The Hellcat and The King

When Queen Victoria, the 'Matchmaker of Europe' decrees that beautiful young Zenka must marry King Myklos of Karanya she is horrified. Not only because she's never even met him - but also because her sister Wilhemina has. And she reports that the King is '...a beast, rude, disagreeable, and horrible to look at! His face is deformed and ugly.' Even worse, it's said that he holds depraved orgies at his Castle in Karanya! But her Godfather the Duke of Stirling and his new, much younger Duchess, who is bitterly jealous of Zenka's beauty and Royal Blood, have accepted the King's proposal on Zenka's behalf and insist there's no going back. She is trapped. But as Zenka journeys in the Karanyan Royal Train, towards her new life and loveless marriage in a foreign country, it seems Fate has come to taunt her in the shape of a charming stranger who appears under cover of darkness in her private carriage. A thief in the night, he steals a kiss that Zenka will never, ever forget.

Born in 1901, Barbara Cartland started her writing career in journalism and completed her first book, Jigsaw when she was just 24. An immediate success, it was the start of her journey to becoming the world's most famous and most well-read romantic novelist of all time. Inspiring a whole generation of readers across the globe with her exciting tales of adventure, love and intrigue, she became, as still is, the embodiment of the Romance genre, writing over 644 romantic fiction books. As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery - totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales. Always a passionate advocate of woman's health and beauty she was the president of the Hertfordshire Midwifery Society as well as a Dame of St. John's Ambulance. She was awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions. Dubbed by Vogue as 'the true Queen of Romance' in her lifetime, her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales. Stories that help you escape from the day to day and take you into dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, to find that love conquers all. Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com