Stella Riley

When the Marquis of Amberley's coach is waylaid by highwaymen and his coachman shot, he is forced to take shelter at the first house he finds.Oakleigh Manor is the home of Rosalind Vernon who lives alone but for her devoted servants and an ill-mannered parrot, cut off from the outside world by the tragic result of a childhood accident. But Rosalind is bright, brave and totally devoid of self-pity and it is these qualities that, as the snow continues to fall, touch Amberley's heart.On his return to London, the Marquis persuades Rosalind's brother, Philip, to bring her to town for a taste of society - despite her handicap.But the course of Amberley's courtship is far from smooth. Philip Vernon actively dislikes him; Rosalind appears to be falling under the spell of the suavely elegant Duke of Rockliffe; and, worst of all, Amberley is haunted by a dark and terrible secret which, if revealed, may cause him to lose Rosalind forever.

The Parfit Knight

By July 1639, England has become a simmering cauldron of discontent. Less concerned by this than by his ailing finances, King Charles seeks ways of filling his empty treasury. Enter Luciano Falcieri del Santi - master-goldsmith and money-lender; a man known to London as The Italian ... and possessed of a hidden agenda.From his seat in the Commons, Richard Maxwell watches the inexorable approach of Civil War. His eldest son, Eden, struggles to save his marriage to Royalist-bred Celia whilst taking up his sword for the Parliament; and daughter, Kate, vows to hold their home against both Cavalier and Roundhead, should the need arise.A spirited redhead, Kate Maxwell takes most things in her stride. The only thing she finds impossible to handle, is her involuntary and growing attraction to irresistibly magnetic and diabolically beautiful Luciano del Santi. The paths of Richard Maxwell and The Italian cross by chance one dark night - and a friendship is born. But while, on the surface, Luciano merely operates his businesses from Cheapside, he actually has a much darker purpose; that of learning the truth behind his father's execution and avenging it. This, with the country becoming a battlefield, is difficult - but it is not Luciano's only problem. Soon, he also begins to realise that - unless he is extremely lucky - the revenge quest will cost him his life.His own safety and that of everyone he cares about rests on success. Only success will permit him to reclaim the Black Madonna and allow him to offer his heart to the girl he loves.From the machinations within Parliament to the last days of the King's cause, The Black Madonna is an epic saga of passion and intrigue at a time when England was lost in a dark and bloody conflict. Book One of the Roundheads & Cavaliers series.

The Black Madonna

The Player

Sebastian Audley has spent years setting every city in Europe by the ears and keeping the scandal-sheets in profit. Word that he is finally returning to London becomes the hottest topic of the Season and casts numerous young ladies - many of whom have never seen him - into a fever of anticipation.Cassandra Delahaye is not one of them. In her opinion, love affairs and duels, coupled with a reputation for never refusing even the most death-defying wager, suggest that Mr Audley is short of a brain cell or two. And while their first, very unorthodox meeting shows that perhaps he isn't entirely stupid, it creates other reservations entirely.Sebastian finds dodging admiring females and living down his reputation for reckless dare-devilry a full-time occupation. He had known that putting the past behind him in a society with an insatiable appetite for scandal and gossip would not be easy. But what he had not expected was to become the target of a former lover's dangerous obsession ... or to find himself falling victim to a pair of storm-cloud eyes.

The Wicked Cousin

Rockliffe Series recommended in THE TIMESThe performance finished in a flourish of technical brilliance and the young man rose from the harpsichord to a storm of applause.Julian Langham was poised on the brink of a dazzling career when the lawyers lured him into making a catastrophic mistake. Now, instead of the concert platform, he has a title he doesn't want, an estate verging on bankruptcy ... and bewildering responsibilities for which he is totally unfitted.And yet the wreckage of Julian's life is not a completely ill wind. For Tom, Rob and Ellie it brings something that is almost a miracle ... if they dare believe in it.Meanwhile, first-cousins Arabella Brandon and Elizabeth Marsden embark on a daring escapade which will provide each of them with a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The adventure will last only a few weeks, after which everything will be the way it was before. Or so they think. What neither of them expects is for it to change a number of lives ... most notably, their own.And there is an additional complication of which they are wholly unaware.The famed omniscience of the Duke of Rockliffe.

