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Prelude to Heaven by Laura Lee Guhrke


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Nobody's Duke


Scarlett Scott - 2019
    But the man charged with protecting her is no stranger.He's Clayton Ludlow, the bastard son of a duke and the first man she ever loved. Eight years after he took her innocence and ruthlessly abandoned her, he's back in her drawing room and her life.This time, she's older, wiser, and stronger. She will resist him at any cost and make him pay for the past.A spy with a broken heartShe's the only woman Clay ever loved and the one he hates above all others. When Ara brutally betrayed and deceived him, leaving him with a scarred face and a bitter heart, he devoted himself to earning his reputation as one of the Crown's most feared agents.He wants nothing more than to finish his assignment so that he can remove all traces of her from his life forever. But walking away from her for good won't be as easy as he thinks.As secrets are revealed and danger threatens Ara, Clay discovers that the truth is far more complicated than deceit. Once she's back in his arms where she belongs, he'll wage the biggest fight of all to keep her there.

Mistress or Marriage?


Elizabeth Rolls - 2001
    But she stirs a passion in him he cannot resist. The solution seems easy, but to take her as his mistress would tarnish her good name -- something he knows she can't afford to lose. But can he afford to lose her?

Starcross Lovers: A Silver Foxes of Westminster Novella


Merry Farmer - 2018
    But as grand as her new position is, the one thing she wants the most feels out of her grasp. Her heart belongs to head stableman Harry Pond, but she’s convinced that she’s already ruined her chances with Harry by being too bold too soon. So when mine surveyor Stephen Adler takes a shine to her and offers her the adventure of a lifetime, her heart is torn. Harry has loved Ginny from the moment he met her, but he believes that her ambition and hunger for adventure mean she will never look on him as more than a bit of fun. He’d do anything to convince her to marry him…and when Adler swoops in, anything is what he just might have to do. This heartfelt tale of love below-stairs continues the story that started with DECEMBER HEART, the first book in The Silver Foxes of Westminster series. PLEASE BE ADVISE – Steam Level: Very Hot!

To Catch A Spinster


Megan Bryce - 2012
    She has her studies and her duties, what need does she have of a husband? With five sisters married she knows the reality does not live up to the promise, and does not need to personally experiment with the state to know she would be ill-suited to it. However, she finds herself envious of at least one aspect of marriage. But to experience the physical side of marriage, one doesn't need a husband, all one needs is the right man...Nathaniel Jenkins knows his duty. Marry a young girl from a respectable family and father an heir, no matter how cold the endless parade of suitable girls leaves him. But a shocking proposal from a scholarly spinster leaves him wondering if unsuitable is just what he's looking for. Can he convince his spinster that marriage is the greatest experiment of all?

These Old Shades: Historical Novel


Georgette Heyer - 1926
    Society believes the worst of Justin, who is clearly proud of his sobriquet, 'Satanas'. In a dark Parisian back alley, he is accosted by Leon, a young person dressed in ragged boy's clothing running away from a brutal rustic guardian. The Duke buys Leon, a redheaded urchin with strangely familiar looks, who is in fact Leonie, and she serves him with deep devotion. The Duke suspected the truth about his page--she was really none other than the wicked Comte de Saint Vire's legitimate daughter, deprived of her heritage by the comte's dastardly desire for a male heir.Among the splendours of Versailles and the dignified mansions of England, Justin begins to unfold his sinister plans, and Leonie shoulds play a fine part in Duke's long-over-due schemes to avenge himslef on the Comte de St Vire. The duke's plan was simple: parade delicately handsome Leonie in front of his enemy and transforming her into the toast of the town, before his innocent ward reclaim her birthright, destroying her true father in the process. But the duke hadn't expected Leonie's breathtaking transformation or the tender emotions she awoke--and he'd already set his dangerous scheme in motion....While, titian-haired Leonie, ward of the dashing Duke of Avon, has all Paris at her feet. Yet her true origins remained shrouded in mystery. And neither the glittering soirees nor the young aristocrats who so ardently courted her could still the question that plagued her young heart. Just one man held the secret, the one she feared most in the world--the iron-willed Comte de Saint-Vire, deadly enemy of the Duke. He would give her the answer--for a price. But could she betray the man she secretly, helplessly loved? And could this proud young beauty hear to face the truth when it came?

A Diamond in the Rough


Andrea Pickens - 2001
    Spurning the gaming halls and brothels, he secretly designs the most beautiful gardens in England. Then his ne'er-do-well father bets the ancestral manor on the outcome of a golf match, and it's up to Adrian to save his beloved home. But first he must travel to Scotland to learn the game. Miss Derrien Edwards is not a typical Scottish lass. Her bouncy blond curls tucked under a woolen cap, she satisfies her love of the links by passing as a young male caddie named "Derry". When Adrian arrives at St. Andrews links, he's paired with "Derry". While learning to play, Adrian struggles to ignore his strange attraction to the impudent caddie, and Derrien finds herself caught in her own trap. Secrets swirl as the day of reckoning arrives—and neither can afford to lose the game.

The Dream Hunter


Laura Kinsale - 1994
    After the funeral of Lady Stanhope, her unacknowledged illegitimate daughter Zenia 25 agrees to guide him across the Arab desert if he will take her to her unknown father Michael Bruce in London. For months, she is a loyal servant, a ragged Bedouin boy. They save each others lives, until the night a prince sees her as a female, and condemns them to death. Historical Note that explorer Stanhope and younger lover Bruce were real.