Win a Library of 19 Philippa Carr Historical Romances from Open Road

Open Road Media is releasing 19 books from Philippa Carr's backlist, and they'd like to give a SBTB reader a complete set. Who is Philippa Carr, you ask? You've heard of her, I promise. Caroline at Open Road sent me the following email, which answers that question: 

Between her various pen names—Victoria Holt, Jean Plaidy, and Philippa Carr– the author Eleanor Hibbert has been mentioned on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books approximately 853 times.  (Google is an amazing thing, but I digress.)

Eleanor Hibbert was a pioneer of historical romance, publishing over 200 novels and selling more than 100 million books in her lifetime. A lot of readers, both on Smart Bitches and elsewhere, got hooked on romance by reading Hibbert's books.

Open Road Media is excited to re-release the Daughters of England series, written under Hibbert's final pen name Philippa Carr. These 19 novels trace several generations of a single family over the course of nearly four centuries, with each book featuring the female descendent of the previous book's protagonist. The stories include intrigue, female strength, and some serious history.

The minute I read all three pen names, I was all, “Oooooh, THAT's who she is.” Nineteen books? Boo yah! A complete set is here for the winning!

Standard disclaimers apply: open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be 18 years of age or older and wearing one of those pleated neck ruffles. Void where prohibited. Slippers are too a viable fashion statement. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Measure twice, cut once. 

To enter, just leave a comment and tell us which book you'd read first.  I'm including a small piece of each book's description below so you can learn a bit more about each one. I'll choose a winner randomly on Friday, March 15, and that winner will receive digital copies of the following 19 books.

 

Book The Miracle at St. Bruno's

Damask Farland, named after a rose, is captivated by the mysterious orphan Bruno. Discovered upon the abbey altar on Christmas morning, then raised by monks, Bruno becomes the great man whom Damask grows to love—only to be shattered by his cruel betrayal. 


This dramatic coming-of-age novel is set in sixteenth-century England, during the chaotic years when Henry VIII stunned the royal court by setting his sights on Anne Boleyn. It’s also the tale of a man whom many believed to be a holy prophet . . . until a shocking truth is unearthed in the shadows of a centuries-old abbey.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Lion Triumphant

Called “The Lion,” Captain Jake Pennlyon is a fearsome and virile plunderer who takes what he wants, and his sights are set on Catherine Farland. Blackmailed into wedlock and haunted by memories of the gentle boy she was forbidden to wed, Cat vows to escape. Fate intervenes when she’s taken prisoner aboard a Spanish galleon . . . unaware that she’s a pawn in one man’s long-awaited revenge.

Beginning as Elizabeth takes the throne of England, and spanning the years until the legendary defeat of the Spanish Armada, The Lion Triumphant follows Cat’s journey from the thrill of a first passion to the ferocity of a mother’s love. Despite the twists of history, her fortunes—and her heart—will remain tied to one seductive buccaneer.

( A | BN | K | S)

 

Book The Miracle at St. Bruno's

Linnet Pennlyon, proud daughter of a sea captain, finds herself in a vicious trap: Pregnancy has forced her to marry the cunning Squire Colum Casvellyn. Once their baby is born, she devotes herself to their son. Yet, little by little, against her will, Linnet finds herself drawn to her passionate, mercurial husband.

Dark secrets lurk in their castle: The squire’s first wife died amid rumors of foul play. When a beautiful stranger washes up on the shore, Linnet suddenly finds she’s no longer in control of her family—or her life.

It falls to Linnet’s daughter, Tamsyn, to uncover the truth about a long-ago night . . . and put to rest the rumors about her beloved mother. Her discovery sets in motion an unstoppable chain of events that will reverberate for decades to come.

( A | BN | K | S)

 

Book The Lion Triumphant

Twins Angelet and Bersaba Landor may look alike, but their personalities couldn’t be more different. Angelet is sweet, gentle, and submissive, while Bersaba is secretive, sensual, and headstrong. When the sisters are separated by forces beyond their control, Bersaba finds her life taking a dark turn.

After years apart, the twins are reunited within the echoing halls of Far Flamstead.As Angelet finds herself at the mercy of the manor’s secret past, Bersaba gives in to a perilous temptation. Bersaba will risk everything—even her life—for the love of one man.

