Miss Dashing

She’s learned to ask for nothing…

Miss Hecate Brompton is on the shelf and relieved to finally be there with her personal wealth in tact. She faces enough challenges keeping her rackety family from scandal and ruin without the added bother of marriage. When Phillip Vincent approaches her with a request to become his de facto finishing governess, she’s both appalled by and sympathetic to his plan. She was once the awkward outsider, and knows exactly how treacherous the waters of the Beau Monde can be for the unsuspecting.

To win her love, he will sacrifice everything.

Phillip is mere gentry at heart, and the glittering ballrooms of Mayfair leave him frankly bored. For the sake of his family he must nonetheless learn to do the pretty. Miss Hecate Brompton, is anything but glittering. She’s quiet, proper, plain, and–to Phillip–utterly fascinating. He sees what society does not: Behind Hecate’s demure facade lurks a fierce heart and a brilliant mind.

Hecate’s family has no quarrel with Phillip stealing her heart, but her fortune and her hand in marriage are quite another matter. Can the squire and spinster find a happily ever after when all of polite society intends to deny them exactly that?

The Sweetest Kisses Trilogy

NOTE: The Sweetest Kisses series was originally published in 2015, and went on hiatus in 2022. The republished versions are slightly updated (does anybody watch DVDs anymore?) and sporting spiffy new covers!

Books 1-3 of the Sweetest Kisses series

A Single Kiss

Book 1 in the Sweetest Kisses series

The last place she wants to be…

Attorney and single mom Hannah Stark agrees to spend six months helping out in her new employer’s family law department, though an upbringing in foster care has left her determined never to set foot in a domestic relations courtroom.

… and the first guy she’s ever really wanted to be with.

Single dad Trenton Knightley, the law firm’s family law expert, loves his job and isn’t looking for complications. Then Hannah and Trent are thrown together on one tough case after another, and as Hannah grows less and less pleased with her vocation, she’s increasingly impressed with Trent. Trent is taken with Hannah as well, and not simply for her courtroom skills.

Hannah is out of patience with the law, but does that mean there’s no room in her life for another lawyer?

 

The First Kiss

Book 2 in the Sweetest Kisses series

She’s doing just fine on her own…

Classical pianist Vera Waltham is recovering from a bad break up by taking a hiatus with her daughter in the Damson Valley countryside. She’s content with her music, and has no interest in complicating her life with further attempts at romance.

…and he swears he’s doing just fine too.

Attorney James Knightley is a numbers guy who reads contractual fine print for fun, and he wants nothing to do with damsels, in distress or otherwise. Nobody is more surprised than James when he falls for Vera, and the only deal on James’s mind when it comes to that talented lady is wedded bliss.

But why settle for merely fine?

Vera is gathering her resolve to resume performing, and handsome, lonely lawyers don’t have a place on her program. Then somebody starts threatening Vera, and her best shot a staying safe is to put her trust in James. Does she dare give him her heart as well?

 

Kiss Me Hello

Book 3 in the Sweetest Kisses series

Her Knightley in shining armor…

MacKenzie Knightley is the best criminal trial attorney in Damson County, but he has no defense against petite, peppery Sidonie Lindstrom, a foster mom who’s moved into the farmhouse where Mac and his brothers grew up.

… he most assuredly is not!

Sid is grieving the loss of her brother, worried she’s about to lose her foster care license, and in no mood for romantic nonsense when Mac drives up the lane. And yet, he’s good with her horses, good with her foster son, and just the sort of solid, trustworthy, guy she might fall for—until she learns that he’s not at all what he appears to be.

A Gentleman Fallen on Hard Times

Lord Julian Caldicott has come home from the war in ragged health and with a reputation in tatters. All he wants is to recuperate in private without bringing any further scandal on the family’s good name. His godmother inveigles him into serving as her escort to a rural house party, whereupon circumstances conspire to prevent Julian from resuming his reclusive existence.

Julian becomes the subject of rumors, lies, and whispers, and soon he’s faced with a choice: Wage one more battle for honor’s sake, or be branded a traitor to all that he holds dear. He will enlist unlikely allies, face old demons, and vex every other guest on the premises, but he will not stop until he’s brought a criminal to justice–or dies trying.

A Gentleman Worthy of Kisses

A Gentleman Worthy of Kisses–A Republished Regency Novella Duet

A Kiss by the Sea

He’s not really a blacksmith, and she’s not really an heiress…

Thaddeus Pennrith finds a way to recover from multiple griefs when he accepts the blacksmith’s post at Fenwick on Sea. Village life gives him a sense of belonging that Polite Society never could, though he must resume his aristocratic duties soon. Along comes Lady Sarah Weatherby, refugee from an engagement gone badly awry, and Thaddeus is faced with both a compelling reason to reveal his titled antecedents, and a longing to keep them forever hidden….

