Dorina's father had been an industrialist, an inventor and a genius who trained her to be his heir, sending her abroad to learn many languages.While she was in France she learned that he had died, and she must now take over his business. But she does not feel ready, especially as she knows he has been trying to design a horseless carriage. For a while she keeps his death a secret, to give herself time to learn, and goes to work for his great rival, the Earl of Kennington. He is younger than she had expected, and much better looking. Working closely with him, and living in his house, she finds herself drawn to him. Then she learns that he too is designing a horseless carriage and realises that they are in direct competition. What will he say when he discovers her true identity? As she fears, he is bitterly hurt and angry.How they competed in a dare-devil race, and what the Prince of Wales did to bring them together is told in this romantic novel. If you like Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland.

The third novel in the beloved Regency-set world of Julia Quinn’s charming, powerful Bridgerton family, now a series created by Shonda Rhimes for Netflix. Welcome to Benedict’s story . . .

Sophie Beckett never dreamt she would sneak into Lady Bridgerton’s famed masquerade ball – or that ‘Prince Charming’ would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie had been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But that night, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she felt like royalty. Yet she knows all enchantments must end.

But Sophie has reckoned without Benedict’s determined heart: he has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, for he knows this is his only chance for a fairy tale love . . .

The daughter of a wealthy, ambitious man, Rowena knew that her father longed to marry her to a title, preferably the Duke of Wenfield, whom she disliked and did not wish to marry herself. To avoid marriage, they hatched a plot. Posing as brother and sister, they would take a trip on a yacht with their like-minded friends and would help each other find the love of their dreams. Plans went awry on the Mediterranean, when Rowna was kidnapped by a Sultan, and was imprisoned in his harem. It seemed that they would be parted forever. How the Duke rescued her, and they found their true love, is all told in this exciting and romantic novel by Barbara Cartland. If you like Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland.

Hold You Down is an edgy novel from rising star Tracy Brown about the perils of love and the ties that bind... New York City. Late 1980s to early 1990s. Mercy and Lenox Howard have always only had each other. Growing up on the mean streets of Harlem with an absentee mother meant that they had to have each other's backs. Now young, smart mothers they are determined to survive in New York City while raising their two sons, who have bright futures ahead of them. Mercy is the quiet, straight laced hospital administrator, struggling to make ends meet. At night and on weekends, she pours her heart into her cooking and her dream of owning her own restaurant. Lenox is the diva, the wild child, looking for excitement and her big come up in life and love. Their boys, Deon and Judah, have been raised more like brothers than cousins, forging a bond that is unbreakable. When Lenox heads down a path that she believes will bring success and power, it changes the entire course of her life and her family's life forever. As a result of their mother's choices, cousins Deon and Judah soon find themselves in uncharted territory.

After losing their beloved mother, the Devlin sisters need each other more than ever.

Single parent Louise is trying to help her fragile young daughter to navigate life. So, when the nine-year-old insists on finding out who her father is, Louise organizes a sisters’ outing to track down her Italian one-night stand.

Meanwhile, due to her teenage sons’ sporting success, mother-of-four Julie is anointed Cook-Bottlewasher-and-Cheerleader-in-Chief for the rugby parents’ WhatsApp group. Worst. Job. Ever

Finally, glamorous Sophie is determined that her daughter Jess won’t be boy-crazy and image-obsessed like she was. But when things go horribly wrong at a teen party, Sophie and her sisters are forced to take drastic measures to protect Jess’s future.

Squeezed from every side, Louise, Julie and Sophie want to be good sisters – but sometimes that’s easier said than done . . .

When Rosina's dear friend leapt to her death after the man she loved betrayed her, she vowed vengeance on all men. Rosina declared that no man could be trusted, including Sir John Crosby, member of parliament, whom she had secretly loved since girlhood. Now a debutante, she found herself caught up in a whirl of social activity. An election was imminent and her father, Sir Elroy Clarendon, was favoured to be made a government Minister. Her new friend Lady Doreen, daughter of the Earl of Blakemore was secretly in love with an unknown admirer. To Rosina's dismay he turned out to be Arthur Woodward, the man whose betrayal had destroyed her friend, and whose incriminating letters Rosina possessed. In spite of his threats, she defied him. Sir John, after begging her to stop, tried to protect her. How they dealt with the venomous Woodward, and discovered true love, is told in this romantic novel, the 670th by Barbara Cartland. If you enjoy Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland.

