Vanessa Riley

Ruth Croome, a Blackamoor heiress, was supposed to get married in a gorgeous wedding gown, made from her father's exquisite fabrics. Instead, they eloped to Gretna Green and upon returning, their carriage was beset by highwaymen and she witnessed the murder of her new husband. Now, four years...

“You may not know Marie-Louise Christophe but once you have met her, you won’t forget her. Vanessa Riley’s historical novel feels timely and relevant, commemorating a time when Black women were queens.” - Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author Acclaimed historical novelist...

Frederica Burghley wants to be married by Yuletide. Or else her father will set her up with one of his friends. The bonbon-loving illegitimate daughter of the duke wants to choose her own husband. Advertising in the newspaper seems like the way to go. But a sinister response, with threats...

Founded by the ton's most ingenious countess, the secret society The Widow's Grace comes to the aid of ill-treated widows and wives and helps them regain their fortunes, their families, and sometimes discover true love . . . For adventurous heiress Cecilia Charity Thomas, marrying charming...

Widow Theodosia Cecil needs a husband to help protect her son. The former flower seller turned estate owner posts an ad in the newspaper, and no one is more surprised than she when her first love, the man she thought dead, reappears. Ewan Fitzwilliam has been at war for six years. Now, the...

Acclaimed author of Island Queen Vanessa Riley brings readers a vivid, sweeping novel of the Haitian Revolution based on the true-life stories of two extraordinary women: the first Empress of Haiti, Marie-Claire Bonheur, and Gran Toya, a West African-born warrior who helped lead the rebellion...

A friend's newspaper advertisement for a groom nets the most famous actor in London, Arthur Bex. Shy heiress Ester Croome proposes to elope with the handsome man, who she's secretly loved for two years....

Masterminded by the ton's most clever countess, the secret society The Widow's Grace helps ill-treated widows regain their reputations, their families, and even find true love again - or perhaps for the very first time.... Surviving a shipwreck en route to London from Jamaica was just the start...

Created by a shrewd countess, The Widow's Grace is a secret society with a mission: to help ill-treated widows regain their status, their families, and even find true love again - or perhaps for the very first time.... When headstrong West Indian heiress Patience Jordan questioned her English...

“Richly detailed, vividly depicted, and sweeping in scope, Island Queen is historical fiction at its absolute finest. A stunning must-read!”—Chanel Cleeton, New York Times bestselling author of The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba A remarkable, sweeping historical novel based on the incredible...

Katherine Wilcox Palmers, the Viscountess of Hampton, has lost custody of the daughter she secretly bore to Jahleel Charles, now the Duke of Torrance. The bitter court ruling was engineered by the duke himself, but now he is gravely ill. If he dies, Katherine, branded a scandalous bigamist by...

Georgina Wilcox, a wallflower with hidden musical talents, is furious when her reclusive older sister—the recently widowed Viscountess—refuses sorely needed help from the Duke of Torrance, the only gentleman who has shown kindness to the bereft Wilcox sisters. Georgina decides to get back at...

"In her latest, Riley provides a fresh take on high seas adventure through the eyes of the courageous, swashbuckling, based-on-a-real-life female pirate Jacquotte Delahaye. The research Riley has done on this 1600s saga is truly remarkable, second only to her depictions of the lush Caribbean...

The stakes are high in this dazzling and diverse Regency romance, in which a clever duke has made a wager with the now-widowed Viscountess who is the love of his life: To win a second chance with her, he will find husbands for her two sisters—or resign himself to a life of longing. Scarlett...