When the Marquis of Amberley's coach is waylaid by highwaymen and his coachman shot, he is forced to take shelter at the first house he finds and is subsequently trapped there for a week by a severe snowstorm. Oakleigh Manor is the home of Rosalind Vernon who lives alone but for her devoted servants and an ill-natured parrot, cut off from the outside world by the tragic result of a childhood accident.

At the end of his Grand Tour, somewhere between Athens and Constantinople, Christian Selwyn, the young Earl of Hazelmere, vanished—seemingly without trace. Time passes. In London, his uncle and cousin move into his home, while his unofficial fiancée, Sophia, is left desolate and in limbo.

Lord and Lady Sarre cordially invite you to spend Christmas at Sarre Park. Celebrate among old friends and, perhaps, a gate-crasher or two. There will be wassailers and kissing-boughs; music, dancing, and romance; laughter and some tears. And above all, expect the unexpected because at Christmas, anything can happen.

Someone is misusing Max Brandon’s name - resulting in bills for services he never ordered and goods he did not buy. For reasons he can't begin to guess, he has become the victim of some unknown person's campaign of persecution. When the games move closer to home, almost forcing him to fight a duel...more particularly, when they draw in Frances Pendleton, a lady he never expected to see again...Max vows to catch the man behind them, no matter what the cost.

As England slides into Civil War, master-goldsmith and money-lender, Luciano Falcieri del Santi embarks on his own hidden agenda. A chance meeting one dark night results in an unlikely friendship with Member of Parliament, Richard Maxwell. Richard’s daughter, Kate - a spirited girl who vows to hold their home against both Cavalier and Roundhead - soon finds herself fighting an involuntary attraction to the clever, magnetic, and diabolically beautiful Italian.

For two years, England has been in the grip of Civil War. In Banbury, Oxfordshire, the Cavaliers hold the castle, the Roundheads want it back and the town is full of zealous Puritans. Consequently, the gulf between Captain Justin Ambrose and Abigail Radford, the sister of a fanatically religious shopkeeper, ought to be unbridgeable. The key to both the fate of the castle and that of Justin and Abigail lies in defiance...but will it be enough?

This special boxed set edition is for all the fans who requested actor Alex Wyndham's narration of two of Lucinda Brant's best-loved books, Salt Bride and its sequel Salt Redux. Also included is a 20,000-word bonus novella, Salt Angel, featuring well-loved characters from the Salt books.

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.

1740s France and England - the age of hedonism and enlightenment. Renard, Duke of Roxton, is wealthy beyond measure. Arrogant and self assured, his heart remains his own. Optimistic and headstrong, Antonia Moran is determined to flee the Court of Versailles with the Duke's unwitting assistance. Roxton is an unlikely savior - arrogant, promiscuous, and sinister. Antonia's unquestioning belief in him may just be his salvation, and her undoing.

Hidden away in rural Devonshire, Phyllida Satterthwaite has always been considered more odd than beautiful. But in London, her oddity has made her a sensation. Far worse, it’s caught the eye of the sinister Duke of Moreland - a notorious art collector obsessed with acquiring one-of-a-kind treasures. To escape the duke’s clutches, she’s going to need a little help. Captain Arthur Heywood’s days of heroism are long past. Grievously injured in the Peninsular War, he can no longer walk unaided, let alone shoot a pistol. What use can he possibly be to a damsel in distress?

It's 1763. Career diplomat Alec Halsey returns to London and the shocking news his estranged elder brother, the Earl of Delvin, has not only killed his friend in a duel but become engaged to the woman he had hoped to marry. When Alec reluctantly attends a weekend house party to celebrate his brother's engagement he gets more than he bargained for when a lady's maid is murdered, the bride-to-be is attacked, and a guest is shot dead.

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.

Evelyn Maltravers understands exactly how little she's worth on the marriage mart. As an incurable bluestocking from a family tumbling swiftly toward ruin, she knows she'll never make a match in a ballroom. Her only hope is to distinguish herself by making the biggest splash in the one sphere she excels: on horseback. In haute couture. But to truly capture London's attention she'll need a habit-maker who's not afraid to take risks with his designs - and with his heart.

