Miss Harriet Peabody dreams of the day she can open up a shop selling refashioned gowns to independent working women like herself. Unfortunately, when an errand for her millinery shop job goes sadly awry due to a difficult customer, she finds herself out of an income. Mr. Oliver Addleshaw is on the verge of his biggest business deal yet, when he learns his potential partner prefers to deal with men who are settled down and wed.

Miss Gwendolyn Brinley accepted a temporary paid companion position for the Newport summer season, believing it would be a lark to spend the summer in America's most exclusive town. She suddenly finds her summer turning anything but amusing when her employer expects her to take over responsibilities as an assistant matchmaker. Tasked with the daunting prospect of attaining advantageous matches for her clients, Gwendolyn soon finds herself in the company of Mr. Walter Townsend, the catch of the Season, but a gentleman Gwendolyn finds beyond annoying.

After a childhood as a street thief, Gabriella Goodhue thought she'd put her past behind her until a fellow resident at her boardinghouse is unjustly accused of theft. In the middle of breaking into a safe that holds the proof to prove her friend's innocence, Gabriella is interrupted by Nicholas Quinn, the man she once considered her best friend - until he abandoned her.

After her father lost the family's fortune, Wilhelmina was cast out of the fashionable set and banished to the wallflower section. Taking a position as a social secretary to help support her family, she's mostly come to terms with her new status. But when her old friend Edgar returns to New York society for the first time since she rejected his marriage proposal, she's newly ashamed at how far she's fallen—and how hastily she dismissed him years ago. Her strategy is to avoid a face-to-face encounter at all costs, but he seems to have other plans.

Miss Isadora Delafield may be an heiress, but her life is far from carefree. When her mother begins pressuring her to marry an elderly and uncouth duke, she escapes from the high-society world she's always known and finds herself to be an unlikely candidate for a housekeeper position in rural Pennsylvania. Mr. Ian MacKenzie is known for his savvy business sense and has built his reputation and fortune completely on his own merits. But when his adopted parents are in need of a new housekeeper and Isadora is thrown into his path, he's unexpectedly charmed by her unconventional manner.

Left with an estate on the brink of bankruptcy after their father's death, Lady Marigold Fairfax and her brother open a private investigation firm marketed to the elite . . . to spy on the elite. Dubbed The Imposters, Ltd., their anonymous group soon becomes the go-to for the crème of society when they want answers delivered surreptitiously. But the many secrets Marigold learns about her peers pale in comparison to her shock when she and her brother are hired to investigate her best friend's father as a potential traitor.

In 1870, Mariah Stover is left for dead and with no memory when the Deadeye Gang robs the stagecoach she's on, killing her father and brother. As she takes over her father's blacksmith business and attempts to move forward, the old-fashioned townspeople meet her new occupation with disdain.

This collector’s anthology compiles all the penny dreadful short stories from Sarah M. Eden’s five-book Victorian romance series. Included in this edition are three new never-before-released stories. Each short story is written in the style of the Victorian fiction that became so popular during that time period. From ghost stories to adventures to mysteries, Sarah weaves these gothic tales among her romantic storylines, making it the perfect way to celebrate the Dread Penny Society series.

Margaret Easton needs a husband, and she needs one now. Her parents are convinced that only a European will do, but Margaret wants nothing more than to stay in England. The trouble is that there is only one man Margaret can think of, or rather, one she cannot forget, and he wouldn’t do as a husband at all. Then she finds herself in his care unexpectedly, and her hunt becomes even more complicated than she could have ever imagined.

Miss Amelia Stalwood may live in London at her absent guardian's townhouse, but she's never actually met any nobility; instead of aristocrats, her closest friends are servants. Quite by happenstance, she's introduced to the Hawthorne family and their close family friend, Anthony, the reformed Marquis of Raebourne. They welcome her into their world, but just as she's beginning to gain some confidence and even suspect that she may have caught Anthony's eye, she's blindsided by an unexpected twist in her situation accompanied by nasty rumors.

