Maxima Library

Although Jenny Chawleigh was bright, well-mannered, and an heiress, she was no match for Julia Oversley, the love of handsome Adam Deveril's life. But Adam desperately needed money to keep his fatherless family together, and a marriage to Jenny would solve all his problems. And Jenny's father, a man of great wealth and ambition for his daughter, was only too happy to arrange a suitable match for her.

But Adam didn't reckon with the Jenny nobody knew, or the unknown quality that lay hidden behind her demure and plain facade....

Impetuosity is Arabella's only fault. An enchanting debutante and the eldest daughter of a country parson, she should know better than to allow herself to be provoked by Mr Beaumaris, the most eligible nonpareil of the day.

Many eager suitors have vied for the hand of the enchantingly lovely Serena Carlow—but none so unconventional as the dangerously attractive Marquis of Rotherham, a man Serena once jilted and never expects to see again. But now her father's sudden death has left her Rotherham's ward, and she cannot collect her rightful inheritance until she weds ... with his concent and approval!

But the fiery-hearted Lady Serena is not so easily controlled. The independent-minded miss is off to Bath, where she becomes caught up in a series of romantic entanglements—and leads her irate lord on a merry chase. What she cannot know is that the besotted Rotherham has a passionate scheme of his own for capturing the heart of the woman he loves.

Abigail Wendover, on the shelf at 28, is kept busy when her niece falls head over heels in love with a handsome fortune hunter and Abbie is forced into a confrontation with his scandalous uncle.

Miles Calvery is the black sheep of his family- enormously rich from a long sojourn in India, disconcertingly blunt and brash. But he turns out to be Abbie's most important ally in keeping her niece out of trouble.

But how can he possibly be considered eligible when she has worked so hard to rebuff his own nephew's suit for her niece? And how can she possibly detach from an ailing sister who needs her? This is a heroine who has to be, literally, swept off her feet...

A story set in Regency England. When a chivalrous impulse saddles Viscount Desford with a homeless waif in the engaging shape of Cherry Steane, he asks his childhood playmate, Henrietta Silverdale, for help. Although they refused to oblige their parents by marrying, they remain the best of friends.

Young Kitty Charing stands to inherit a vast fortune from her irascible great-uncle Matthew--provided she marries one of her cousins. Kitty is not wholly adverse to the plan,

if

the right nephew proposes. Unfortunately, Kitty has set her heart on Jack Westruther, a confirmed rake, who seems to have no inclination to marry her anytime soon. In an effort to make Jack jealous,

and

to see a little more of the world than her isolated life on her great-uncle's estate has afforded her, Kitty devises a plan. She convinces yet another of her cousins, the honorable Freddy Standen, to pretend to be engaged to her. Her plan would bring her to London on a visit to Freddy's family and (hopefully) render the elusive Mr. Westruther madly jealous.

Left destitute by the death of her father, and having unsuccessfully tried the career of governess, Katherine Malvern (Kate) seeks refuge with her old Nurse, Sarah, now the wife of a carrier, Joe Nidd. Sarah, Joe, and Joe's father Josiah, with Kate's best interests at heart, inform Kate's aunt (Kate's father's half-sister) of Kate's situation. Kate is 'rescued' by her aunt, Minerva, Lady Broome, who takes her to Staplewood, situated in Leicester, near Market Harborough, where Kate meets Lady Broome's husband, Sir Timothy Broome, their son Torquil, and Philip, Sir Timothy's nephew.

Kit Fancot returns home to England from diplomatic service in Vienna to find that his twin brother Evelyn has disappeared. Although this would not normally be a problem, Evelyn is supposed to meet the autocratic grandmother of the lady to whom he has proposed. Kit is obliged to impersonate his brother to save the betrothal.

Faro’s Daughter

is one of Georgette Heyer’s popular Regency romances. Faro was a popular card-game of the day, and the chief character in the novel is Deborah Grantham, a tall young woman with laughing, dark eyes, who sits all night at the tables in-the polite gaming-house in St James’s Square run by her aunt, Lady Bellingham. Young Lord Mablethorpe has fallen madly in love with Deb and announces that he intends to marry her. His mother, frantic with apprehension, begs her nephew Max Ravenscar (who manages her fortune) to intervene and to try to buy Deb off. Max is a bachelor of middle age, who prefers the pleasures of the cockfight and the racecourse to those of the ballroom and the usual haunts of fashion. He thinks his task is easy. But Deb is as spirited as she is beautiful: boiling with indignation, she refuses to be bribed, and plans revenge on the man who has thus insulted her. So the charming comedy proceeds to its amusing end. The author’s skill in reproducing the gay atmosphere of the Regency years is so great that we feel we are actually living among the elegant, leisured and wealthy denizens of London’s West End at that time.

