-but his honor forbids it, because he is bound by his vow to marry Adela. As a cruel mastermind plots to steal the Templars' storied treasure and keep Adela for himself, Sorcha and Hugo will risk everything, even their own destiny, to save her and to protect the Templars' long-held secret.
