Tamia Challey is horrified when her husband, Scott, is accused of something terrible – but when she discovers who his accuser is, everything goes into freefall. Backed into a corner and unsure what to think, Tamia is forced to choose who she instinctively believes. But this choice has dire consequences for all concerned, especially when matters take a tragic turn. Then a stranger arrives in town to sprinkle rose petals in the sea in memory of her lost loved one. This stranger carries with her shocking truths that will change the lives of everyone she meets, and will once again force Tamia to make some devastating choices...

    But she is unaware that the occasion is actually a notorious trysting event, where members of the aristocracy can indulge in their every sensual fantasy and erotic whim. Nor does she realize that the striking man who has stolen into her bedroom is none other than Michael Stevens--a rake who gives and takes his pleasures boldly...The bastard son of an earl, Michael Stevens relishes his reputation as London's most notorious seducer. But he has no idea what to make of the auburn-haired beauty he's nearly mistaken for new conquest or how such an innocent could possibly have been invited to a gather where London's bored elite caters to each other's carnal desires. When the lady refuses to heed Michael's warning--to leave the house for her own protection--a powerful attraction grows, and soon, he longs to tutor the very proper Lady Sarah Compton in the art of passion...

    A Simple Heart (also published as A Simple Soul), relates the story of Félicité, an uneducated serving-woman who retains her Catholic faith despite a life of desolation and loss. The Legend of Saint Julian Hospitator, inspired by a stained-glass window in Rouen cathedral, describes the fate of a sadistic hunter destined to murder his own parents. The blend of faith and cruelty that dominates this story may also be found in Herodias, a reworking of the tale of Salome and John the Baptist.

    31 stories:Mademoiselle Fifi --My wife --A grandmother's advice --In the Spring --Graveyard sirens --Madame Baptiste --Rust --Marroca --The log --The relic --The bed --Mad? --The awakening --An artifice --On horseback --The burgler --A Christmas Eve festival --Word of love --An adventure in Paris --Two friends --Christmas Eve --The substitute --Monsieur Jocaste --Pierrot --Minuet --Fear --A Normandy joke --The wooden shoes --The chair mender --The child --The funeral pile.