Books in series
#1
The Westerby Inheritance
1982
Lady Jane Lovelace has conceived the idea of approaching the most notorious man about town, Lord Charles Welbourne, with a most unique proposition.
But when he counters her offer with a condition that he thinks will halt her impudence, much to the surprise of both, she accepts.
A novel of passion and intrigue, The Westerby Inheritance is the first volume of this new and emotionally charged romantic saga all played out against a backdrop of elegant eighteenth century society.
#2
The Marquis Takes a Bride
1980
Miss Jennie Bemyss was in a position that any intelligent young lady would envy. The wealthy Marquis of Charrington has proposed a marriage of convenience, and the handsome Guy Chalmers, whom she has loved since childhood, proposed to aid her in enjoying her freedom to the fullest. Why, then, did she feel so confused? Regency romance original.
#3
Lady Anne's Deception
1986
When Lady Anne Sinclair vowed to marry anyone as long as it meant she married before her spoilt beauty of a sister, she had no idea the 'anyone' would be the Marquess of Torrance. Long the darling of the ton - and considered quite the confirmed bachelor - he succumbed to Annie's charms and, most magically, made her his wife.
But Annie's lifelong battle for attention had ill-prepared her for married life. In a tipsy revery on her wedding night, she blurted out her real reason for marrying the Marquess - and her husband's formidable pride shut the door on any further communication.
Only a crisis of major proportions could bring the headstrong newlyweds together. And no less than the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with sinister political ambitions known only to himself, embroiled Annie in a dangerous plot that taught her the truth about her wifely sentiments.
#4
Lady Margery's Intrigue
1980
At age twenty-three, the petite Lady Margery has already graced the rows of wallflowers for many a season. With the one exception of Charles, the Marquess of Edgecombe, the only man who ever dances with her, Lady Margery will have nothing to do with men; what's more, she does not even particularly like Charles.
Bored beyond words, she firmly decides this to be the end of it all and returns to the comfort of her only love, her home at Chelmswood. But she does not find comfort, not even there. It seems her middle-aged father has taken for himself a dim-witted brat of nineteen to be his bride.
Forced into bankruptcy by his child-bride's lust for luxury, Margery's father determines to sell Chelmswood. But Margery will not hear of it and launches an all-out, military-like campaign to ensnare herself a wealthy husband and save her ancestral family home.
Everything seems to be going according to plan until the unforeseen intervention of Charles sabotages Margery's plan, giving them both a run for their money.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Countesses, Marquises, Lords and Ladies, Viscounts and Princesses all meet in the Royal series where they at once both live and try to avoid lives of scandal and sin, where love - we pray - trumps all but revenge is sometimes the name of the game, especially if inheritance, notoriety and fortune are part of the hand. Here, many threads are skillfully interwoven in a highly entertaining series that never fails to please or fall short of its mark.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
From 1977 to the early 1990s, Marion Chesney wrote over one hundred romance novels. Now writing as M. C. Beaton, she is the bestselling award-winning author of two internationally successful mystery series - HAMISH MACBETH and AGATHA RAISIN. She lives in the United Kingdom.
#5
The Savage Marquess
1988
Certainly the two should never have met. The handsome, wealthy Marquess of Rockingham was the most notorious man in London, as infamous for his violent temper as he was for his intemperate ways.
Miss Lucinda Westerville was a country vicar's daughter, as innocent as she was lovely and as proper as a young lady could possibly be.
Yet when this improbably matched pair met at a glittering social ball, they had struck the dubious bargain to become man and wife - in name only! But Lucinda soon found that she had taken on more than she bargained for when she vowed not to love this untamed, infuriatingly attractive man when she tried to rein her own foolishly galloping heart.
#6
My Dear Duchess
1979
The marriage between the handsome, dashing Duke of Westerland and beautiful Miss Frederica Sayers seemed like a logical one—until the duke discovered that his duchess could not be tamed, and the lovely duchess found that she would rather lose her spotless reputation than her beloved duke!
#9
The Ghost and Lady Alice
1982
Alice Lovesey and the long-deceased Eighth Duke of Haversham met quite accidentally one night as she gazed into his handsome portrait and called upon someone to save her from her miserable life as a servant in the home of the cruel Tenth Duke. Though unwilling at first,
His Grace soon saw some promise in the chit.
