Jane Shoup

In the fourth book of the Sons of Barons series, friends, family, and guests gather at Manoria, a country estate in Gloucestershire, the recently inherited home of Joel Stewart and his new wife, Jane. Lord and Lady Larrowford. Amongst the guests is Hugh Pritchett, the only one of his closeknit group of friends to have not found love. Not only that, but his long-cherished dream of being a professor at Cambridge has turned to ash in the wake of a tragedy. Also in attendance is Charlotte Richards. By all accounts, Charlotte is reliable, trustworthy, genial, and gracious. Her description of herself is 'tall and plain as milk.' She is not, she maintains, a lady that desirable men fall for, but is that reason enough to accept the wealthy distant cousin pursuing her? Since being inhabited by the newest Lord and Lady Larrowford, Manoria has garnered a reputation of enchantment. In the snowy winter of 1821, amidst life altering changes, it does not disappoint.

Dabney Adams, dubbed Adonis in the society pages and gossip columns, is as enigmatic as he is jaw-droppingly handsome. Not even his closest friends know what caused an estrangement with his family. As the 1821 Season draws to a close, most of those friends have found love and happiness. Unfortunately, Dab knows he is not cut from the same cloth. He's probably not even capable of fully trusting a woman, much less falling in love. Still, there should be no reason he shouldn't marry the heiress who desires it and simply move on with his life. Circumstances change when he learns his father is dying. Dab must either choose to forgive the mistakes of the past or live with the consequences. Miss Theodora Martel has known little but tragedy in the last year, and now her half-brother is selling the family home and forcing an unwanted marriage on her. When she is unexpectedly thrust in Dab's path, he feels an overwhelming and uncharacteristic desire to come to her rescue. Theo is unlike any lady he has ever encountered. She is a brave, spirited and yet innocent. She makes him want to be a better man. It was only months before that he'd made a Christmas wish to feel more ... and then came Theo.

Alice and Jocelyn Weatherly have longed to experience their father's native London. In the spring of 1820, they get the opportunity in time for the Season Unbeknownst to them, their father is in league with a nobleman in financial distress, the object being marriage between their children. The trade is simple, a title for Alice in exchange for an influx of capital to cover Lord Merton's gambling debts.For Nigel Walston, the future baron of Merton, family obligation is everything, but he resents having an arranged marriage foisted upon him ...until he meets Alice, a beauty with two different colored eyes, a sharp mind and a fiery spirit. In Alice's opinion, love and business should never mix, which does not mean she dislikes Nigel Walston. He is handsome, considerate, protective and he makes her feel yearnings she did not know she was capable of. If only their fathers had not made them into a business transaction

Santa has endured such a miserable year that he's tempted to hang up his hat, but he still has obligations to fulfill. Besides, the world desperately needs hope and joy. Santa can always rely on the elves of An Pole Othrand, (North Pole City) a highly advanced race, but he finds inspiration in a surprising source, his replacement. In this funny and poignant modern-day adaption, the North Pole comes to life as never before along with the elves, reindeer and, of course, Santa himself.

In the summer of 1888, a physician at Philadelphia's Women's Hospital, turns to attorney Cecil Lawrence to help free a former patient who has been unjustly committed to an insane asylum by her husband. Cecil seeks the assistance of Tom Kassel, a cop turned private investigator whose methods are notoriously unorthodox. Tom's intention is to give the case a few hours look-see, but the more he digs, the more lies and deception he discovers. Before long, he is determined to help the incarcerated woman, as well as find the missing sixteen year old son of her housekeeper who her husband supposedly banished. As Tom draws closer to the truth, the culprit moves toward a more permanent solution. In a tense cat and mouse game, buried secrets are unearthed, loyalties are divided and lethal consequences are unleashed.'Shoup builds excellent intrigue. The series of engrossing twists and turns will delight readers who look for the unexpected in both the mystery and characters.' - D. Donavan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review 'In the late 1800s, it was far from easy to be a woman. They were often at the mercy of their fathers and husbands, and while some were good men, many were cruel. That was the case with Louisa Heyer, a wealthy woman whose husband has committed her to an insane asylum under suspicious circumstances. It falls to Tom Kassel, a private detective, and a pair of female doctors to set her free and uncover the truth behind her husband's motives. I was swept along for a thrilling, fast-paced ride.' - Seattle Book Reviews'Jane Shoup writes well, with verve and good pacing. She differentiates the characters, particularly the three women doctors, who have different approaches to balancing work and family. Shoup's enjoyable novel presents a lively sense of life, both upstairs and downstairs, in late 19th-century Philadelphia.' -M. Wasserman, Historical Novels Review