What begins as an adventure soon becomes a nightmare...

Locals claim it is haunted and refuse to put a single toe past the front door, but to siblings Peter, Celia, and Margaret, the Priory is nothing more than a rundown estate inherited from their late uncle-and the perfect setting for a much-needed holiday. But when a murder victim is discovered in the drafty Priory halls, the once unconcerned trio begins to fear that the ghostly rumors are true and they are not alone after all! With a killer on the loose, will they find themselves the next victims of a supernatural predator, or will they uncover a far more corporeal culprit?

Written in Georgette Heyer's lightest vein, this is the story of the adventures in Regency London of the Merriville family: Frederica, riding the whirlwind and directing the storm; Harry, rusticated from Oxford and embarking with enthusiasm on the more perilous amusements pursued by young gentlemen of ton; the divine Charis, too tender-hearted to discourage the advances of her numerous suitors; Jessamy, destined for the Church and wavering, in adolescent style, between excessive virtue and a natural exuberance of spirits; and Felix, a schoolboy with a passion for scientific experiment. In Frederica, Georgette Heyer created one of her most engaging heroines; and in the Marquis of Alverstoke — a bored cynic who becomes involved in all the imbroglios of a lively family — a hero whose sense of humour makes him an excellent foil for Frederica.

Young Lord Sheringham, rejected by the woman he deeply loved, could not gain his inheritance until he married. On a passionate impulse, he vowed to marry the next woman he saw. Enter Hero Wantage, the adorable life-long friend who has secretly loved Sheringham her entire life.

Miss Annis Wychwood, at twenty-nine, has long been on the shelf, but this bothers her not at all. She is rich and still beautiful and she enjoys living independently in Bath, except for the tiresome female cousin, who her very proper brother insists must live with her.

When Annis offers sanctuary to the very young runaway heiress Miss Lucilla Carleton, no one at all thinks this is a good idea. With the exception of Miss Carleton's overbearing guardian, Mr. Oliver Carleton, whose reputation as the rudest man in London precedes him. Outrageous as he is, the charming Annis ends up finding him absolutely irresistible.

Adam Penhallow’s death seems, at first, to be by natural causes. But Penhallow wasn’t well liked — so bad tempered, that both his servants and his family hated him. It soon transpires that Penhallow was murdered, poisoned, in fact, on the eve of his birthday celebration, and there are more than a dozen prime suspects.

Affairs of honour, affairs of the heart, and all the gallantry, villainy and elegance of the age that Georgette Heyer has made her own are exquisitely revived in these eleven short stories of the Regency.

Judith Taverner and her brother, Peregrine, are orphans. The death of their eccentric father left them well provided for but consigned to the guardianship of a man they have never met, Julian St. John Audley, Lord Worth. When repeated requests for an introduction to him go unanswered, they set off to London to force a meeting. En route, they spend the night in the village of Grantham, where they make the acquaintance of their Uncle Bernard. Judith and Perry, knowing that their father had disowned his brother many years ago are reluctant to acknowledge the relationship, but Bernard proves to be polite and charming. They also run afoul of an arrogant aristocrat when Perry mishandles a borrowed gig on the road and causes a near-accident. On reaching London, Judith and Perry are amazed and horrified to discover that the insufferable nobleman who made their lives a misery in Grantham is none other than Lord Worth himself.

Sir Gareth Ludlow knows it is his duty as a man of honour to restore so young and pretty a girl as Amanda, wandering unattended, to her family. But it is to prove no easy task for the Corinthian. 

Sylvester, Duke of Salford, has exacting requirements for a bride. Then he meets Phoebe Marlow, a young lady with literary aspirations, and suddenly life becomes very complicated. She meets none of his criteria, and even worse, she has written a novel that is sweeping through the ton and causing all kinds of gossip... and he's the main character!

When young, plain Horatia Winwood informs the Earl of Rule that her beautiful older sister, Lizzie, doesn't want to marry him and offers herself instead, the Earl, surprised and intrigued by the spirited, unconventional Horry, agrees, setting the stage for a romp rife with misadventure, jealousy, plots, duels, and romance.

Beautiful Penelope Creed had known Piers Luttrell from childhood. They had early pledged their love to each other, eagerly awaiting the day they could turn it into a lifelong reality.

But now there was another man in her life. A dashing figure of a London dandy, the witty, worldly, handsome Sir Richard Wyndham, a man who made his own rules of life and love, a man who was everything Piers was not.

