A Heart is Stolen

The dashing and raffish Justin, Marquis of Veryan awakes from a drunken sleep to the appalling realisation that in the throes of passion he has proposed marriage to renowned Society beauty Lady Rose Caterham.
Worse, still, she accepted and will soon be spreading word of their 'engagement' like wildfire throughout the Beau Monde. Fleeing to his country house on the South coast with his close friend Sir Anthony Derville, he plans to enjoy some peace and quiet well away from the hullaballoo that is sure to ensue.
But no sooner than he arrives, he is robbed in his own dining room by a masked highwayman!
Immediately concerned for his neighbour, Ivana Wadebridge, despite his own father's long-standing feud with her family, he visits her to ensure that she is safe and finds himself fascinated by her demure beauty.
And then he stumbles upon a maze of danger, deceit and mystery in which his family treasures, and ultimately his heart, are stolen.

Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery.
She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation.
Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world.
She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven.
Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author.
Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed.
Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone's life.