She'll do anything to keep O'Flaherty Shipping running and solvent, even endure the unimaginable.But she doesn't count on Silas. On Silas's words or Silas's touch.  After ten years, could what they feel for each other suddenly be something more than friendship?***The Seduction of Molly O'Flaherty is a short story and a prequel to the London Lovers duet.  It is not necessary to read this to enjoy the duet.  It is intended for mature audiences only.***

    She refuses. Stunned that any woman—but especially a woman with so few matrimonial prospects—could turn him down, he begins a campaign to woo her with valentines and gifts. Unbeknownst to her guardian, who is too used to having his way and surely proposed out of pure laziness, Cecilia Clemmons is determined to make her own way in the world by crafting valentines. But when her valentines return addressed to her, she is terrified her secret is out. Worse yet, when she learns Devin is the sender, she thinks it a cruel hoax. Only the more he learns about stubborn, independent Cecilia in his efforts to buy perfect gifts for her, the more enchanting he finds her. But will she have him now, or has he botched his chances forever?This novella was originally published as "The Bachelor and the Bluestocking" as part of the anthology Cupid Calling in 2003.

    Quite by happenstance, she's introduced to the Hawthorne family and their close family friend, Anthony, the reformed marquis of Raeburn. They welcome her into their world, but just as she's beginning to gain some confidence and even suspect she may have caught Anthony's eye, she's blindsided by an unexpected twist in her situation accompanied by nasty rumors. Will she lose her reputation when the world that has only just accepted her turns its back on her, or will she rest in the support of the friends who've become like family and the man who's shared his faith and captured her heart?A Lady of Esteem is an e-only novella that gives an exciting introduction to Kristi Ann Hunter's new Regency romance series about the aristocratic Hawthorne family! Includes an extended excerpt of Kristi's debut full-length novel, A Noble Masquerade.

    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?

    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

    charity anthology** Length: 20 pages A late night game of cards turns into something far more intriguing when Edwina Merriweather confesses a secret to one of the most charming and debauched men in London. Contrary to popular opinion, Dina is not in town to find a husband. Instead, she’s resolved to find a rake. Francis Chevalier is fascinated by the drunken spinster offering up her virginity like a piece of cake. Torn between the need to have her and the desire to protect her from her own stupidity, he politely declines. Undeterred, Dina returns with a proposition so daring even Chevalier cannot refuse.

    Severing their friendship, she vows to choose her own husband, a man who'll share her thirst for adventure. Yet, despite her attempts to forget him, Robert's place in her heart proves more unwavering than she could ever have imagined.After seven years on his Caribbean plantation, Robert returns to England a changed man. Weary of traveling and troubled by his past, he hopes to attain peace of mind through marriage and family. Though scarcely daunted at finding Georgie in love with another man, he soon learns that winning her hand—and heart—will take more powerful means of persuasion than expected.

    The story first appeared in the 2010 Anthology The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance. Lydia Bettridge is a young woman suffering the pangs of unrequited love. To capture the attention of Geoffrey Danforth, the man who has stolen her heart but barely notices her, she has resorted to desperate measures with a seemingly clever plan. By engaging the help of Phillip, a friend of her brother's, to play the love-smitten fool in public, she hopes to pique the interest of her unnamed love. But when Geoffrey himself shows up to take Phillip's place, all her careful planning is turned upside down. What's a girl to do but to make the best of it? This short story was originally published in The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance.

    She had no suitors when she was young and starry-eyed, though regrettably poor, and it's unlikely any man will court her now that she's older, wiser, and still just as penniless. Until, that is, her brother unexpectedly inherits the dukedom of Durham and settles an enormous dowry on her, making her the most eligible heiress in town.No gentleman in London is more in need of a wealthy bride than Rhys Corwen, Earl of Dowling. He contrives an introduction to Margaret because of her dowry, but she swiftly sets him right: no fortune hunter will win her heart or her hand. Far from put off, Rhys is intrigued. Interested. Entranced. And soon the only thing he needs more than Margaret's fortune...is her love.

    It is Emma who is amazed. She has naturally concluded that the man reading in the conservatory must be the country cousin (who else in London would actually read?) and is quite vexed to discover that he is the Duke of Trent himself—imagine, stealing the duke’s prize Rhyncholaelia digbyana under his very nose! But her vexation doesn’t last long. For Emma is a practical young lady with a mission: to end her dear sister Lavinia’s engagement to the villainous (and dreadfully dull!) Sir Waldo Windbourne, and she thinks that the famous libertine is just the man for the job. If he would only seduce her sister away from Sir Waldo…. Well, not seduce exactly, but flirt mercilessly and engage her interest. Perhaps then Lavinia would jilt the baron. The Duke of Trent is resistant, of course. Despite his reputation, he does not toy with the affections of innocents. And besides, it’s not her sister he longs to seduce.

    She does not realize that the handsome man of commanding sensuality who shows up is not the person she expected, but instead Lord Sebastian Summerhays, one of her father’s persecutors, lured to the inn by the same advertisement that brought her there.When the pistol accidentally fires, the situation becomes mortifyingly public, and thoroughly misunderstood. Audrianna is prepared to live with the scandal. Lord Sebastian has other ideas...

    To Matilda, who considers herself the aging spinster daughter, marriage is laughable--love is a game for the young, after all. But her modest, quiet life of order unravels when a dashing gentleman from her past reappears, threatening to charm his way into her heart yet again.Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson, does not expect to see Matilda Westcott thirty-six years after their failed romance. Moreover, he does not expect decades-old feelings to emerge at the very sight of her. When encountering Matilda at a dinner hosted by the Earl of Riverdale, he finds himself as fascinated by her as he was the first day they met, and wonders if, after all these years, they have a chance at happiness together. Charles is determined to crack the hard exterior Matilda has built for over three decades or risk losing her once again...

     Fanny is used to trading on her wits and beauty to ensure her family retains its tenuous hold on respectability. While her reprobate brother gambles away their fortune, and her feather-brained sister threatens to destroy the girls’ collective reputation by succumbing to any lure cast her way, Fanny is regarded as the Brightwell family’s saviour. Pressured by her mother into accepting a marriage offer from lecherous Lord Slyther, a desperately unhappy Fanny is given one final opportunity to withdraw from her nuptials, provided she secures an equally rich and titled suitor within two weeks. Otherwise she can look forward to a lifetime attending to Great Aunt Seraphina's chilblains. This is the story of Fanny's perilous gamble amidst a London season's offerings of debutantes with far greater address - but far less cunning - for the ultimate prize: dashing, delicious, daring Lord Fenton. Book 1: Rake's Honour Book 2: Rogue's Kiss Book 3: Devil's Run

    The first involves a woman (don't they always), and the second...well, it also involves a woman and a large sum of stolen money. To clear his family name, Michael must track down his charlatan cousin... the same cousin believed to be dead. She is the one woman he knows he can't have. Blythe Willoughby Ashton has been married for a year, but hasn't been a wife for even a day. When she learns of her husband's death, she just wants to be left alone. Then her husband's cousin shows up uninvited on her doorstep, looking more handsome than any man should.  Falling in love is the last thing she should do, especially when it becomes obvious that the secrets he's keeping could threaten not only her happiness, but her life.

    He taught her to love. And then he left her behind without a word. Tonight he's back. Whether for a moment or forever depends on the turn of a card. Twenty-one to win—or to lose it all. Their future hinges on her dealing him the right card...