Showing results by author "Linda Rae Sande" in All Categories

A kiss in the gardens. A ruined reputation. A wager without a winner. Having been caught kissing an earl's heir in the gardens during a ball, Lady Lucy has been relegated to the company of potted palms and wallflowers at London entertainments. The incident might have happened three years ago, but time hasn't lessened the stain on her reputation. Despite behaving as a perfect young lady ever since, she is rarely asked to dance nor has anyone courted her. She's beginning to think she will end up a spinster.

While departing the first ball of the Season, dowager countess Persephone discovers there’s an intruder in her coach. She’s momentarily shocked, until she realizes she knows the man. They had briefly been lovers years ago. But how did he end up in her coach, apparently three sheets to the wind? Jack, Earl of Wilmington, is sure he was drugged during the ball, for what else could explain his splitting headache and loss of memory? But who put him in Lady Castlewait's coach? And why?

When Clarinda married the Earl of Norwick, she thought she was marrying the Fitzwilliam twin who courted her. Little does she know that it was David's identical twin brother Daniel, the spare heir, who captured her heart with pink roses and delectable kisses. So when the rakish David married her and made her his countess, an embittered Daniel left London to oversee the earl's estates in Sussex.

At the age of 35, Randall Roderick, Marquess of Reading, decides it's time to trade in his life as the Rake of Reading for the life of a married man. Trouble is, his reputation precedes him, and he's not particularly attracted to the milk water misses who make up the eligible ladies of the ton.

Having said her farewells to her son when he departed for his Grand Tour of Europe, Patience Grayson, the newly widowed Marchioness of Billingsley, heads for the country. She intends to spend at least a year living by herself in the Grayson family estate in Shropshire. If only her traveling coach could make it that far....

When her friend, Lady Samantha, spies a rather handsome groom from her bedchamber window, Lady Julia agrees the man is far too handsome to be a groom. "He could be a gentleman", she tells Sam, thinking it wouldn't be too difficult to teach the servant how to speak and dance and dress like a gentleman. Doubting Julia can accomplish such a task, Samantha dares her to do just that - and in time for the Mayfield ball - in just three weeks!

Horse trainer by day and agent of the Crown at night, when Sir Randolph receives an offer to help a baroness train a timid filly, he’s happy to oblige. But with no horse in sight and the sneaking suspicion he’s been set up for love, he and the beautiful young widow Lady Xenobia hit it off immediately. There’s only one problem - what is the fine Lady doing with a hidden stash of suspicious-looking bank notes?

What is real and what is fiction when it comes to Marcus Lancaster's life? An overactive imagination has never been too much of a problem for the viscount. It comes in handy during boring sessions of parliament and keeps the widower entertained on lonely nights when there are no events to attend. Now that his daughter is making her come-out, he is looking to remarry and has set his cap on a widowed countess.

When archeologist Dr. Stewart Jones, a duke, goes missing and is feared dead while searching for an important Greek artifact, explorer Harold Tennison, Earl of Everly, is pressed into service by fellow members of the Royal Society to find him. Since Harry has already planned an expedition to the Cyclades to search for rare birds and flowers, he sets off for the Aegean to begin his quest. On his last visit to Delos, Harry was blessed with a visit from a young woman - his very own version of Aphrodite.

After four Seasons and no prospects, Lady Samantha is resigned to life as a spinster. Her aunt, Caroline Fitzsimmons, Viscountess Chamberlain, has another option in mind - she insists they set sail to Italy for a tour she hopes might allow her charge to meet and marry a European aristocrat. His coal mines having suffered a multitude of disasters, Ethan Range, Marquess of Plymouth, is determined to secure a recent invention from an Italian count to alleviate the danger of fires.

Having just inherited his uncle's viscountcy, George Bennett-Jones is informed by his mistress that he must find a bride, preferably the daughter of an aristocrat. Through a series of lessons, she instructs George on the finer points of meeting and courting a woman of the ton - and she has one in mind for him.

After eight years in the British Navy, Will Slater returns to London to resume his life as the son of a marquess. He's determined to discover what's become of Lady Barbara. An earl's daughter, she pledged her love on their last night together and now seems to have disappeared from Society. Will's bastard brother, Stephen, served with him on his last ship and is ready to attend every ball and soirée necessary to earn acceptance in the ton.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks, but what about his mistress? Henry Forster has loved only one woman his entire life. Sarah, a farmer's daughter, bore him a son when he was merely the nephew of the Earl of Gisborn. Despite Henry's numerous proposals, Sarah has refused to marry him, claiming he must seek a wife suitable to his rank. And now that he's inherited the earldom and needs a legitimate heir, he is determined to find a biddable wife but keep Sarah as his lover and his young son in his life.

They say time heals all wounds, but what of those left by love? Having barely survived the fire that killed his family, Joshua Wainwright reluctantly begins his reign as the new Duke of Chichester. He is still recovering from his burns when he returns to Wisborough Oaks, the family seat in Sussex where the fire occurred. With reconstruction underway and a backlog of estate business to complete, the very last thing Joshua can handle is the sudden appearance of Lady Charlotte, the daughter of the Earl of Ellsworth.

A viscount's son and a bare knuckle boxer, Michael Cunningham is more interested in building his fortune than spending time at the Marriage Mart. But long ago, he promised his mother he would get married "if not before, then on the eve of my 28th birthday."

Sometimes the perfect person is right under your nose! An expert in pottery restoration, Frances Longworth spends her days in the basement of a museum, applying her skills to damaged artifacts so they can be put on display. If only she didn’t have to constantly prove herself to men who expect her to be a man. The bastard son of an earl, Gabe Wellingham eschews a life of leisure by accepting a position at the same museum as an archivist, cataloguing Ancient Greek artifacts. He has no qualms about a woman reassembling the latest arrival from an archaeological expedition.

While her brother, the Earl of Everly, is away on one of his lengthy expeditions, Lady Evangeline is left behind in London to spend her days creating exquisite embroideries and reading books. She's about to buy The Story of a Baron at The Temple of Muses when Lord Sommers suddenly appears. He's intent on buying the very same book, but there's only the one copy. Desperate to discover what changes his publisher might have made to his story - without letting on he's the author - Jeffrey suggests they read it together.

While on a visit to London to visit her uncle and his new wife, Marianne Slater is happy to attend the Season’s entertainments - even if she can’t see very well. The world is a blur unless it’s close-up. Usually a wallflower at balls, Marianne is stunned when a gentleman approaches and offers to escort her in the gardens. A clear-eyed, innocent kiss suddenly results in the blurry whirlwind of a quick wedding and its subsequent aftermath.

A sensual tale of four suitors’ pursuits of a former maid - as told by a lady. Being a maid was much simpler than being the illegitimate sister of an earl. Lily Harkins has learned that lesson the hard way. Now, she has not one, but four aristocratic suitors. Her brother will expect her to choose one. Trouble is, she doesn’t want any of them. The handsome clerk she recently met, however, is another story entirely. She’ll just have to convince her brother that marrying a commoner wouldn’t be a huge mistake. And she knows just how she’s going to do it.

When Isabella believes she has witnessed her mother's murder at the hands of her father, she rides off to London in search of the Earl of Norwick, the man her mother always said she could go to in case of trouble. To keep her safe, Octavius, Duke of Huntington, agrees to hide Isabella in his country estate - and to allow her access to his stables and horses. But what about his heart?