Showing results by narrator "Deborah Balm" in All Categories

Miss Agatha Cartwright isn't certain she believes in love. Her father blamed her for her mother's death, and treated her terribly. Her life changed upon his death, and the Duke of Wharton became her guardian. Suddenly, she has a family, and with that, a plethora of opportunities. It also makes her question everything...including the possibility of love.

Based on a true story, this is the tale of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard’s fight to take her rightful place in the competitive art world of 18th-century Paris. With a beautiful rival who’s better connected and better trained than she is, Adélaïde faces an uphill battle. Her love affair with her young instructor in oil painting gives rise to suspicions that he touches up her work, and her decision to make much-needed money by executing erotic pastels threatens to create as many problems as it solves.

Devastated by the disappearance of his sister, the Earl of Stranraer has gone to extraordinary lengths to find the notorious rake responsible, and enters his household incognito to wreak his vengeance. But his enemy has an unexpected protector—the innocent but headstrong Miss Cassandra Blythe. Cassie is determined to learn the art of seduction. But she is blindsided by her body's thrilling response to the wrong man—a mysterious servant who shows up at the most inauspicious moments to spoil her lessons in love with warnings of her imminent ruin.

Determined to avoid the strife-filled marriage of his parents, Marcus, the Duke of Ulvercombe, wants an amenable, biddable wife, and has set his cap for a certain pretty miss. Unfortunately, her vastly opinionated, frustrating, and lamentably beautiful guardian, Lady Clara Tinniswood, keeps distracting him, tempting him to consider a far more tempestuous—and passionate—union. Recently widowed Lady Clara Tinniswood wants only to organize a quiet new life for herself, beyond the control of any man. But one shockingly unguarded moment catapults her headlong into a forbidden passion.

Lewis Milken is a dying man who has one last wish: to find out what happened to his sister nearly 40 years ago. Emma Milken supposedly died of tuberculosis while working as a governess in Spain. But Lewis believes there is more to the story. Part-time fixer Chance Yang has troubles of his own. His relationship with girlfriend Catherine Roxborough is on the rocks. But when his flamboyant former boss, Felipe Kazama, sends Lewis his way, Chance heads straight from London to Spain to search for the answers Lewis seeks.

Nikolas Whitworth is handsome, charming. And a traitor. He can outwit and out-con any Englishman - and any Englishwoman. When his debts are called in, a savior appears, the criminal mastermind known only as the Tailor. Nikolas is bought and sold; his future, no longer his. But when a beguiling thief picks his pocket, Rosalyn Devereaux steals more than his coin. The Tailor notices her skills, and demands Rosalyn enlist in his cause. With every moment beside Rosalyn, Nikolas changes from a life of lies, to a man with conviction.

An apparent suicide and an apparent case of stalking bring two very different investigators together. This isn't an ordinary day's work for them, especially when personal feelings start to emerge. And the deeper their investigations go, the harder it gets to uncover the truth. From London to Shanghai, this thrilling and surprising mystery will take you on a journey that keeps you guessing until the very end.

With her guiding hand, Lady Ada turns the mundane into the magnificent, lumps of charcoal into beautiful sketches — and second-hand clothes into gorgeous gowns. Only her debilitating stutter is beyond reach. When her cruel brother is accused of treason, he threatens her — she must help him, or be thrown into an asylum, claiming her stutter as evidence of an unsound mind.

Bold and brilliant, Georgiana has a gift for fixing machines - from clocks to carriages - while her father has a penchant for finding trouble. In an accidental fire, Georgiana and her father scar the once handsome face of Lord Pichon, cousin to the queen. Rumors of Georgiana’s gift raise her family’s status. Her incomparable beauty captures the eye of many gentlemen and the wrath of Lord Pichon. Abandoned by his peers and alone in his cold castle, Lord Pichon is determined to enact revenge.

After two years of clandestine operations, Agent Carrie Harris doesn’t know why she’s been attached to the Metropolitan Police. Could it be, as her superiors say, to hone her skills at breaking down doors and catching bad guys? Or is it to become accustomed to working as a team when she’s been so used to operating alone? Putting her uncertainties behind her, Carrie leans into her new role. Can she rally against those up high who want her to have nothing to do with the investigation?

