Can he protect her from himself?Holly is living a lie. Forced to masquerade as a widow to keep herself and her sisters safe, she earns a living helping those being undeservedly blackmailed by using her lock-picking skills to expose the villains behind the schemes. Attending a ball, her clandestine work is interrupted by Lord Blackthorn, a man who is as vexing as he is sinfully handsome. A man who she’s always had feelings for, which she understands are futile. Because everyone knows you can’t give your heart to a rake… or can you?But Michael has his own secrets, ones serious enough that could threaten any chance they have of a future together. After all, lies and deception. have a dangerous habit of unravelling when one least expects it…Previously published in the Once Upon a Christmas Wedding anthology

    To be reinstated, Andrew decides to pretend that he has changed his wicked ways.As part of his plan, he wants to convince his father that he is courting a respectable woman with the intention of marrying her. The problem is, he doesn’t know any decent women, except for his friend’s spinster sister, Miss Caroline Hargreaves. He blackmails the reluctant Caroline into helping him, and so the charade begins . . .

    Not even in the sewers of London. That’s precisely where she finds happily self-sufficient scavenger Malcom North, lost heir to the Earl of Maxwell. Now that Verity’s made him front-page news, what will he make of her?Kidnapped as a child, with no memories of his well-heeled past, Malcom prefers the grimy spoils of the culverts to the gilded riches of society. Damn the feisty beauty who exposed the contented tosher to a parade of fortune-hunting matchmakers. How to keep them at bay? Verity must pretend to be his wife. She owes him.The intimacy of this necessary arrangement—Verity and Malcom thrust together in close quarters—soon sparks an irresistible heat. But when the charade ends, the danger begins. Will love be enough to protect them from a treacherous plot devised to ruin them?

    He throws them into the river by night, never knowing they are being found and read by spirited vicar’s ward Bernadette Goodrich! A Christmas Ball brings the two together in a plot by a mischievous little brother and an interfering butler! By turns heartfelt and hilarious, Sleepless in Staffordshire is a charming Regency romance take on the romantic Nora Ephron film "Sleepless in Seattle" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

    Canterbury’s inns are full, but the door of the local brothel stands open and Frau Klaus welcomes all who come seeking shelter. Gather with the stranded travelers around her Tannenbaum as they share secrets, holiday tales and stories of love.

    As his sister's impending marriage signals the inevitable drifting-apart of the Blackshear family, it's his last chance to give his siblings the sort of memorable, well-planned holiday their parents could never seem to provide.He has no time to dawdle, no time for nonsense, and certainly no time to drive the falconer's vexing, impulsive, lush-lipped, midnight-haired daughter to a house party before heading home. So why the devil did he agree to do just that?It couldn't be more deliciously mixed-up...Lucy Sharp has been waiting all her too-quiet life for an adventure, and she means to make the most of this one. She's going to enjoy the house party as no one has ever enjoyed a house party before, and in the meanwhile she's going to enjoy every minute in the company of amusingly stern, formidably proper, outrageously handsome Mr. Blackshear. Let him disapprove of her all he likes—it's not as though they'll see each other again after today....or will they? When a carriage mishap and a snowstorm strand the pair miles short of their destination, threatening them with scandal and jeopardizing all their Christmas plans, they'll have to work together to save the holiday from disaster. And along the way they just might learn that the best adventures are the ones you never would have thought to plan.

    The banal cheerfulness. The asinine party games. And, worst of all, the obligatory trip to the countryside. His grandmother, however, loves the holiday - and Adam loves his grandmother, so he'll brave the fiercest snowstorm to please her. But when their carriage wheel snaps, they're forced to seek shelter at the home of the most maddening, infuriating, and utterly beguiling woman he's ever met....Sarah St. John really rather loathes rakes. The self-satisfied smirks. The sly predatory gazes. Oh, and the constant witty banter rife with double meaning. But in the spirit of the season, she'll welcome this admittedly handsome viscount into her home. But as the snowstorm rages, the Yule log crackles, and the tension rises, Sarah and Adam find themselves locked in a fiery, passionate kiss. If love is the true meaning of Christmas, it's the one gift this mismatched pair can't wait to unwrap.

    Now, with the tightening of a noose, it’s changed again, but she needs to make amends for what her father did.Which means returning, secretly, to the place where he did the most damage.And to the residence of one Lord Leonard Moncrieff—the only man she’s ever loved.She’s certain she won’t see him again, though. Nicknamed a Lord of Scandal Row, it’s clear to her, he’s no longer the boy she knew, and never returns home. The last thing she needs it to be distracted by a man deemed one of the most attractive men in London. Unfortunately for Rebecca, Leo has been practically banished from London under the orders of his mother thanks to a scandal that, for once, had nothing to do with him. Now he has to spend his days playing the country gent and trying to avoid the female of the species.It will be harder than he expected, given a sudden influx of young ladies to the area. He might be a rogue, but he has no desire to upset his delicate mother and will, albeit begrudgingly, play the dutiful son. He can avoid a few pretty faces, surely?At least, until he discovers the beautiful Rebecca hiding in the stables. She’s in need of help, and he cannot resist, despite the fact she once shattered his young heart. The pull between them is as strong as ever but anything between them is impossible. Or is it?