#10
Love and Lady Lovelace
1982
Widowed Lady Lovelace, swindled by her curmudgeon cousin, needs marry again for money. So does Lord Philip, nearly destitute on an army pension. The attractive fortune-hunters fall into marriage, both almost penniless. What now?
#11
Duke's Diamonds
1982
"MY FORTUNE IN DIAMONDS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE MANLEY DIAMOND COLLAR WHICH GOES TO MISS EMILY WINTERS, I LEAVE TO MY DOG DUKE."
Old Sir Peregrine's will shocked everyone. Especially his lovely illegitimate daughter, Emily, to whom he also left his entire estate. Only on Duke's death would the diamonds revert to the relatives. Now Emily had to see that nobody murdered Duke. They were that kind of family.
Meanwhile Emily was falling in love with the dashing rakehell Lord Storm, whose fortune and title brought him women by the droves.
With such competition what chance did Emily have? Furthermore what would a high-born young man like Lord Storm want with a woman whose origins were as scandalous as Emily's?
#12
The Viscount's Revenge
1983
A labyrinth of love and larceny evolves after the theft of a Duke's fabled family jewels, his love for a penniless young girl, and his forthcoming marriage to a most beautiful and suitable Lady. Follows AT THE SIGN OF THE GOLDEN PINEAPPLE.
The handsome but arrogant Lord Charles Hawksborough desperately wanted to catch the infernally insolent thief who had held him up at pistol point on the King's Highway and ridden off with his family's inheritance and jewels. Hawksborough just as desperately tried not to want the piquant and penniless Miss Amanda Colby when this young lady and her twin brother came to stay at his London townhouse at the height of the social season.
Hawksborough feared his own desire for this slip of a girl when he was about to wed the most beautiful and more suitable Lady Mary Dane. Meanwhile, Amanda feared he would discover she was the thief before she could atone for the crime. Whatever was to happen, it was clear that neither was prepared for what was to take place in this bewildering labyrinth of love and larceny.
#13
The Paper Princess
1987
Miss Felicity Channing escapes her Cornwall home and wicked stepfather and journeys to London, disguising herself as a royal princess to move among the city's elite circles under the curious eye of raffish Lord Arthur Bessamy
#14
The Desirable Duchess (Regency Royal, #14)
1993
ALTHOUGH SHE MARRIED WITHOUT LOVE, ALICE MAY YET DISCOVER SOMETHING ABOUT ROMANCE....
Lovely Alice Lacey was a true Incomparable, and her marriage to the Duke of Ferrant was the event of the Season. Few realized, however, that she was secretly in love with another—so much so that she confided her feelings to a clever talking mynah bird who deemed it fit to announce these intimacies right at the couple's wedding!
The gossip mongers were relentless. Her marriage was cold and impersonal, and her new husband was rumored to be taken with another woman.
Before she even realized what was happening, Alice discovered that the man she had thought she loved was something other than what he seemed, and the man she had married was something far more than she'd hoped. Her one resort was her last one—to convince the man she had wed that they were in love....
#16
The Dreadful Debutante
1994
An alternate cover edition can be found here.
Arranging a season for an unruly young lady whose habit was to enter drawing rooms by sliding down banisters presented a challenge at best - especially since the hoydenish Mira had a sister of incomparable grace and beauty.
Mira wasn't daunted at all by the local society and its ridiculous marriage mart. Her heart belonged to Lord Charles, who had been the object of her dreams ever since she was a child. Alas, Charles had eyes only for her ever-perfect sister, Drusilla.
Along the sidelines, the Marquess of Grantley was enjoying Mira's jealous antics - although pushing her sister into the fountains had practically ruined her social cachet. It was up to him to restore her to respectability and make her an eligible bride once again. Yet when he succeeded, the lovelorn Marquess began to wish he had left well enough alone É
ABOUT THE SERIES
Countesses, Marquis', Lords and Ladies, Viscounts and Princesses all meet in the Royal series where they at once both live and try to avoid lives of scandal and sin, where love we pray trumps all but we find not always and revenge is sometimes the name of the game, especially if inheritance, notoriety and fortune are part of the hand. Here, many threads are skillfully interwoven in a highly entertaining series that never fails to please or fall short of its mark.
#17
The Chocolate Debutante
1995
HE WAS ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH TO TEMPT EVEN A VERY DEDICATED BLUESTOCKING!
