Linda Needham

Married By ProxyThe widowed Lady Eleanor Bayard claims her late husband's tattered and deserted castle, unaware that the enormous, beastly intruder who haunts its shadowy ramparts is the dark-hearted war lord whom she married by proxy, but never met. She sets about restoring the castle and repopulating the abandoned village with the ragtag stragglers displaced by the horrors of the Black Death, a pandemic that has spared no one, leaving only tragedy and despair in its wake. Widowed In HasteStunned that his wife is still alive, yet believing himself damned forever for his life of war and infamy, Nicholas Bayard hides his identity from her and helps her resurrect the castle-one last penance before he enters a monastery. Yet nothing can disguise the passion he finds in Eleanor's arms. With her joy in life and her belief in renewal and miracles, in the tenacity of the human spirit, she's a temptation he cannot resist. But when she learns his true identity, she shows him that love is the greatest miracle of all.

When mining baron Jackson Rushford coerces beautiful folklorist Mairey Faelyn into using her extensive knowledge to help him search for a map to a legendary deposit of ancient Celtic silver, she has no choice but to agree to the devil's bargain. The beastly man has already abducted her family's research library and installed it on his estate, threatening to hire a rival expert to find the Willowmoon Knot if she refuses. The Knot is the key to finding the treasure, and has been missing from her family's protection for centuries. The vast resources that Rushford offers to Mairey prove as irresistible as they are dangerous to her family's legacy. Trapped into 'helping' him, Mairey plots to lead the dark, thunderous 'dragon' astray at every turn.But while adventuring together into dusty catacombs, castle towers, cozy country inns, even into the bowels of a coal mine, Mairey soon finds that Rushford has charming chinks in his armor, and guards his heart more strongly than any treasure. As their search draws them ever closer to the treasure, Mairey finds herself falling deeply for the man, fearing she'll be forced to betray either Jack or her pledge to her family. Is their love just a fairy tale, or will it last forever?

Every bestselling story begins with an idea. But in the highly competitive publishing market how does a writer decide which ideas need telling and which stories to tell?As every writer knows, an idea is not a story. It's merely a spark, a memory, a current or historical event, a snapshot, an insight, a family story, a feeling.It's an iceberg that sinks an unsinkable passenger ship on a crystal clear night in the North Atlantic. But an iceberg sinking an unsinkable ship still isn't a story. It's just an idea.It's an historical event that lacks the ill-fated, forbidden romance between the beautiful, young, upper-class Rose DeWitt and the free-spirited, steerage passenger, Jack Dawson who, in that short voyage, teaches Rose that 'life is a gift', that 'she must make every day count' and, with his heroic, dying breath makes her promise she will survive the icy waters, and never give up on her life, no matter how dark or hopeless things become, giving Rose the courage to throw off the shackles of the suffocating Edwardian society that held her prisoner and, in the decades that followed, to make her life count.James Cameron's Titanic is a fully-realized story that came from a simple historical event. An idea.Ideas We writers see them everywhere. But sorting through the clutter of ideas for the one that suggests the greatest story potential can be painful, time-consuming and frustrating.From First Spark to Blockbuster takes the pain out of brainstorming your next book You'll learn how to: Brainstorm the Origins of Your IdeaReveal Why your Idea has Meaning to YouCompile a List of Theme WordsDevelop a Dynamic PremiseOrchestrate a Robust Cast of CharactersDevise an Elevator PitchJoin Award-Winning, USA Today Bestselling author, Linda Needham in this interactive brainstorming workshop-in-a-book, and turn your First Spark of an Idea into a bestselling work of fiction.

From USA Today bestselling author Linda Needham, comes a "passionate, heart-wrenching tale of honor and justice, loyalty and betrayal, love and forgiveness" set in England during the politically turbulent and often dangerous 12th Century.An Inconvenient Marriage; an Unexpected LoveTo honor a deathbed promise to her foster father, Kailey Hewett must marry Simon Rutledge, Henry II's chief justiciar - a darkly forbidding, mystery of a man. As she leaves her home and all she holds dear, Kailey wonders how she can keep her pledge to give this stern man his "heart's peace" - but she vows to create a new family, no matter what it takes.Simon had intended this marriage as private penance for his still-secret role in the long-ago conspiracy against her father that led to the man's execution for treason. But her generous heart draws him into her ad hoc family of endearing misfits and he quickly finds himself yearning for her forgiveness, yet barred by his own harsh code of justice from accepting the love she offers so freely.Kailey's indomitable spirit and her war against injustice exposes a corrupt merchant, a ransom plot and a murderous Templar, finally teaching her stubbornly resistant husband that mercy is as important as justice-and love and forgiveness can heal all.