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.

When the tragic death of her gamester father leaves her destitute and alone, society beauty Sylvia Stafford finds work as a governess in a merchant's household in Cheapside. Isolated from the fashionable acquaintance of her youth, she resigns herself to lonely spinsterhood, until a mysterious visitor convinces her to temporarily return to her former life - and her former love.

Self-made civil engineer Geoffrey Brookhouse has unexpectedly inherited the dukedom of Greenwood. But he has a secret that could ruin his family. Hoping to save his timid sister from that fate, he seeks to marry her off to a respectable, protective gentleman. With the London Season imminent, Geoffrey hires Elegant Occasions to orchestrate her debut. Yet Lady Diana Harper, spirited fashion expert, proves more than he bargained for. Suddenly, Geoffrey’s sister is emerging from her shell, and he is beleaguered with social invitations and gossip!

All of London is abuzz with the return of the utterly alluring, recently widowed Diane Benchley. Will she remarry? What will she do with her late husband's fortune? Society is shocked by her announcement that she plans to open an exclusive gentleman's gaming club in the family mansion. But no one is more stunned than the Marquis of Haybury, Oliver Warren. Years ago, Oliver and Diane shared an indiscretion. Now Diane threatens to reveal Oliver's most ungentlemanly secrets…unless he agrees to help her.

With her reputation forever tarnished by a youthful indiscretion, lovely Emily Faringdon is resigned to a life of spinsterhood, until she embarks on an unusual correspondence and finds herself falling head over heels in love. Sensitive, intelligent, and high-minded, her noble pen pal seems to embody everything Emily has ever dreamed of in a man. But Simon Augustus Traherne, the mysterious Earl of Blade, is not at all what he seems.

The winner of the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart contest for unpublished manuscripts, Christine Merrill has built a considerable fanbase for her steamy romance novels. Here, shy heiress Miss Penelope Winthorpe lives under the oppressive thumb of her bullying brother. In an attempt to escape his dour company, she accidentally weds Adam Felkirk, Duke of Bellston. Felkirk was not looking for marriage either, yet now he is intent on seducing his new bride.

Henry, Duke of Torquil, wouldn't be caught reading the wildly popular "Dear Lady Truelove" column, but when its advice causes his mother to embark on a scandalous elopement, an outraged Henry decides the author of this tripe must be stopped before she can ruin any more lives. Though Lady Truelove's identity is a closely guarded secret, Henry has reason to suspect the publisher of the notorious column, beautiful and provoking Irene Deverill, is also its author.

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?

An arrogant duke does the unthinkable - he falls in love with his mistress.... She raced onto the green, desperate to stop a duel. In the mêlée, Jocelyn Dudley, Duke of Tresham, was shot. To his astonishment, Tresham found himself hiring the servant as his nurse. Jane Ingleby was far too bold for her own good. Her blue eyes were the sort a man could drown in - were it not for her impudence. She questioned his every move, breached his secrets, touched his soul. When he offered to set her up in his London town house, love was the last thing on his mind.

Lady Rebecca is determined to find a husband on her own terms, rather than marry any of the aging suitors her greedy aunt and uncle foist upon her. Her chance comes at the Kingsborough Ball, where she meets several potential grooms...yet no one compares to the dangerously handsome Daniel Neville. Notorious rake and heir to the Marquess of Wolvington, Daniel Neville is in need of a bride, but finding a lady who's willing to accept his past is an entirely different matter.

Andrew Carrington, Earl of Bellingham, believes in being a gentleman, whether it's fishing a soggy stranger out of the Thames or assisting a fetching lady into his bed. If the stranger becomes a friend and the lady a mistress, all the better. He certainly welcomes the opportunity to help Laura Davenport, a dazzling young widow with a rebellious stepson. Her gratitude, he hopes, will take an amorous form. But from the moment he sets foot in her drawing room, he gets far more than he bargained for.

