Showing results by author "Jill Darragh" in All Categories

Portia Carlyon, artist and painter of boudoir portraits is horrified when a secret from her past threatens to be revealed to her fiancé Rollo Debreceney. Rollo has constructed a life marked by rumours of decadence, deliberately designed to irritate his father the Duke of Hampshire, a man for whom his son harbours deep loathing. When the two lovers promise never to deceive each other, Rollo chooses honesty, but Portia must unexpectedly navigate a delicate balance between truth and denial.

It is a long hot summer in New Zealand and two hard up beautiful girls decide to create a new charismatic church to make money. They hire the most handsome young man they can find to appeal to wealthy old ladies. "Pastor Devlin" becomes an overnight success on New Zealand TV and proves to be the perfect man. When he teams up with Christian pop diva Serenity Smith and musician Shona, a Fraud Squad police officer, the girls have their hands full. A combination of saucy satire and black comedy develops into unlikely friendships.

Previously published as Sweet Bitter Revenge by Carole St Aubyns. Rangitawa Publishing 2018 Merryweather Sinclair has struggled to keep her New Zealand farm since the death of her father and when a stranger arrives from West Virginia and insists she repay a debt owed by Lord Sinclair, she plots revenge to retain her property. Rourke Keston is surprised to find that New Zealand women having just obtained the vote are not easily pushed aside when it comes to protecting their rights. Merry has a secret and she will not succumb to the charms of the American tobacco farmer until she is ready to ...

Yorkshire businesswoman Georgiana Carlyon's life is upended when her father's second will is discovered. Welsh solicitor Bryn Griffith's life is upended when heredity forces him to become a Duke in almost impossible circumstances. Can the fiery passionate businesswoman and the calm practical solicitor come to an arrangement which will suit them both and unite their future in love? The Carlyon Sisters Book 1

Marianna Marsham is a highly successful businesswoman. She has no time for the aristocracy and they don't understand her commercial world. She has forged a privileged, influential life on her own merits after suffering tragedy and no man will succeed in taking it away. Darfield Buchanan, Duke of Iversleigh has long ago given up caring about the gossips calling him the Duke of Ice. All he cares about is raising his illegitimate son in a loving home. How he is seen by the rest of the world is of little consequence to him.

Draxton Rockcliffe, Duke of Anglia, a man damaged by a horrendous first marriage. Venetia Carlyon, bookshop owner, bright and cheerful. They have a mutual love of ancient books and manuscripts which brings them together and pulls them apart. Like Persephone and Hades, one seeks the sunlight whilst one prefers the gloom. Is Venetia's love for Drax sufficient to restore his confidence in women? The second book in the Carlyon Sisters series.

Lady Fleur Frensham is the daughter of Olivia, the Duke of Duchess of Derwent who owns the retirement home for old soldiers, Pepperstones Hall. To convince her parents that she has no intention of being married and wishes to be self-supporting, Fleur goes to work at the retirement home. She is ambitious and interested in farming and sees an opportunity to raise extra funds for the soldier's welfare. Ryan Brennan, Duke of Medway Is equally ambitious and determined to build a private railway line across the Pepperstones farm. On discovering this plan, Fleur sets out to thwart the Duke's ...

First published as Sweet Bitter Waters by Carole St Aubyns, 2018 Rangitawa Publishing. Lady Jane Southerington has established a new life in New Zealand in the 1880's, hiding the brutal events of her past. When she employs Gareth Wyndham as her new farm foreman, she is confronted by an aristocratic man she recognizes from years back in England. Unaware that Jane knows of his exile, Wyndham finds himself attracted to this beautiful enigmatic woman who repels all his advances. Jane longs to reveal her secrets to him but fears rejection until she faces a terrible disaster which changes her ...

