Stella Riley

Biography

B.R.A.G. Medallion honoree and Readers' Favorite award-winning author Stella Riley trained as a teacher in London and now lives in Kent. She enjoys theatre, dancing, reading and travel. She is fascinated by the English Civil Wars and has written six books set in that period. She loves the extravagant fashions of the mid-Georgian period, likes men with long hair and her current passion is for Baroque harpsichord music.

All 6 books of the Rockliffe series (recommended in The Times newspaper!) are also available in audio, narrated by Alex Wyndham - as is the first in the new Brandon Brothers trilogy, A Trick of Fate

Visit Stella at https://stellarileybooks.co.uk for all the latest information on her books and her 'Who's Who' and Extras pages.
Or find her at https://www.facebook.com/stellariley.books

Smashwords Interview

When did you first start writing?
I started writing when I was thirty years old. At the time, I was a teacher and I began my first book [Lucifer's Champion] during a dismal autumn half-term.
What's the story behind your latest book?
Garland of Straw takes place between 1647 and 1649 - the period of England's second Civil War, leading up to the execution of Charles 1. The fictional story is of a love developing between opposites; a well-bred Royalist lady and an illegitimate Roundhead officer.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Stella Riley online

Series

Rockliffe
Set in London during the 1770's, characters and lives intertwine throughout the series.
The Parfit Knight
Price: $1.95 USD.
The Mésalliance
Price: $4.25 USD.
The Player
Price: $4.50 USD.
The Wicked Cousin
Price: $4.50 USD.
Hazard
Price: $4.50 USD.
Cadenza
Price: $4.50 USD.
Roundheads & Cavaliers
Adventure, danger and romance set during the English Civil Wars of the 17th century.
The Black Madonna
Price: $4.75 USD.
Garland of Straw
Price: $4.95 USD.
The King's Falcon
Price: $4.95 USD.
Lords of Misrule
Price: $4.75 USD.