USA Today bestselling author Linda Needham crafts a passionate tale of Beauty and the Beast in this mismatched, marriage-of-convenience between a dark and brooding financier, and a free-spirited travel-writer.Felicity Mayfield has no choice: marry cold-hearted financier, Hunter Claybourne, or he will throw her into Victorian London's most notorious debtor's prison for the crimes committed against him by her uncle. But before she agrees, she proposes a bargain: she'll become his wife, in name only for one brief year-if he allows her the freedom to continue living an independent life as a roving travel writer.Hunter never suspected a wife could be such a nuisance. The marriage-of-convenience was supposed to be a simple business arrangement. Instead, she invades his cavernous home, rearranges the furniture, wins over his servants, and blinds him with her sunlight. Her constant presence is unsettling, her lavender scent enchanting, her skin a soft temptation. Suddenly it seems only right that she should wear his ring...and share his bed. After all, she is his wife. Yet even as Felicity opens a chink in Hunter's heart, her expos of the scandalous workhouses threatens to uncover his darkest secret, forcing him to choose between his hard-won empire and the miracle of love.

USA Today bestselling author Linda Needham invites you to the Christmas Wedding of Josie & Gideon, the fifth book in a series of romances touched by magic as old as time.It's Christmas 1940 and Nimway Hall opens its ancient and enchanting heart to the wedding of Josie and Gideon Engaged to be married in the final, steamy love scene in THE LEGEND OF NIMWAY HALL: 1940 - JOSIE, wartime intelligence agents, Josie and Gideon, are in for a wild adventure as they negotiate the hidden dangers of planning a wedding in the midst of a war.With two months until their Christmas Day nuptials, and an impressive guest list that includes their two very large and very different families, dear and influential friends, peers and prelates, stars of stage and screen, an admiral and more than one member of Churchill's War Cabinet, Josie Stirling quickly discovers that adding the planning of Somerset's wedding of the year to her already over-scheduled days - overseeing Nimway's vast wartime estate, volunteering for the war effort, and managing her secret intelligence work - may be the straw that finally forces her ask for help from the people who love her, when she was so certain she could do it all herself.Lt. Colonel Gideon Fletcher takes on the role of husband-to-be of the beautiful and capable Guardian of Nimway Hall as fiercely as any military operation, and soon finds himself in a secret war against an unexpected enemy to save the ancient estate from certain destruction.The matchmaking Orb brought Josie and Gideon together in the first JOSIE book of the Nimway series, now, the enchantment of Nimway Hall itself, weaves together the magic of love and family and the joy of Christmas into a tapestry of Happily Ever After.Fifth book in the Legend of Nimway Hall series. A historical novel of 55,000 words, entwining romance, mystery and the magic of love.Praise for THE LEGEND OF NIMWAY HALL: 1940 - JOSIEHEROES ON THE HOME FRONT "...I loved the wartime setting of this Nimway saga. Ms. Needham's protagonists are believable characters with strengths and follies common to all of us. It was certainly fun to see the ancient wonder of Nimue juxtaposed against World War II. I found Josie and Gideon very worthy additions to the Legend." Lise Smith, Amazon Reader, 5-stars"I loved Josie and I loved the Colonel and I loved the plot and I loved her father and honestly I just loved this book-" Iza Soares, Goodreads, 5-stars"Josie and Gideon both had a lot of depth and were very well matched. It was also great to see that Nimway was still thriving almost 200 years later; modernized but didn't lose any of its charm " Rowena Klein, Goodreads, 5-starsPraise for the works of LINDA NEEDHAM"Trust Linda Needham with your heart-you'll never regret it." Lisa Kleypas"Linda Needham has the ability to mix laughter with tears to touch a reader's heart." Romantic Times"Ms. Needham has a knack for drawing her readers from page 1, and not letting go even when the story ends -" New and Used Books

USA Today bestselling author Linda Needham brings you the fourth story in a series of romances touched by magic as old as time. A courageous young woman is just managing to keep up with her family's vast, wartime farm when a handsome Lt. Colonel and his staff of officers take command of her home. A private war ensues between them, and the couple soon learns that resistance is futile when it comes to love in the heat of battle. World War II has come to Nimway Hall, and with it an endless series of wartime challenges that its lady and guardian, Josie Stirling, must overcome. As courageous as each of the guardians who have come before her, Josie is determined to defend her family's ancient estate from all possible threats. But with the recent evacuation of Dunkirk and the bombs of the Blitz raining random terror across Britain, even the manor farm of Nimway has become as dangerous as any battlefield. To add to her problems, not only has the military requisitioned an entire wing of Nimway Hall, they've sent the most arrogant officer in the entire army to command the unit. A man as arrogant as he is handsome. Not that Josie has time in her life to notice The very last post Lt. Colonel Gideon Fletchard ever wanted was to be holed up in the wilds of Somerset, in an old manor house, far from the front line. But he was seriously injured on a secret mission early in the war and has recovered just enough to command of a team of Royal Engineers, commissioned to build operational bases for Churchill's new Secret Army. Once a highly respected intelligence officer, Gideon resents his demotion to the "Home Front" and has little respect for the so-called civilian army he's been assigned to recruit and train. War is waged by soldiers in the field, not by farmers and factory workers. A sentiment the beautiful, contentious lady of Nimway Hall disputes at every turn. She seems to believe that her work for the war effort is as critical as his. Though the woman's opinions are seriously wrong-headed, she is as beautiful as she is devoted to her people and he can't help admiring the firm and resourceful way she manages the estate. As the war between the sexes heats up, so does the ancient magic of romance. Josie and Gideon may not be looking for love, but at Nimway Hall they'll soon discover that love has come looking for them.