Oak Dorning is an artist determined to take his place among London’s most successful portraitists. Town life is expensive, though, so a temporary post restoring a few old paintings for a ruralizing widow strikes Oak as a prudent detour on the way to his brilliant future.
Verity Channing was married to a renowned artist, and knows firsthand how spiteful London sophisticates can be. A quiet life in the country is fine with her–also lonely and rather dull–until Oak finds scandalous treasures lurking in her art collection. When somebody sets out to ruin Verity, Oak must choose between his cherished ambitions and the lady who fills his dreams.
Valerian Dorning is handsome, charming, and absolutely pockets to let. He’s hopelessly attracted to heiress Emily Pepper, but an honorable man must bring independent means to his marriage.
Emily has been chased by enough fortune hunters to know that the fellow who balks at taking advantage of her wealth is exactly the man she needs, but she’s hiding secrets that Valerian must never learn. He needs a fortune, she needs a miracle. How can true love prevail?
A difficult duke, a determined lady, and too many secrets.
Nathaniel Rothmere has bided for years in solitude at the Rothhaven ducal seat on the edge of the Yorkshire moors. He carefully cultivates a reputation for secrecy and ill-humor, such that most of his neighbors only catch a glimpse of him has he gallops his demon-black steed hellbent when darkness falls.
Lady Althea Wentworth has little patience for grumpy dukes (her brother is one), but she needs Nathaniel’s guidance as she seeks entree into Yorkshire society. Reclusive, difficult Rothmere has figured out the secret to commanding respect from one and all, while Althea has failed at that same quest during multiple London seasons. Nathaniel at first refuses to help Althea, but solitude on the moors has become a trial, and Althea commands Nathaniel’s respect, so what’s a lonely, brooding duke to do?
Wrexham, Duke of Elsmore, is awash in family obligations. With three sisters to escort about Town, a legion of cousins to look after, and aunties who insist he dance with every eligible young woman, he barely has time to manage his dukedom. When he finally carves out a moment to evaluate his family’s finances, he learns that he—and his sisters—are on the verge of a social catastrophe.
Eleanora Hatfield has an uncanny knack for numbers, but she knows from experience that dealing with the peerage can only lead to problems. Though she wants nothing to do with any titled gentleman, she reluctantly agrees to help when Rex seeks aid from her employer. What starts out as an unwanted assignment soon leads to forbidden kisses and impossible longings. But with scandal haunting Ellie’s past and looming in Rex’s future, how can true love lead to anything but heartbreak?
Duncan Wentworth tried his hand at rescuing a damsel in distress once long ago, and he’s vowed he’ll never make that mistake again. Nonetheless, when he comes across Matilda Wakefield in the poacher-infested and far-from-enchanted woods of his estate, decency compels him to offer aid to a lady fallen on hard times. Matilda is whip-smart, she can read Duncan’s horrible penmanship, and when she wears his reading glasses, all Duncan can think about is naughty Latin poetry.
Matilda cannot entrust her secrets to Duncan without embroiling him in the problems that sent her fleeing from London, but neither can she ignore a man who’s honorable, a brilliant chess player, and maddeningly kissable. She needs to stay one step ahead of the enemies pursuing her, though she longs to fall into Duncan’s arms. Duncan swears he has traded in his shining armor for a country gentleman’s muddy boots, but to win the fair maid, he’ll have to ride into battle one more time.
Grey Dorning, Earl of Casriel, must marry well and soon. He has five unmarried brothers whom he should assist to get a start in life, any number of tenant cottages threatening to fall apart, and he’s running out of time to set the earldom to rights. He needs an agreeable heiress looking for a title, a lady who will be content to marry a man more renowned for his manners than his fortune.
Beatitude, Countess of Canmore, wants a friendly, harmless liaison with a charming man who won’t fetter her freedom. She’s not wealthy, but she has earned her independence, and intends to keep it. Casriel knows what he needs, Addy knows she wants, so why can’t they stop thinking about each other?
Jonathan Tresham, heir to the Duke of Quimbey, needs a discreet ally to help him choose a wife from among the army of young ladies eager to become his duchess. When proper widow Theodosia Haviland rescues him from a compromising situation, he knows he’s found an advisor he can trust. Theo’s first marriage taught her the folly of indulging in romantic notions, and she’s determined that Mr. Tresham’s intended be an ideal dynastic match for him, not some smitten ninnyhammer.
When Jonathan decides that Theo should be the only name on his list of possible duchesses, she protests, though she knows that Jonathan is kind and honorable despite his gruff exterior. Theo is guarding secrets, and a ducal heir is the last person she can marry, even if she does harbor an entirely inappropriate attraction to him.
One minute, London banker Quinn Wentworth is facing execution. The next, he’s declared the long-lost heir a dukedom. Quinn has fought his way up from the vilest slums, and now he’s ready to use every dirty trick he knows to find the enemy who connived against him.
There’s just one tiny problem…
Jane Winston, the widowed, pregnant daughter of a meddlesome prison preacher, crosses paths with Quinn in jail. Believing his days are numbered, Quinn offers Jane marriage as a way to guarantee her independence and to provide for her child. Neither thinks they’ll actually have a future together.
They were wrong.
He’s a wealthy gutter rat out for vengeance. She’s a minister’s daughter who must turn a marriage of desperation into a proper ducal union. Are they doomed from the start or destined for a happily-ever-after?
For Miss Charlotte Windham, the best way to maintain her spinsterhood—and her independence—is a teeny, tiny brush with scandal. She chooses wealthy, handsome upstart Lucas Sherbourne as her unwitting accomplice. He’s intelligent, logical and ambitious. What Charlotte doesn’t count on is that one kiss leads straight to the altar.
Sherbourne has no love for Polite Society, nor is he keen on being anybody’s husband of last resort. He is attracted to Charlotte’s boldness, though—and her family’s influence. Without a title, he knows he’ll never truly be part of their world, even as he and Charlotte inch closer to a marriage that means much more than convenience. But a scheming business partner is about to test that tenuous trust, forcing Sherbourne to make a drastic choice: his wealth or his wife.
Hessian Kettering, Earl of Grampion, tried marrying in haste as a very young man and got years of marital drama to go with his endless regrets. He’s older and wiser now, and has responsibility for an orphaned ward who needs a maternal figure. Hessian is determined that his next countess will be a settled, sensible lady with a spotless reputation. Lily Ferguson seems to fit Hessian’s requirements beautifully, and if she also kisses like his most cherished private dreams, that’s no reason to doubt his choice.
As an heiress from a good family, Lily Ferguson has been subjected to the attentions of fortune hunters and fawning nincompoops for years. Because the bachelors won’t take, “Stop ogling my settlements,” for an answer, she’s developed a reputation for being difficult. Lily finds spending time with Hessian Kettering so very easy though. He likes a woman who speaks her mind, and Lily adores a man who actually listens to the ladies in his life. But what will Hessian have to say, when he finds out Lily is not the heiress polite society thinks she is?
