Recommendations based on "The Lady and the Unicorn"

The Duke of Jervaulx was brilliant and dangerous. Considered dissolute, reckless, and extravagant, he was transparently referred to as the ′D of J′ in scandal sheets, where he and his various exploits featured with frequency. But sometimes the most womanising rake can be irresistible, and even his most casual attentions fascinated the sheltered Maddy Timms, quiet daughter of a simple mathematician.

With the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett, grande dame of the historical novel, presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe. Among them, none is bolder or more cunning than Nicholas vander Poele of Bruges, the good-natured dyer's apprentice who schemes and swashbuckles his way to the helm of a mercantile empire.Winter 1474 finds Nicholas exiled in the frozen port of Danzig, Poland. His Machiavellian exploits in Scotland have cost him friends and family--not to mention countless riches. As the ice melts, temptations arise. Will he assist the Muslim Prince Uzum Hasan against the Turks? Will he lose himself among the secret, scented gardens of the Crimea in the arms of a close friend's bride? As Nicholas pursues his future, his estranged wife, Gelis, seeks the truth about his past, only to discover the secret identity of his latest comrade in arms--a tantalizing ghost from the past poised to deal him the crowning death blow.Shimmering with detail, alive with intrigue, Caprice and Rondo is Dorothy Dunnett's quicksilver evocation of a world where joy is fleeting, love is unexpected, and truth the rarest commodity of all.

A delightful and hilarious supernatural adventure featuring a lady-in-waiting who must keep the court safe from murder, from the author of The Rook Alexandra Dennis-Palmer-Hudson-Gilmore-Garnsey (call me "Alix"), the twelfth Lady Mondegreen, has never had any control of her life. Her ability to shatter bones with a touch made her the automatic property of the Checquy, the secret British government agency that deals with the supernatural. Her aristocratic ancestry made Alix the perfect asset for the Checquy to deploy close to the royal family. Since childhood, she has been coached to befriend Princess Louise, second in line to the throne, but the two have never been close. Now, Alix is a skilled operative who investigates unexplained phenomena for the security of the nation. Everything changes when Louise's brother, the Prince of Wales, dies abruptly and all signs point to an assassination by preternatural means. To protect Louise, the new heir apparent, Alix is assigned to be her lady-in-waiting. Thrust into the limelight overnight--both in the everyday world and in the underground world of the Checquy--Alix must juggle her responsibilities and her loyalties as she attempts to unravel the murder, keep Louise safe, and learn how to smile graciously while eerie threats loom around every corner.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts unveils the intriguing world of antiques dealing, where an independent woman discovers the price of breathless desire—and the schemes of an obsessed killer… Dora Conroy has a passion for antiques—and any other rarities she can acquire for her quaint Philadelphia shop. A seasoned dealer, she knows all the tricks of the trade. But she is unprepared for the deadly consequences when she purchases a few curiosities at an auction—and unknowingly brings home a priceless cache that makes her the target of an international criminal. Entwined in a reckless chase, Dora turns to her new neighbor, Jed Skimmerhorn, a cop who’s turned in his badge—and whose desire for lovely Dora puts him back in the line of fire. Fighting their attraction while falling in love, they find that hidden riches can have a most ordinary façade. And that possession can be a lethal obsession…

Wed to roguish Guyon, Lord of Ledworth, in order to protect both their lands from Judith's ruthless uncle, Judith of Ravenstow is at first terrified of the marriage bed, until Guyon shows her the pleasures of married life. Reprint.

A highly entertaining, wonderfully colourful story, now revealed to be written by one of our favourite historical novelists. The gilded family had been the envy and the pride of England for centuries. Never had the Lazenders seemed more powerful or more wealthy. And never had the unseen means of their destruction seemed so close... Yet the heir to the estate was absent. Toby Lazender worked for the British in Revolutionary France - where he hunted down the men who had murdered the innocent girl he loved. It was his sister, Campion, who oversaw the family's affairs at the 'little kingdom' of Lazen Castle. But Lazen is, unknowingly, a house under siege. The Fallen Angels - among the most powerful and dangerous men in Europe - are plotting to bring revolution to England. To succeed, they need money, and the Lazender fortune can provide it. The key to the fortune is control of Campion's future. A web of deceit closes around Lazen, drawing Campion ever closer to a subtle trap that has been laid just for her. Her only hope for survival lies with the Gypsy - her brother's broodingly aloof horse-master - a man whose loyalties are at best uncertain. The Fallen Angels is a powerful blend of passion, adventure and intrigue, played out in the shadow of the guillotine and the sunlit splendour of an English estate. It is a worthy successor to A Crowning Mercy, the first chronicle of the Lazender family.

Reina seethes with rage over her fate: taken captive by the knight Ranulf -- a golden giant of a man -- who has pledged to deliver her to the nuptial bed of the despised Lord Rothwell. She will never accept such bondage -- and Reina offers herself to her kidnapped instead, offering to make Ranulf a great lord...if he agrees to wed her.But the brave knight desires much more than a marriage of convenience from this proud, headstrong lady who treats him with scorn yet makes his blood run hotter than liquid fire. She must come to him of her own free will -- or Ranulf will take her. For the passion that consumes them both cannot long be denied -- even though gravest peril surely awaits them on the heart's trail to a destines and turbulent love.

Modesty Blaise's friend Novak died trying to preserve his discovery of the Impossible Virgin, a secret that meant enormous wealth. But right at the last moment, he babbled. When Modesty makes a forced landing in Central Africa, she meets the man who possesses Novikov's secret without knowing itGiles Pennyfeather, the guileless and blundering young doctor with a gift for healing. In saving Giles from Brunel, a dangerous killer, she buys yet another ticket to danger, for Brunel is determined to have the secret. Modesty and her lieutenant, Willie Garvin, take on Brunel and his partners in a fierce and devious battle, where Modesty is brought to the most shattering reverse she has ever suffered. How she fights back, and at last learns the truth of the Impossible Virgin and her ferocious guardians, brings this fifth tale in the saga of Modesty Blaise to an astonishing climax."

Few of those Philippa loves in London return her affection. Not the love of her life, who has a new bride. Not even her widowed mother, Makepeace Burke. So Philippa decides on a marriage of convenience to a prudish, if kind, man. Across the Channel in France, the Reign of Terror is causing the beheading of thousands from the French nobility. Among those in danger is Philippa's friend, the Marquis de Condorcet. Not only has Philippa the means of rescuing him from the guillotine, she's got the courage. And as fate would have it, Philippa will find love where she least expects it-while staring death in the face.

Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery is in London to assist her cousin Alice, the widowed Duchess of Suffolk, in burying her husband-but the late Duke was so hated that even being in the presence of his corpse is unsafe. Wandering player Simon Joliffe is also in London, on a mission with vital information for the exiled Duke of York: a list naming the English noblemen who purportedly betrayed their King by conspiring with the French, including some of Suffolk's men, whom Joliffe has been seeking-and now found dead. Joining the player on his search for the men on the list, Frevisse starts to wonder whether or not the list is real-or part of an even greater conspiracy against the crown.