The dowager, no less, has invited her for a season in London, where she will attempt to catch a husband. Thus begins our heroine’s tale as she attempts to tackle the London season with all her rustic finesse. Unfortunately her rustic finesse turns out to be as delicate as a fat bear trying to rip apart a honeycomb infested with buzzing bees. What follows is a series of misadventures, love affairs, moonlit balls, fancy clothes, fake moustaches, highwaymen, sneering beauties, pickpockets, and the wrath of a devilishly handsome duke. The Wicked Wager The infamous rake, Lord Richard Hamilton, has finally chosen his bride—the very appropriate Miss Emma Grey. The ton approves, Lord Grey is pleased, Lady Grey delighted, and Emma is over the moon, but her uncle, (the blasted) Duke of Arden opposes the match, and Emma is ordered to move to the duke’s estate to think things over. Richard Hamilton refuses to take things lying down and concocts a plan. A plan that should have brought the lovers together and had them married within a month. It was a simple matter of masquerading as the duke’s gardener, compromising the lady, and then having the duke rush them off to Gretna Green. Alas, he underestimates the duke’s intelligence and the tangled situation on the estate—never had he imagined that compromising a lady could be so difficult. His endeavours lead to a comedy of errors, charades, and knotty love affairs. Yet he forges ahead in spite of pesky house guests, a flea bitten mattress, his lovesick best friend, and a blackmailer. Just when things seem to be going well, someone is murdered (very inconvenient), and he happens to be one of the suspects (extremely inconvenient). His simple plan for winning the wager suddenly becomes … a tad complicated. Murder At Rudhall Manor A murder and a theft have been committed at Rudhall Manor. A box of jewels has vanished and Lord Sedley, a lusty old aristocrat, has been stabbed six times in the chest. It is all very mysterious, and the Sedley family and the servants have decided that Miss Lucy Anne Trotter, a recently employed governess, is to blame for the unfortunate events. The legendary and wickedly handsome Marquis, Lord William Adair, learns of the matter and decides to uncover the truth. Lucy, however, has little faith in blue blooded creatures—even if they possess dashing good looks— and, accompanied by two naughty pugs and a moody raven, decides to investigate and unmask the killer herself. But the hunt for the killer turns out to be far more complicated than she anticipates—what with snooty servants, warts in odd places, mixed up love affairs, agitated chickens and dreadful disguises ruining her plans. Soon she begins to wonder if, for once, she is in over her head….

    Set in 1502, in the Highlands of Scotland, this beautiful love story transcends time and continents, bringing readers to a past where romantic heroes let nothing stand in the way of protecting those they love! Highlander Alexander MacGregor returns home, victorious but weary after his valiant service to the King of Scotland. But his hardest battle of all may be with his own family. As next in line to become laird of his clan, his father gives him an ultimatum; he must wed a mysterious lass within five days or forfeit his birthright.When Katherine Gordon is brought to the MacGregor stronghold and presented to a gruff, moody Highlander, whom she is told she must marry, she wants none of him. Vowing not to let his intelligence and handsome looks sway her wounded heart, she seeks to escape before she is forced again to learn the treachery of a man's passion. But escape can lead to capture by an unknown enemy. And capture can mean death.Each betrayed by love in the past, and now forced together by fate, they must learn to trust each other with their hearts if they are ever to know true love. But an unknown enemy seeks to destroy them before that can happen. Will Alexander risk everything for Katherine?

    With scandal nipping at her heels, to avoid total social ruin, Elizabeth must present a fiancé by the end of the Season. But when the viscount proves reluctant, Elizabeth is forced to employ a seduction of a different sort...With his seduction he is determined to ruin herViscount Derek Creswell believes Elizabeth set out to trap him into marriage. After all, her sister attempted the very same thing with his brother six years before. Now the delectable Miss Smith expects a betrothal and a ring, while Derek finds her ruination infinitely more appealing...But as Derek sets out to seduce only her body, Elizabeth is intent on claiming his jaded heart.This is a novella and 29,000 words. Included is a three chapter excerpt of the third full-length book in The Elusive Lords series, AN HEIR OF DECEPTION. The total word count for this book is 43,000 + words. Prior books in The Elusive Lords series are:SINFUL SURRENDER (Book #1)A TASTE OF DESIRE (Book #2)

    With rumors of insanity swirling around them, his sisters desperately need a chaperone. Ferguson thinks he’s found the most proper woman in England–and he won’t ruin her, even if he secretly desires the passionate woman trapped beneath a spinster’s cap.One chance to break the rules...Lady Madeleine Vaillant can’t face her blighted future without making one glorious memory for herself. In disguise, on a London stage, she finds all the adoration she never felt from the ton. But when she’s nearly recognized, she will do anything to hide her identity–even setting up her actress persona as Ferguson’s mistress. She’ll take the pleasure he offers, but Madeleine won’t lose her heart in the bargain.One season to fall in love...Every stolen kiss could lead to discovery, and Ferguson’s old enemies are determined to ruin them both. But as their dangerous passion ignites their hearts and threatens their futures, how can an heiress who dreams of freedom deny the duke who demands her love?

