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Catherine Kullmann
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Welcome to my official website. I am delighted to announce that my new book, The Husband Criteria, is now available to pre-order on Amazon as eBook. Paperback and Hardback will follow and can be ordered from all good bookshops. The Husband Criteria is a sequel to A Suggestion of Scandal and Lady Loring's Dilemma, and Book Three of The Lorings - an enthralling Regency family saga of love, loss redemption, and second chances.
London 1817
The primary aim of every young lady embarking on the Spring frenzy that is the Season must be to make a good match. Or must it? And what is a good match? For cousins Cynthia, Chloe and Ann, well aware that the society preux chevalier may prove to be a domestic tyrant, these are vital questions. How can they discover their suitors’ true character when all their encounters must be confined to the highly ritualised round of balls, parties and drives in the park?
As they define and refine their Husband Criteria, Cynthia finds herself unwillingly attracted to aloof Rafe Marfield, heir to an earldom, while Chloe is pleased to find that Thomas Musgrave, the vicar’s son from home, is also in London. And Ann must decide what is more important to her, music or marriage.
And what of the gentlemen who consider the marriage mart to be their hunting grounds? How will they react if they realise how rigorously they are being assessed?
A light-hearted, entertaining look behind the scenes of a Season that takes a different course with unexpected consequences for all concerned.
Lady Loring's Dilemma, When Delia, Lady Loring is caught in compromising circumstances, her furious husband, Sir Edward banishes her to Harrogate where she is to live quietly with her mother. All contact with their sixteen-year-old daughter, Chloe is forbidden. In Harrogate, she finds small joys, makes friends and rediscovers a long-forgotten freedom. Most important of all, she meets Lord Stephen FitzCharles, her first love of some twenty years ago. The separation from Chloe grieves her, but a mother has only the rights her husband allows her and Sir Edward shows no sign of relenting.
When Delia places her trust in Stephen who offers her a new life on the Continent, Sir Edward, determined that his erring wife pays for her misdeeds, counters with new measures. Napoleon’s escape from Elba brings further complications and Delia must face the most unexpected of decisions.
A Suggestion of Scandal, Book One of The Lorings: When governess Rosa Fancourt surprises two lovers in flagrante delicto, her life and future are suddenly at risk. Even if she escapes captivity, the mere suggestion of scandal is enough to ruin a lady in her situation. In Sir Julian Loring she finds an unexpected champion but will he stand by her to the end?
A Comfortable Alliance mybook.to/AComfortableAlliance
Six years ago, Helena Swift’s fiancé was fatally wounded at Waterloo. Locking away all dreams of the heart, she retreated to a safe family haven. On the shelf and happy to be there, Helena has perfected the art of deterring would-be suitors.
Will, Earl of Rastleigh, is the only son of an only son: marriage is his duty. One of the great prizes of the marriage market, he shies away from a cold, society union. While he doesn’t expect love, he seeks something more comfortable. But how to find the woman who will welcome him into her life and her bed, and be a good mother to their children?
When Will meets Helena, he is intrigued by her composure, her kindness and her intelligence. As their friendship develops, he realises he has found his ideal wife, if only he can overcome her well-known aversion to matrimony
Will succeeds in slipping past Helena’s guard. Tempted by the thought of children of her own, and encouraged by her mother to leave the shallows where she has lingered so long, she accepts his offer of a marriage based not on dangerous love but affectionate companionship and mutual respect.
But is this enough? As Will gets to know his wife better, and the secrets of her past unfold, he realises that they have settled for second-best. Can he change the basis of their marriage? Will Helena risk her heart and dare to love again?
The Potential for Love
For over six years, Thomas Ferraunt’s thoughts have been of war. Newly returned to England from occupied Paris, he must ask himself what his place is in this new world and what he wants from it. More and more, his thoughts turn to Arabella Malvin, but would Lord Malvin agree to a mismatch with the rector’s son for his daughter, especially when she is being courted by Lord Henry Danlow?
About to embark on her fourth Season, Arabella is tired of the life of a debutante, waiting in the wings for her real life to begin. She is ready to marry. But which of her suitors has the potential for love and who will agree to the type of marriage she wants?
As she struggles to make her choice, she is faced with danger from an unexpected quarter while Thomas is stunned by a new challenge. Will these events bring them together or drive them apart?