How could she choose between them? How could she even compare these two who shared nothing in common? Nothing, that is, but her heart ...

A diffident young man of 24 years, easily pushed around by his overprotective uncle and the retinue of devoted family retainers who won't let him lift a finger for himself, the Duke sometimes wishes he could be a commoner. One day he decides to set out to discover whether he is "a man, or only a Duke."

Beginning with an incognito journey into the countryside to confront a blackmailer, he encounters a runaway school boy, a beautiful but airheaded orphan, one of literature's most appealing and well-spoken comic villains, and a series of alarming and even life threatening events from which he can extricate himself only with the help of his shy and lovely fiancé…

Sophy, the "little" niece of Lady Ombersley is sent to London to stay with her aunt. However, somewhere in the decade or so since her aunt last saw her, Sophy has grown into a rather tall, imposing woman, with a personality to match. She is good-natured, sociable, and utterly independent. She soon has the Ombersley household in the palm of her hand — well all except Charles, the eldest son who takes a rather dim view of her. Charles's pious fiancée, Eugenia Wraxton, is also not impressed by her and attempts to bring her into line with London manners — but Sophy, with unimpaired good-manners and immense charm usually manages to get her own way.

Having established herself in the Ombersley Household Sophy soon sees how much they need her. Charles is clearly about marry the wrong woman (Eugenia), his sister, Cecilia is caught up with a clearly unsuitbale poet, and younger brother has Hubert trapped in some clearly dark sort of activity which he cannot escape from. At the same time Sophy's soon to be mother-in-law, Sancia looks to be straying herself.

Sophy's ability to orchestrate this huge cast of characters all to fitting ends is truly marvellous - and highly enjoyable. 

Such a daring escape…

Their infamous adventurer father has taught Prudence Tremaine and her brother Robin to be masters of disguise. Ending up on the wrong side of the Jacobite rebellion, brother and sister flee to London, Prudence pretending to be a dashing young buck, and Robin a lovely young lady.

Could cost them both their hearts…

Then Prudence meets the elegant Sir Anthony Fanshawe, and Robin becomes the mysterious hero of the charming Letitia Grayson, and in order to have what they truly want, the two masqueraders must find a way to unmask themselves without losing their lives…

Sir Waldo Hawkridge, known in London society as 'the Nonesuch' for his sporting abilities and perfect manners, is obliged to go into Yorkshire to inspect a property that he has just inherited.

Sir Waldo is a very wealthy and philanthropic man, and intends to renovate the house to turn it into yet another of his charity orphanages.

While there, he meets Tiffany Wield, a positively dazzling young heiress who is entirely selfish and possessed of a frightful temper, as well as her far more elegant companion-governess, Ancilla Trent.

While Waldo's young cousin, Lord Lindeth, falls in and out of love with the young ladies of the neighborhood, Waldo must convince the practical Miss Trent that it is not above her station as a governess to fall in love with

him

.

Gervase Frant, Lord St. Erth, heir to broad acres and an ancient and variegated pile known as Stanyon, returns from the Napoleonic Wars to find he is something less than welcome in the ancestral bosom. His widowed stepmother would greatly have preferred his glorious death in battle on the Continent. She has no desire to relinquish her position, and she has hoped that her own son Martin would inherit.

The Earl, in his quiet way, quickly makes a conquest of two eligible young ladies on the scene, but it becomes almost immediately apparent that someone at Stanyon would prefer to have him die by a means more sudden than old age.

Georgette Heyer's comical genius never fails to deliver delight.

Eleanor's adventure begins when she inadvertently mistakes the carriage waiting at the coach stop for one sent by her prospective employer, Mrs. Macclesfield. She finds herself carried to the estate of one Ned Carlyon, whom Eleanor mistakes for Mr. Macclesfield. Carlyon, meanwhile, believes Eleanor to be the young woman he hired to marry his dying cousin, Eustace Cheviot, in order to avoid inheriting Cheviot's estate himself. Somehow, Eleanor is talked into marrying Eustace on his deathbed and thus becomes a wealthy widow almost as soon as the ring is on her finger. What starts out as a simple business arrangement soon becomes much more complicated as housebreakers, uninvited guests, a shocking murder, missing government papers, and a dog named Bouncer all contribute to this lively, frequently hilarious tale of mistaken identities, foreign espionage, and unexpected love set during the Napoleonic Wars.