    Charming. Devastating. He was the last man she needed, but the only one she wanted. Orlando Holt has never assassinated a woman before. The lovely, feisty Lady Lynden will be his first. She's supposed to be a vicious murderess, but when Orlando begins to have doubts, he sets out to discover the identity of the person who hired him. What he learns will turn his world upside down, and propel him headlong into love with a woman who's immune to his charms. Twice widowed by the age of twenty-four, Lady Susanna Lynden has had enough of charming men. Her last husband knew all the right things to say to get her to the marriage bed…then made her life miserable. Money may be scarce and her house falling down around her, but the exotic fruit from her orange trees will keep poverty away. Except someone is thwarting her at every turn. Someone who may even want her dead. The books in the Assassins Guild series are: #1 The Charmer #2 The Rebel #3 The Saint #4 The Sinner

    ANNA -- In love with a woman he had only seen once and could not find, the Highlander, Kevin MacGreagor was growing older and needed a wife to give him sons. No other woman pleased him, not even the daughters of other lairds, so he finally settled for Anna sight unseen. But when his men went to meet her guard, she was all alone and badly beaten. Who could have done such a thing and why? RACHEL -- had a dark secret and even she didn't know what it was. She was seventeen, determined to become as good a warrior as any Highlander, and was firmly against taking a husband. Connor had other ideas. He loved Rachel and when a rival clan took her, he thought he would lose his mind. How would he ever get her back and if he did, would her dark secret separate them forever?CHARLET -- The King of England asked the Highlander, Kevin MacGreagor, to hide a baby girl and save her life. But sixteen years later, someone discovered where she was. To Blair Cameron fell the duty of hiding and protecting Charlet. It was not an easy task. She was furious, head-strong and determined to run from him. Could Blair keep her alive? And if he did, could he keep himself from falling in love with her?

    Marriage to David Clarke and a family is all she wants. Her Pa has other ideas. He insists on taking the Oregon Trail to a better life and favors Harold Chapman as Eva’s suitor. Marriage to Harold will provide Eva with everything she needs except .... love. Can David overcome the prejudices of the past, the challenges of the present to give Eva the future she desires? Oregon Dreams Johanna Thompson understands her father’s wish to go to Oregon. Can she use the time together to convince him to let her follow her dream? Rick Hughes inherits two small children, a wagon and a dream to go to Oregon. But it’s not his dream. Johanna and Rick need to work together to save their families from disaster but doing so could comprise both their dreams. Can they find a way to overcome the difficulties on the trail and find a new life together? Oregon Destiny Becky Thomspon doesn’t take no for an answer. She knows what she wants and his name is Scott Jones. Scott Jones’s future was stolen along with his heart. He cannot love Becky, but can he keep her safe? After months of illness, deprivation and betrayal, with the end in sight have their problems only started?

    Shunned from London society for being the daughter of England’s most notorious spy, Alyce Hythe desires only to clear her father’s name. For years, she has been hidden away from all prying eyes, given a new identity and told to forget who she was. But strange things have been happening causing old rumors to once more be whispered.Long has Lord Julian Casvelyn lived with guilt brought on when his brother was murdered by England’s most infamous traitor. But one eventful night has changed everything Lord Julian believed about his brother’s death. Never did he suspect the woman he has just saved from certain harm is the daughter of that man. Now Julian is caught in midst of a conspiracy and desire for that woman.Thrown together by fate, the two search for answers long denied them and along the way discover a love that can free them both.Previously published as Daughter of Deceit under Carrie James Haynes

    Two missing parents. One man whose hatred had divided a family, whose duplicity ended in murder, inextricably weaving all their lives together in a web of lies that only time could untangle.WHITHe was a gambler by necessity, a loner by choice. Ever since the orphanage had gone up in flames, Whit Hawk had been searching desperately for what remained of his family. Instead he found Jacqueline Douglas, a rancher in need of a good hand, a woman in need of the right man. Wildly beautiful, she was as untamed as the Texas he loved, and Whit knew that no matter what else life held in store for him, the fiery redhead must be his.