Computers have become an indispensable part of our lives. Considering the possibilities you can unlock and accomplish with a computer, there’s no wonder almost every home today owns at least one computer. But getting started with a computer might seem like quantum physics to some. Computers today are something of a mystery to some. Many users look at a computer and only know the basic functions, or rather how to operate it.

Love. Loss. Revenge. What secrets lie buried in the desert sands? What hidden secrets are revealed when blood is spilled? Torn between love and betrothal, and death and survival, Muni is a young woman of privilege and comfort thrown into a world of betrayal, revenge, and otherworldly, supernatural forces. Her journey leads to grim discoveries, heartbreaks, and the fantastic as she learns to unlock not only the power within, but also that from a time long forgotten. Will the sins of the past seal her fate, or secure her destiny?

Headstrong Emma of Ashford is marrying Lord Alan, the man of her dreams, when her wedding is interrupted. A woman claims to be his long-lost betrothed. But is she truly the woman thought dead since she was a child? Emma is visited by a ghost. Is this spirit the long-dead Carlyn who has come to help Emma declare the other woman an impostor? Or just another deception? Can Alan and Emma defy the king and family to find the truth of the woman's identity? Can their love be saved?

Lady Bryce has a gift. She can enter dreams and persuade her will onto others. It has served her well, especially in eliminating unsatisfactory suitors of her father's choosing. But when she encounters Lord Rowland, she wants him more than anything and decides to visit him in his sleep and make him desire her above all others. When she has driven Rowland to the edge of longing, she extracts a promise that he will marry her. As time passes, Bryce and Rowland fall in love. But will their love be able to conquer all once Bryce’s secret is revealed?

Welcome to Soldark, where those who dare can ignite their destiny. Meet four women of the city of Soldark, as they forge their own paths through the seasons. Mae. The seamstress down on her luck, but chasing her destiny. Verity. The clockmaker's daughter, who gets in over her head after a theft. Caz. The plucky journalist looking for her big break. Aurelia. The ambitious inventor who’ll do anything for her family’s prosperity.

Soldark. A city where stories are written, destinies ignited. Caz Coppersdown wants nothing to do but stay in Soldark and get a job as a journalist. But when her parents ship her off to her aunt’s country estate, she fears she won’t find anything newsworthy to write about. Until she realizes this small town is harboring a few surprises: Her aunt isn’t the fussy old lady Caz thought she was. The local air show is hiding a catastrophic secret. And soon fingers are being pointed at innocent people. Caz has found her story. But can she solve the mystery behind it?

Aurelia Sundon has always wanted to join the Inventor’s Union, and now she has her chance: the prestigious union will accept submissions on Christmas Day—the only problem is, that’s four days away. She thinks she’ll have her invention ready in time to present. Except Aurelia’s old love and current rival Frederick shows off his entry: an incredible clockwork creation that creates snow. And then, of course, Frederick’s invention goes out of control.

Soldark. A city of mystery and mechanisms. Once a year, the elite of Soldark host an elaborate midsummer masquerade ball, and Verity Pennington has always dreamed of attending. But as a clockmaker’s daughter, Verity hardly has time for such things. When a rival mechanist steals valuable plans from her father’s shop, everything changes. Verity finds out the thief will attend the masquerade, and she vows to get in, but it won’t be easy. A maze of mechanical masterpieces. A ticking clock. Can she unmask the thief and save her family’s reputation?

Soldark. A bustling city where dreams come true. That’s what seamstress Mae Wright hopes, anyway. But when she moves into her new shop premises, everything goes wrong. She loses all her money while saving her runaway dog, and none of her sewing equipment arrived in transit. A handsome yet reclusive theater director named Des offers her a job mending costumes, and she can’t help but accept. Mae enters the backstage life: full of chaotic costume changes, quirky actors, and friends who become like family.

After a local couple's path to the altar is sabotaged, retired spy Irma Abercrombie and sun-deprived nerd Violet Blackheart get roped into lending a hand sorting out the duo's wedding woes—and all the bodies. Meanwhile, Violet preps for her business partner's island arrival—blender drinks at the ready—as Irma secretly tries to track down Violet's former CFO...and their company's former money.