A Dog, A Horse, and a Heart

The next 10 books are some of my favorites! All were published in the UK under Mandarin publishers and were not published in the US! I am not sure why, since Barbara Cartland's books were still being published in the US in 1994, which is the date of this book. Some Mandarin book titles were published in the US by Jove under the Camfield label, so it's a mystery!

A Dog, A Horse, and A Heart is a story about Manella, who runs away from her uncle after he tells her she must marry an elderly duke. She rides away on her favorite horse and brings her pet dog and assumes the position of the cook to the Marquis of Buckingdon.

I like this cover of our couple as they ride through the village. We see them being kind to local children while also seeing the horses and dog of the title!

The Wrong Duchess

The Wrong Duchess is the sixth and final book in the UK Master Butcher series. It is also dated 1989. None of these Master Butcher books were published in the US.

Queen Victoria discovers the Duke of Kerncliffe with one of her ladies in waiting during the night and thus decrees that he must immediately be married. He is furious at this royal command but takes the suggestion of a friend and asks for the hand of a duke's daughter. She is in love with another and being forced to marry Kerncliffe. However, her cousin Areta, who is not in society because of her father's disgrace, is willing to take her place as the bride!

I like this cover. The heroine is pretty and the hero handsome. It looks like they are celebrating their wedding and he doesn't know that Areta has taken her cousin's place as bride. The title is enough for me to pick up this book, which I'm planning on reading again quite soon!

The Music of Love

The Music of Love was published in the UK in 1989, the fifth book in the Master Butcher Collection.

Carla and her widowed mother leave for Vienna where her mother, a once famous opera singer, decides to rejoin the stage. She is a countess, so decides not to use her real name and tells her daughter to keep it a secret. While there, she meets a young man whose horses are in a production. They fall in love but he is a disguised prince and cannot marry a commoner!

I like this cover of our couple attending an opera! They are seated in a box and are elegantly dressed. The curtains seem to conceal as much as reveal and the theater was an important place to be seen!

Free as the Wind

Free as the Wind is the fourth book in the UK Master Butcher series in 1989. It was not published in the US. Eustacia is an heiress but wishes to be married for love, so she answers an ad and becomes the companion to a lady whose son is an explorer. She falls in love with him but his father won't give him any money since he won't settle down as his heir should.

I like the austere setting of the room on this cover which allows the objects to be observed. The heroine is happy to be looking at the treasures of the hero's and the sapphire Buddha looks rare and very breakable! The hero is anxious to see her reaction and she looks very happy.  I like her simple hairdo and vivid yellow gown.

A Heart in the Highlands

A Heart in the Highlands is another "Master Butcher" UK only publication from 1989.

The Duke of Strathvegon heads to Scotland after fleeing the wrath of an Earl and his mother convinces him to marry. She has chosen 3 debutantes, but one girl isn't allowed to go because her father is friends with the Earl, so he sends his niece instead.  The Duke is enchanted with Yseulta and soon realizes that she is the only woman for him!

This is a sweet cover of our couple sharing a kiss on the grounds of a beautiful castle. The hero is handsome in Scottish regalia while the heroine is enchanting in a white bustle gown. It looks like a happy story from the cover.

Love Comes to the Castle

Love Comes to the Castle is the second of the "Master Butcher" books, only published in the UK. This copy is a 1989 publication date.

Jaela Compton's father has died and she is wanting to return to England from Italy. She is asked to escort an English lady and her daughter back home, but the lady is dying and she must convince her husband to accept the little girl as his daughter.

This is an elegant cover of our couple facing off! The heroine is regal in her traveling dress while the hero is handsome in formalwear. The little girl sleeps in a chair opposite. I like the stubborn expression of the heroine and this pretty cover makes me want to pick up this book and read it!

Desire in the Desert

Desire in the Desert was published in the UK in 1989, 1 of 6 books in the "Master Butcher" collection by TCCL (the Communication Circle LTD).

This is the story about the Marquis of Peverell, who vows never to remarry after an unfortunate marriage. His two cousins are running up debts because one of them is his heir. In order to deflect this, he decides to find a ward to whom he can leave the bulk of his fortune, if not the title.

He finds Shamara in an orphanage, the daughter of a missionary. She is suitable and they travel abroad for her to learn how to be a lady.

There is no artist signature, but the cover is interesting being set in the middle east with our heroine approaching the hero, who is unusually undressed for a Cartland novel! I like her blue gown as well as the ornate pillars and fountain.