Against the backdrop of seventeenth-century England, a time of bloody revolt and new beginnings, Bersaba and Angelet discover that the ties that bind them can also tear them apart.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book Lament for a Lost Lover Under the sway of the puritanical Oliver Cromwell, England simmers with religious persecution and political unrest. Like their exiled king, Arabella Tolworthy and her parents have retreated to France but yearn for their native country. When Arabella is separated from her family, she makes her way alone in an increasingly dangerous world and meets two people who will change her life: an actress named Harriet Main and the dashing nobleman Edwin Eversleigh.

As the British king is restored to his rightful throne, Arabella’s odyssey mirrors the strife and turbulence of her beloved homeland. As she tries to make peace with her past, she’s confronted with an unexpected threat to her future—and a second chance at lasting love.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Love Child While Restoration England continues to be torn apart by political and religious turmoil, fourteen-year-old Priscilla Eversleigh gives herself to fugitive Jocelyn Frinton in a moment of youthful passion. Desperate to conceal her shameful secret from her family, Priscilla journeys to Venice, Italy, where her illegitimate daughter, Carlotta, is passed off to another woman—and a conspiracy is born.

Priscilla’s past will haunt her in the decades to come. As fortune-hunters circle, Carlotta becomes a pawn in a twisted game of greed and revenge. Now Priscilla must make the ultimate sacrifice—even if it costs her the man she loves—which will shape not only Carlotta’s future, but also the lives of the generations of Eversleigh women to come.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Song of the Siren Carlotta, the love child of Priscilla Eversleigh and Jocelyn Frinton, grows up in the shadow of war during the reign of Queen Anne. Carlotta’s personal struggle begins when she’s abducted by the charismatic Jacobite leader Lord Hessenfield. During her time as his hostage, they fall into a passionate affair. When she’s released, the pregnant Carlotta marries to save her daughter Clarissa’s legitimacy, but plunges into reckless affairs with other men—including the man beloved by her half-sister, Damaris.

As England and France vie for dominance, the destinies of Carlotta and Damaris play out on the world stage. Carlotta overlooks the shy Damaris, who forms a tender bond with Clarissa. Damaris’s quiet strength will be put to the test when she must risk her own life to save Clarissa.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Drop of the Dice Clarissa Field never knew her mother, but hears whispers that she was a notorious femme fatale. Unknowingly, the girl follows her mother’s passionate path and loses her heart to Jacobite rebel Dickon Frenshaw. But 1715 England is a dangerous place to be a young woman in love. Dickon is caught and exiled to Virginia, and Clarissa is married off to rakish soldier Lance Clavering.

Caught between two men, Clarissa must navigate a hotbed of scandal, treachery, and betrayal. As civil strife threatens to ignite revolution, Clarissa is accused of being a spy. She faces a terrible choice, and must transform her life to prepare her daughter, Zipporah, for her legacy.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Adulteress That’s the question happily married Zipporah Ransome asks herself when she journeys from Clavering Court to her family’s ancestral home in Eversleigh. At nearby Enderby House, a mysterious place connected to her notorious grandmother Carlotta, Zipporah discovers the power of her untapped desires—and the price of their fulfillment.

Enigmatic Frenchman Gerard d’Aubigné changes Zipporah’s life forever. Unable to resist his sensual charms, Zipporah embarks on an illicit affair that leaves her with a haunting secret. Soon her life begins to mirror Carlotta’s, as scandal, violence, and deception threaten to destroy her home. No one, especially not Zipporah and her daughter, will be left unscathed.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book Zippporah's Daughter Discovering that the man who raised her was not her birth father comes as a great shock to teenage Lottie. She always thought she’d marry her childhood love, Dickon, and stay at the family estate, Eversleigh. But fate takes Lottie across the sea to France and the mysterious palace of Versailles.

As the daughter of Comte Gerard d’Aubigné, Lottie encounters a world far different from her cloistered existence at Eversleigh. Here, she meets her half-sister and marries gallant patriot Charles de Tourville. As Louis XVI takes the throne with his queen, Marie Antoinette, Lottie is called back to England, where she finds that Dickon may not be the man she thought he was. Meanwhile, France descends into revolution and Lottie’s family becomes increasingly endangered.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book Voices in a Haunted Room In the wake of the storming of the Bastille, Claudine de Tourville and her family flee France for the peaceful shores of England. When they arrive at her mother’s ancestral estate, Claudine feels as if she has come home. At Eversleigh Court, the seventeen-year-old finds herself caught between her wildly different stepbrothers. David is quiet, studious, and devoted, but it is the passionate, reckless Jonathan who enflames her heart. With France reeling from the execution of its king and queen, Claudine plunges into her own escalating web of deception and betrayal. A decision made in haste will come back to haunt her as a long-lost love returns to England and sends her life spinning out of control.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Return of the Gypsy From the moment the handsome, raffish stranger with the gold earring throws her a kiss, Jessica Frenshaw is enchanted. Rumored to be a half-Spanish wanderer who can predict the future, Romany Jake is unjustly put on trial for murder. After the verdict banishes him from England, Jessica despairs of ever seeing him again. But one fateful day, Jake Cadorson returns to reclaim what he has lost—including the woman who saved him from the gallows.

