In the spring of 1910, an advertisement I spotted in the Boston newspaper called out to me. “Wealthy family in need of secretary on Whale Island. Must have an affinity for books.” When I’m offered the position, I do not hesitate to pack my meagre belongings and travel to Washington state. After all, I have nothing to lose. I’ve been dismissed from my current position. I have no family. It’s all a dream come true. The only problem? My employer, Benedict Tutheridge, makes my heart flutter and my knees wobble. I didn’t expect him to be devastatingly handsome or interesting. Unfortunately, I’m not from prestige or wealth. A man like Benedict would never marry a woman like me.
Marriage? “No thank you, sir!” has always been Lady Calliope Seaton’s answer. But she needs access to naval documents to rescue her brother Spencer. And she’ll do anything to get them—even wed disreputable navy officer Nathaniel Fitzgerald, the Duke of Kelford.
Bonded by books and united by a purpose, the Mayfair Literary League takes on a new agenda—For Better or Worse. The bachelors of London won’t know what hit them when these bookish ladies set their sights on the men in their lives who don’t see them for who they truly are—yet.
It should have been Connor Hamilton’s final triumph to return to Calverley Hall as its master, rather than the poor blacksmith’s boy he once was. He’s shocked to find that the previous owner’s daughter, his old friend Isobel Blake, has lost everything, including her good reputation. Years ago, Connor understood that Isobel, with her elegant finery and twinkling eye, was well beyond his reach. But now the fragility beneath her shabby clothes and brave smile makes him want to protect her and hold her close…
After years of being a recluse, Duke Hugh must do the one thing he has avoided for years: find a wife and reenter society. Until a long-forgotten contract falls right into his hands… Catherine’s vow of remaining a spinster must break. For the beastly man that appears at her door demands a wife. And to save her sister from an unloving marriage, she must marry the alluring Duke herself… Yet when Hugh demands to seal their deal with a kiss, a desire ignites within her. One that her new husband refuses to satisfy until Catherine begs for him…
Desperate to avoid a forced marriage, Lady Mary makes up a fake courtship with a long-lost Duke. But she never expects the Beast himself to show up at her doorstep, demanding what’s his… Back from war, Duke Edmund must re-enter society. So when a lady he’s never met writes to him as if they’re courting, he makes her an offer she can’t resist…A marriage of convenience with no further expectations. But his sweet new bride is far too tempting for her own good. And he cannot save her from the Beast that he is…
Hugh Pennington—Viscount Greysteil, Lord Justice of the Scottish Courts, hero of the Napoleonic wars—is a grieving widower with a death wish. When he receives an expected crate from the continent, he is shocked to find a nearly dead woman inside. Her identity is unknown, and the handful of American coins and the precious diamond sown into her dress only deepen the mystery.
Aurelia has always valued love and happiness over titles and power. Though her kind-hearted father has allowed her to turn away suitor after suitor in pursuit of a love she cannot yet define, when he dies her choices die with him. Cassius is the ill-fated captain of the governor’s guard tasked with escorting the Lady Aurelia and her unpleasant aunt to the governor’s estate. Since the soothsayer Tullia foretold an early death for him, Cassius wants nothing more than to keep his hands busy with labor and his heart free from any connections to the world he believes he will be leaving soon. As they work through a series of misfortunes on the road to the governor’s province, the words of the soothsayer start to make sense, but can they find the courage to allow their true destiny to unfold?
Orphaned at eighteen, Sophia Wilkinson has learned love means loss. Now she must leave her country home to navigate the opulence of the London Season, although she has no desire for romance or a husband. Edward Morduant, the newest Earl of Peterborough, is struggling with the business of his family estate. He has shunned marriage due to a shameful secret, but with his title comes the need for heirs. Despite their misgivings, Sophia and Edward cannot resist their attraction. When she accidentally discovers his penchant for spankings, her curiosity is her undoing. A clandestine meeting risks a scandal. Only marriage to a reluctant bridegroom can save her reputation. But perhaps the School of Enlightenment can give her an education in love.
Griffith Hempstead, an up-and-coming young banker, has received a plum assignment: assessing the value of Linton’s Cross, as part of the financial review of the Linton estate. It means spending Christmas away from home, but since his life isn’t populated with vast numbers of friends and family—Ballinger Bastards tend toward quiet lives—he accepts the commission without demur. He does not, however, expect to find Lady Helen in residence, nor does he expect to find himself thrust into the midst of family conflicts, theatrical performances, or passionate trysts, some of which—to his utter shock—are his own.