An Unexpected Love

"Protected by loving parents, young, beautiful and happy, Lady Ravina Ashley has the world at her feet. Unused to harsh words, she is taken aback when a stranger at a ball in London takes her to task for her behaviour towards a clumsy suitor. But Ravina hopes that one day she will fall madly passionately in love and refuses to think of marriage to anyone until then. With her parents away in the Balkans, Ravina leaves London to stay with her cousin, Dulcie, at Curbishley Hall, the Ashley estate in Dorset. She is travelling with Sir Michael Moore, who has begged a lift in her carriage to his home a few miles away from hers. To Ravina's surprise on the journey she once again meets the man who felt he had the right to criticise her behaviour - Sir Richard Crawford! Sir Michael's attentions, however, are far more complimentary and Ravina's belief in her own judgement of men cannot be shaken. What will happen when Sir Richard is forced to ask Ravina for hospitality at Curbishley Hall? Why is he so anxious to spend so much time in her company and is he hiding some secret from her that could threaten her and her family?

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."