LOL: The Hundredth Chance

Barbara Cartland's Library of Love #5 brings us The Hundredth Chance by Ethel M. Dell, condensed by Bantam in June 1977. Maud's mother marries a man who is trying to seduce her, so she marries Jack, even though she doesn't love him. However, Jack is a horse jockey and Maud was once engaged to his boss, Lord Saltash, who will do anything to possess Maud!

Francis Marshall illustrates this cover with our hero and heroine, along with a racehorse and a building on fire. Our heroine clings to the hero as if he is her only lifeline! Our heroine is young and pretty while our hero is worldly and handsome. This is a great cover and I hope you like it!

LOL: A Safety Match

A Safety Match by Ian Hay was condensed by Barbara Cartland in May 1977. This is the story of Daphne, the oldest of a large family of children, who is the glue in the home of her widowed father. She gets a proposal of marriage from a friend of the family and accepts it for the good of her family.

Francis Marshall illustrates our couple sitting outside. They are dressed in the style of the 1920's and we see a motorcar in the background. Our heroine wears a flapper's haircut and our hero sports some funky shoes! This looks like a sweet cover, for a sweet story.

LOL: The Knave of Diamonds

The Knave of Diamonds was published in April 1977 as #3 in the Library of Love condensed book collection from Barbara Cartland. Ethel M. Dell wrote the book in 1912 about Lady Carfax and the mysterious Napoleon Errol, who falls in love with her.

Francis Marshall illustrates our couple at a masquerade ball where the hero is dressed as the character in the title while our heroine is pretty in a blue gown. It's a typically classic FM cover and very romantic.

Ethel M. Dell was obviously a favorite author of Barbara Cartland's since she condensed a few of her books in this series. Look out for others coming soon!

LOL: His Hour

His Hour is #2 in Barbara Cartland's Library of Love and was published in March 1977. This is the condensed story by Elinor Glyn about Tamara, an English widow, and a Russian Prince, who she meets in Egypt and later in Russia. This novel was a sensation when published in the 1910's!

Francis Marshall illustrates our couple at a ball, where the heroine holds a pistol! The hero is handsome and sardonic in a red uniform and our heroine looks like a princess with her tiara and furs. It's too bad that the title was placed over the illustration, but we see some of Marshall's great artwork! This is a very pretty illustration that I hope you enjoy!

LOL: The Sheik

Beginning today, we will feature Barbara Cartland's Library of Love. These are books that are favorites of Cartland's and that she condensed for her audience. Francis Marshall illustrated 27 of them and we will feature them in the next blog entries.

The Sheik by E. M. Hull is about a beautiful Englishwoman and the handsome Sheik who wins her love. This story was first published in 1921 and the condensed version came out in March 1977.

Francis Marshall illustrates beautifully our desert couple! We see them in a tent, lying on pillows in a tent. Our hero is in Arabian garb and the heroine is in a green gauze garment. It's a romantic scene and I hope that you enjoy this cover!

Wings on My Heart

Wings on My Heart is last in the older series of Barbara Cartland romances. This copy is an Arrow (UK) publication from 1977. Lord Hugo Roxburton has his life mapped out when he has a skiing accident and meets Utta, a mysterious Swiss girl who nurses him back to health!

Francis Marshall illustrates our couple on an ice rink! Our heroine is pretty in a blue skating costume while our hero wears normal clothing. We see an audience in the background and another skater in yellow and flags flying, which makes us wonder if this is a competition.

The Wings of Love

The Wings of Love is another book where I was able to find 3 different Francis Marshall illustrations! This is Barbara Cartland's story about Amanda Burke, a vicar's daughter, who is proposed to by the evil Lord Ravenscar while she finds herself in love with a dashing stranger, Peter Harvey. Will she have to marry the evil Lord to save her beloved?

Francis Marshall creates two similar covers with the US ones. The Jove (US) cover has a number 24 and shows our hero carrying the heroine. She wears a green filmy dress while he is in a typical regency gentleman's dress of jacket and cravat. This edition was printed in February 1979.

The Pyramid (US) has a yellow cover with a picture of our couple. The heroine wears the green filmy dress, but without the pink scarf. They are in an embrace and our hero is wearing a dark green coat. The room look similar to the other cover, which informs us that Marshall updated this cover for the Jove one. This edition was published in 1971.

The Arrow (UK) book from 1975 has a different cover. The man looks as if he could be the evil Lord! Our heroine carries a pretty bunch of lilies. We see in the background a building and a statue.

The last image is reversed which is interesting since it's a German title.

Which cover is your favorite? It's unique to find 2 different US covers. Usually I find differences in the UK ones! Enjoy and don't forget to click on the picture to enlarge!