Anthony Russell, Earl of Lever, has to marry before his 30th birthday. That's what his father’s will dictates. A man who has always been socially awkward and at a loss of how to communicate easily with people is determined to marry to save his heritage. But he has no real idea of how to avoid making a blundering mess of the situation he is faced with.

Family secrets can’t always be kept hidden. James Massey, Marquess of Avery, is hated by his mother and can’t understand why. Leonard Massey, Duke of Yarnton, has a secret that will protect his son but destroy his wife. Catherine Massey, Duchess of Yarnton, hates her husband and son and is determined they will be rejected by society. One family on an inevitable path of self-destruction. No one will come away unscathed.

Colonel Fitzwilliam is a second son, often overshadowed by his titled, older brother and his cousin, Mr. Darcy. Returning from Waterloo, he knows it is time to find a wife with a healthy dowry, but he longs for a love match. Unfortunately for Fitzwilliam, love doesn’t put food on the table. Miss Prudence Bamber has never known her mother’s family. A woman with her own mind and full life, she indulges her father’s wish to visit her long-lost relations. Mr Bamber hopes his daughter will find a husband; she wishes nothing more than to find out more about her mother’s history.

Lord Michael Dunham is bored of society, bored of fickle women, but above all that, he is afraid. His father suffered from madness, and Michael is terrified that he will inherit the same affliction. He scrutinizes his every mood swing, his every expression, to see if he can detect any signs that he is developing the symptoms. It blights his life. He has determined that he will never marry, putting a wife through the same that his mother suffered, and he certainly will never have children. The disease will die with him.

Catherine wishes the last year never happened. After losing her mother and her marriage in quick succession, each day is a brand new struggle. When her ex-husband drags her kids halfway across the world, she visits the Bath Christmas Market, just hoping to put something good in her life. She never expected find a gateway to the past.

Captain Worthington is injured in the battle of Trafalgar. Blinded by shrapnel, his life goes from being at the forefront of society to being almost cast off. He finds himself sitting with the wallflowers at a ball - something he doesn't take too kindly to. Miss Amelia Basingstoke has no dowry and enough dreadful relations to ensure that even on her third season, she is unmarried and a confirmed wallflower. Her only friend is a large boisterous dog of dubious character.

Peter Gilbert, Duke of Sudworth, is a good man. He has inherited the title and the debt that his deceased brother and father created, having had to leave the home that he had set up away from his dysfunctional family. Facing bankruptcy, he has determined to keep the family home at whatever cost. Only those closest to him know that it is not for his own benefit. Rosalind, is the eldest daughter of Mr Johnson, a 'cit', a man who has earned his fortune through business. He is determined that his four daughters will marry the highest titles in the country.

She wanted sanctuary... Helena Reynolds will do anything to escape her life in London, even if that means traveling to a remote cliffside estate on the North Devon coast and marrying a complete stranger. But Greyfriar's Abbey isn't the sort of refuge she imagined. And ex-army captain Justin Thornhill - though he may be tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome - is anything but a romantic hero. He needed redemption... Justin has spent the last two decades making his fortune, settling scores, and suffering a prolonged period of torture in an Indian prison.

Thirty-year-old widow Louisa Middlehope is determined to escape from her late husband’s family and live life for herself for the first time. The tiny village of Great Maeswood offers her the peace and quiet her heart craves, and perhaps, it might provide a little entertainment, too. But the house she has leased has been empty for a quarter of a century and who knows what secrets it holds?

Julia Fletcher is the unimportant daughter of the Fletcher family, with neither beauty nor wit nor accomplishments, but always in a scrape. Somehow she never manages to get through the day without breaking or spilling or tearing something. She’s quite the despair of her stepmother. She’s looking forward to their grand new home because it will give her a vast estate to roam over without getting into too much trouble. Or so she hopes.

Elena MacKinnon has spent the last seven years training to become a proper English lady. When her childhood friend, Captain Theo Donovan, returns from serving in the Navy, he brings along with him Elena’s humiliation for the ill-advised and ardent love letter she wrote him before his departure, which he ignored entirely. Elena hopes to simultaneously stifle his memory of the letter and make him regret overlooking her, showing him just how fine an English lady she can be. The only problem? She is not English but a proud Scot—and her heart may be more enamored with Theo than ever.

Captain Charles Bassington of the 13th Light Dragoons is famed for his good luck, high spirits, and devil-may-care attitude. He escapes serious injury at Waterloo only to succumb to an inflammation of the lungs. When he returns home to recuperate, cracks begin to appear in his cheery façade. It is only when two eminently eligible bachelors appear to be vying for the hand of his childhood friend, Lady Selena Sheringham, that Charles realizes his heart’s desire. But how can the younger son of a baron ever hope to be worthy of the wealthy daughter of an earl?

When Lady Margaret Blake and her sister lose their parents in a boating accident, they are left to the guardianship of their uncle. Disregarding their feelings for the price their beauty will fetch on the Marriage Mart, he arranges a match for both. Lady Margaret, however, takes her fate into her own hands. Returning home after war to assume his responsibilities, Luke, Duke of Waverley, expects a nice, quiet life on his country estate. Within hours of stepping foot in England, though, he stumbles upon a young woman being attacked, and no sooner does he rescue her than she runs away.

Sophy Hadlow does not want to return for another London Season. Her own debut into Society was marred by self-consciousness and her cringing embarrassment every time she was announced as ‘The Lady Sophronia Hadlow’. Yet, much to her dismay, Sophy is back in London to oversee the debut of her younger sister and their wild cousin, Susan Tyneham, who risks ruining both her own and her innocent cousin’s chances of marriage.

Miss Amelia Fleming has a very good reason to hate the Earl of Langley. A year ago, her father drowned in the Thames after losing a fortune to Langley at cards. Now her family is broke, her fiance has broken their engagement, and the debt still hasn't been paid. Someone has to deal with the earl, but Amelia's brother doesn't have the nerve and her mother has fled to France. It's no business for a gently bred young lady, but the Earl of Langley is about to learn that Amelia Fleming is not your typical young lady . . .