Nora Roberts – Inheritance: The Lost Bride Trilogy Series Book 1
1806: Astrid Grandville is now Astrid Poole, beautiful in her bridal clothes and overwhelmed with love for her brand-new husband. But before the marriage can be consummated, she is murdered and the circle of gold is torn from her finger. Her last words are a promise to Collin never to leave him. Present day: Sonya MacTavish is stunned to learn that her late father had a twin he never knew about-and her newly discovered uncle, Collin Poole, has left her almost everything he owned, including a majestic Victorian house on the Maine coast. The will stipulates that she must live in it for at least three years. Having just dumped her cheating fiance and left her job to start her own graphic design firm, she finds it a perfect opportunity to start fresh. She also wants to find out why the boys were separated at birth- and why it was all kept a secret until a DNA match on a genealogy website brought it to light. Trey, the young lawyer who greets her at the sprawling clifftop manor, note’s Sonya’s unease-and casually acknowledges that, yes, the place is haunted…but just a little. Sure enough, Sonya soon finds objects moved and music playing out of nowhere. She sees one of her father’s paintings hanging, inexplicably, in her deceased uncle’s office, as well as a portrait of a woman named Astrid, whom the lawyer refers to as the first “lost bride”. There have been more than one over the years-including Uncle Collin’s wife, who died on her wedding day and left him isolated and grieving. It’s becoming clear that Poole’s Bay is not as idyllic as it seems. It’s also becoming clear that Sonya has inherited far more than a house. She has inherited a centuries-old curse, and a puzzle to be solved, if there is any hope of breaking it….
Danielle Steel – The Ball at Versailles
It’s the summer of 1959 and the Palace of Versailles is hosting an event that will make history. It is an exclusive dusk-to-dawn ball in which a select group of American and French debutantes will be presented to international society and royalty. Four young women, all with something to prove, receive what some see as the invitation of a lifetime. Amelia Alexander, who hopes to eventually attend law school, hesitates to participate in what she sees as an archaic and privileged tradition. But her indomitable widowed mother, Jane, who’s struggled financially and sacrificed for a career, encourages her to attend. Jane would do anything for Amelia to have the chance at a happily ever after. Felicity Smith is equally uncertain about the ball. Although her family is prominent in the Dallas social scene, Felicity prefers to keep to herself, avoiding the older sister who torments her. But to get out of her sister’s shadow, Felicity decides to accept. If it’s a success, the tables will have turned at last. For Caroline Taylor, the beautiful ingénue and daughter of Hollywood legends, the ball is an irresistible opportunity. But an unexpected heartbreak just before she leaves for France gets things off to a bad start. Then there’s Samantha Walker, an art history major with an overprotective father. Her excitement about the invitation is overshadowed by the emotional and physical effects of a past tragedy that still haunts her. For all these young women, Paris and one transcendent night will change their lives forever.
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