After taking up residence at Red Ridge Hall, ancestral home of her deceased mother, Leah learns dark secrets and unthinkable truths while being drawn in by the unsuitable yet enigmatic Grayson Slade. SO DARK... After suffering unparalleled tragedy, Leah Middleton knows she's fortunate to be taken in at her deceased mother's ancestral home. But the disdain her family - The Knights of Red Ridge Hall - held for her free-spirited mother is transferred to Leah, and they revel in letting her know it. A proud and noble family, the Knights hold expectations Leah doesn't believe she can meet, certainly not while staying true to her loving, system-defying parents, and especially when it comes to Dr Grayson Slade. He is as far from a desirable match as her family could imagine, and to make matters worse, she learns he holds secrets that can tear her newfound security from her tenuous grasp. ONLY LOVE'S LIGHT CAN SHINE THROUGH Doctor Grayson Slade is assistant to Dr Theodore Knight, founder of The Knight Society, a benevolent institution for unwanted and ill children. Grayson himself was rescued off the streets of London as a boy and he wants no more in life than what he has attained. Until the moment he lays eyes on Leah Middleton. But evil is flourishing, and he can only do so much to stop it. As mysteries begin to unravel, unthinkable truths are revealed and a malevolent threat closes in. Grayson knows he has no choice - he must do what's right to keep Leah's love.

The last year has been tough for Jack Wilmont, so he takes a leave of absence from the Raleigh PD's Major Crimes Task Force, just as a serial killer strikes again after a year. Having worked the case before, Jack agrees to look at the evidence, but the good deed leads him to the case of a missing nine year old girl, kidnapped from her home. Knowing he is in over his head, he does what comes naturally. He enlists the assistance of his best friend and former partner, Terry Carson. Despite the pressure of time passing and having too many avenues to investigate, especially in an unofficial capacity, it's irksome when the FBI swoops in to take over the serial case. Despite a warning, Jack and Carson refuse to give up. They know they are after a brilliant and dangerous psychopath, but the plot they uncover is complex, sophisticated and far more evil than anyone is prepared for. (Winner of the 2006 Eppie Award for Best Action/Thriller.)

In the summer of 1746, Sara Anne Aldridge makes a daring escape from her home in South Carolina and the betrothal being forced upon her. She flees to family in the north of England and then embarks on a venture into Scotland to tour estates forfeited to the crown after the recent failed rebellion, but the party is set upon and the women are abducted for ransom.Sara Anne is placed in the custody of maddeningly handsome highlander Adrian McGoldrick, and it becomes his responsibility to transport her across the county to the nobleman willing to pay to acquire her. They travel from lowlands to highlands and from being adversaries to reluctant friends to a love so deep that they will each offer the ultimate sacrifice to save the other.

In 1908, on a mission to find a new breed of ape in central Africa, an unfathomable thing is discovered - a wild, white man, living amongst gorillas. Local villagers call him matokeo ya utafutaji kwa, the untamed one. In England, renowned photographer, Sullivan Vinson, investigates and discovers the likely explanation, that the man is Sebastian Shaffer, the six year old boy who somehow escaped the massacre of Bishop Hannington's ill-fated party more than twenty years previous. Sullivan and his spirited twenty-one year old niece and ward, Arianna Day, journey to Africa to join the team tracking the man. They do not find him but, unbeknownst to anyone, the untamed one watches Arianna day and night. Believing she is meant for him, he steals into her tent at night and captures her. When Ari is rescued, the man is taken into protective custody. Against their will, they are sent separate ways, Sebastian to the care of esteemed anthropologist John Emerson to be retaught language and learn social skills, Ari back home to England to try to fit back into her old life. An advantageous marriage proposal awaits, but thoughts of Sebastian haunt her. Amidst the backdrop of London in the summer of 1908 as the Olympic Games are hosted and the Franko-British Exhibition is held, Sebastian 'Zan' returns to a London he does not remember with one goal in mind, being reunited with Arianna. As a member of Lord Dalton Bluford's household, he has no worries over day to day survival, but he struggles to fit into his new life. When a private agent of inquiry finds Zan's relatives, he regains memories and a sense of belonging. Ari is forced to accept another man's proposal while Lord Bluford proposes a union between his beloved granddaughter Vanessa and Zan, but Zan's goal has never altered. Again and again, he and Ari are drawn together only to be ripped apart by circumstances, social convention and Marshall Derringer, the man determined to have her as his wife. But Zan is not the only one with an untamed heart.'Brilliant, thought provoking and addictive reading.' -Affaire de Coeur Magazine

More than one man in Azulland has set his sight on the ultimate prize-control of the country. Nafino Zephyr, high counsel to the king of Bellux-Abry, is willing to sell his soul to get it. Denyson Folworth, heir to the throne of Qaddys, is willing to execute almost anyone who stands in his way, perhaps even his own father. After months of bloody warfare, a respite is desired by all, especially Ammey McKeaf, daughter of the country's greatest living general. Exhausted by the tribulations of the previous year, Ammey craves normalcy and peace, but she also wants to live up to expectations and fulfill her destiny. For many reasons, she is torn as a king and a famed hero-assassin vie for her heart. In a perfect world, there would be time to rest and recover, but this is not a perfect world. A dark entity has been unleashed and the lives of everyone are in mortal danger.

It is strange and life-altering enough when almost thirteen year-old Kate Kaplan and her mom inherit a Chicago brownstone from a long deceased great-great-great uncle but in a hidden part of the basement, Kate discovers a locked room and a trap door that leads to a closed off tunnel ... except on rare occasions when the far ends opens to a time gone by when her triple great uncle August Kaplan lived.