she lacks the crowning glory of life, an English title. Mrs. Winston knows that there are many impoverished aristocrats hoping to marry money and wastes no time in setting about finding a likely candidate for Madelina’s hand. Madelina meanwhile, is distracted by a handsome, if arrogant, gentleman called Oliver de Burge whom she sees at The Langham Hotel, so she is not at all enthusiastic when a new acquaintance, Duke Tunney, invites herself and her stepmother to his county seat, Belmont Hall, and she is convinced it means that she will never see Mr. de Burge again. Belmont Hall, however, proves to be a place of destiny. There she will find herself entangled in a web woven by both her stepmother and the Duke and there she will re-encounter de Burge and the jealous Lady Kitty. And there she will discover more about her father’s past than she could ever have wished. It is a past that threatens to strangle the bond evolving between herself and Oliver de Burge. And how she must cross what seems to be a very ocean of love before she can find a haven in his arms is all told in this thrilling romantic tale by BARBARA CARTLAND.

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.