Vergilius, Viscount Summerton, has watched his wife of ten years grow more and more distant, and he’s determined that this year the marriage will start moving in a better direction. Penelope, Lady Summerton, is also determined that this year will be different. She slips off to a seaside cottage, intending that to be her first step toward a new life free of marital difficulties. Gill ends up at the same seaside inn, where he hopes to plot a wooing no wife can resist.
He’s determined to reconcile; she’s determined to pack his bags, but then the magic of the Siren’s Retreat begins to steal over them both…
Two PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED novellas connected to the Windham family series.
Morgan and Archer
Morgan James, sister-by-marriage to the Windham ducal heir, has spent several Seasons dutifully trooping with her in-laws to every ball and musicale in Mayfair. The glittering London society she never thought she’d be part of has begun to pale, while solitude and quiet have grown enormously attractive.
Morgan’s longing to withdraw from society is cut short when she crosses paths with Archer Portmaine, a distant family connection who is is investigating a plot against the Crown. Archer must foil a dangerous scheme, and Morgan, with her quick wits and unusual ability to blend into any crowd, has the perfect skills to help him capture the villain–and to capture Archer’s heart!
Jonathan and Amy
Jonathan Dolan, a wealthy Irish quarry nabob, has done the unthinkable for an otherwise sensible widower and fallen in love with his daughter’s governess. If he’s to win the heart of proper, pretty Miss Amy Ingraham, Jonathan must turn to his former brother-in-law, the Marquess of Deene, to help him woo the lady. Despite Deene’s willingness to aid the course of true love, Jonathan must be clever, determined, and– above all else–honorable if he’s to win not only Amy’s hand, but also the respect of a society only too willing to judge him harshly.
Two PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED Regency novellas. A is for Amorous (originally published in Love by the Letters) and Architect of My Dreams (originally published in No Dukes Allowed.)
A is for Amorous
Adalicia Beauvais has no use for children, and even less use for most men. Plato wasn’t a bad sort, and Euclid was bright enough, but the modern variety of male holds no appeal for her. To earn ownership of a lovely country estate with a delightfully well stocked library, Ada must raise funds for an orphanage full of noisy, malodorous urchins.
As if that isn’t challenge enough, her only ally in this endeavor, is the headmaster, Lord John, who loves children, referees cricket matches, and plucks Ada’s very, very last nerve, even though she knows his devotion to the children is genuine, as is the orphanage’s need for funds. Opposites don’t always attract, but in this case, they must work together for thirty days, or neither Ada’s nor John’s dreams will ever come true.
Architect of My Dreams
Eugenia, Dowager Duchess of Tindale, travels to the Brighton shore for a respite from London’s din and crowding. She is both dismayed and curious to find that Adam Morecambe, the very architect whose building project has rendered her London street unbearably noisy, has also journeyed to Brighton. Adam is traveling on business–he’s always on business–though he’s also pleased to bump into the duchess who has the loveliest smile he’s ever seen.
Genie has no intention of ever remarrying–once was bad enough–and Adam would never allow a romantic frolic to interfere with his busy schedule, but then he learns that Genie’s kisses are as sweet as her smiles, and all of his fixed notions about what the future might hold go flying out the nearest bedroom window.
Three PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED Regency Novellas
His Grace of Lesser Puddlebury (from Dukes in Disguise) — Connor, Duke of Mowne, has been injured in a most delicate location, and needs a place to heal far from the curious eyes of Polite Society. When he takes refuge with the independent and impecunious Julianna St. Bellan, he suspects his wound was in truth caused by Cupid’s arrow!
Duchess in the Wild (from Duchesses in Disguise) — Sir Greyville Trent accepts a friend’s offer of a quiet respite in the countryside where Grey can prepare years’ worth of scientific notes for publication. The task goes poorly until Francesca Pomponio and her two friends join the household while they await repairs to their carriage. Francesca doesn’t care much for jungles, but she’s willing to help Grey get his notes organized. Collaboration turns to fascination, and the focus of the investigation from exotic flora and fauna to true love!