From the ballrooms and lavish estates of Regency England through the bitter bloodshed of the Napoleonic Wars, Return of the Gypsy weaves a spellbinding tale of blackmail, murder, and illicit passion as a woman risks everything for the man she loves—a man who isn’t what he seems.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book Midsummer's Eve On a fateful midsummer’s eve, Annora Cadorson witnesses a horrifying event that shatters her innocence. Expected to marry Rolf Hanson, the hero of her girlhood dreams, Annora instead flees to London, far from her family, her home in Cornwall, and her unsettling memories.

In a city teeming with intrigue as Queen Victoria ascends the throne, Annora meets a man who will play a crucial role in her life. But fate intervenes once more. Amid a heated battle in Parliament, scandal erupts. Annora flees again, this time to the primitive outback of Australia, where she confronts a secret from her father’s violent past. Unexpected tragedy will send Annora back to where it all began, as she comes face to face with the man she never stopped loving . . . a man who may be lost to her forever.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Pool of St. Branock Young Angelet is fascinated by the haunting rumors surrounding the Pool of St. Branok—superstitious tales of its cursed, bottomless waters. The innocent Cornish girl shares the ghostly story with Benedict Lansdon, the handsome, illegitimate grandson of a family friend, and promises to show him the spot. But tragedy strikes when they meet at the pool, and Angelet and Ben become complicit in a crime that could send Ben to the gallows.

Ben returns to Australia, but the pair feels bound by their terrible secret. After a whirlwind season in London, Angelet marries Gervaise Mandeville, a charming rogue with a weakness for gambling. As the casualties from the Crimean War mount, Gervaise decides to try his luck in the Australian gold rush. Angelet travels across the world with him, only to once again be ensnared in a fatal act of violence. Alone in the outback, Angelet faces her own day of reckoning from a long-ago crime—and gets a second chance at love.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Changeling Rebecca Mandeville arrives at Manorleigh with her mother amid rumors that Rebecca’s politically ambitious stepfather may have murdered his first wife. Homesick for her native Cornwall, Rebecca feels she’ll never belong at Benedict Lansdon’s ancestral estate—a place haunted by the phantoms of past crimes. When tragedy strikes, Rebecca struggles to move on, and becomes inextricably linked to two young girls: her half-sister Belinda and an orphan named Lucie.

Teeming with scandal and murder, The Changeling is at once an atmospheric ghost tale and a gripping story of familial betrayal as powerful as the woman at its haunting center.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Black Swan After her father is murdered, Lucie Lansdon’s eyewitness testimony sends a fanatical Irish terrorist to the gallows. Fate claims another victim when Lucie receives news that her fiancé has died in Africa. Reeling from the deaths of the two men she loved most, and convinced that her life is cursed, Lucie finally finds happiness when she marries the gentle Roland Fitzgerald.

But her domestic life with Roland and his sister is not all it should be. Someone is watching—and waiting to carry out a cunningly orchestrated plan of retribution. As Lucie’s life is threatened and she begins to doubt her sanity, she’s visited by someone she believed lost to her forever. On the verge of uncovering the truth about a long-ago night, she places her trust in the wrong person.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book A Time for Silence In 1912, with war looming on the horizon, thirteen-year-old Lucinda Greenham is sent to an exclusive boarding school in Belgium. Her joy in sharing this adventure with her best friend, Annabelinda, is cut short when Annabelinda has a clandestine affair leading to pregnancy. Annabelinda’s family arranges a “rest cure” and when the girl returns to school, she seems to have forgotten the incident. Then, in the wake of Germany’s invasion of Belgium, Lucinda and Annabelinda are forced to flee across Europe and find a welcome savior in the dashing Major Marcus Merrivale.

