{WATTYS 2020 WINNER} {FEATURED BOOK} Paris, 1663. 500 girls selected by King Louis XIV embark on a journey across the seas from their homeland. Each is given a dowry, and the expectation that they are to marry a French settler, in order to increase the population of New France. They are the historic Daughters of the King, or "les filles du roi." Eighteen-year-old Celeste Dubois is a free-spirited, educated and headstrong girl. She comes from a wealthy Parisian family that has squandered their money and is subsequently forced to journey to New France. However, Celeste doesn't plan on marrying a complete stranger. She hopes to use the dowry and the free voyage as a way to escape the poverty and social ranks of Paris. Matters are complicated when against her will, she falls in love. Romantic, kind and stunningly beautiful Lorraine Leblanc is a girl from a large family with children to spare. Unlike Celeste, she happily dreams of the day she will meet her future husband in New France. When she marries a mysterious widower with two young children of his own and still reeling after his broken heart, she realizes that married life isn't all she had hoped it would be, and begins to question her new husband's complicated past. - Wattpad Picks Blast to the Future Past list 2018 - The 50 Best Wattpad Stories of 2018/19 by Design Wizard - 2018 Youngblood Awards Winner (Romance) - 2018 True North Awards 2nd place for Historical Fiction and 2nd place Truly Canadian special category award - Featured by Wattpad Historical Fiction profile under Kings, Courtships and Empires, Young Adult Fiction profile under Love, Actually and Romance profile under Time will Tell *Please be aware that since this book covers the colonial period, it does contain sensitive themes of racism and violence that readers will find disturbing. There are resources at the back of the book that prompt further learning in the Historical Notes section.*

{WATTY'S 2020 WINNER & EDITOR'S PICK.} Hopeless romantic and aspiring writer Mare Atwood has fallen madly in love with her childhood correspondent. There's only one catch-she doesn't know who he is. When the beaus of Star's Crossing return from boarding school to begin the courting season, Mare is determined to uncover the identity of her writer, flout her family's intentions of orchestrating an advantageous marriage, and procure the life of writing and romance she's always sought. But as in the tales she so adores, it won't be easy. Galas, masquerades, picnics, and hunts-alongside an old friend, a former teacher, and an unlikely ally, Mare delves into an investigation that leaves her torn between three clever, deceptive, and wealthy young bachelors. If Mare can confirm which is her writer and claim his hand before the courting season ends, she'll have her wish: the love of her life, a valuable marriage, and a future of writing romance. But with the eyes of Star's Crossing upon her, a business plot forcing invisible hands, and the unwillingness of her writer to come forward-Mare's future may not end in triumph, but tragedy. Set against the gilded Victorian backdrop of coastal Connecticut and lush with pre-war luxury, fans of Jane Austen, Margaret Mitchell, and Louisa May Alcott are sure to enjoy this lighthearted, lyrical novel of young love, independence, and identity. #1 Literary #1 YA Romance #1 Victorian #1 Lyrical #8 General Fiction

2019 WATTY AWARD WINNER | TO BE PUBLISHED BY 'W BY WATTPAD' IN FALL 2024 Jessie is a twenty first century kinda gal stuck in the Regency Era. Armed with a new university degree and a plane ticket to Paris, the plan was to celebrate graduation in the City of Love, kissing as many drunk French girls (or boys, she's not picky) as she can. Only, she never makes it. Mid-Atlantic, a mysterious accident sends Jessie hurtling to what should be a watery grave. Rescued from the ocean, Jessie is lucky to be alive. Only problem? The crew of the ship she's on is convinced it's a sailing vessel that just narrowly missed out on participating in the Battle of Trafalgar. Stuck in Regency-era England, Jessie is left with no choice but to enter into the services of as a maid and companion in return for what shelter her new employer can provide, and resign herself to a life of quiet servitude and forever hiding her sexuality. What she didn't count on was that her new boss would be Margaret Goodenough - the world famous authoress whose yet-to-be-completed novel was the first lesbian kiss in the history of British Literature, and a clever woman. Clever enough to know her new servant has a secret. Now Jessie is caught. Margaret's own perception of her place in society is transforming, the text of her novel is slowly changing, and Margaret herself is finally unafraid to embrace her own Sapphic desires. Margaret - and her main characters - are turning into irresistibly headstrong and modern women. Jessie must tread the tenuous line between finding her own happiness in a world where she is alone, and accidentally changing the course of history. Should Jessie suppress the manuscript, or is her duty to the woman she's learning to love? What is a twenty first century gal to do? * Cover Photo: Jenn LeBlanc & Getty Images Original Cover by: @RodneyVSmith

Sonnet Javert was as poetic as her name suggested, and her violet eyes watched the world with the most curious and innocent gaze. But inside her delicate mind bore the soul of a free-spirited revolutionary. [ painting - cometesse d'haussonville (1845) by jean-auguste-dominque ingres ]

When Elizabeth Ledford was ten years old, her father was accused of committing treason against the crown. He was arrested and labeled as a traitor, then promptly executed. Elizabeth was forced to watch her father die, and had to face the wrath of those who framed him. Nine years after her father's death, Elizabeth returns to the court of King Owen, the man who had her father killed, although he knew that he was innocent. She pretends to be the daughter of a woman who taught her what really happened to her father, and convinced her to enact revenge on those who helped to frame her father. Elizabeth embarks on a dark journey, unsure of what to expect, but believing that she'll be able to dispose of all those who wronged her and her family. Along the way, she make unexpected allies, meets old friends, and finds out just how much revenge she can handle without losing her mind.

Lord Ralph Orford, the Earl of Morley is the ideal gentleman, well liked, a definite catch on the marriage mart...but as is usually the case, there was more to him than met the eye. Lady Alice Woodbury, beautiful and dazzling, has secrets too. But while Ralph has been sworn to secrecy for the nation, Alice's subterfuge is due to a more personal reason-heartbreak. Read "To tame an Earl" to find out what happens when sparks fly between these two. Will those sparks ignite into a full blown fire or will it burn out because of all their secrets? Completed. Cover by @00Athena00

❝I can assure you that I had everything completely under control. ❞ ❝Oh, is that what you intended on having engraved into your tombstone?❞ ❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅ Take a headstrong girl, a mysterious chauvinist, a missing father, an armed robbery and you have a web of lies and a mystery on your hands. Who knew acting ladylike would be such a challenge? ❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅ Highest - #467 in adventure #6 in 1800s and #5 in nineteenth century! Updates: Saturdays