The Governess and the Norse God (from Marquesses at the Masquerade) — Darien, Marquess of Tyne, dutifully takes up his hammer and dons his trews to impersonate a Viking god for the duration of one interminable masquerade ball. He’s by nature the most reserved and retiring of men, and the only lady to catch his mortal eye is Miss Lucy Fletcher, governess to his two daughters. A gentleman would never importune a lady in his employ–and Tyne is every inch a gentleman–but a Norse god is subject to different, and far more dashing rules!
Vicar Pietr Sorenson is preparing to endure–enjoy, rather–another solitary, frigid holiday season at the edge of the Yorkshire moors, when Miss Joy Danforth‘s coach lurches to a halt across the village green. Joy and her brother have nowhere to wait out the impending bout of nasty weather, while the vicarage is even emptier than usual.
The lady is on her way to charm a titled nitwit into offering her marriage, lest her family face financial ruin. Pietr has accepted a prestigious post closer to civilization, though he hasn’t quite found a way to tell his congregation he’s leaving early in the New Year. Will Pietr and Joy steal some holiday comfort beneath the mistletoe, or find the love of a lifetime on a bleak mid-winter night?
Respect for Christmas features Henrietta Whitlow, who’s leaving behind the life of a very successful courtesan in hopes of making peace with her family in the shires. Michael Brenner’s family all but ignores him, despite his shiny new baronial title. His errand along the Oxford road isn’t half so benign as Henrietta’s. While trying to settle a debt of honor involving Henrietta, Michael instead loses his heart, gains a friend, and learns an important holiday lesson.
Patience for Christmas is the story of advice columnist Patience Friendly, whose relationship with her stubborn, over-bearing, publisher, Dougal MacHugh, is anything but cordial. Dougal challenges Patience to take on a rival columnist in a holiday advice-a-thon, and sparks fly clear up to the mistletoe hanging from every rafter. Will Patience follow the practical guidance of her head, or the passionate advice of her heart?
When a storm blows off the North Sea and slams into the village of Fenwick on Sea, the villagers prepare for the inevitable: shipwreck, flood, land slips, and stranded travelers. The Queen’s Barque Inn quickly fills with the injured, the devious, and the lonely—lords, ladies, and simple folk; spies, pirates, and smugglers all trapped together. Intrigue crackles through the village, and passion lights up the hotel.
One storm, eight authors, eight heartwarming novellas.
Two novellas set in the time of mistletoe…
Lady Mistletoe’s Holiday Helper (from Yuletide Wishes)
Lord Marcus Bannerfield is former military and all business. He has no patience with frivolity, but when he becomes guardian to two orphaned nieces, even he knows somebody had better decorate his household for the yuletide holidays. Lady Margaret Entwhistle’s business offers that exact service, but she doesn’t expect his lordship pay for her efforts with kisses!
Kisses and Catnip (from Love and Other Perils)
Max Haddonfield is a man of science with a soft spot for stray cats. When he donates one of his foundlings to a library to protect the books from hungry mice, he never dreams that Lady Antonia Mainwaring will reward his generosity by stealing his heart!
Two PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED Regency novellas…
His Grace for the Win (from The Duke’s Bridle Path):
Philippe, Duke of Lavelle, has sworn off all things equestrian after his brother’s riding accident. Just one tiny problem: The woman who steals Philippe’s heart, Harriet Talbot, loves horses, and generally only notices men when they’re in the saddle. Will Philippe rise to the challenge, or come a cropper for the sake of true love?
The Will to Love (from How to Find a Duke in Ten Days)
The Earl of Ramsdale is convinced that his late uncle’s will holds the key to finding at least one portion of a long-lost Renaissance manuscript. The only person skilled enough to translate the will in ten short days is Miss Philomena Peebles, who has no patience with handsome, presumptuous earls. Will Ramsdale find the fabled literary treasure, or lose his heart to the last woman he should propose to?