    Garrick McGuiness was nothing more than a penniless, nameless Scot working in the Rowland stables with nothing to offer but his heart. On the eve when they were to elope, Arabel is forced to make a decision that changes both of their lives—one that drives them apart for a decade.​SPARKS ARE SURE TO FLY!Ten years later, Garrick is now Earl of Townsend and surprised to receive word of an inheritance from the Rowlands—and simply stunned to learn that he must share that inheritance with the one woman he hoped never to see again. His plan is to fulfill the will's requirement, take the money, and never return to Scotland again. But when the deadly secret that came between them is revealed, he finds himself experiencing the Highlands—and his feelings toward Arabel—in a way he never did before.​Fate tore them apart, but now he’s back in her life with status, money and a title. Can they let go of past hurts and find love?

    Ruined after succumbing to a scoundrel’s excessive charm nearly a decade ago, she’s lucky to obtain a position as a paid companion and committed to behaving with the utmost propriety. She definitely shouldn’t be in the arms of a man capable of utterly destroying what little remains of her reputation... Titus St. John, Duke of Kendal, is known as the Forbidden Duke, a mysterious, intimidating figure who enters Society just once each year at his stepmother’s ball. A decade ago, he was a devil-may-care rake until his idle roguery brought about the ruin of Eleanor Lockhart—and his resulting self-imposed isolation. Now she’s back, and she needs his help. But by “saving” her, he may just ruin her life all over again.

    But when she angers her strict and demanding father, the Earl of Stratford, he retaliates by arranging a marriage for her to a man she could never admire, much less love. In a panic, Samantha flees to London, only to find herself lost, alone, and nearly kidnapped—until an unlikely hero saves her. Lord George Churchill-Gray is an artist, not a knight in shining armor, but he doesn’t hesitate to rescue Samantha from disaster and offer her temporary sanctuary. He wouldn’t mind if she repaid him by modeling for his latest painting. He’s enchanted by her face… her smile… all of her, really. But with every study he sketches, he falls a little more in love with her, and Samantha begins to suspect her scandalous actions might lead to the sort of love she never thought to find…

    He has to find her, woo her, and wed her before he goes back to sea - all within a matter of days.Anne Lesley is a shy spinster with no prospects, and nothing and no one to recommend her but her own self. She accepts the lieutenant’s hasty offer only for the comfort and security it will bring. But when a midwinter storm snows her and Ian in, they both find they got much more than they bargained for - laughter, light, and a Christmas filled with honest to goodness true love...

    An Unexpected Christmas Gift by Madeline HunterJenna Waverly has closed her inn, anticipating a blissfully quiet Christmas, until a snowstorm brings the first of several strangers to her property. Lucas Avonwood, as charming as he is secretive, is on a mission to track down a scoundrel, but the inn’s lovely owner is giving him a more compelling reason to stay... When We Finally Kiss Good-Night by Sabrina JeffriesWhen Flora Younger first met Konrad Juncker, she thought she’d found her match, only to have her hopes dashed. Konrad is now a famous playwright whose plays Flora has secretly panned in reviews. But a chance meeting in a secluded inn may help them rewrite this star-crossed romance... When Strangers Meet by Mary Jo PutneyKate McLeod is shocked to find that a fellow guest in the snowbound inn is the dashing sea captain who may or may not be her husband. Captain Ramesh Langdon barely remembers that night in Bombay, but the desire they discover now will be impossible to forget, or to ignore...

    He rather enjoys being unencumbered and a wife would complicate things. The Wicked Earls’ Club is his haven and he isn’t ready to give it up for matrimony. His grandfather, the Duke of Southington wants nothing more than to see him wed and return to the fold. For that reason alone he’ll avoid proper ladies and wedding bells. Lady Marian Lindsay rather likes being a spinster and embraces her bluestocking ways. She's studying to be a physician and wants to be a proper doctor. She longs to be taken seriously in the medical field, but her efforts go unnoticed. After careful deliberation she devises a scheme that is foolproof, but she needs the help of one of her father’s friends to make it happen. Harrington is appalled at Marian’s request and refuses outright; however, she somehow manages to charm him into saying yes. Before he realizes it, he’s escorting her to Kent and a house party made of his worst nightmares. Propriety must be met at all costs, because he will not be wed at the end of her expedition—or will he?

    A shy wallflower, Caroline hasn’t the faintest idea why the Duke of Readington chose her to be his bride. She could ask, but that would mean speaking to him... and truth be told she’d rather have a conversation with the devil. Her new husband may be one of the most powerful men in all of England—not to mention the handsomest—but he’s also cruel, callous, and has a heart colder than ice.But it was never meant to be a love match... Eric married Caroline for one simple reason: he wasn’t in love with her. Having seen firsthand how love can bring a man to his knees, he’s determined not to make the same mistakes his father did. Which is why he’s going to spend just enough time with his new bride to assure himself of an heir before he leaves her and returns to London. At least that was the plan until a winter storm leaves them stranded. Now every time Eric turns around he finds himself stumbling over the wife he never wanted... but is slowly beginning to desire....or was it? As cold winds howl outside the manor, inside of it a duke’s heart is finally starting to melt as he finds himself falling for the one woman he was never supposed to love... but can she love him in return?