Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy, and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor, and awaiting trial for murder. When Dorothea's charitable work brings her to Oakgate Prison, she is delighted by the chance to explore her fascination with phrenology and test her hypothesis that the shape of a person's skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes. But when she meets one of the prisoners, the teenaged seamstress Ruth, she is faced with another strange...

"It's Giselle Aubry's first time at court in Versailles. At sixteen, she is one of Marie Antoinette's newest undertirewomen, and in awe of the glamorous queen and her opulent palace life. A budding designer, it's a dream come true to work with the beautiful fabrics and jewels in the queen's wardrobe. But every few weeks she returns home to visit her family in the Parisian countryside where rumors of revolution are growing stronger. From her position...

"In a time of revolution, everyone -- even a humble seamstress plying her magic to support her family -- must take a side. Sophie is a young dressmaker who, with hard work, talent, and a rare proficiency sewing spells into cloth, has managed to open her own shop and lift herself and her brother, Kristos, out of the poverty that plagues their immigrant community. Her reputation for beautiful ballgowns and discreetly-embroidered charms for luck, love,...

On the eve of Princess Sophia's wedding the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne's heirs, and a courtier's wolfish hunger for the king's favors sets a devious plot in motion. In the palace at Skyggehave, things are...

"Wearied by his years as a British intelligence officer, Simon Duval resigns his commission after Napoleon's abdication. Hoping to find new meaning in his life, he returns to England, where he discovers his cousin's widow, Suzanne Duval, the Comtesse de Chambron. Working as a seamstress, living in reduced circumstances, Suzanne has had a life as complicated as Simon's. While both believe they are beyond love, their sympathetic bond leads him to propose...

Iris Buckley is busier than ever this July, with the town's annual Lobster Festival fast approaching. In just a matter of days her apron shop Ruffles & Bows, will be jam-packed with tourists eager to lay eyes on its world-class collection of aprons and linens--and Iris's inventory is running low. Then, just when all hope seems lost, Iris gets a call from Eleanor Brady, a wealthy, reclusive spinster who just happens to have trunks full of vintage fabrics....

"Victorian high society's most daring equestrienne finds love and an unexpected ally in her fight for independence in the strong arms of London's most sought after and devastatingly handsome half-Indian tailor. Evelyn Maltravers understands exactly how little she's worth on the marriage mart. As an incurable bluestocking from a family tumbling swiftly toward ruin, she knows she'll never make a match in a ballroom. Her only hope is to distinguish herself...

Emmalee Bullard is on her own with a new baby. She has no husband, no running water in her house, no know-how about caring for an infant, and no help from her cruel father, who's furious she got herself into this situation. Only Leona Lane, the older seamstress who sat beside her sewing collars on the neighboring machine at the local shirt factory, has befriended her. Much to Emmalee's wonder, Leona even offers her a place to live. But before Emmalee...

Brilliant and ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirot is London's rising star. And who better to benefit from her talent than the worst-dressed lady in the ton, the Duke of Clevedon's intended bride? Winning the future duchess's patronage would mean prestige and fortune for Marcelline and her sisters. To get to the lady, though, Marcelline must win over Clevedon, whose standards are as high as his morals are ... not.