The Duchess of Gracechurch Trilogy is available as paperback, ebook and ebook boxed set.
Wed before she was seventeen in a made match to a duke’s heir, heiress Flora Hassard quickly learns that her new husband has very little interest in getting to know his new wife. Supported by her mother-in-law, she creates a happy home for herself and her children while ‘donning the Duchess’ in society where she uses her position and influence in the ton to befriend young wives “whose husbands are, well, distant, shall we say? They are safe in that circle, or as safe as they want to be. The older women keep an eye out for the younger ones, warn them of the worst rakes, that sort of thing; keep them out of harm’s way.” (Perception & Illusion)
Flora is content, but her contentment has come at a high price—she has had to turn her back on love.
Set in Regency England from 1803 to 1816, The Duchess of Gracechurch Trilogy celebrates friendship, family and love. Book One, The Murmur of Masks and Book Two, Perception & Illusion, tell the stories of two of the brides Flora befriends while in Book Three, The Duke's Regret, coming in June 2019, Flora herself takes the lead.
Note: While Books One and Two can be read in either order, Book 3, The Duke’s Regret, contains spoilers for the first two books, and should be read last.
Click here to find out more about The Duchess of Gracechurch Trilogy
And don't miss my historical, gothick short story, The Zombi of Caisteal Dun. Scotland, 1798. Amabel had not wanted to come to the remote highland keep of Caisteal Dun but her mother had felt it was in her destiny to go there. Mamma was second-sighted but not even she could foresee the fate that awaited her daughter.
In My Scrap Album I blog about historical facts and trivia relating to the late Georgian/Regency era, that fascinating period between the demise of hoops and the invention of crinolines in which my books are set.
It was a time of war, revolution and inspiration. The Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland of 1800, the Anglo-American war of 1812 and more than a decade of war that ended in the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 are all events that continue to shape our modern world. At the same time, the aristocracy-led society was under attack from those who demanded social and political reform, while the industrial revolution saw the beginning of the transfer of wealth and ultimately power to those who knew how to exploit the new technologies.
It was a patriarchal world where women had few or no rights, but they lived and loved and died, making the best lives they could for themselves and their children. And they began to raise their voices, demanding equality and emancipation.
The background image is an early nineteenth century Matrimonial Map which you can see in detail by clicking "Matrimonial Map".
London 1817
The primary aim of every young lady embarking on the Spring frenzy that is the Season must be to make a good match. Or must it? And what is a good match? For cousins Cynthia, Chloe and Ann, well aware that the society preux chevalier may prove to be a domestic tyrant, these are vital questions. How can they discover their suitors’ true character when all their encounters must be confined to the highly ritualised round of balls, parties and drives in the park?
As they define and refine their Husband Criteria, Cynthia finds herself unwillingly attracted to aloof Rafe Marfield, heir to an earldom, while Chloe is pleased to find that Thomas Musgrave, the vicar’s son from home, is also in London. And Ann must decide what is more important to her, music or marriage.
And what of the gentlemen who consider the marriage mart to be their hunting grounds? How will they react if they realise how rigorously they are being assessed?
A light-hearted, entertaining look behind the scenes of a Season that takes a different course with unexpected consequences for all concerned.
Lady Loring's Dilemma, When Delia, Lady Loring is caught in compromising circumstances, her furious husband, Sir Edward banishes her to Harrogate where she is to live quietly with her mother. All contact with their sixteen-year-old daughter, Chloe is forbidden. In Harrogate, she finds small joys, makes friends and rediscovers a long-forgotten freedom. Most important of all, she meets Lord Stephen FitzCharles, her first love of some twenty years ago. The separation from Chloe grieves her, but a mother has only the rights her husband allows her and Sir Edward shows no sign of relenting.
When Delia places her trust in Stephen who offers her a new life on the Continent, Sir Edward, determined that his erring wife pays for her misdeeds, counters with new measures. Napoleon’s escape from Elba brings further complications and Delia must face the most unexpected of decisions.
A Suggestion of Scandal, Book One of The Lorings: When governess Rosa Fancourt surprises two lovers in flagrante delicto, her life and future are suddenly at risk. Even if she escapes captivity, the mere suggestion of scandal is enough to ruin a lady in her situation. In Sir Julian Loring she finds an unexpected champion but will he stand by her to the end?
