But she never recognized the stranger...not until the moment she found herself surrounded by arms of warm steel--and drowning in smoldering green eyes that had once held cool disdain but now shimmered with passion. Morgan MacDonnell, the boy, had been her tormentor. Now it looked as if Morgan, the man, would prove infinitely more dangerous... Though hatred divided their clans, Morgan MacDonnell had come to Cameron Glen hoping for a truce...only to find that by evening's end the only way to avert bloodshed between the two families was for him to marry his enemy's daughter. But even as Morgan spirited Sabrina away to his rugged fortress, his battle would not be won. For this delicate rose of a girl would put up a bold fight...and the spoils of victory would be nothing less than a heathen MacDonell's heart.

    Thinking Alexandra is his half-sister, pirate captain Nathaniel Kent takes her hostage on his ship to exact revenge on his cold-hearted father. But the pirate and the beautiful seamstress can barely contain their strong desire for each other.

    . .October 8, 1871 -- One small spark ignites the entire city of Chicago, sending its residents into panic. But amid the chaos, a chance encounter leads to an unexpected new love.Unaware of the fire sweeping toward them, Deborah Sinclair confronts her wealthy, powerful father, determined to refuse the society marriage he has arranged for her. Suddenly, out of the smoke and flames, a stranger appears -- gun in hand, intent on avenging an unforgivable crime. As fire consumes the elegant mansion, the ruthless man takes the fragile, sheltered heiress hostage.Swept off to mist-shrouded Isle Royale, Deborah finds herself the pawn in Tom Silver's dangerous game of revenge. Despite her horror at being kidnapped, she finds herself drawn to the people of the close-knit community and to the startling beauty of the island. As she engages in a battle of wits with her brooding captor, she begins to understand the injustice that fuels his anger, an injustice wrought by her own family. And as winter imprisons the isolated land, she realizes she's a hostage of her own heart. . .

    Now, Brenda Joyce delivers a richly crafted contemporary novel set in the exclusive world of the British aristocracy, where secrets remain hidden at all costs, and where one woman dares to discover a lost legacy of passion...and murder.The Third HeiressThe tragic death of her fiancé in a harrowing car accident plunges Jill Gallagher into a dark mystery. His final words to her: "I love you...Kate," force her to realize she neither truly knew this dashing British photographer, nor understood his true motives for being here in America. When she brings his body back to his English family, she enters a world of hostility, suspicion, and closely guarded secrets. Then she finds a century-old photograph of an American heiress named Kate Gallagher who looks remarkably like herself-and who disappeared nearly a century ago. What legacy of scandal has she unearthed? Who is so desperate to stop her? And can she trust the handsome, enigmatic stranger who may be her greatest ally...or a dangerous foe? At once otherworldly and vividly real, The Third Heiress is Brenda Joyce at her passionate and suspenseful best.

    Here is a chance to find a wealthy husband and get the entire family out of debt. But the upper crust of London bristles at Jane's blunt country ways—everyone but Lord Glendale. The handsome Lord, not in the market for a wife, finds himself amused by Jane's frank manner and wagers that—within the month—even provincial Jane can be brought into fashion.His plan succeeds only too well, as Jane blossoms into the most popular young lady of the season. Now will Lord Glendale relinquish Jane to her newfound admirers? Or will he take the biggest gamble of all– and risk his heart in a challenging game of love?

    In his blind jealous rage he later gives away the baby to gypsy Rona Parrish, summoned to help with the delivery. Kathleen, frenzied with grief, is soon after locked away in an asylum. Rejected by her father, the little girl begins her new life with only a valuable brooch pinned to her shawl as a clue to her true origins. Named after Rona's own mother, the lovely raven-haired Starlena grows up in ignorance of her true parentage and vast inheritance, believing her birthplace to be the beautiful Whistledown Valley. And Rona, always afraid, stays watchful over the years for any sign that someone might track Starlena down - someone who wishes her harm...

    She had no intention of being betrothed–especially against her will–to a man she did not love. She had a plan...and it didn’t include being swept into a pair of powerful arms and spirited away by a masked rider. News of Sammie’s heroic rescue from undesired wedlock turned her into the toast of the ton, wooed by suitors far and wide. But she couldn’t forget the swashbuckling brigand who’d abducted her–something about him intrigued her completely. Then she met Eric Landsdowne, the dashing and seductive Earl of Wesley.His exploits were legendary, his life filled with danger. He was the elusive Bride Thief, who had his own reasons for helping young women escape the unhappy fate of arranged marriages, and whose true identity was a scrupulously guarded secret. But from the moment he rescued Sammie–only to discover she’d already managed to get herself un-betrothed–Eric knew he couldn’t lose her a second time. Marriage was out of the question. Which left only one option: A clandestine affair that might lead to scandal, social ruin, and the unmasking of a love-bested legend. . .

    Pity he's a lunatic. He thinks her a missing heiress, but more to the point, he'll help her escape the slums and right a grave injustice. Not a bad bargain. All she has to do is marry him.A notorious ladies' man could take her from poverty to opulence…but at what price?A rake of the first order, Simon St. Maur spent his restless youth burning every bridge he crossed. When he inherits an earldom without a single penny attached to it, he sees a chance to start over—provided he can find an heiress to fund his efforts. But his wicked reputation means courtship will be difficult—until fate sends him the most notorious missing heiress in history. All he needs now is to make her into a lady and keep himself from making the only mistake that could ruin everything: falling in love…