    Yet Nell is determined to elude the duties and restrictions of matrimony. So when she finds herself pregnant at the age of 17, she refuses to divulge the name of the father and even her childhood friend Martin is kept in the dark.Nell's stepfather Hiram sends Nell to live at the Poor Farm of which he is a governor, to await the day when her baby can be discreetly adopted. Nell is ready to go along with Hiram's plans until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced that the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and the incident prompts her to rethink her decision to abandon her own child to her fate. But the revelations to which her questions lead make her realize that even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby, she may have no safe place to run to.

    He is big, he is charmingly masculine, and his Scottish accent sends her reeling with very unmaiden-like desires.Having inherited his mother’s English home and title, Earl of Dunkirk of Scotland is considered a prize catch by the haute ton. He knows one day he will have to marry to carry on his name, but he wants a wife who ‘understands’ they will each go their own way after she gives him an heir - a marriage of convenience.Lady Bess does not fit into those plans. How could she? She is exquisite, yes, but she is also an innocent who expects faithfulness. He won’t ruin an innocent, and yet, he can’t get her out of his head.All this time, and right in their midst, evil hovers. Although Bess doesn’t look for it, she finds it - and Bess is not your average, simpering female. She takes on danger and mayhem like she does everything else: full throttle.Adventure ensues as we travel with Bess through romance and the battle of her life

    Yet men still try to win her, drawn by her sharp wit and intoxicating green eyes. But Cordelia knows a marriage could reveal her deepest secret and truly endanger her life. Besides, she hasn't met a man worth considering, until... Sebastien Thorne, a spy in the service of Crown. One of the elite agents in the group known as the Zodiac, he comes to London determined to solve a mystery with roots on the Continent. He won't let anything distract him. But is Cordelia a distraction, or the key to the mystery? As he learns more about the "heartless" woman, he becomes embroiled in secrets, plots, and a design that could change the future...and Cordelia is at the center of it all.

     Morgan Bartholomew Langston, Earl of Whetherford, has finally decided to accept his fate. Tired of dangerous assignments and putting his neck on the line, he has returned to his ancestral home to accept the title of his birthright and produce the required heir. But, when he arrives, he finds his home has been invaded and a female has taken off with his mother’s jewels. Morgan decides the traitorous jade will not get away, so he sets into motion a plan to bring her back. When he abducts the wrong woman, his reaction to her brings him dangerously close to breaking his vow of forbidden emotions. A Woman Without A Love. Katherine Elizabeth Radbourn is a strong, independent woman and at the age of twenty three, is still unwed. In a desperate attempt to find her brother, she is abducted which leads her on a journey to love and mistaken identity. Once she meets her captor, fear and indignation dissipates to an overwhelming awareness. Even though he tells her she is the wrong one, Kat realizes she has finally met a man that – not only she is attracted to – but has awakened her woman’s body. Does he really care for her or does he secretly yearn for the woman she is supposed to be? Uncertainty makes her risk the very man she has given her soul.

    She'd been raised to bake in her parents' bakery, and after their deaths, she had planned to carry on the family tradition. Devastated to find out she was losing her family's business, she needed something to do to support herself. When she received a letter from her twin sister's husband in Arizona Territory, suggesting she come out to be the bride of his best friend who was opening a restaurant, it seemed like the perfect solution to her problems. Tripp had gone to the best culinary school in the country, and he knew exactly how to create the perfect meal. He spent hours and hours coming up with just the right menu for his restaurant, only to be told he couldn't get a loan for it unless he married. When his best friend came up with the solution of sending for his baker sister-in-law, it only made sense. Her ideas of the perfect menu were different than his, though. Would the two be able to stay together long enough to convince the bank he was a good risk? Would Sadie be able to convince Tripp that the two of them belonged together after all?

    She can shoot and wield a sword as well as any man and anything she needs to know about siege warfare she has learned from a book...but no book can prepare her for what is to come.Everything Captain Luke Collyer knows about siege warfare - and women - he has learned from experience. When he is sent by Sir John Felton to defend Kinton Lacy Castle against the Royalists, he will be up against a formidable force.He had not reckoned on that force being Sir John’s daughter, Deliverance.Deliverance will not give up her command lightly and Luke will have to face a challenge to his authority as fierce as the cavalier foe outside the walls.As betrayal surfaces, they must learn to trust each other and uncover the traitor within the castle walls before it is too late for the castle... or their hearts.