As a once happily married woman, Rebecca Parker lived a charmed life, but now widowed and working for a living, she feels alone and lives a mundane existence. That is until the day a valet speeding by on a horse nearly runs her off the road. Mr. Malcolm Henry is apologetic, gentle, and very handsome. She’s instantly drawn to him, which is why, rather than stopping him from kissing her, she finds herself kissing him back, reigniting a nearly forgotten passion in her. But love at first sight only happens in fairy tales—never to an ordinary woman like her.

Lord Elliott Mayfield sees the new generation of his family moving in the same direction of bad matches and scandalous relationships as the last. In hopes to change their course, he establishes a "marriage campaign" to motivate them to improve themselves through making respectable matches. Peter, Elliott's eldest nephew, thinks the entire idea is ridiculous. A widower with two young daughters, he simply needs a governess, not a wife. Julia Hollingsworth has the credentials and the experience, but is too young and pretty for such a job. So why can't he stop thinking about her?

Rowley Knight, Duke of Knighton, is too busy being a duke to bother with such nonsense as love. With three heirs, he is in no hurry whatsoever to succumb to the lures of the leg-shackles. He is content managing his siblings and estates, and avoiding society whenever possible. If he can only find someone to manage his young sister, life can go back to its proper order.

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, Miss Sarah Meacham has always behaved circumspectly, until an emotional outburst directed at a well-deserved gentleman earns her the nickname of Miss Shrew. As a result, she vows to never trust - or love - again. But when her father decrees that her younger sister cannot marry the man of her dreams, until Sarah has secured a suitor of her own, she is faced with a dilemma: deny her sister marital bliss or feign an interest in the next gentleman to come along, at least until their father relents.

Gregory Dinard, a young and inexperienced duke, finds himself in need of a companion to help him navigate the intricacies of his new role. Uncertain of his abilities and unwilling to take a chance at love, he looks for a marriage of mutual benefit rather than a match of mutual affection.

Grace Sinclair has been callously cast out of her home. And though taken in as an orphaned child by the vicar and his wife, her unsurpassed beauty makes it impossible for her to remain in the vicar’s household - with two daughters of their own about to enter Society, the vicar and his wife see Grace as nothing but competition. Thankfully, Grace’s estranged Aunt Bell has agreed to take her in to her home in London. But Grace soon learns her situation has just gotten much worse.

As nursemaid to the eight-year-old Duke of Kielder, Robbie will spend her holidays with her young charge as a guest of Lord and Lady Jonquil. While the couple makes the child’s holiday magical, the handsome gardener works his own magic on Nurse Robbie’s heart. A Christmas house party offers two members of the ton an irresistible weekend of anonymity. But their charade comes with unexpected romantic consequences. Alice Hunt is searching for a Christmas miracle: a husband of her choosing. With the threat of an arranged marriage looming, she looks to an unlikely matchmaker for help.

Miss Miranda Bartley is in love with the Honorable Ethan Roderick, their engagement all but official. But as she basks in the success of her London Season, her joy is cut short when Ethan ends their courtship, claiming she is too insensitive. In the wake of her heartbreak, Miranda is dealt yet another blow, one that changes everything. In a harsh twist of fate, she quickly falls from Society darling to servant in her uncle’s home.

Lady Isabella Wharton has little interest in the customs of the country. But when her godmother asks her to pay a visit to her bachelor grandson in Yorkshire, she goes to see the newly-titled - and notoriously rustic - Duke of Ormond. Trevor Carey doesn't care about what goes on behind ballroom doors. He is content with the simple life - and isn't ashamed to admit it to a society flirt like Lady Isabella. But the country air brings out a different side of Isabella - one full of longing and passion. Can her sophistication be hiding a desire for love?

In this romance anthology, 15 Austenesque authors assemble to sketch Darcy's character through a series of reimaginings, set in the Regency through contemporary times - from faithful narratives to the fanciful. In The Darcy Monologues, the man himself reveals his intimate thoughts, his passionate dreams, and his journey to love - all told with a previously concealed wit and enduring charm.