    Forbid her from riding astride2. Hide her dueling sword3. Burn all her breeches and buy her silk drawers4. Frisk her for hidden daggers5. Don't get distracted while frisking her for hidden daggers...Anthony Carrington, Earl of Ravensbrook, expects a biddable bride. A man of fiery passion tempered by the rigors of war into steely self-control, he demands obedience from his troops and his future wife. Regardless of how fetching she looks in breeches.Promised to the Earl of Plump Pockets by her impoverished father, Caroline Montague is no simpering miss. She rides a war stallion named Hercules, fights with a blade, and can best most men with both bow and rifle. She finds Anthony autocratic, domineering, and...ridiculously gorgeous.It's a duel of wit and wills in this charming retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. But the question is...who's taming whom?An Excerpt from HOW TO TAME A WILLFUL WIFE: “You need to work on the way you hold a blade,” Lord Ravensbrook said.Caroline turned to find Anthony just beyond the riding ring. He stood with one polished boot raised on the lower rung of the fence. His obsidian hair fell to his collar in rich waves. His chestnut eyes held her as if she belonged to him already.“I have been told I have a great deal of skill with a blade, my lord, both with a rapier and a dagger.”“Then you’ve been lied to. I think we discovered your prowess is lacking when we met last night.”She felt a frisson of irritation at that jibe, but she swallowed it down. “Do you fence, my lord?”“Not with women or youths who do not know enough to hold the proper form.”“And which am I? A woman, or a youth?”“Dressed as you are, I cannot tell.”Caroline laughed, her eyes gleaming with mischief. She knew she had scored a point. In spite of his words, she saw his eyes roaming over the curves of her hips and thighs, the softness of her breasts beneath her vest. He might call her boyish, but he was lying.“Perhaps you will spar with me here.”“I do not tutor amateurs.”“Is that so?”“Not in fencing, at any rate.”She wondered what else he might seek to tutor her in. From the desire in his eyes, she could begin to guess.

    Born to luxury, she belonged with the Astors and the Vanderbilts at cotillions and soirees. But she shivered with fear and something more as she faced the handsome, ruthless Trevor Sheridan. He had bankrupted her fortune and would expose her family's scandalous secret unless she accepted his outrageous offer, his emotional blackmail ... his heart-stopping kiss.HE BROKE THEM ALLBorn Irish, brought up in the streets, Trevor "the Predator" Sheridan learned early how to get the wealth and the women he wanted. An expert at games of power, he played one that would destroy every famous family who had snubbed him. Tricking the beautiful Alana was his trump card. But he never intended to want her ... until her beauty and her resolve stole his breath away.NOW THEIR DESIRES SWEPT THEM TOWARD RAPTURE ... OR RUIN

    Secret #1: Every good seduction begins with a baited hook . . . Well-educated, but not part of society, Miranda Chase is just as captivated by the erotic pages as everyone else in London. Intrigued by the layers she sees beneath the book's surface, she writes an editorial about it, never realizing that her passionate words will draw an actual viscount to her uncle's bookshop. Maximilian, Viscount Downing, has very particular ideas about passion and sees truth only in desire. He freely flaunts his sensual power and seeks nothing more than another conquest; the one that could justify his entire debauched existence. But Miranda's blend of innocence, trust, and love cause a strange thing to happen on the way to this seduction. Something that just might threaten the very fabric of his jaded heart . . .

    She no longer has to command his pirate band in a quest to regain his birthright. She has been named heir to Ainsley Castle. But no executor would ever hand over the estate to an unmarried pirate wench and her infamous crew—no matter to whom she'd been born. And the will distinctly states that in order to inherit, Valoree must be married to a nobleman...and pregnant.Upon learning that, the virgin captain is ready to return to the seas—but her crew has other ideas—and for those rascally cusses she would do anything. If they could find a way to put on her a sweet face that would fool the ton, she would handle the rest, even with a drunken prostitute as an "aunt" and her merry cutthroat crew as "servants." But to herself she swears one thing: she will only marry a man who fires her blood, a man who is not afraid of a...Lady Pirate.

    For this was Durham in the 1830's, when employers tended to regard the spread of education with suspicion. But now Seth Millican was dead and she was a widow with the need to find a home and a living for herself and her children.The chance of becoming a housekeeper didn't work out, but it led to Moor House and a scholarly recluse obsessed with that very book learning that could open so many doors and yet create so many problems; especially with her daughter, Biddy, who was not only bright, but witful...THE BLACK VELVET GOWN is the story of a mother and daughter, often at odds with each other, facing the need to challenge and fight the prejudice of an age—a narrative of great power and diversity that is one of Catherine Cookson's major achievements.

    To the shock of her distinguished guests, the respectable Lady Jane Welsham is left humiliated at the altar. Yet truth be told, although outwardly ruined she is elated to have escaped marriage to a man she does not love.Enter Grayson Boscastle, the irresistible Marquess of Sedgecroft (and cousin to Nigel). Grayson’s duty is clear: salvage the young lady’s pride and reestablish the family’s good name, while repairing his own tarnished reputation as one of London’s most notorious scoundrels. Their whirlwind affair is the talk of the ton. Yet nothing is as it seems between the bewitching Lady Jane, who knows that her wedding was cleverly sabotaged, and her charming rogue, as they are drawn into an amusing game of seduction and secrets.

    Since her debut three years ago, Missy has received twenty marriage proposals. But she is interested in only one man—her brother’s best friend, James Rutherford. As a child, Missy looked up to James. As a grown up, her admiration has blossomed into the longings of a beautiful, sensuous woman—and she won’t rest until James admits his love—and desire—for her…James Rutherford rues the day he let his physical weaknesses get the better of him by kissing Missy. His best friend has made it clear that Missy is off limits, and though he’s avoided her for three years, he hasn’t forgotten the feel of her soft lips pressed against his—and it seems neither has she. For no matter how much James tries to discourage Missy, he keeps winding up in her arms, sharing heated caresses that promise the most delirious pleasure...