**Though set in a historical setting, this book contains BDSM themes.** When Claudia Rose Stafford made her debut in London, she was wealthy, headstrong, and beautiful. She was also spoiled, arrogant and ill-mannered. Without her father's presence, Claudia flaunted her disdain for rules. She defied the conventions of high society and didn't care if there were scandalous whispers because of her behavior. All that changed when her father returned from abroad with the announcement of her impending marriage. Lord Nathaniel Tarrington is the Earl of Brighton. He is also a member of a clandestine sect comprised of some of the most powerful and wealthy families in Europe. The very existence of their Order is cloaked in secrecy, and their activities carefully guarded. When the time comes for him to wed, his choice of a bride has life-altering consequences for Claudia Stafford. The Earl has demanding expectations for his wife, ones that include complete submission, and the understanding that her place is at his feet or in his bed, and never on his arm. Once Claudia weds Nathaniel, her life is not her own. Gone are the days of dancing and champagne. Harsh training and the expectation of immediate and utter obedience becomes the norm. Defiance brings punishment, but Claudia is unwavering, and must battle those who would have her be meek. Her fiery spirit rebels in the face of Nathaniel's rigid instruction, but the once willful and reckless woman struggles to fight her husband's sadistic demands. A fierce war begins between them; one fought for pride and dignity; that may leave both of their hearts in tatters. Will love ever stand a chance as Lord Nathaniel Tarrington strives to tame his wayward wife?

No writer is more charismatic than Robert Burns. Wonderfully readable, The Bard catches Burns's energy, brilliance, and radicalism as never before. To his international admirers he was a genius, a hero, a warm-hearted friend; yet to the mother of one of his lovers he was a wastrel, to a fellow poet he was "sprung . . . from raking of dung," and to his political enemies a "traitor." Drawing on a surprising number of untapped sources--from rediscovered poetry by Burns to manuscript journals, correspondence, and oratory by his contemporaries--this new biography presents the remarkable life, loves, and struggles of the great poet. Inspired by the American and French Revolutions and molded by the Scottish Enlightenment, Burns was in several senses the first of the major Romantics. With a poet's insight and a shrewd sense of human drama, Robert Crawford outlines how Burns combined a childhood steeped in the peasant song-culture of rural Scotland with a consummate linguistic artistry to become not only the world's most popular love poet but also the controversial master poet of modern democracy. Written with accessible elan and nuanced attention to Burns's poems and letters, The Bard is the story of an extraordinary man fighting to maintain a sly sense of integrity in the face of overwhelming pressures. This incisive biography startlingly demonstrates why the life and work of Scotland's greatest poet still compel the attention of the world a quarter of a millennium after his birth.