Previously published as Sweet Bitter Justice by Carole St Aubyns, Rangitawa Publishin 2019. Alice Whitlock, one of New Zealand's first woman lawyers sets up a criminal defence practise in Feilding in 1898. Seth Hanlon arrives from Australia to try and mend a relationship with the Wyndham family. They are brought together in circumstances no one could have foretold when kidnap and arson occur in small rural town. Past events in Alice's life have forced her into a future barren of love but will she be persuaded to change her mind. Book 3 in the Sweet's Bitter series

Lady Olivia Stewart is the granddaughter of Cally, Duchess of Lyndhurst, the founder of Pepperstone's convalescent home for discharged wounded soldiers. Her vocation for nursing leads her to train with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea where she meets patient Lieutenant Colonel Xander Frensham. Returning to England, dispirited, broken hearted and shocked by the war she becomes Matron at Pepperstones believing she will never see Xander again. When the pair do meet by chance, the circumstances are unimaginable for both of them. They must battle emotional and unforeseen obstacles to achieve ...

The Iversleigh Chronicles Book 2. Robert Buchanan takes a leap of faith and converts his brother's ancestral home, Iversleigh Castle into a hotel. When Susanna Van der Leyden from New York comes to stay with her father, Robert becomes involved with the sad trend of young American heiresses being married off to bankrupt English aristocrats. Will love prevail?

Cally Smith has become used to coping with rambunctious soldiers at Pepperstone's convalescent home but when she meets Major Ash Stewart she finds he's not so easy to control. Called back to England urgently from serving with the British Army in India, Ash finds it hard to adjust to his new life. Confronted by a beautiful woman with a righteous cause he unknowingly, sets upon a path of deceit. Both have the best of intentions, but will they choose duty or love?

In Wellington, New Zealand in 1893 the move towards political reform is nearing its climax. A distant relative of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sophia Holmes, a young businesswoman, becomes caught up in a scandalous plot to prevent women gaining the vote.Will her past history help or hinder her as she fights the intrigue involving murder, arson, blackmail and kidnapping?

Previously published as Rivals for Love, The Aphrodite Club Book 3 by Daintree, Jemma. Carys Setford newly arrived in New Zealand is determined to create a new women's magazine. Felix Kincaid, established newspaper owner and Press Baron, is determined to stop her. Despite massive setbacks Carys brings "Women's World" to life and success, but the growing attraction between her and Felix leads her into the dark and mysterious depths of the Aphrodite Club. The Aphrodite Club book 3.

When an old family secret is revealed to the Iversleigh family, their friend Drake Treherne decides to interfere. Are his suspicions founded on fact or will he be pulled into a drama he has no wish to escape from?

Previously published as Vote for Love, The Aphrodite Club Book 1 by Daintree, Jemma . New Zealand 1892. After a brief affair with her local member of Parliament, village schoolteacher Lydia Langford is sent to Wellington to present the petition from her local Temperance Union in support of the New Zealand electoral reform bill. Lydia believes that the liberation of women depends on them having the vote. However, she soon finds liberation of a different nature when she seeks to join the notorious Aphrodite Club. Rejected by her first love, Lydia relishes the freedom and the exploration of ...

Previously published as Spy for Love, The Aphrodite Club Book 2 by Daintree, Jemma. Security expert and spy catcher Chase Ryder arrives in Wellington, New Zealand in 1894 in pursuit of dangerous Russian Irina Karpinsky. Forced to ask for help from Dilys Frampton, the beautiful owner of the notorious Aphrodite Club, huis plans do not include falling in love. But Dilys proves to be a match both for Chase and his clever criminal adversary,

Two women from different centuries, bound by their passion for knowledge and freedom. In 16th century Wales, Catherine grows up in Coity Castle, dreaming of a life outside the castle walls. Isolated and desperate for connection, she dedicates herself to the science of herbalism. Despite her best efforts, the mystery of her hidden identity remains beyond her reach. Fast forward to today: London based immunologist Phryne Howard escapes to New Zealand, seeking answers to her own research through traditional Māori medicine. When Phryne is gifted Catherine’s journals, she realises her own ...

The Adventurous Woman is Book 4 of the Iversleigh Chronicles. Set in England and the Mediterranean in the 1850's it follows the journey of milliner Lily James as she sails to Italy to investigate tourist opportunities for her friend Marianna Buchanan. Will spending time with Captain Richard Mayhew, a man she has secretly loved for several years prove too difficult aboard his ship? Several major surprises await her as she braves storms, deceit and makes new friends in her quest.

It is 1894 in Wellington, New Zealand. a year after women have obtained the vote, secretarial agency owner Sophia Holmes is once again involved with murder, mayhem and plagiarism.