Cadenza

In 1644, one of Prince Rupert's cavalry officers, Justin Ambrose is posted to the garrison at Banbury Castle as a punishment. The town, already famed for its Puritan zeal, is unswervingly hostile towards the Cavaliers on its doorstep. Justin loathes the place and, deprived of action, is bored, irritable and resentful. Abigail Radford has been taught by her fanatically religious brother, Jonas, to be modest, submissive and, above all, obedient - so when Captain Ambrose crosses her path she finds him as alarming as he is intriguing.When the Parliament sends a large fighting force along with a huge artillery train to re-possess the Castle, Justin gets the action he has been craving and Abigail finds herself playing hostess to the Roundhead colonel and his staff ... but the Great Siege takes its toll on both sides. At the end of fourteen long weeks, the garrison have neither powder, shot nor food and have eaten everything except their last two horses. Remarkably, however, they still hold the Castle.Against all the odds, Justin and Abigail secretly develop a curious friendship and, out of devilment coupled with a deep dislike of Jonas Radford, Justin decides to nurture seeds of insurrection in Abigail. But what begins as a few innocent acts of defiance gradually becomes something rather different, bringing danger in its wake. Both of them know that any future relationship is doomed because the gulf between them is so wide as to be unbridgeable. For Abby, this is due to her appalling brother; for Justin, the cause is a shadow from his past that he can no longer keep hidden when it threatens both Abigail's life and the security of the Castle. But when the Parliament embarks on a second siege and surrender looms large on the horizon, the unwanted feelings that Justin knows he has no choice but to deny become stronger and more painful than any blade or bullet.A Splendid Defiance is a dramatic and enchanting story of forbidden love set against the turmoil and anguish of the Civil War. It is also the true account of one English castle and the men who defended it.

A Splendid Defiance

The Duke of Rockliffe is thirty-six years old, head of his house and responsible for his young sister, Nell. He is therefore under some pressure to choose a suitable bride.Whilst accompanying Nell to what he speedily comes to regard as the house-party from hell, he meets Adeline Kendrick - acid-tongued, no more than passably good-looking yet somehow alluring. Worse still, her relatives are quite deplorable - from a spoiled, ill-natured cousin to a sadistic, maniplulative uncle. As a prospective bride therefore, Adeline is out of the question. Until, that is a bizarre turn of events cause the Duke to throw caution to the wind and make what his world will call a mesalliance.

The Mésalliance

England 1666; the year all the prophecies said the world would end.For Chloe Hervaux, marriage to wild, unpredictable Alex Deveril offers escape from a home she hates. For Alex, waking up with an epic hangover, the discovery that he has acquired a bride is an unwelcome shock. But while the marriage remains in name only, other forces are gathering.England is at war with the Dutch and Prince Rupert suspects that sabotage is at work in the fleet. Instructed to find and stop the traitor, Alex enters a dark, secret labyrinth of intrigue - where no life is safe and nothing is what it seems.Chloe, meanwhile, navigates the shark-infested waters of Charles 11's licentious Court and plots a course of her own aimed at financial independence. But as the diverse facets of Mr Deveril's personality are gradually revealed, her mock-marriage becomes fraught with difficulties - the greatest of which is Mr Deveril himself.Absorbed in his search for a traitor, Alex spares little thought for personal matters and less for his bride. But as the flames of the Great Fire sweep over London, he and Chloe face their ultimate test. Their world is at risk ... their choices may save it.The Marigold Chain is a richly-woven tale of intrigue, danger and love set against a backdrop of Restoration England during the year expected to be Doomsday.

The Marigold Chain

Max Brandon is receiving bills for services he never ordered and goods he did not buy. For reasons he can't begin to guess, someone is 'borrowing' his identity to cause him maximum annoyance. When the games move closer to home, almost forcing him to fight a duel ... more particularly, when they draw in Frances Pendleton, a lady he never expected to see again ... Max vows to catch the man behind them, no matter what the cost. The result is a haphazard chase involving ruined abbeys, a hunt for hermits, a grotesque portrait ... and a love story which, but for this odd trick of fate, might never have been given a second chance.

A Trick of Fate

Max Brandon is receiving bills for services he never ordered and goods he did not buy. (In 250 years' time, this will be called identity theft - but Max doesn't know that.) What he does know is that, for reasons he can't begin to guess, some unknown person is targeting him personally.And when the games move closer to home, almost forcing him to fight a duel - when they draw in Frances Pendleton, a lady he never expected to see again - Max vows to catch the man behind them, no matter what the cost.The result is a haphazard chase involving ruined abbeys, a hunt for hermits, a grotesque portrait ... and a love story which, but for this odd trick of fate, might never have been given a second chance.