The grandson of a Scottish clan laird, Duncan MacTavish is shocked to learn that his other grandfather was an English marquis whose title and London estate he is now required to take on. Worse still, he is engaged to a stranger who has mocked him in public. But his bride-to-be, Ophelia, has been guiding a lovely and witty, if dreadfully inexperienced, country girl named Sabrina through the latter's all-important first coming-out season.

Camille, Lady Lydingham, knows precisely what she wants for Christmas - an official engagement to a handsome, dashing prince. Her very proper suitor expects a proper English family and the perfect Dickensian Christmas, which leaves the lovely widow with a slight problem. The last thing Camille wants is for the prince to meet her unconventional relatives. But with the aid of a troupe of actors, Camille intends to pull off a Christmas deception of massive proportions. At least until Grayson Elliot shows up....

Lady Clarissa Crambray wanted a husband, but maybe not as much as her stepmother wanted one for her. Really! Doffing her spectacles might make a girl prettier, but how would she see? She'd already caused enough mayhem to earn a rather horrible nickname. Yet as all other suitors seemed to shy away in terror, there came a man to lead her to the dance floor. A dark, handsome, blur of a man.

With An Heiress at Heart, Jennifer Delamere delivers the first in a historical romance series sure to set hearts aflame. After five years in exile for a youthful indiscretion, Lizzie Poole is given a second chance to join London society when her best friend, Ria, takes to her death bed and asks Lizzie to assume her identity. Ria wants Lizzie to carry out her final wishes, but neither knows that Lord Somerville has designs on Ria - and that maintaining the ruse will put Lizzie’s heart at risk.

Katherine Cartwright knows through bitter experience that true love is fiction and trust should not be bestowed easily. Now, after two unsuccessful London Seasons, her atrocious father has decided to marry her off to the highest bidder to pay for his gambling debts, ridding himself of the daughter he never wanted. A profitable deal is struck, and Kate is packed off to the home of her betrothed, an earl she has never met. Or so she believes.

Reluctantly returning to London for yet another Season, shy Nora Hamilton has nearly given up hope that she will ever find the love match she longs for. After all, the one man she does harbor feelings for - her closest friend, James - has made it perfectly clear he views her as just that: a friend. With James traveling half a world away and Nora’s father pressuring her to marry for wealth and status, Nora is forced to set aside her desire for love and accept the future she has always dreaded. Until James returns unexpectedly and Nora’s feelings once again rush unbearably close to the surface.

Only the night before, she rejected him. Today, she is his intended wife. Elizabeth Bennet proved he was no gentleman when she rejected his proposal. Darcy is now determined to flee Kent and hopefully not act like a lovelorn schoolboy the next he meets the lively Elizabeth. But when she loses her memory of his disastrous proposal and a bumbling relative believes them engaged, Darcy continues the charade with the plan to tell Elizabeth as soon as he can resolve on how to do so. And yet, she may be falling in love with him....

Griff Knighton's found the perfect way to avoid being trapped into marriage with one of the Earl of Swanlea's daughters: He'll swap identities with his man of affairs during their next visit to Swan Park, and be free to pursue his own desires! After all, he's not about to marry some homely spinster just to claim his rightful title. But Griff didn't reckon on the brazen, voluptuous Rosalind, who could tempt even a saint into sinning, and Griff is no saint.

Devlin Markham, the notorious "Devil Duke" of Huntington, needs a woman. And not just any woman. If he can't woo one of the most eccentric bluestockings of the Ton within the month, he can kiss his hard-earned fortune good-bye. But he's always thought love a wasted emotion and marriage an inconvenience at best. And oddly enough, Lady Sophie Wolcott seems unmoved by his charm. When Sophie learns her beloved orphanage is in imminent danger, she will do anything to save it. Even marry a ruthless rake who takes what he wants in business and pleasure.

Constantly stifled by the rules of Society, spirited Rebecca Rowley enjoys finding ways to quietly - or not so quietly - rebel. But riding bareback and avoiding nosy neighbors are nothing compared to the thrilling secret she is keeping from her family. When Rebecca’s quick thinking saves the life of a young girl, she unwittingly attracts the attention of the child’s dashing brother, Lieutenant Nicholas Avery. As that attention turns flirtatious, Rebecca is forced to tell him the truth: She is secretly engaged - to the one man her family would never approve of.