Books

The Shadow Earl
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 122,120. Language: British English. Published: July 15, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Regency, Fiction » Historical » United Kingdom
(5.00 from 1 review)
After an unexplained absence of three years, Christian Selwyn, Earl of Hazelmere returns a changed man. A man with secrets. What happened to him ... and what is he hiding. Could it be a desire for revenge?
The Montesoro Legacy
Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 131,690. Language: British English. Published: March 29, 2022 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(5.00 from 2 reviews)
A dangerous step-brother … a letter from a Venetian bank … a secret key … and London’s most fashionable portraitist. Dark doings and deceptions surround an unexpected legacy and an equally unexpected love story.
Under A Dark Moon
Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 148,980. Language: Commonwealth English. Published: March 27, 2021 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Historical
(5.00 from 4 reviews)
A tale of smuggling, espionage, murder and romance. Meet master swordsman, Adam Brandon and Millie Edgerton-Foxe, a lady with a hidden talent as they embark upon a dangerous quest in the mysterious landscape of Romney Marsh.
Midwinter Magic
Series: Rockliffe. Price: $3.75 USD. Words: 52,250. Language: British English. Published: December 5, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(5.00 from 7 reviews)
A Rockliffe Christmas Novella: Spend the holiday season as guests of the Earl and Countess of Sarre and enjoy the festive season among old friends.
A Trick of Fate
Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 117,630. Language: British English. Published: October 25, 2019 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Regency, Fiction » Romance » Historical » Scottish
(4.50 from 2 reviews)
Max Brandon is receiving bills for goods and services he did not buy. He intends to catch the man responsible, whatever the cost. The result is a haphazard chase involving ruined abbeys, a hunt for hermits, a grotesque portrait … and a love story which, but for this odd trick of fate, might never have been given a second chance.
Rockliffe Books 4-6
Price: $9.99 USD. Words: 350,450. Language: British English. Published: January 29, 2019 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(4.00 from 1 review)
The Wicked Cousin, Hazard and Cadenza. Books 4, 5 and 6 of The Times recommended Rockliffe series.
Cadenza
Series: Rockliffe. Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 131,130. Language: British English. Published: November 22, 2018 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(5.00 from 1 review)
Harpsichord virtuoso Julian Langham's dazzling career ends when deceitful lawyers lure him into making a catastrophic mistake. Each for their own reasons, cousins Arabella and Elizabeth embark on a daring masquerade which will alter the course of several lives - most notably, their own. They don't bargain for the Duke of Rockliffe's omniscience; Julian doesn't anticipate ducal help.
Hazard
Series: Rockliffe, Book 5. Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 108,910. Language: British English. Published: February 23, 2018 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(5.00 from 1 review)
A cardsharp turned businessman, a duke’s charming brother, a stubborn, razor-edged beauty and a desperate widow. Four players in a game of Hazard … a game in which Fate is rolling the dice.
The Wicked Cousin
Series: Rockliffe, Book 4. Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 110,690. Language: English. Published: May 31, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(5.00 from 1 review)
Sebastian Audley’s reputation for dare-devilry stretches from Paris to St Petersburg. He knew that living it down in London society – a place with an insatiable appetite for scandal and gossip – would not be easy. What he had not expected was the added complication of Miranda Silvarez; a beautiful former mistress with a dangerous obsession.
Rockliffe Books 1-3
Price: $7.99 USD. Words: 284,690. Language: British English. Published: April 27, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(4.00 from 1 review)
Rockliffe Series Books 1 - 3. The Parfit Knight, The Mesalliance and The Player
Lords of Misrule
Series: Roundheads & Cavaliers, Book 4. Price: $4.75 USD. Words: 204,310. Language: British English. Published: May 19, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » United Kingdom
(5.00 from 1 review)
Increasingly disenchanted with life in general and Oliver Cromwell in particular, Eden Maxwell becomes involved in the dramatic events surrounding a small workshop where some of his disabled former troopers have found employment, thanks to the determination of a young widow, Lydia Neville.
The Player
Series: Rockliffe, Book 3. Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 107,020. Language: British English. Published: March 6, 2015 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(5.00 from 1 review)
Tragedy drove him into unwilling exile. Death demands his equally reluctant return. In the decade between, he has answered to many names and amassed a variety of secrets. Now the secrets must be carefully guarded and the name, at long last, his own.
The King's Falcon
Series: Roundheads & Cavaliers, Book 3. Price: $4.95 USD. Words: 213,660. Language: British English. Published: October 3, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » United Kingdom
War and witchcraft ... plots and playhouses ... love and loyalty. This is the story of the Cavaliers last stand in 1651 and the long, impoverished exile that followed it. Ashley Peverell, known as The Falcon, continues risking his life to save that of the King and gives his heart to a beautiful French actress who he believes can never be his.
Garland of Straw
Series: Roundheads & Cavaliers, Book 2. Price: $4.95 USD. Words: 211,080. Language: British English. Published: November 29, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » United Kingdom
(5.00 from 1 review)
The marriage of a well-bred Royalist lady and an illegitimate Roundhead soldier is less a match made in heaven than a union doomed to hell due to the bitter resentment of both parties. There is passion, intrigue and danger- both personal and political - as England slides into a second Civil War ... and the King is sent to the block.
The Black Madonna
Series: Roundheads & Cavaliers, Book 1. Price: $4.75 USD. Words: 217,590. Language: British English. Published: May 30, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » United Kingdom
(5.00 from 1 review)
An epic saga of love and revenge, in which the English Civil War and the crucial years leading up to it are seen through the eyes of the Maxwell family and also master-goldsmith and money-lender, Luciano Falcieri del Santi … a man with a hidden agenda. From the power-struggle in Parliament to bloody battlefields, The Black Madonna is a historically-detailed story of intrigue and love.
A Splendid Defiance
Price: $4.50 USD. Words: 124,580. Language: British English. Published: December 6, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » United Kingdom
(5.00 from 1 review)
Banbury, 1644. The Cavaliers hold the Castle, the Roundheads want it back and the town is full of Puritans. Consequently, the gulf between Captain Justin Ambrose and Abigail Radford appears unbridgeable. The key to their fate and that of the Castle is defiance. But is it enough? An enchanting story of forbidden love - and also the true account of one English castle during the Civil War.
The Mésalliance
Series: Rockliffe, Book 2. Price: $4.25 USD. Words: 102,630. Language: British English. Published: September 26, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(5.00 from 2 reviews)
The Duke of Rockliffe is thirty-six years old, head of his house and responsible for his young sister. He is therefore under some pressure to choose a suitable bride. Unfortunately, due mainly to her dreadful relatives, the only lady he feels at all inclined to share his life with is not suitable at all. But will he choose to make a mésalliance?
The Marigold Chain
Price: $4.95 USD. Words: 105,680. Language: British English. Published: September 5, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(5.00 from 1 review)
The Marigold Chain is a richly-woven tapestry of treachery, danger and love set in Restoration England during the year expected to be Doomsday. In January 1666, Charles 11's Court is in exile from plague-stricken London; by the spring, England is at war with the Dutch; and in September, London is devastated by the Great Fire. Amidst all the turmoil, two people find love.
The Parfit Knight
Series: Rockliffe, Book 1. Price: $1.95 USD. Words: 75,570. Language: British English. Published: August 6, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
(4.00 from 2 reviews)
Blinded by a childhood accident, Rosalind Vernon lives a sheltered existence with only servants and her parrot for company. The arrival of the Marquis of Amberley with his wounded coachman during a blizzard will change her life. But can Amberley overcome the dark secret that haunts him and how will Rosalind feel when it is revealed? The Parfit Knight is a Georgian Romance set in 1770's England.

Stella Riley's tag cloud

163945    1666    17th century politics    18th century    a cure for rosalind    abduction    assassination plots    autism fiction    autumn romance    banbury 1644    battles    blackmail    border weddings    brandon    brandon brother series    business fraud    cardsharping    cardsharps    cavaliers roundheads    century 18    charles 1    charles 11    charles ll    cinque ports    civil war    claude duvall    courtship    cromwell    cryptography    cyrano de bergerac    deaf and mute    drury lane    duel    duels    dutch war    edgehill    england    english civil war    espionage    espionage drama    family saga    female stalker    first school for deaf    fraud    french spies    french theatre    fun with a goat    gambling    genoa    georgian    georgian england    georgian london    georgian society    gerards plot    goldsmith    grand tour    great fire    great siege    harpsichord    harpsichord music    highwayman    highwaymen    history    history 1600s    horseracing    humour    intrigue    intrigue murder    john lilburne    jsbach    kissing boughs and mistletoe    london    london 1774    london pantheon    london society    love    love at first sight    loveromance    male abduction    master of disguise    miracles or magic    murder    mystery crime    obsession    oliver cromwell    oxfordshire    parrot    photographic memory    portrait art    prince rupert    protectorate    ranelagh    real events    relatives from hell    revenge    road trip    rockliffe    rockliffe series    romance    romance 1700s    romance venice    romantic comedy    romney marsh    roundheads and cavaliers    roundheads cavaliers    royalist conspiracy    saga    samuel pepys    sandwich in kent    scandal    school for scandal    scotland    scottish invasion    second chance romance    secondchance romance    secrets    ship tavern plot    smuggling    swordsmanship    titian    treason    trial execution of charles 1    vauxhall garden    vauxhall gardens    virtuoso    watch the wall    worcester 1651    yuletide revels