The Betrothed

Renzo and Lucia are separated as they escape from the evil Don Rodrigo and face the dangers of plague, famine, and the Thirty Years War

A would-be queen. A handsome young king. A perfect match…or is it? From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series comes The Betrothed, a glittering royal romance sure to captivate her legion of loyal readers and lovers of courtly intrigue alike. When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked—and thrilled. After all, she’s grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king’s attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true. But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine.

A would-be queen. A handsome young king. A perfect match...or is it? From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series comes The Betrothed, a glittering royal romance sure to captivate her legion of loyal readers and lovers of courtly intrigue alike. When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked--and thrilled. After all, she's grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king's attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true. But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine.

Renzo and Lucia are separated as they escape from the evil Don Rodrigo and face the dangers of plague, famine, and the Thirty Years War.

Kiera Cass brings another sparkling romance to a stunning conclusion in this sequel to the instant #1 New York Times bestseller The Betrothed. Can you follow your heart when it’s already broken? After fleeing Coroa and leaving the memory of her beloved Silas behind, Hollis is unsteadily adjusting to life in Isolte. The Eastoffe family’s affection is a balm on her weary spirit, though Etan, a surly cousin with a deep distaste for Coroans, threatens to upset the uneasy peace she’s found. While tensions at home ratchet up, disquiet in the kingdom of Isolte is reaching a fever pitch. The Eastoffes may have the power to unseat a tyrannical king—but only with Hollis’s help. Can a girl who’s lost it all put the fate of her adopted homeland over the secret longings of her heart?

That branch of the Lake of Como, which turns toward the south between two unbroken chains of mountains, presenting to the eye a succession of bays and gulfs, formed by their jutting and retiring ridges, suddenly contracts itself between a headland to the right and an extended sloping bank on the left, and assumes the flow and appearance of a river. The bridge by which the two shores are here united, appears to render the transformation more apparent, and marks the point at which the lake ceases, and the Adda recommences, to resume, however, the name of Lake where the again receding banks allow the water to expand itself anew into bays and gulfs. The bank, formed by the deposit of three large mountain streams, descends from the bases of two contiguous mountains, the one called St. Martin, the other by a Lombard name, Resegone, from its long line of summits, which in truth give it the appearance of a saw; so that there is no one who would not at first sight, especially viewing it in front, from the ramparts of Milan that face the north, at once distinguish it in all that extensive range from other mountains of less name and more ordinary form. The bank, for a considerable distance, rises with a gentle and continual ascent, then breaks into hills and hollows, rugged or level land, according to the formation of the mountain rocks, and the action of the floods. Its extreme border, intersected by the mountain torrents, is composed almost entirely of sand and pebbles; the other parts of fields and vineyards, scattered farms, country seats, and villages, with here and there a wood which extends up the mountain side. Lecco, the largest of these villages, and which gives its name to the district, is situated at no great distance from the bridge, upon the margin of the lake; nay, often, at the rising of the waters, is partly embosomed within the lake itself; a large town at the present day, and likely soon to become a city. At the period of our story, this village was also fortified, and consequently had the honour to furnish quarters to a governor, and the advantage of possessing a permanent garrison of Spanish soldiers, who gave lessons in modesty to the wives and daughters of the neighbourhood, and toward the close of summer never failed to scatter themselves through the vineyards, in order to thin the grapes, and lighten for the rustics the labours of the vintage. From village to village, from the heights down to the margin of the lake, there are innumerable roads and paths: these vary in their character; at times precipitous, at others level; now sunk and buried between two ivy-clad walls, from whose depth you can behold nothing but the sky, or some lofty mountain peak; then crossing high and level tracts, around the edges of which they sometimes wind, occasionally projecting beyond the face of the mountain, supported by prominent masses resembling bastions, whence the eye wanders over the most varied and delicious landscape. On the one side you behold the blue lake, with its boundaries broken by various promontories and necks of land, and reflecting the inverted images of the objects on its banks; on the other, the Adda, which, flowing beneath the arches of the bridge, expands into a small lake, then contracts again, and holds on its clear serpentining course to the distant horizon: above, are the ponderous masses of the shapeless rocks; beneath, the richly cultivated acclivity, the fair landscape, the bridge; in front, the opposite shore of the lake, and beyond this, the mountain, which bounds the view.