Neither Sir Tristram Shield nor Eustacie, his young French cousin, share the slightest inclination to marry one another. Yet it is Lord Lavenham's dying wish. For there is no one else to provide for the old man's granddaughter while Ludovic, his heir, remains a fugitive from justice.

The future of a reckless and adventure-loving captain of the Dragoon Guards appeared very hum-drum and tedious in those days when Waterloo was both a recent, glorious victory and an end to the joys of soldiering. Big, handsome Captain John Staple left the Army because he feared boredom, and was immediately plunged into the kind of exciting hazards his temperament demanded.

John Staple soon found himself involved in perilous activities in which participated such varied and colourful personalities [some extremely honest—others less so] as Jeremy Chirk the highwayman, Gabriel Stogumber the Bow Street Runner, and Nell Stornaway with whom the Captain's heart was soon deeply entangled.

The stabbing of irascible General Sir Arthur Billington-Smith fails to stir up grief in anyone — least of all his family, which is no wonder considering the way he has treated them all during the fateful weekend. He had disinherited his son, humiliated his wife, refused to help his financially stricken nephew and made no secret of his loathing for his son's fiancée, a cabaret dancer. Inspector Harding picks his way through a mass of familial discontent to find the culprit — and find much more besides.

Venetia

is a satisfying combination of comedy and the vein of deeper feeling which counterbalances Heyer’s clear-eyed realism and satirical pen. Venetia is one of Heyer’s most liberated heroines: she is a great realist about men, and about her own situation as a rich but isolated young woman, nearly too old for marriage, destined to marry a dull farmer or dwindle to aunt-hood, deep in the Yorkshire dales. When bad Lord Damerel returns to his neglected estates, the scene is set for an encounter of true minds. Yes, sexual attraction runs like a thread of fire between him and Venetia, but sense of humour and shared interests are more important in the meeting of soul-mates. Love changes everything, and the heartbreak is as real, because the hearts are real, as any you could read, just as the ending has all the satisfaction for the reader, as well as for the characters, of being truly earned.

Every family has secrets, but the Fountains' are turning deadly…

On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence, and Amberley believes her—at least until he gets drawn into the mystery and the clues incriminating Shirley Brown begin to add up…

In an English country-house murder mystery with a twist, it's the butler who's the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well-meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, in ferreting out a desperate killer, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant, but this time he's not sure he wants to know the truth…

Что может сделать прекрасная бесприданница, чтобы привлечь одного-единственного мужчину, который, как известно, охотник за приданым? Распустить слух о том, что она сказочно богата, в надежде, что заметят все-таки ее, а не денежный шлейф.

С замиранием сердца покидает Арабелла — дочь приходского священника — родной дом, отправляясь на свой первый сезон в Лондон. Поддавшись минутному гневу, девушка выдает себя за богатую наследницу, вынужденную скрываться от бесчисленных «охотников за приданным». Светский красавец и дамский угодник — Несравненный, — возмущенный ее холодностью, решает проучить ее. Однако Арабелла приготовила Несравненному совсем другую роль…

Чьи-то браки, может быть, и совершаются на небесах, но свой юная Горация Уинвуд решила организовать собственными руками. Когда к ее красавице сестре посватался лорд Рул, один из самых знаменитых женихов Англии, Уинвуды испытали смешанные чувства. Выгодное замужество могло бы поправить дела запутавшегося в долгах семейства, но бедняжка так мечтала выйти замуж за лейтенанта Эдварда Герона... И тогда наивная Горация предлагает лорду взять себя в жены - вместо старшей сестры...

Рассказ Джорджетт Хейер (1902–1974) "Бульдог и чудовище" (The Bulldog and the Beast) был опубликован в марте 1923 года в британском "Счастливом журнале" (The Happy Mag).

Время и место действия рассказа — Англия 1920-х годов.

Роман Ж. Хейер "Бювалле" рассказывает о приключениях не знавшего поражений английского флибустьера Николаса Бювалле в годы "партизанской" войны, которую вела Англия с королем Испании Филиппом II.

Действие романа Ч. Хоуса "Черный фрегат" происходит во времена правления короля Карла I. Автор повествует о судьбе английского моряка, попавшего на пиратский корабль.

Содержание:

Джорджетт Хейер. Бювалле

Чарльз Хоус. Черный фрегат

Кит даже не подозревает, чем обернется для него авантюра с подменой брата-близнеца Эвелина. Он влюбляется в его невесту! С момента их знакомства с Кресси прошло всего несколько дней, а оказалось: у них столько общего! Единственная проблема: красавица думает, что Кит – это… Эвелин. Как юноше не потерять возлюбленную, открыв ей правду?