Safely back in England, Lucinda vows to keep her friend’s secret. But someone in the household has uncovered the truth about Annabelinda and the lively baby called Edward. Now Lucinda, who has lost her heart to a decorated soldier, is faced with keeping another secret. As a blackmail plot erupts in murder, and war eradicates a way of life forever, Lucinda discovers that there is a time for love . . . and a time for silence.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book The Gossamer Cord Violetta Denver and her twin sister Dorabella are inseparable—until Dorabella falls in love with Dermot Tregarland. The newlyweds settle in Dermot’s isolated ancestral home along the Cornish coast, and Dorabella soon has a little boy. But Violetta can’t shake the terrible foreboding she’s felt since her sister’s marriage. When she hears that Dorabella went swimming one morning and was swept out to sea, she refuses to believe that her beloved twin is really gone, so a grief-stricken Violetta travels to the Tregarland estate.

There, against the terrible grandeur of sea-swept cliffs, Violetta learns that Dermot’s first wife also drowned under suspicious circumstances. When death claims another victim, Violetta knows the answer lies in the history of the Tregarlands—and a haunting legacy of madness and bad blood. With the help of Jowan Jermyn, Dermot’s neighbor, Violetta moves closer to the truth . . . and closer to a murderer whose long-awaited revenge is about to come full circle.

( A | BN | K | S)

Book We'll Meet Again The German army is advancing through Europe and the Battle of Britain is grimly underway. With her fiancé, Jowan, missing in action, Violetta Denver despairs of ever seeing him again. While Violetta waits for news, her sister Dorabella finds herself torn between two men: her French ex-lover Jacques and the heroic, mysterious Captain Brent.

But James Brent may not be what he seems—and soon both Dorabella and Violetta are caught up in a dangerous game of espionage and treason as they travel to wartime London. With their fates hanging in the balance, the twin sisters are bound by a shocking secret. Dorabella risks her life to follow her heart . . . and Violetta refuses to give up hope that one day she will be reunited with her lost love.

( A | BN | K | S)

 

 

Good luck! 

 

Comments are Closed

  1. Erica Anderson says:

    Absolutely, positively “the virile plunderer”—I’d start with “The Lion Triumphant.” Me-ow!

  2. Jae_Lee says:

    I’d like to start with Voices in a Haunted Room, because title+description=whoa, but I’d probably start with Miracle at St. Bruno’s since it’s first.

  3. azteclady says:

    Whichever one is first in the series, chronologically speaking—I can’t read series out of order, it just ruins the experience for me.

  4. lindsay says:

    I would probably read “A Time For Silence” because the First World War is a time period I find fascinating, and one that I think is under-utilized in fiction. They all sound really great though and I think I might have to start reading them!

  5. If I had to chose one to start with, I’d chose A Time for Silence because the plot sounds like one of those mini-series from the 1980s they used to show on my local station—WPIX. It was always by Barbara Taylor Stanford (or was it Brandford)? Multigenerational stories are fun to read.

  6. Moly says:

    Uh, chronologically, of course.

  7. Lisa Wang says:

    The Lion Triumphant o.O

  8. Beccah W. says:

    The Witch from the Sea! I love the time period she writes in…a little refreshment from all those dukes back (or forward in this case) in Regency times.

  9. Vandy Jones says:

    We’ll Meet Again—WWII just fascinates me.

  10. Blossom says:

    I would read The Miracle at St. Bruno’s because I have to read a series in order.

  11. Christine says:

    I read most of these (except for the last couple) “back in the day.” Lament For A Lost Lover was my favorite by far. Word of warning to those who have not read her before- a few of the “heroes” are rapey and one (as I recall) is even alluded to as either a passive participant in the wife’s murder or uncaring that his mistress (and later wife) did it! That being said these books are entertaining and have a lot of great period detail and someone who read all of them could probably pass a Early modern English History class from what is gleaned from them!

  12. Whitefoxfire53 says:

    I’d have to read Lament for a Lost Lover or Miracle at St. Bruno’s.  I’m a massive historical fiction buff and have this compulsion about reading books in order that I can, on occasion, override if the title’s promising enough.

  13. Bibliophile says:

    I’d begin at the beginning because I wouldn’t want to miss any foreshadowing or back references.

  14. ms bookjunkie says:

    I’d start with the first book. (It’s a series/family saga, innit?) Less revealing of spoiler-y family secrets that way.

  15. Christine says:

    I just realized that some of the names were changed. I swear one of them was called “Will You Love Me In September” when I read it years ago.

  16. Priscilla says:

    The return of the gypsy!

  17. Kelly says:

    I love great book series, but I always start at the beginning, either in preferred reading order by the author (if a really large series) or published story lines. That being said, the Scottish and Jacobite storyline looks really intriguing.

