Rolfe Sedan

A stern Soviet woman sent to Paris to supervise the sale of jewels seized from Russian nobles finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest. Only the royal suite at the grandest hotel in Paris has a safe large enough for the jewels of the Grand Duchess Swana. So the three Russians who have come to sell the jewels settle into the suite until a higher ranking official is dispatched to find out what is delaying the sale. She is Ninotchka, a no-nonsense woman who fascinates Count Leon who had been the faithful retainer of the Grand Duchess. The Grand Duchess will give up all claim to the jewels if Ninotchka will fly away from the count. —Dale O'Connor <daleoc@interaccess.com> Three Russian officials arrive in 1930s Paris to sell the jewels that were once the property of the Grand Duchess Swana. The Duchess wants to reclaim her property and her friend, Leon, manages to stop the sale at least temporarily. With the time dragging on, a new no-nonsense Russian envoy, Ninotchka, arrives to take over the negotiations. She chastises her three colleagues for their obvious enjoyment of capitalistic society but soon finds herself charmed by Leon, at first not realizing he is involved with the jewels. They fall in love but it's unclear if there is any chance of their relationship ever becoming permanent. Leon sets out to ensure they do. —garykmcd Soviet emissaries Buljanoff, Iranoff, and Kopalski no sooner arrive in Paris to sell some jewelry for the government than soft capitalist ways begin to corrupt them. Grand Duchess Swana, former owner of the jewels but now exiled in Paris, sends her very good friend, playboy Leon d'Algout, to interfere with the sale. When sly Leon meets stern Comrade Nina Ivanovna, sent to take over from the hapless emissaries, east-west romance results; but major complications intervene. —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

After learning her multi-millionaire fiancé has already been married seven times, the daughter of a penniless marquis decides to tame him. US multi-millionaire Michael Barndon marries his eight wife, Nicole, the daughter of a broken French Marquis. But she doesn't want to be only a number in the row of his ex-wives and starts her own strategy to "tame" him. —Stephan Eichenberg <eichenbe@fak-cbg.tu-muenchen.de>

King Louis XIII of France is thrilled when his son is born--an heir to the throne. But his Queen has actually delivered twin boys. Cardinal Richelieu sees the second son as a potential for revolution, and has him sent off to Spain to be raised in secret to ensure a peaceful future for France. Alas, keeping the secret means sending Constance, lover of D'Artagnan, off to a convent. D'Artagnan hears of this and rallies the Musketeers in a bid to rescue her. Unfortunately, Richelieu outsmarts the Musketeers and banishes them forever. Richelieu enlists D'Artagnan to look after and protect the young prince. Meanwhile, de Rochefort learns of the twins and Richelieu's plans, and kidnaps the twin, raising him in secret. Many years later, with Richelieu dead and the young prince crowned King Louis XIV, Rochefort launches his plan. The king is kidnapped, replaced with his twin, put in an iron mask so as not to be recognized, and led off to a remote castle to be held prisoner. Louis XIV is able to alert D'Artagnan, who realizes that only his friends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis can help him, so he reunites the Musketeers to derail Rochefort's nefarious plot but at a heavy toll. —Theron Trowbridge <Tmonk@concentric.net>