Ruth Axtell Morren

This book description taken partially from Amazon:

1641 Amsterdam.
When Francesca di Paolo is abducted by a band of brigands on her way home to Amsterdam, little does she realize she will become a pawn in a game of revenge. A budding artist, Francesca is enthralled by her rescuer, Dirk Vredeman, and would love to paint his portrait. Dirk, raised on the streets and surviving by his wits, has spent the last 20 years in the East Indies, where he has amassed a fortune. Now he has returned to Holland to destroy the man who destroyed his mother--the man who is Francesca's guardian, and to whom she owes her loyalty and gratitude. 'In Your Eyes' is a story of love and loyalties, tenuous trust against age-old betrayal.… (meer)

This book description was taken from Amazon's review becauce it did a great job of descripbing this story:

"In the 1890 thriving coastal town of Holliston, Maine, the leading lumber baron's son, Warren Brentwood, III, returns from his years away at college and traveling to take up his position as heir apparent to his father's business empire.

Esperanza Estrada, daughter of a Portuguese immigrant fisherman and a local woman, lives on the wrong side of town, surrounded by a brood of brothers and sisters and a careworn mother. She is unable to pretend she is anything but "one of those Estradas." When she overhears of a position to clean house at a local high school teacher's home on Elm Street, she jumps at the opportunity--to be able to run into Warren Brentwood now and again, but also to imbibe of the culture and intellectual atmosphere of the Stocktons.

When rumors about Espy and her respected employer begin to circulate, the entire church congregation and then the community pronounce judgment on her behavior. Warren believes the lie and his loss of faith in her causes Espy to give up without a fight. She leaves her family and hometown for the nearest city with little money and no acquaintances and is forced to spend the night on the street. A man who heads a mission for the homeless finds Espy and offers her shelter. Espy finds the true love of God while working at the mission. Will she be able to forgive the townspeople and return home?"

I appreciated Espy and her determination to never give up hope. I enjoyed reading and watching her life, the ups and downs and how she came out with a real love for her Lord (and for Warren) at the end.… (meer)

This story takes place after the book "Moonlight Masquerade" (The London Encounter series). You could read it as a stand alone, but will have a greater understanding of what is going on in this story if you read them in order. A good look at life in England in the early 1800s and the way people live and the "rules" they live by in the world of the aristocrats.

Jessamine Barry is in London, staying with her godmother and trying to wait patiently for a man to decide her future. She is somewhat bitter at the way her life has turned out recently and so she rejects the interest shown to her by Lancelot Marfleet, a man wants to become a vicar. Instead she gets in trouble by flirting with a man who does not have best intentions towards her. As the back cover of the book says, "Lose yourself in Ruth Axtell's sumptuous story of discovering one's true self and finding true love." A story "where a heart's rebellion slowly ripens into a love everlasting".… (meer)