Alice, Lady Charlton, is finally free of her dominating husband, but on the verge of her new life, she is trapped when a blackmailer threatens to publish letters that could ruin her. To protect the secrets of her past Alice must find a lord for his daughter, Lucy, to marry. Alice reluctantly agrees to find the girl a noble husband but when Lucy arrives, she's difficult and uncooperative and has no interest in her father's scheme. A lord, she says, will only look down his nose at her-and she's having none of that! Desperate, Alice enlists the aid of her handsome young nephew.

Patrick Danvers, the Viscount Westover, was known by another name among the people of society: Devil Danvers. No young lady dared to be seen in public with this man whose startling good looks were overshadowed by his scandalous escapades. Caroline Ashley was a very respectable young lady, but with no one to protect her and no money to call her own. How could she resist Devil Danvers' offer to be the wife he needed to win a wager and claim a fortune that hung on his producing an heir?

Four amazing talents have come together to create one of the most unforgettable events of the year. The results are spectacular - each story is as unique as a lover's first kiss.

Augusta Ballinger was quite sure that it was all a dreadful mistake. The chillingly pompous and dangerously disturbing Earl of Graystone could not possibly wish to marry her. Why, it was rumored that his chosen bride must be a veritable model of virtue. And everyone knew that Augusta, as the last of the wild, reckless Northumberland Ballingers, was a woman who could not be bothered by society's rules.

Orphaned beauty Meg Amberley never planned to pose as Lord Cade Byron's fiancée. Caught in a snowstorm, she takes refuge at his estate. Stranded together, Meg soon finds herself falling under Cade's spell. When the roads clear, she intends to leave, but fate intervenes. Haunted by his past, Cade Byron has buried himself in the country. Then Meg - with her lush curves - invades his house and his life. With her reputation compromised, he proposes a pretend engagement and a London season where she can find a husband.

Samuel Charles Aubrey St. Aldwyn, Duke of Gravenhurst, is a radical rogue and champion of unpopular causes. No one would dream that he is also the author of a bestselling series of dark historical novels, a writer accused of corrupting the morals of the public, and a master seducer who counts among his passionate fans wellborn Miss Lily Boscastle. But Lily is no stranger to disrepute....

When the Marquis of Amberley's coach is waylaid by highwaymen and his coachman shot, he is forced to take shelter at the first house he finds and is subsequently trapped there for a week by a severe snowstorm. Oakleigh Manor is the home of Rosalind Vernon who lives alone but for her devoted servants and an ill-natured parrot, cut off from the outside world by the tragic result of a childhood accident.

England, 1666; the year all the prophecies said the world would end. For Chloe Hervaux, marriage to wild, unpredictable Alex Deveril offers escape from a home she hates. For Alex, waking up with an epic hangover, the discovery that he has acquired a bride is an unwelcome shock. But while the marriage remains in name only, other forces are gathering. England is at war with the Dutch, and Prince Rupert suspects that sabotage is at work in the fleet. Instructed to find and stop the traitor, Alex enters a dark, secret labyrinth of intrigue.

At the end of his Grand Tour, somewhere between Athens and Constantinople, Christian Selwyn, the young Earl of Hazelmere, vanished—seemingly without trace. Time passes. In London, his uncle and cousin move into his home, while his unofficial fiancée, Sophia, is left desolate and in limbo.

As England slides into Civil War, master-goldsmith and money-lender, Luciano Falcieri del Santi embarks on his own hidden agenda. A chance meeting one dark night results in an unlikely friendship with Member of Parliament, Richard Maxwell. Richard’s daughter, Kate - a spirited girl who vows to hold their home against both Cavalier and Roundhead - soon finds herself fighting an involuntary attraction to the clever, magnetic, and diabolically beautiful Italian.

Someone is misusing Max Brandon’s name - resulting in bills for services he never ordered and goods he did not buy. For reasons he can't begin to guess, he has become the victim of some unknown person's campaign of persecution. When the games move closer to home, almost forcing him to fight a duel...more particularly, when they draw in Frances Pendleton, a lady he never expected to see again...Max vows to catch the man behind them, no matter what the cost.