  18. Vicki says:

    So many choices but probably Witch from the Sea. Please, I wanna win!

  19. Maren says:

    These sound like fun! I’m most intrigued by the “The Adulteress”. With a heroine named Zipporah—one hopes her progeny includes Zippy the Pinhead.

  20. Miracle at St. Bruno’s. I’m a stickler for reading books in chronological order.

  21. LauraN says:

    This quote from The Lion Triumphant made me think that it would be some crazy good times: “Called ‘The Lion,’ Captain Jake Pennlyon is a fearsome and virile plunderer who takes what he wants, and his sights are set on Catherine Farland.”  Virile plunderer ahoy!  However, I have a sneaking suspicion that this book will either be quite entertaining or give me The Rage.  Can anyone tell me if it veers off of silly and turns into rage-inducing?

  22. GHN says:

    Oh dear – quite a choice!!! But I think I’d want to read Lament for a Lost Lover first.

  23. JenniferH says:

    I try and read seriesnin order so I would start with Th Miracle at St Bruno’s

  24. Calee Lee says:

    A Time for Silence sounds really good, but I would start at the beginning!

  25. Keslynn says:

    I love Philippa Carr books! I only found a couple at my local library when I was in junior high and was so very disappointed that I couldn’t read the others. I’m so excited that they’re being released digitally. My book crack is back!

    I would read “Saraband for Two Sisters” first to see if it’s as cracktastically awesome as I remember and then I would devour the other books post-haste while my junior high self does cartwheels in my head.

  26. Minnie says:

    We’ll Meet Again – I would read virtually anything that includes a ‘mysterious captain. These all sound ace!

  27. ksattler says:

    It’s a series.  I’d start with book 1.  Also, I remember reading Victoria Holt books even own some.  Good stuff.

  28. fiveandfour says:

    Holy Moses, what a backlist!  Normally the OCD in me would require starting at the beginning of the series, but in this case I think I would start at A Time for Silence. 

  29. Karen Frank says:

    Oooh, I remember these books.  I read all the ones that I could find in our town’s library – I think they had most of them, but the final one had not yet been published and I never did manage to find it. 

    While I might read that one first, just to finish off the series, I’d otherwise be starting at the beginning.  There’s at least one that I might skip though.  I don’t want to spoiler it for anyone, but in no way could it be described as a romance novel.  Historical Fiction, yes, but I don’t remember it ending happily at all.  The books are great, but there are a couple that are really really dark.

  30. Michele Harvey says:

    I loved this series when I was in high school but never got past The Adulteress, as that’s when my local library stopped acquiring new books in the series. I’ve hunted up and down for them in used bookstores ever since and was so thrilled to find that they’ve finally been re-released as ebooks! If I won this set of books, I just might pass out with joy. 🙂 Here’s hoping more of the Victoria Holt and Jean Plaidy books get released soon too. I just love all of her work so much.

  31. satilanna says:

    Ahh! Too many sound good, but I guess I’d go with the Witch from the Sea, though that’ll probably change in a minute. Even though I won’t win, thanks for the opportunity anyway! ;P

  32. Mochabean1 says:

    The first one.  order.

  33. Kokolo says:

    I’m just rereading The Secret Woman by Victoria Holt. I had no idea she had all those pen names. I’ll definitely check them out!
    I guess I’d start with The Return of the Gypsy.

  34. TessBrianna says:

    You’re right! I do know who she is even though I didn’t recognize that name. The Return of the Gypsy was recommend to me by a friend, so I’d start there.

  35. Kate K. F. says:

    This is hard as they all look fascinating but I think The Drop of the Dice as I have a weakness for Jacobite stories.

  36. Raechem says:

    Lament for a Lost Lover looks like a frontrunner among a ton of fabulous stories.  I know less about the English Civil War period than most other times; I’d love to read more with a pleasant fiction to add to the informational value.

     

  37. EB says:

    I’d read Voices in a Haunted Room first.  I find the French Revolution an interesting time.  Really surprised that I haven’t read most of these books.

  38. Lament for a Lost Lover. It covers my favorite period in European history!

  39. Rosie0512 says:

    Wow, this is amazingly awesome and I’m smiling ear to ear!  I read several of these when I was cutting my teeth with romance when I was a young’un.  I would definitely start with Lament for a Lost Lover as that one sticks out most in my memory.  Thanks for such a great contest!

  40. Emily says:

    I think I would read Return of the Gypsy first, then the Witch from the Sea.  Neat giveaway!

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