Jane Steen – författare

Do you ever really know your family? In the 1880s a sixth daughter learns not to ask for much, even if she's the daughter of an earl. Even if she married the richest man in her corner of Sussex. Even if she's now a widow with a splendid Georgian mansion. Lady Helena Whitcombe is still trying to adjust to widowhood and reconcile her family loyalties with her desires when her artist sister Odelia makes a startling suggestion. Why not make her mark on the house that's now all hers, by commissioning a magnificent work of art from one of London's most celebrated painters? Lady Odelia invites Helena into the seductive world of medieval fantasies and fairy tales she has inhabited since Helena was a child. But when a shocking series of events exposes the destructive reality of a great artist's unusual lifestyle, Helena and her lady's maid Guttridge are called on to help—or is it to interfere? Looming danger, the risk of scandal, and competing loyalties force Helena to re-evaluate her relationship with the sister she's always loved the most. What is Lady Odelia's secret? Find out in this gripping continuation of the Scott-De Quincy Mysteries, a story that blends mystery and historical detail with Downton Abbey-style saga as the truths about Helena's aristocratic family unfold. Read it now before the secret gets out!

Heedless. Stubborn. Disgraced.Small town Illinois, 1870: "e;My stepfather was not particularly fond of me to begin with, and now that he'd found out about the baby, he was foaming at the mouth."e;Desperate to avoid marriage, Nell Lillington refuses to divulge the name of her child's father and accepts her stepfather's decision that the baby be born at a Poor Farm and discreetly adopted.Until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and rethinks her decision to abandon her own child to fate. But even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby she may have no safe place to run to.

For unwed mother Nell Lillington, 1876 Chicago—and her new wealth—offer the promise of longed-for independence. She dreams of a place in society for her daughter Sarah and contentment for her friend Tess. Yet how can she settle in a town where she's far too likely to run into Martin Rutherford and his glittering, faithless wife, Lucetta? Can she resist her love for Martin for Sarah's sake?Martin was doubtless joking when he told Nell that if she got herself mixed up with a murderer for the third time, he'd disown her. But when Martin himself is arrested for murder, Nell's dreams appear to be swallowed up in the new web of secrets she constructs to help him. Secrets that threaten to alienate Tess, Sarah, and even Martin . . . The third book in the House of Closed Doors series will take you to a Chicago teeming with opportunistic new Americans, luxury-loving merchant princes and hard-hearted denizens of the underworld.

Love or independence? Few choices remain for Nell and her new family on the Kansas frontier...Kansas, 1872. Unwed mother Nell Lillington hopes to support her daughter Sarah and friend Tess by working as a seamstress in an isolated seminary. When her only ally among the seminary's leaders dies, she must choose between returning to her old life in Chicago and remaining in charge of her destiny.As her talent as a dressmaker begins to win her commissions, Nell attracts the attention of two suitors: Reiner Lehmann, a wealthy senior student, and Judah Poulton, an impoverished professor. Shocking news from back home and another death at the seminary press Nell to make her decision. A disastrous winter journey, a treacherous game, and an impossible love could finally wrest control of Nell's life out of her hands for good.Eternal Deception is the second book in a series of engrossing historical fiction novels. If you like intriguing mystery, charming romance, and surprises you won't see coming, you'll love this story of one woman's battle for herself on the nineteenth century frontier.Buy Eternal Deception to continue Nell's incredible journey today!

A reluctant lady sleuth finds she's investigating her own family. 1881, Sussex. With a drowned husband—the second love lost—an overbearing family, no longed-for child, and the responsibility of a huge baroque mansion, it's not surprising Lady Helena Whitcombe is overwhelmed. When attractive, mysterious, French physician Armand Fortier disturbs her first weeks of mourning with his theory of murder, Helena's reluctant and ineffective attempts at investigation are hardly life-changing—until the resulting revival in her long-abandoned herbalist studies bring her into confrontation with her past and her family's. Can Lady Helena survive bereavement the second time around? Can she stand up to her six siblings' assumption of the right to control her new life as a widow? And what role will Fortier—who, as a physician, is a most unsuitable companion for an earl's daughter—play in her investigations? Every family has its secrets. The Scott-De Quincy family has more than most.