A woman of independent means with a healthy dose of cynicism about the male population, Harriet Tremayne is content with her circle of spinster friends and their devotion to literature, women's rights, and other intellectual interests.
However, when she undertakes a London Season for her beautiful but featherbrained niece, she concedes she must appear less a bluestocking and more a fashion plate to successfully sponsor an impossible miss whose only real desire is to consume chocolate.
Certainly her modish new appearance has nothing to do with the attentions of Lord Dangerfield, a wicked man of the world who has designs on the fair Susan, but spends an inordinate amount of time trying to convince Harriet of his all-too-obvious attributes...
#18
The Loves of Lord Granton
1996
'TWAS A MOST ODD AND UNSUITABLE FRIENDSHIP . . .
AND VERY PRECIOUS INDEED!
As the youngest of four unmarried vicar's daughters, Frederica feared her destiny was to die of tedium in the sleepy village of Barton Sub Edge. Her looks deemed "unfortunate," her willful notions damned as "difficult," she never dreamt the arrival of a rake would challenge her fate in the most surprising way.
For Frederica and the worldly gentleman from the city, Lord Granton, had something in boredom. And thus a secret friendship was formed. Frederica lived vicariously through his tales of adventure while he found a delightful respite from the simpering females thrown his way.
But when had their summer idyll turned to love? When had a country miss become a breathtaking lady? Worse, what the devil was a certified rogue who was much too old for her going to do about it?
#19
Milady in Love
1987
Just when he’d fobbed off the last brat, another appeared to take her place! Poor Lord Anselm! The dashing bachelor was forever plagued with dying relatives leaving their female children to his care. Indeed, he had squired so many a silly miss from schoolroom to marriage mart that he had sworn off woman altogether.
The current ward was far and away the worst. Cheeky as only a French girl could be, Yvonne de la Falaise had surely sent her papa to an early grave with her melodramatics and mischief. Thank goodness for her governess, Patricia Cottingham, so calm, so competent. But all was not as it seemed, or so Anselm learned, and very nearly too late….
ABOUT THE SERIES
Countesses, Marquises, Lords and Ladies, Viscounts and Princesses all meet in the Royal series where they at once both live and try to avoid lives of scandal and sin, where love - we pray - trumps all but revenge is sometimes the name of the game, especially if inheritance, notoriety and fortune are part of the hand. Here, many threads are skillfully interwoven in a highly entertaining series that never fails to please or fall short of its mark.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
From 1977 to the early 1990s, Marion Chesney wrote over one hundred romance novels. Now writing as M. C. Beaton, she is the bestselling award-winning author of two internationally successful mystery series - HAMISH MACBETH and AGATHA RAISIN. She lives in the United Kingdom.
#20
The Scandalous Marriage
1991
AS FAR AS MATRIMONIAL PROSPECTS WERE CONCERNED, LUCY BLISS WAS TOLD SHE'D MAKE AN EXCELLENT CLERGYMAN'S WIFE.
Her mother, however, had loftier aspirations for her lovely younger sister Belinda. Belinda would marry a duke. More specifically, the Duke of Wardshire. Lucy was truly horrified. "Lucifer" Wardshire! Why, he was rumored to be as wicked as the devil, with orgies and mistresses—and worse!
As the London Season unfolded, Lucy couldn't decide who was more abominable, her vulgar mama or the arrogant yet disconcertingly handsome duke. No matter, Lucy vowed to go to any lengths to protect her sister, even if her mission should take her into the very arms of the devilish duke himself....
Authors
M.C. Beaton
Author · 105 books
Like her on Facebook! Learn more on her website! Marion Chesney Gibbons aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Marion Chesney, Charlotte Ward, Sarah Chester. Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York. Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
Jennie Tremaine
Author · 9 books
Marion Chesney Gibbons aka: Ann Fairfax, Helen Crampton, Marion Chesney, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester. Marion Gibbons (née Chesney) was a Scottish writer of romance and mystery novels. Marion wrote her historical romances under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, as well as several pseudonyms ( Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward). Using the pseudonym M.C. Beaton she also wrote many popular mystery novels, most notably the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mystery series. Both of these book series have been adapted for TV. Because of her great success with mystery novels her publishers both in the U.S. and abroad began using the M.C. Beaton pseudonym for all of her novels.
