Showing results by author "Anita Stansfield" in All Categories

Christmas at Falstone Castle - Sarah M. Eden - The Dowager Duchess of Kielder eagerly anticipates spending Christmas with her son and his family. Though their relationship has been strained, the duchess is determined to heal the chasm. Even with the help of the widowed local vicar, her plan will take a Christmas miracle. But during this magical season, anything is possible...even two second chances for love.

Bess leads a quiet life, intent on easing the burdens of her widowed father. She acts as maid, cook, and assistant in his medical practice - but she is wearied by the thankless work and her father’s lack of kindness. And then a miracle happens. Lady Agatha Buxton of Astoria Abbey is seeking a physician for her ailing son, Hugh, and, sensing that Bess is trapped in her situation, offers the young woman a position as nurse. Despite Bess’s father’s objections, she accepts - and her life is forever changed.

What should have been a grand adventure in Africa ends in heartbreak for Enid Hawthorne, following her husband’s untimely death. Bereft, the young widow bravely boards a ship for home with precious cargo - her unborn child. She hopes to find refuge in England in the only place she can - Thornewell Hall, the estate of her late husband’s family. But upon her arrival, she finds a bleak home in the depths of mourning. It is clear that hers is not the only tragedy, but Enid is unprepared for the hostility that meets her arrival.

Orphaned as children, Hennie and Lottie share an unbreakable friendship. Together, they suffered the horrors of orphanages and the workhouse, and now grown, they continue to rely on each another. When Lottie approaches Hennie about a possible position at a manor house, Hennie is eager to work alongside her dear friend. However, to secure the positions as stable hands, they will have to undergo a bold act of deception: The women must disguise themselves as men.

The position of nanny at an estate in Southern England seems too good to be true, offering Elsie Hartford the chance of escape she so desperately seeks. With only her few possessions, she flees her former life with no thought of returning. What she discovers upon her arrival at Rookhaven Hall, however, is quite different from what she anticipated.

Vivian Peyton and Theodore Weatherby could not be more different: She is a penniless orphan, raised in humble circumstances by her grandfather, and he is the cold-hearted nephew of a wealthy widow. One common thread connects these strangers — the same shipwreck took their parents’ lives. But the commonality has left Theo with a simmering hatred for the Peyton family. Or what’s left of it.

Following the revelation of her fiancé’s philandering ways, high-powered New York attorney Shannon Turney’s wedding is off. At a time like this, the last thing she can handle is family drama. But when she learns how far her brother and sister-in-law’s lives have spiraled out of control, the only thought in her mind is the safety of her young niece and nephew. After Shannon is granted custody, she and the children are eager to run long and far from their problems. In tiny Sugar City, Shannon gets much more of a change than she bargained for.

Samuel Blackwood will never love again. Following the untimely death of his wife, the grieving Earl of Grey Manor knows there will never be room in his heart for another. Yet, in spite of his reluctance to seek a wife, Samuel knows his children need a mother. A garden party at the estate gives him the perfect opportunity to meet the local young ladies who might fill that role in his children’s lives. Everyone is in attendance - everyone, that is, except one gentle young woman...

Hazel Mae Hollingsworth is devastated following the unexpected death of her father, and she can’t shake a sense of foreboding when the family solicitor arrives at the estate. Her intuition turns out to be well founded, for her father’s will reveals a long-held family secret - Hazel’s entire life has been a lie. Within hours of receiving the news, she is turned out by the man she once called her brother, dispossessed with little more than her mother’s instruction to seek refuge with her father’s sister.

The moment her father takes his final breath, Sarah Courtenay becomes the sole heir of her family’s sprawling castle - and something far more unexpected. For on his deathbed, Lord Courtenay left his daughter a cryptic message: A dark curse will fall upon the house should Sarah fail to obtain and protect a priceless treasure. Sarah’s astonishment upon discovering the carefully hidden sword sparkling with jewels is nothing compared to the shock she feels when she learns the nature of her father’s death: He was poisoned.

After a medical discharge from his duties in the Napoleonic War, Thomas Quincy Fitzbatten has returned home. Disoriented, burdened by guilt for his wealth, and disillusioned with life's injustices, Thomas longs for a chance to make a difference in the world. But he keeps himself a mystery to those around him, and another motive for his charity gnaws at the back of his mind: to seek redemption from the traumatic demons of war. Then everything changes at the arrival of Ruth Dawson, the niece of Thomas's butler, a stunning woman with a secret of her own.

Her husband is dead. But far from grieving, young widow Lady Meriwether Sturgess feels nothing but relief and release. After enduring years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her cruel husband, Meri is drawn to the comfort of the one place sure to offer healing both for her and her children: Rosewell Manor. The home of her beloved Aunt Annibel is the site of her happiest childhood memories, and it promises the new beginning for which she longs.

For nearly three years, British officer Tristan Whitmore fought bravely for king and crown in America. But his loyalty came at a price, and after slowly recovering from battlefield injuries, it is finally time to return to his beloved England and his wife, Muriel. But there is to be no tender reunion at Whitmore Manor - instead, Tristan is stunned to learn of his wife’s deceit in his absence and her unexpected death. And to add to the shocking blow, this devastating news is delivered by the last woman Tristan ever hoped to see again.

Eliza Melodious Grenville’s wedding day has finally arrived, and the church bells ring out in anticipation of the glorious event. But Joshua, her groom, is nowhere to be found. After Joshua’s brother, Matthias, calls for the police, Eliza awaits word. But when the news arrives, all her hopes come crashing down: her betrothed has been located in a London alley. Murdered. Soon, Eliza learns that beneath the polished façade, Joshua lived a double life - a life that he gambled...and lost. Eliza and Matthias are left to pick up the pieces.

Upon the death of her beloved father, Deidre Miller is left penniless and alone. Her choices are few: If she is to survive, she has no choice but to assume domestic work. So when she is taken on as a maid in the vast manor of the powerful Hampton family, Deidre is determined to prove her mettle. But when she catches the eye of the young master of the house, she is set upon an unexpected new path.

Florence Prescott and her family live in fear of her father’s vicious outbursts. Lord Prescott rules his household with a cruel and violent hand, and when one of his drunken rages leads to the abuse of Florence’s beloved younger brother, Florence boldly confronts her father - and pays the price for her insolence. Broken and hopeless, Florence feels like a prisoner in her own life. As a former stablehand for the Prescotts, Evan Avery is all too familiar with the vicious nature of his old master...and the gentle kindness of Florence and her younger brother.

Broadbent Manor is a home brimming with life and love. With 11 adopted children in her care, young widow Lily Broadbent is in search of the right tutor to instruct and nurture her young charges. So when Frederick Woodstone arrives on her doorstep seeking the position, Lily is quickly impressed. But when they stumble upon a young boy in dire circumstances, their relationship is put to the test as Lily makes the impetuous decision to rescue the child - no matter the consequences. What follows is a chain of events that will threaten all that Lily has built.

England, 1857: The British aristocracy is an inflexible judge. And for Amala, a lovely young Indian woman, that judgment is most keenly felt. Raised from a child by the wealthy Hepworth family following the murder of her parents, Amala grew up alongside the Hepworth’s own daughter, Katarina, and was loved as both sister and daughter. The family is part of the charmed circle of the upper class, but Amala’s place in society is tenuous. So when she embarks upon a sweet acquaintance with Henry Breckenridge, a white Englishman, Amala is both elated and terrified.