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?
Miss Dorcas Delancey, vicar’s daughter and advocate for the less fortunate, has been guarding her heart from fortune hunters and fashionable fribbles for years. She’s completely unprepared for Alasdhair MacKay, former officer and all around grouch, to steal that heart. But when Alasdhair takes on responsibility for a motherless infant whom Dorcas’s family won’t acknowledge, she sees the honor lurking beneath his gruff mannerisms.
Alasdhair MacKay did not storm hell with Wellington’s army just so he could drink, swive, and flirt his way through life after Waterloo. He’s serious, intelligent, and passionate about his causes–also passionate in his regard for Dorcas. He’s the man of her dreams and a paragon in plaid, but looming scandal means Dorcas will have to choose between love and the honor Alasdhair so relentlessly values.
Miss Ann Pearson has spent years learning the difficult art of the professional cook, and jealously guards her position in the kitchen of the fancy Coventry Club. When Colonel Sir Orion Goddard asks her to take on a young apprentice, Ann would rather refuse. But Orion is respectful, gruffly charming, and looking out for a girl whom others have neglected, and that is a combination Ann cannot resist.
Lingering scandal has taught Orion to make his way along the fringes of polite society without allies or entanglements. Then he meets Ann, who is fierce, passionate, and warm-hearted, and also worth fighting for. If Orion and Ann are to forge a new love, they must first learn to trust each other, and find the courage to overcome old enemies who will do anything to keep the cook and colonel apart.
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!
Sycamore Dorning has watched one sibling after another succumb to the blandishments of wedded bliss, while he has grown wealthy and–deuce take it–lonely. He loves the ladies generally, though he waits in vain for the woman who can love him in all his contrary, stubborn, outspoken glory.
Jeanette, Marchioness of Tavistock, endured six years of wedded purgatory before earning the independence of widowhood. She’s admittedly attracted to Sycamore. He’s refreshingly blunt, no slave to convention, and loyal to those he cares about. When trouble stalks her, she turns to Sycamore for help, because she would trust him with her life. But will she trust him with her heart?
Fabianus Haviland, Viscount Penweather, did not journey to the wilds of Dorsetshire in the dead of winter to engage in yet another dalliance with yet another lonely widow. Being a trifle lonely himself–only a trifle–he’s looking for a fresh start in fresh surrounds.
Fabianus has always enjoyed the company of sensible women, though, and Lady Daisy is very sensible. Her ladyship doesn’t mince words regarding disappointing marital experiences, is ferociously devoted to her children, and has an immediate rapport with Penweather’s small daughter. When Daisy’s happiness is threatened by her in-laws, Penweather is honor-bound to intervene. Soon Daisy will have to choose, between her children and the man who makes her dream once again of the kind of happily ever after she’d thought could never be hers.
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?
