This Edwardian social comedy explores love and prim propriety among an eccentric cast of characters assembled in an Italian pensione and in a corner of Surrey, England. A charming young English woman, Lucy Honeychurch, faints into the arms of a fellow Britisher when she witnesses a murder in a Florentine piazza. Attracted to this man, George Emerson--who is entirely unsuitable and whose father just may be a Socialist--Lucy is soon at war with the...

Valerian Fitzhugh had beenentrusted to accompany a wayward, headstrongheiress from her disreputable Italian pensioneto her family's English estate. He had expecteda young girl, not a beautiful, full-grown womanemployed as an opera singer. Ever mindful of hisobligation, Valerian escorted Miss Allegra Crispinoacross the ocean in a most gentlemanly fashion.Yet once they touched shore, the Englishman couldno longer deny himself a kiss from the maddeningminx....

Single mom Meg Remington and her teenage daughter begin a conversation.

Daughter says nervously: "Uh, Mom, maybe this would be a good time to tell you about Steve."

Meg says absently: "Who?"

Daughter says quickly: "Umm, Steve--your date for tonight--the man I fixed you up with through a personal ad. Wanna see his picture? He's a total hunk! Mom, is something wrong? He'll be here any minute. You're not wearing that, are you?"

Meg

...

Tess of the D'Urbervilles: Her luminous beauty blazing against the bleak background of rural Victorian England, Tess Durbeyfield is one of literature's best-loved and most memorable heroines. Her struggle to endure despite the abandonment of her true love--and her desperate attempt to attain happiness--propel Tess toward a tragic end. The mayor of Casterbridge: Destitute and drunken, Michael Henchard is an itinerant farmhand who sells his wife and...

Sir Harry Hawthorne thought he was making a marriage of convenience to a childhood friend-until his fiancée captures the fancy of the dashing and dangerous Lord Mannerly. Suddenly Sir Harry's jealousy is roused to the point that he assumes the identity of his reclusive grandmother in order to keep the all-too-grown-up Miss Olivia Darby under his watchful eye. Regency Romance by Sheri Cobb South; originally published by Prinny World Press

Chantel O'Hurley, who has used her talent, beauty, and strong will to become a star, becomes intrigued with cynical private detective Quinn Doran. Regrets. Even movie stars have them. Chantel O'Hurley's family was far away, her mansion was empty, and when she was threatened, there was no one to turn to. There was certainly no comfort in Quinn Doran. He looked like he'd been carved out of stone and he was just as intractable. But in that hardness...