The ghost of Charles Dickens is restless. Eternity is so long, and the world has changed in ways he finds hard to accept. His thoughts take him to his first real home on Doughty Street in London, where he encounters another spirit—a small boy with the unmistakable stamp of poverty upon him. A boy from his own time, and one who has clearly claimed the right to haunt the home where Dickens knew the first taste of success.But why? The answer to Dickens' question is in the attic, and will confront the shade of one of the best-loved authors in the English language with a secret he's kept all his life.

The fog that rolled in off Lake Michigan that November morning was not an unusual phenomenon. But when Peter finished buttoning his coat to ward off the chill, he realized he was no longer alone in the lakeside cemetery. Was his past catching up with him?This short (17 pages) tale of a Victorian haunting will delight readers of classic ghost stories.

Reflections for Daily Prayer continues to be one of the most popular and highly valued daily Bible reading companions. Continuing its tradition of excellence, regular favourites and new contributors offer insightful, informed and inspiring reflections on the scripture readings of the day, based on the Common Worship lectionary for Morning Prayer. Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, is the guest contributor for Holy Week. New voices this year include Gregory Cameron, the Bishop of St Asaph and author of the popular An Advent Book of Days and An Easter Book of Days; Chine MacDonald, author, broadcaster and Director of the religious think tank Theos; and Emma Parker, Deputy Warden of Cranmer Hall, Durham. For every day (excluding Sundays) of the 2023-24 church year, there are full references and a quotation from the day’s set of Scripture readings, concise and challenging commentary, and a collect. Also included is a simple order for Morning and Night Rrayer, and additional helps for nurturing a habit of regular daily prayer.

Spoiled. Headstrong. Pregnant. Desperate to avoid marriage, NELL LILLINGTON refuses to divulge the name of her child's father and accepts her stepfather's decision that the baby be born at a Poor Farm and discreetly adopted. Until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out. MARTIN RUTHERFORD, Nell's childhood friend, is the only one she can turn to, but he has his own plans—he wishes to build a grand department store in Chicago and become one of that growing city's merchant princes. Nell and Martin's fates are steered off course by the secrets and lies of other people in this three-novel story. Will Nell leave everything to start a new life in Chicago?

Does love conquer all? Nell's not so sure. Adjusting to wedlock isn't easy for a woman whose initial aversion to the married state took her to the Poor Farm. When a tragedy out of the blue prompts her to repay past debts, her charitable instincts threaten to wreck her happy new life. What does she really want—and what does she really need? Attraction to an old friend shakes Tess's world. Can she change his indifference to love? Martin struggles with demons from his own past as he oversees the rebuilding of the store and the creation of a new home. Will his ambitions hurt those he loves the most? Young Sarah faces the antagonist who knows the secret that might ruin her future. Join the beloved characters from the House of Closed Doors series as we bridge the years between Nell's story and Sarah's, interweaving stories of love and despair, darkness and light in the turbulent Chicago of the late 1870s.

A dynasty is at stake. It seemed like a straightforward request–and Helena is used to her sister Blanche making demands on her time and fortune. But the most ambitious of her sisters reveals a dilemma that may wipe out the title she holds. When tragedy strikes, Helena must reprise her role as the Investigating Lady to save a nephew she doesn't even like. And what about her own future? The return of a hero from the past awakens old emotions and suggests new possibilities, while the revelation of the full extent of Armand Fortier's family secret poses a challenge Fortier himself thinks insurmountable. Where will Cupid's arrows land? Join Helena as she contends with a potential scandal that's even bigger than the last one, gains new allies and an enemy with a most convincing argument, and learns a secret that may change the course of history.