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?
Scottish business whiz Elias Brodie has inherited a genuine medieval castle, the title of earl, and a huge pile of debt. If he wants to preserve his family’s legacy, the only asset he can immediately sell is a parcel of Maryland countryside he’s never laid eyes on.
In all her years working the land in Damson Valley, Violet Hughes has never seen a genuine Scottish earl, though her first glimpse of one is mighty impressive. Elias is charming, a hard worker, and excellent, um, company, but then Violet learns that he’s determined to sell the largest farm in the valley to a no-good, polecat of a developer. What’s a kilted laddie to do, when he must choose between his true love and his legacy?
Scottish whisky distiller Magnus Brodie has a problem: His long-anticipated bicentennial batch of whisky has been sabotaged, and he needs the skills of an expert to prevent disaster. He’s been approached by the Logan brothers about buying their Montana distillery, and if that’s the only way Magnus can secure Bridget MacDeaver’s services as a “cask-whisperer,” he’ll do it.
Bridget refuses to sell the distillery she inherited from her grandpa, even if her brothers claim that’s the last hope they have for saving the Logan Bar Ranch. When an old enemy threatens everything Bridget holds dear, her only ally is the man who’s determined to steal her grandpa’s legacy—and her heart!
Julian, Duke of Haverford, is barely keeping his handsome head above water amid a sea of inherited debts. His sister, Lady Glenys, decides to throw a house party Julian can ill afford in hopes of finding an heiress for him to marry. Julian tries to turn this disaster into opportunity by inviting every well-heeled bachelor in the realm, because Lady Glenys is also in want of a spouse.
Elizabeth Windham is among the guests at the Haverford house party, though her goal is to elude matchmaking from any quarter. Julian and Elizabeth are attracted, however, despite meddling siblings, financial woes, and gossips lurking behind every potted palm. Just as Julian and Elizabeth realize that they can snatch true love from the jaws of duty, Julian’s difficulties become ruinous. Which will it be? True love or true disaster?
Colin MacHugh is trying to come up to scratch as the brother and heir of a newly minted duke, but Polite Society isn’t keen on a former army captain acquiring even a courtesy title. At the suggestion of an aristocratic friend, Colin takes an interest in a charitable home for urchins. Miss Anwen Windham is devoted to the same institution, and as Colin and Anwen work together to save the failing orphanage, their interest in each other becomes passionate.
When the orphanage’s troubles take a criminal turn, everybody is suspect, from Colin, to the children, to Anwen. If Colin blows retreat and heads home to Scotland, the orphanage will surely fail. If he stays to fight the accusations coming at him from all sides, he could lose a future with Anwen–and his life….