A Comfortable Alliance mybook.to/AComfortableAlliance
Six years ago, Helena Swift’s fiancé was fatally wounded at Waterloo. Locking away all dreams of the heart, she retreated to a safe family haven. On the shelf and happy to be there, Helena has perfected the art of deterring would-be suitors.
Will, Earl of Rastleigh, is the only son of an only son: marriage is his duty. One of the great prizes of the marriage market, he shies away from a cold, society union. While he doesn’t expect love, he seeks something more comfortable. But how to find the woman who will welcome him into her life and her bed, and be a good mother to their children?
When Will meets Helena, he is intrigued by her composure, her kindness and her intelligence. As their friendship develops, he realises he has found his ideal wife, if only he can overcome her well-known aversion to matrimony
Will succeeds in slipping past Helena’s guard. Tempted by the thought of children of her own, and encouraged by her mother to leave the shallows where she has lingered so long, she accepts his offer of a marriage based not on dangerous love but affectionate companionship and mutual respect.
But is this enough? As Will gets to know his wife better, and the secrets of her past unfold, he realises that they have settled for second-best. Can he change the basis of their marriage? Will Helena risk her heart and dare to love again?
The Potential for Love
For over six years, Thomas Ferraunt’s thoughts have been of war. Newly returned to England from occupied Paris, he must ask himself what his place is in this new world and what he wants from it. More and more, his thoughts turn to Arabella Malvin, but would Lord Malvin agree to a mismatch with the rector’s son for his daughter, especially when she is being courted by Lord Henry Danlow?
About to embark on her fourth Season, Arabella is tired of the life of a debutante, waiting in the wings for her real life to begin. She is ready to marry. But which of her suitors has the potential for love and who will agree to the type of marriage she wants?
As she struggles to make her choice, she is faced with danger from an unexpected quarter while Thomas is stunned by a new challenge. Will these events bring them together or drive them apart?
The Duchess of Gracechurch Trilogy is available as paperback, ebook and ebook boxed set.
Wed before she was seventeen in a made match to a duke’s heir, heiress Flora Hassard quickly learns that her new husband has very little interest in getting to know his new wife. Supported by her mother-in-law, she creates a happy home for herself and her children while ‘donning the Duchess’ in society where she uses her position and influence in the ton to befriend young wives “whose husbands are, well, distant, shall we say? They are safe in that circle, or as safe as they want to be. The older women keep an eye out for the younger ones, warn them of the worst rakes, that sort of thing; keep them out of harm’s way.” (Perception & Illusion)
Flora is content, but her contentment has come at a high price—she has had to turn her back on love.
Set in Regency England from 1803 to 1816, The Duchess of Gracechurch Trilogy celebrates friendship, family and love. Book One, The Murmur of Masks and Book Two, Perception & Illusion, tell the stories of two of the brides Flora befriends while in Book Three, The Duke's Regret, coming in June 2019, Flora herself takes the lead.
Note: While Books One and Two can be read in either order, Book 3, The Duke’s Regret, contains spoilers for the first two books, and should be read last.
Click here to find out more about The Duchess of Gracechurch Trilogy
And don't miss my historical, gothick short story, The Zombi of Caisteal Dun. Scotland, 1798. Amabel had not wanted to come to the remote highland keep of Caisteal Dun but her mother had felt it was in her destiny to go there. Mamma was second-sighted but not even she could foresee the fate that awaited her daughter.
In My Scrap Album I blog about historical facts and trivia relating to the late Georgian/Regency era, that fascinating period between the demise of hoops and the invention of crinolines in which my books are set.
It was a time of war, revolution and inspiration. The Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland of 1800, the Anglo-American war of 1812 and more than a decade of war that ended in the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 are all events that continue to shape our modern world. At the same time, the aristocracy-led society was under attack from those who demanded social and political reform, while the industrial revolution saw the beginning of the transfer of wealth and ultimately power to those who knew how to exploit the new technologies.
It was a patriarchal world where women had few or no rights, but they lived and loved and died, making the best lives they could for themselves and their children. And they began to raise their voices, demanding equality and emancipation.
The background image is an early nineteenth century Matrimonial Map which you can see in detail by clicking "Matrimonial Map".