He had her, he lost her . . . and he'll do anything to win her back.

Powerful, brilliant, and ambitious, Dominic Davenport clawed his way up from nothing to become the King of Wall Street. He has everything - a beautiful home, a beautiful wife and more money than he could spend in a lifetime. But no matter how much he accumulates, he's never satisfied. In his endless quest for more, he drives away the only person who saw him as enough. It isn't until she's gone that he realizes there may be more to life than riches and glory . . . but by then, it may be too late.

Kind, intelligent, and thoughtful, Alessandra Davenport has played the role of trophy wife for years. She stood by her husband while he built an empire, but now that they've reached the top, she realizes he's no longer the man she fell for. When it becomes clear that she'll always come second to his work, she finally takes charge of her life and puts herself first - even if it means leaving the only man she's ever loved. But what she didn't count on was his refusal to let her go . . . or for him to fight for their marriage, no matter what it takes.

King of Greed is a steamy marriage in trouble billionaire romance. It includes explicit content and profanity. Recommended for mature readers only.

Hugo, Earl of Ruven, is sailing home after ten years in India, where he served with his regiment. His grandfather, the old Earl, has died and Hugo has inherited the title and estate of Castle Ruven. He has also inherited his late brother's fiancee, Felice de Lisle. No one who sees the handsome man standing at the rail with his face turned toward the approaching coast suspects the truth. During one of the first battles of the Indian Mutiny, Hugo was severely injured. The new Earl of Ruven is returning home blind. Meanwhile, Jacina and her father, Doctor Carlton, wait to welcome Hugo to Castle Ruven. Hugo was Jacina's childhood hero and she was devastated to hear of his injury. From the moment she sees Hugo again her heart is in turmoil. She knows he has a fiancee but considers herself happy just to be in his presence. Although Hugo refuses to be optimistic about the possibility of ever regaining his sight, in Jacina's company his spirits gradually lift. Then comes the arrival of Felice de Lisle. From this moment on, the lives of Jacina and Hugo are plunged into a world of deception and intrigue. From the misty woods of Ruven to the snowy slopes of Switzerland, their story is played out in an atmosphere of darkness and ever increasing danger. If you enjoy Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland.

Sylvia, daughter of the Duke of Belham, is bored with the various young men she meets at Lady Lamborne's masked ball. At last she escapes their attentions and makes her way into the cool, moonlit garden, where she encounters a masked stranger. The following morning, Sylvia's father reveals that he has amassed such debts from his gambling that the family can no longer maintain their high profile London life. They must return to Castle Belham and Sylvia realises that she will never see her mystery stranger again. At Castle Belham, Count Von Brauer enters their lives. In time, the Duke loses a vast sum of money to him at a gathering. The Count offers to overlook the debt in return for Sylvia's hand in marriage. At first, Sylvia refuses, but when the Duke suffers a nervous collapse, her resistence crumbles. Only a stranger from the past can rescue her from her nightmare... only the stars in the sky can point the way. If you enjoy Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland.

When the Balkan Prince Stanislaus demanded an English bride, Queen Victoria decided to send him Lady Lavina, whose family had a slight connection with royalty. Determined to avoid this fate, Lavina threw herself on the mercy of the Marquis of Elswick, a disagreeable man who had turned his back on the world following betrayal by the woman he had loved. Surprisingly, he agreed to help by pretending to be engaged to Lavina, and, with her father, they left to visit her relatives in Scotland. In the highlands Lavina began to find herself attracted to the Marquis. Beneath his harsh manners he had a heart - a heart that perhaps she could win. But nearby was the Queen's country home, Balmoral, and when Her Majesty arrived with Prince Stanislaus, they knew that there was still a battle to be fought. Now Lavina learned the shattering secret that was the real reason the Marquis had agreed to help her. And that secret was to threaten to take from her the man she loved. How she discovered the truth in a way that nearly cost him his life, is told in this romantic novel. If you enjoy Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland.

