Linen and Lace Series

As we all know love has a habit of striking at the most inopportune moments and that sometimes fairy tales happen when we least expect them.     Giles Trevallier, 5th Earl of Winchester – tired, cold and very wet – was lamenting his decision to try to outride the storm. Escaping from the hustle of the city, Giles was looking forward to a few months of peace and quiet, while he managed his vast country estate. Now all he wanted to do was to get home, change into dry clothes and sit in front of a roaring fire with a hot meal and a large tumbler of whisky. Fate, however, had other ideas and was about to intervene in the guise of a bedraggled female, who literally dropped at the Earl's feet, soaked to the skin and more dead than alive; her sudden appearance turning his neat, orderly and, to be honest, rather boring existence completely upside down. Waking, briefly, in an unfamiliar room and in the arms of a very tall and dangerously handsome stranger no less, the young woman has no memory of who she is or how she came to be there. Under the tender care of the Earl's household, she slowly starts to recover, eventually recalling that her name is Willow, although everything else continues to elude her.   Following discreet enquiries into his unexpected guest – whose face haunts his every waking moment, Giles is shocked to discover that she is rumoured to be responsible for a fire that destroyed her family home and that her father's body is presumed to be one of those recovered from the ashes. Suddenly this most respectable Earl is faced with the possibility that he is harbouring a criminal. While trying to unravel the mystery surrounding her, Giles realises that he is falling hopelessly in love with Willow, who unbeknownst to him is fighting similar emotions. And as with anything involving the heart, a thoughtless word or gesture has a tendency to thwart even Fate's best-laid plans.  Have Willow and Giles any chance of a happy ever after or will all manner of obstacles, such as misunderstandings, whispers of scandal, secret documents and foreign agents force them apart?

Relief seemed at hand when, after suffering a year of abuse at the hands of the Duke of Aldwych, Grace Aldeburgh was caught with him in an extremely compromising situation. Instead of rescue, Grace was shunned by her family, ignored by her friends and ostracised by Society. Now, rarely leaving her home Grace has accepted that it will be years, if ever, before she is free of the stigma attached to her name by the duke's heinous actions. To shield herself from further pain, Grace locked away her heart, burying it so deeply that she wasn't sure it could ever be found. Out of the blue, Grace is granted a boon. She inherits a house in the tiny village of Oak Stanton, a place where nobody knows her and, Grace wonders, whether this is her chance to start afresh; a new life far away from her tormentor, and the malicious whispers of the ton. Arriving in Oak Stanton, Grace becomes acquainted with Giles and Billie Trevallier, the Earl and Countess of Winchester, and Theo Elliott ~ the doctor for this little hamlet ~ their warm welcome, a balm to her aching soul. Theo knows of Grace and is intrigued to meet the woman whom Society treated so harshly. A budding friendship between the two soon blossoms into something far more enduring but, for them to have any chance at happiness, Grace knows she must share her darkest secret with Theo, expecting that once it is revealed, he too will condemn her. Theo, however, is no fair-weather suitor and, already irrevocably in love with Grace, is resolved to be the man to unlock her heart. Unfortunately, just as a fairy tale ending seems within reach, a chance encounter precipitates a chain of events that will have tragic consequences. Determined to reclaim what he considers his prize, the duke has one of his henchmen follow Grace, tracing her to her new home and jeopardising her longed-for happiness. After a failed kidnap attempt, the duke's quest culminates in an acrimonious confrontation with Grace and suddenly the reason for his venal pursuit of her becomes agonisingly clear. NB: This book is for over 18's. It contains adult situations which might be a trigger for some.

Lady Helena Trevallier was, to outward appearances, a social butterfly. She wandered the museums and art galleries, took long horse rides and enjoyed brisk constitutionals — weather permitting — around the many city parks. She flitted here and there, rather like an exotic butterfly and had several men trailing in her wake, in the hope that she might favour them with a dance or better still allow them to escort her to one of the many social gatherings. Unusually for a young woman of the elite, Helena is in no hurry to marry, unwilling to allow a man to dictate her life, for she has a secret; one which, had her social set known anything about might see them throwing up their hands in horror and one which any prospective suitor would surely demand she curtail. Every day, Helena disappears into a world few acknowledge, to help the poor, the downtrodden and the abused.   Hugh Drummond, a wealthy shipping magnate, moves in quite different circles. He rarely mixes with Society and is happy spending his days working on his beloved ships. He takes great pains to avoid the extravagant events to which he occasionally receives invitations, for mamas looking to marry off their daughters usually stalk them and, a state of wedded bliss is something in which Hugh has no interest. He is too busy managing the shipping line and has no need of a wife whose only joy is dancing and frivolity. If — and it was a huge if — he ever marries, it would be to a woman as capable as he, not some giddy society miss.   Then, quite unexpectedly, Hugh meets Helena and despite his resolve not to fall under her spell and her determination to maintain her independence — fate, it seems, has other ideas.  Attraction quickly becomes something far deeper, but dark clouds appear on the horizon, heralding a storm that may yet tear them apart. Skullduggery abounds, testing their wits and forcing them to an agonising decision, as one with nefarious intent threatens to destroy all they hold dear.  

Jessica Drummond, a bright and cheerful young woman, rarely gives romance, let alone love, a thought. Long hours working in her brother's shipping office affords little chance of her ever meeting an eligible bachelor. Duncan Barrington, veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, believes himself wounded in both body and soul. He has no intention of inflicting his demons on anyone, certainly not a beautiful and, in his opinion, irresponsible city lady. One cold & snowy morning, the plight of a bedraggled puppy throws Jessica and Duncan together. A spark of something indefinable yet wholly unquenchable begins to burn, and it is unclear who rescued whom.

After witnessing his mother's grief at the loss of his father, Nick Drummond resolved never to cause someone he loved such distress. Even the happiness of his siblings would not sway him – until he met Rose. Rose Archer was almost content, assisting her doctor father in a tiny fishing village in the north of Yorkshire. To experience the world beyond, a tantalising dream – until she met Nick. Unexpectedly, the impossible becomes possible, and the renounced – desired above all things, but the shipwreck that brought them together, may yet tear them apart. Will Nick learn to trust his heart, or will his love for Rose remain forever hidden?