NOTE: This story originally appeared in the Bluestocking Belles’ anthology, Storm and Shelter, where you will find more tales of romance by the seaside!

When His Grace Falls

The very proper Duke of Emory, lampooned in the popular satire How to Ruin A Duke, suspects that the author of his misfortune is Lady Edith Charbonneau. He sets out to ruin her before she can write a sequel, except… what if he’s wrong, and she’s not his enemy after all? Edith, formerly companion to His Grace’s difficult mother, has plenty of reasons for her dim view of the duke’s household, but the man himself has never been one of them. Will they learn to trust another, or embark on a war of words, wit, and wanton kisses?

This  novella originally appeared in the novella duet, How to Ruin a Duke, published in 2019 and no longer available as a duet (alas!).

Love Disguised (A Previously Published Regency Short Story)

When looking for true love, sometimes it helps to wear a disguise!

Rupert, Earl of Esterly, kits himself out as a footman, hoping to avoid the matchmakers’ notice at a masquerade. His lordship catches the eye, not of the proper lady he’s supposed to start courting, but of Mary, a chamber maid who has no use for titled men. He’s not what she thinks he is, but then, she’s not what she appears to be either!

(This story was originally published in the anthology, A Midsummer Night’s Romance.)

Miss Devoted

Psyche Fremont has known two constants in life: Her passion for her art, and society’s determination to ignore her talent. She isn’t looking for anything other than a handsome model when she crosses paths with Michael Delancey, and he’s only interested in making a few discreet coins lounging about in the altogether. Both Michael and Psyche are guarding secrets, but when love blooms, can they continue to guard their hearts?

Lady Violet Says I Do

Lady Violet and Sebastian MacHeath are trying to forge a cordial marriage out of unlikely beginnings. When they are invited to a summer house party, they accept, hoping to make the excursion into a belated wedding journey of sorts–or at least a respite from meddling relatives. No sooner do they arrive, than their host’s ward is accused of petty wrongdoing. As the charges escalate into familial acrimony and worse, Violet determines that a scheme is afoot to discredit the young man.

Unraveling the mystery before a criminal investigation goes too far will require that Sebastian and Violet trust one another as they haven’t in years. They can get to the bottom of the unfortunate developments at the house party, but can they solve the mystery of how to be husband and wife in more than name?

Miss Dauntless

Matilda Merridew, former hoyden of the first water, finds herself widowed, weary, and in want of coin. Along comes Marcus, Lord Tremont, with an interesting–and decent–proposition. Tremont will provide Matilda a handsome salary and keep a commodious roof over her head if she will relieve him of the burden of managing a houseful of unruly former soldiers.

Matilda accepts the post, and soon learns that the proper, soft-spoken earl has a far more dashing side. Marcus, whose lodestars in life have been order and duty, is drawn to Matilda’s determination and pragmatic good cheer. When Matilda’s past rises from the grave to destroy any hope of a happily ever after, Matilda and Marcus will have to decide if love truly can conquer all!

 

Lady Violet Pays a Call — Book Seven

While Lady Violet Belmaine is busy sorting out the odd turns her life has recently taken, Hugh St. Sevier repairs to his Kent estate in hopes of embarking on the placid life of a rural physician. Alas, for St. Sevier, the village of St. Ivo has more secrets than it has pots of heartease, and the good doctor will once again find himself the target of rumors and threats.

Somebody is rigging St. Ivo’s hound races, setting neighbor against neighbor, and turning what should be a friendly entertainment into an occasion for brawling. As an expert on medicinal herbs and soporifics, St. Sevier comes under suspicion. St. Ivo badly needs a physician, and the village also needs somebody to unravel the intrigues that are tearing it apart. St. Sevier can’t get to the bottom of the mystery on his own, but help–in the persons of Lady Violet and Sebastian MacHeath, is on the way!

The Duke and the April Flowers

Henning, Duke of Clonmere must marry one of the Earl of Falmouth’s three giggling younger daughters, but Lady Iris — Falmouth’s oldest, who is not at all inclined to giggling — catches Clonmere’s eye, and his heart!

NOTE: This story originally appeared in the (now de-published) anthology, Dukes by the Dozen. At present, it’s available exclusively through the web store as a free download.