A retelling for children of Alessandro Manzoni's nineteenth-century novel. Includes a note about the original novel and its various editions.

Baron Guy of Montague came to Lonsdale Castle prepared to fight for what was rightfully his...only to find a woman who made him all but forget his purpose. With her angel's face and womanly curves, Lady Claudia Chiavari was enough to tempt a saint to sin. And when she returned his kisses with innocent fire, Guy knew that he was bewitched. But in a matter of hours, everything changed, as he found himself betrayed, betrothed, and imprisoned, with only Claudia to blame... Five lonely years of exile under her uncle's tyrannical rule had taught Italian-born Claudia Chiavari to distrust all Englishmen--until Guy swept into her life. Now, determined to prove to the handsome knight that she had no part in her uncle's schemes, she will risk her life to help him escape. But when she rides with Guy to his magnificent fortress, she will discover a terrible truth: that she herself is a prisoner...and at the mercy of a man whose tumultuous passion could cost her her heart.

The first book in the Betrothed series. Amy Smith has always known she was different. Severe allergies, fragile health and taunts at school have made life an endurance test for the adopted seventeen year old. When Amy starts having strange dreams, everything changes. Night after night, she becomes trapped in a shroud of black - a void of silence but for a male voice calling for a girl named 'Marla'. One night, the darkness clears, Leif is revealed and Amy discovers that she is the girl he has been searching for. Immediately the two are swept up in a passionate yet forbidden love. Leif isn't like the other boys Amy knows. Breathtakingly gorgeous, he speaks with her telepathically... not to mention, he can fly ... Desperate to find a way to be with her, Leif tells Amy of the terrifying threat to his Fae homeland, the danger to the people, and of an unforgivable betrayal to his King. He urges her to seek her true identity.... But Amy is confused... isn't it all just a dream?

In the 19th century, Alessandro Manzoni dedicated himself to writing the novel I promessi sposi that encouraged the Italian Risorgimento. This book traces how the renowned novelist was inspired by an event that occurred at the beginning of the 17th century, which he came to know about thanks to the secret collaboration of a Venetian archivist.

I was twenty-one when the gypsy read my future: As punishment for your crimes, you will only love one woman...but she'll never love you back. I didn't believe a word of it. Until I met Sofia Romano almost ten years later. I fell hard for this woman. Would die for this woman. But she left me. Now years have passed and Sofia needs a husband. Her father is gone and her mother is trying to marry her off to a man that can protect their family, protect their company. She's looking for someone powerful. Check. Someone rich. Check. Someone handsome. Double check. Now it's my chance to have the only woman I've ever loved...and I'll make sure she feels the same way. I have a lifetime to make that happen.

The conclusion to the insanely popular Betrothed Series by critically acclaimed author Penelope Sky. Hades has done everything for the woman he loves. Now it’s time for Sofia to do the same for him. I never broke the curse...I just changed it. Now I’m forced into a partnership with Maddox, and since I can’t kill him, I have to tolerate him every day. So Sofia leaves me. I’ve sacrificed everything for her, but it’s never enough. My love for her doesn't change despite the betrayal. The torture continues. What am I gonna do? I have one option. I said no the first time, but I’m not sure I can say no again...

Set at the time of the Third Crusade (1189 - 92), "The Betrothed" is the first of Scott's "Tales of the Crusaders." The betrothed is Eveline, daughter of a Norman noble, who is a victim of the Crusade in that her intended husband is required by the Church to fulfil his vow to join the war and departs for three years. The full horror of an arranged marriage, and of being a possible prize as men seek to gain possession of her is vividly realised -- the heroine is never free; her fate is always determined by the agency of men. And being set on the Marches of Wales, it is not just men but differing cultures that strive for mastery over her.