Brandon Brothers - Max

Hazard: a game of Chance and Luck, made riskier when Fate is rolling the dice.For Aristide Delacroix, the first throw summons shades from his past. A man he had met, just once, over a card-table ... and the lovely girl indirectly responsible for plunging his life into catastrophe.For Lord Nicholas Wynstanton, tired of waiting for Madeleine Delacroix to make up her mind, it slyly suggests he begin a whole new game with loaded dice; while for Madeleine, it devises a terrifying lesson in missed opportunities and the uncertainty of second chances.And for Genevieve Westin, hoping widowhood will be happier than marriage, it brings a rude awakening - leaving a single, wild gamble her only option.A cardsharp turned businessman, a duke's charming brother, a stubborn, razor-edged beauty and a desperate widow.Four players in a game of Hazard ... all playing for very high stakes.

Rockliffe

Hazard

Meet Adam Brandon ... acutely intelligent and master-swordsman but gradually realising that he isn't yet ready for the future he had previously planned. Victim of a cruel deception, Camilla Edgerton-Foxe has a jaundiced view of the male sex and a tongue as sharp as her wits ... but she also possesses an extraordinary talent.A peculiar encounter offers Adam the kind of employment for which he is uniquely suited and which will exercise his mind as well as his muscles. The fly in the ointment is that Miss Edgerton-Foxe comes with it ... as does Rainham, viscount and master of disguise, with a frequently misplaced sense of humour. From Paris, via London, to the mists and mysteries of Romney Marsh, these three are sent on the trail of something darker and infinitely more dangerous than the kegs of brandy that come ashore at the dark of the moon.

Brandon Brothers - Adam

Under a Dark Moon

Juliet Blyth

Penniless orphan Vanessa Tremaine had no choice but to accept the shelter of the fifth Duke of Lyndhurst--who claimed honorable intentions but whose reputation was far from honorable--and finds herself falling in love

Lucifer's Champion

Hazard: a game of Chance and Luck, made riskier when Fate is rolling the dice.For Aristide Delacroix, the first throw summons shades from his past. A man he had met, just once, over a card-table ... and the lovely girl indirectly responsible for plunging his life into catastrophe.For Lord Nicholas Wynstanton, tired of waiting for Madeleine Delacroix to make up her mind, it slyly suggests he begin a whole new game with loaded dice; while for Madeleine, it devises a terrifying lesson in missed opportunities and the uncertainty of second chances. And for Genevieve Westin, hoping widowhood will be happier than marriage, it brings a rude awakening - leaving a single, wild gamble her only option.A cardsharp turned businessman, a duke's charming brother, a stubborn, razor-edged beauty and a desperate widow.Four players in a game of Hazard ... all playing for very high stakes.

A tale of war and witchcraft ... plots and playhouses ... love and loyalty.Following his coronation in Scotland, Charles ll leads an army south to reclaim his throne but the dream ends in a crushing defeat at Worcester, leaving no alternative but flight. With little more than the clothes on their backs, Ashley Peverell and Francis Langley flee to Paris where Ashley, known to some as The Falcon, resumes his covert work for the King.Beautiful, stubborn and street-wise, Athenais de Galzain has risen from the slums of Paris to become the Marais Theatre's leading actress. Unfortunately, this brings her to the attention of the Marquis d'Auxerre - an influential nobleman of unsavoury reputation who is accustomed to taking what he wants.While the Prince's Fronde turns the city into a battle-ground, Francis is bullied into helping his sister, Celia, obtain a divorce from Eden Maxwell. Meanwhile, in London, Eden watches Cromwell's rise to unopposed power and begins to question the cause he has been serving for a decade.From the first, Ashley and Athenais are drawn together with the force of two stars colliding; a force which Ashley, conscious of the frequency with which he is required to risk his life, cannot deny but resolves to conceal. He has only two priorities; his work for Charles ll and his determination to protect Athenais from the Marquis. Both are to test him to the limits.The King's Falcon follows the Cavaliers' last crusade and their subsequent bitter, poverty-stricken exile whilst also going behind the scenes at the Theatre du Marais. There is danger, intrigue and romance in this sequel to The Black Madonna and Garland of Straw.

Stella Riley

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