Miss Gwendolyn Brinley accepted a temporary paid companion position for the Newport summer season, believing it would be a lark to spend the summer in America's most exclusive town. She suddenly finds her summer turning anything but amusing when her employer expects her to take over responsibilities as an assistant matchmaker. Tasked with the daunting prospect of attaining advantageous matches for her clients, Gwendolyn soon finds herself in the company of Mr. Walter Townsend, the catch of the Season, but a gentleman Gwendolyn finds beyond annoying.

When Miss Charlotte Wilson asks God for a husband, she decides He must want her to pursue Mr. Hamilton Beckett, the catch of the season. The only problem? She's never actually met Hamilton. Fortunately, one of her oldest and dearest friends, Mr. Henry St. James - who has returned to New York after a two-year absence - does know Hamilton. Much to Henry's chagrin, Charlotte immediately ropes him into helping her meet Hamilton. However, none of her plans to catch Hamilton's eye go as she expected, and she is even more confused when her old feelings for Henry begin to resurrect themselves.

Miss Isadora Delafield may be an heiress, but her life is far from carefree. When her mother begins pressuring her to marry an elderly and uncouth duke, she escapes from the high-society world she's always known and finds herself to be an unlikely candidate for a housekeeper position in rural Pennsylvania. Mr. Ian MacKenzie is known for his savvy business sense and has built his reputation and fortune completely on his own merits. But when his adopted parents are in need of a new housekeeper and Isadora is thrown into his path, he's unexpectedly charmed by her unconventional manner.

After a childhood as a street thief, Gabriella Goodhue thought she'd put her past behind her until a fellow resident at her boardinghouse is unjustly accused of theft. In the middle of breaking into a safe that holds the proof to prove her friend's innocence, Gabriella is interrupted by Nicholas Quinn, the man she once considered her best friend - until he abandoned her.

After her father lost the family's fortune, Wilhelmina was cast out of the fashionable set and banished to the wallflower section. Taking a position as a social secretary to help support her family, she's mostly come to terms with her new status. But when her old friend Edgar returns to New York society for the first time since she rejected his marriage proposal, she's newly ashamed at how far she's fallen—and how hastily she dismissed him years ago. Her strategy is to avoid a face-to-face encounter at all costs, but he seems to have other plans.

Miss Harriet Peabody dreams of the day she can open up a shop selling refashioned gowns to independent working women like herself. Unfortunately, when an errand for her millinery shop job goes sadly awry due to a difficult customer, she finds herself out of an income. Mr. Oliver Addleshaw is on the verge of his biggest business deal yet, when he learns his potential partner prefers to deal with men who are settled down and wed.

Elsie and her two best friends made a childhood vow to never marry. But when Elsie begins her first season in London, her mother presents her with an irresistible bargain: If she says yes to each and every man's invitations and still remains unattached by the end of the season, she will receive her inheritance and become a free woman. She's thrown into the spotlight by increasing attention in the newspaper gossip articles. Keeping her end of the bargain seems impossible - especially when her best friend's tyrant of a brother begins to make advances that Elsie literally cannot refuse.

Much to her father's dismay, Miss Amelia Buxton aspires to become a spinster, just like her eccentric aunt. Growing up with parents who married for every reason but love, she has never seen a joyful marriage. When Amelia requests a summer trip to the legendary waters of Brighton, her father allows her the excursion, but with one requirement: She must return engaged, or agree to the proposal of the man of his choosing.

A spinster teacher...a grieving widower...a marriage of convenience and a second chance with the man she's always loved. When Samuel Walker proposes a marriage of convenience to Rose Hatfieldso soon after the death of his wife, she knows he doesn't love her. She's loved him since their school days. Those long-suppressed feelings spring to life as she marries him. She must sell her childhood home, quit her teaching job, and move to a new city. Marrying Rose is harder than Samuel expected, especially with the shadow of his deceased wife everywhere in his life. And he has two young children to...

This collection includes three charming and festive holiday novellas spiced with humor, frontier action, and sweet romance.