Элинор Рочдейл – девушка из знатного рода, но у нее нет средств к существованию. Скромная доля гувернантки – вот и все, на что она может рассчитывать. Внезапно шалость судьбы – и за одну ночь Элинор стала женой, вдовой и хозяйкой поместья. Но на этом чудеса не закончились. Молодой вдове, словно Белоснежке из сказки, повинуются трое братьев. Но кто же из них поведет ее к алтарю?

Первое известное детективное произведение Джорджетт Хейер (1902–1974) — рассказ "Великий шанс Линкеса" (Linckes' Great Case) — опубликовал в марте 1923 года британский "Детективный журнал" (The Detective Magazine).

На тихое семейство лорда и леди Омберсли неожиданно сваливается забота о племяннице, которая воспитывалась без матери и сопровождала отца в поездках по Континенту. Вместо дебютантки, смущённой чопорным лондонским светом, к родственникам является Великолепная Софи — поражает, развлекает, переворачивает вверх дном дела и дом… приводит всё в порядок.

Леди Омберсли согласилась присмотреть за своей племянницей, пока ее отец находится в командировке. Красивая, веселая, импульсивная и прямолинейная Софи привыкла к самостоятельной жизни и знает, как уладить любые проблемы. Но сможет ли она справиться с сюрпризом, который подготовил ее дядя? Ведь он намеревается избавиться от непокорной племянницы, выдав ее замуж…

В книгу современной английской писательницы Джоржетт Хейер вошли написанные в жанре «исторического романса» любовно-авантюрные романы о приключениях влюбленных героев в Англии XVIII века.

Роман известной английской писательницы Ж. Хейер посвящён нормандскому герцогу Вильгельму (ок. 1027-1087) и истории завоевания им английской короны.

Приключилась странная история. Старшая из сестер должна выйти замуж за нелюбимого человека ради спасения финансов семьи. Казалось бы, ситуация безвыходная. Но младшая сестра, не очень привлекательная девушка, находит, на взгляд высшего света, абсурдное решение — предлагает взамен себя. А далее события развиваются очень неординарно… Таков сюжет романа "Возьмите меня замуж". Издание дополнено лирическими новеллами.

Чтобы унаследовать состояние, виконт Шерингем готов жениться на первой встречной! Ведь по условиям отцовского завещания он получит деньги только после свадьбы… Юная Геро наивна, неопытна и отчаянно влюблена в Энтони. Это его шанс! Однако с новоиспеченной леди Шерингем сплошные хлопоты: она совершенно не умеет вести себя в высшем обществе и постоянно попадает в неприятные истории. Но вскоре Энтони понимает, что не может жить без этой милой красавицы…

Юная Кейт Молверн признательна богатой тетушке за ее решение отправить племянницу в провинциальный тихий Стейплвуд. Однако вскоре перед Кейт открываются истинные причины щедрости тетушкиного сердца: она должна, оказывается, избавлять от хандры своего симпатичного, но крайне нервного кузена Торкила. Иные чувства вызвал у девушки приезд другого ее кузена Филиппа, к которому с первых минут она испытывает симпатию.

Сэр Ричард Уиндэм стоял на пороге важнейшего в своей жизни решения. Он должен был жениться на девушке, которую не любил. Ричард с отвращением размышлял о предстоящей помолвке, но он и не предполагал, что через несколько дней его жизнь круто изменится, потому что в жизни каждого человека всегда остается место головокружительной страсти и главному – поиску настоящей любви.

Прекрасная Эннис Уичвуд давно приводила в ужас свою почтенную семью, так как не всегда считалась с общепринятыми правилами приличия. Когда судьба свела эту достойную леди со сбежавшей от сурового опекуна очаровательной Люсиллой, Эннис не колеблясь предложила девушке кров. И даже узнав, что теперь ей придется иметь дело с ужасным мистером Карлтонном, Эннис не отступила. Первая же встреча зажигает в их сердцах любовь, хотя в глазах окружающих они должны оставаться врагами…

Юная Софи Чалонер готова бежать в Париж с маркизом Вайделом, известным своими любовными похождениями. Однако волею судеб в экипаж маркиза, в его каюту, а затем и в Париж попадает не Софи, а ее старшая сестра Мэрк. Необузданный, горячий, безрассудно храбрый и часто жестокий – таким знает маркиза Вайдела свет. Но Мэри убедилась: с ним можно справиться, противопоставив ярости и гневу – спокойствие и уверенность в себе. А как же любовь? Она неизбежно настигнет всех героев Джорджетт Хейер – каждого в свой черед.