When Rena's father dies she is alone in the world, forced out of the vicarage that has been her home, with nowhere to go and no money. She seeks help at the large wooden cross standing in the nearby grounds of The Grange. And there in the earth she finds three golden coins, which she hands over to the new young Earl of Lansdale. They form a friendship, the sweetest one of her life. But her new happiness is threatened by Mr. Wyngate, a wealthy man determined to force the Earl to marry his daughter. There is something sinister about Mr. Wyngate, also another man who looks mysteriously like him, and seems to come and go without warning. In the end, one man lies dead and another's heart is broken before Rena's faith and courage triumph. If you enjoy Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland.

From the author of Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel, The Glass Hotel is the story of the lives caught up in two very different tragedies: a woman disappearing from a container ship, and a massive Ponzi scheme imploding in New York. 'A perfect post-lockdown read' - Sunday Times 'Elegant, haunting' - The Times 'A damn fine novel . . . evocative and immersive' - George R. R. Martin Vincent is the beautiful bartender at the exclusive Hotel Caiette. When New York financier Jonathan Alkaitis walks into the hotel and hands her his card, it is the beginning of their life together. That same night, a hooded figure scrawls a note on the windowed wall of the hotel: 'Why don't you swallow broken glass.' Leon Prevant, a shipping executive, sees the note from the hotel bar and is shaken to his core. When Alkaitis's investment fund is revealed to be a Ponzi scheme, Leon loses his retirement savings in the fallout, but Vincent seemingly walks away unscathed. Until, a decade later, she disappears from the deck of one of Leon's ships . . .

In this classic British mystery, a revised will, a troubled upper-class marriage, and a crazed witness shake up a seemingly solved murder case. Marion Grey is growing used to the idea that her husband will never leave prison. After the horrors of a very public trial she's almost able to find relief in her resignation. But when new evidence suggests her husband may be innocent after all, she hires a professional--Miss Maud Silver--to clear his name. It begins with a chance encounter on a busy train, when a friend of Marion's meets a half-mad woman who claims to know something of the Grey case. With her is a man who disappeared during the trial--and may have information that could set Marion's husband free. But who is he, and where has he gone? To find out, demure governess-turned-detective Miss Silver must track him down before becoming a victim herself. In a series that's a delightful blend of Downton Abbey and Agatha Christie, retired schoolteacher and sleuth Miss Silver "has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot" (Manchester Evening News).

"If this is madness," she whispered almost against his lips, "drown me in it."

Corvina Clemm is a woman with secrets. The last thing she expects to receive is an admission letter from the University of Verenmore, a place just as secretive.

A castle atop a mountain, Verenmore is steeped in shadows, deceit and death, a place where students have been disappearing every five years for over a century. As Corvina becomes caught up in unravelling the clues to solve the mystery, her path collides with Vad Deverell, her enigmatic professor.

Vad, too, is a man with secrets. And he cannot allow Corvina to get close enough to discover what he hides. But whenever she is near, his heart and soul yearn to possess her.

As Corvina and Vad become more and more entangled, their passion for each other could be the very thing to solve the mystery of Verenmore - or it could bring them both down in flames.

The Secrets of the Lake is a gripping wartime novel, by the author of The Silk Weaver, Liz Trenow. 'Masterful storytelling, immersive locations, and characters that inhabit your heart from the first page' - Gill Paul, author of The Secret Wife. The war may be over, but for Molly life is still in turmoil. Uprooted from London after the death of her mother, Molly, her father and younger brother Jimmy are starting again in a quiet village in the countryside of Colchester. As summer sets in, the heat is almost as oppressive as the village gossip. Molly dreams of becoming a journalist, finding a voice in the world, but most of the time must act as Jimmy's carer. At just ten years old he is Molly's shadow, following her around the village as she falls under the spell of local boy Kit. Kit is clever, funny and a natural-born rebel. Rowing on the waters of the lake with him becomes Molly's escape from domestic duty. But there is something Kit is not telling Molly. As the village gossip starts building up with whispers against Molly's father over missing church funds, everything Molly thought she knew is turned upside down. And on one stormy night, when she sneaks out of the house to try to put things right, Jimmy vanishes. Never to be seen again. Decades later, Molly is an elderly woman in sheltered housing, still haunted by the disappearance of her brother. When two police officers arrive to say that the remains of a body have been found at the bottom of the lake, it seems like Molly will at long last have her answer . . .