But the loss that pushed her grief to the limit as a young girl was that of her best friend, Lucas Jonquil, who abandoned her without looking back. Now, eight years later, Lucas has returned to Lampton Park, and Julia has steeled herself—she will never forgive the man who broke her heart. After losing too many of his friends and family to early deaths, Lucas vowed to live life to the fullest. And after traversing the world, he has returned from his adventures to find his family and home as he left them—except for Julia. The little girl he left behind has blossomed into a captivating lady, a lady who makes it clear she despises him. With little hope of reconciliation, the former friends are blindsided when their parents make a shocking announcement. Lucas and Julia have been betrothed without their knowledge and are to marry immediately. Now Lucas must rely on the help of his closest friends to win the heart of a lady who loathes him—a lady he’s coming to love more deeply every day.

    When he takes a bullet for boldly thwarting a stagecoach robbery, he is stunned to discover that the beautiful young woman he has heroically rescued, Juliet Paige, is his deceased brother’s American fiancée, accompanied by her infant daughter. Despite his brother the duke's refusal to acknowledge Juliet, Gareth is determined to do right by the courageous woman who crossed an ocean to give her baby her rightful name. But Juliet is wary of marrying this black sheep aristocrat, even while she is hopelessly charmed by the dashing devil. Never has she met anyone who embraces life so thoroughly, who makes her laugh, who loves her so well. And, even when it seems the odds are against them, Juliet has absolute faith that Gareth will go beyond the call of duty, risking his life itself to give her and her daughter a home — and a love that will last a lifetime.

    He was a man whose sudden and passionate kiss had stirred Orelia's deepest desires.She was alone in the world. The only family she had was her cousin Caroline-a beautiful woman who lived a wild and impetuous existence. Hardly the proper guardian for Orelia.But then, one day, Caroline announced her engagement. She was to wed the Marquis of Ryde. Handsome and irresistible, he was one of the wealthiest men in Regency England. Perhaps now the family would be secure:But Orelia was in for a surprise when she met the Marquis. For she knew him as the dark, mysterious man who had secretly won her heart months before at the George and Dragon Inn . . .

    Oakleigh Manor is the home of Rosalind Vernon who lives alone but for her devoted servants and an ill-natured parrot, cut off from the outside world by the tragic result of a childhood accident. But Rosalind is brave and bright and totally devoid of self-pity - and it is these qualities which, as the days pass and the snow continues to fall, touch Amberley's heart. On his return to London, the Marquis persuades Rosalind's brother, Philip, to bring her to town for a taste of society, despite her handicap. But the course of Amberley's courtship is far from smooth. Philip Vernon actively dislikes him; Rosalind appears to be falling under the spell of the suavely elegant Duke of Rockliffe; and worse still, Amberley is haunted by a dark and terrible secret that, if revealed, may cause him to lose Rosalind forever.

    Here we are, riding in the Park, and you are calmly discussing whether it would be advisable to seduce me, your wife. I should also say it does not sound very impulsive.' 'I do not know about “advisable”, I was thinking more “desirable”. I have the advantage of you, my dear. You have no experience of seduction, and I have a lot.' The Honourable Catherine Elford – Kitty – is presented with an awful choice. Either she is cast off, penniless, by her penny-pinching step-brother, or she marries the handsome Earl of Ledbury, who would be perfect were he not a serial womaniser, and the very man Kitty idolised when she made her debut in Society; idolised right up until she found him in a compromising situation with a married lady. Ledbury has only ever courted other men’s wives, and does not want a wife of his own. However, Kitty’s generous dowry, which will keep him from selling his beloved racehorses, proves too tempting. Following a swift ceremony and a disastrous wedding night, Kitty believes her only chance of survival is to make her head rule her treacherous heart. If she doesn’t fall in love with Ledbury, his waywardness cannot hurt her. For his part, Ledbury has spotted a spark in his ‘dab of a wife’, especially when he discovers their mutual love of horses, and sets out to woo her in the only way he knows. As Kitty begins to succumb to his seduction and believe that they have a chance of happiness together, Ledbury’s past starts to catch up with them. Kitty feels that all of London is watching her, gossiping about her, pitying her. Meanwhile, as Fate conspires to keep the couple from love and a proper consummation, Lord Ledbury becomes ever more frustrated and desperate, and his temper worsens. It’s a recipe for disaster. This witty and spirited romance casts an historical light on Regency Society life, and reveals that, despite the changes in social protocol, love and desire – and what they do to us – has not changed. Praise for The Devil You Know... 'The Devil You Know is an immensely satisfying read. Everyone loves a Georgian rake and Sophia’s hero doesn’t disappoint. Lord Ledbury’s as naughty as they come – enough George Wickham to set the pulse racing, with a civilising measure of Mr Darcy’s nobility to ensure you fall in love for all the right reasons…' - Annie Holder, author of Against All Odds Sophia Holloway is a military historian turned novelist, whose first interest was the Peninsular War, and who ‘grew up on Georgette Heyer’, so writing Regency feels very natural to her. She also writes medieval crime, and alternates between the two genres to keep both fresh.

    Humble tenant May Sheffers meets none of these, so why does his heart beat madly at the sight of her?

    To his delight, he discovers she is everything he’d hoped for. Unaware they are already married, Deb is content with her independent life. Julian’s challenge is to have her accept him on his merit, even though she has no choice at all. The future of the Roxton dukedom depends upon it.Set in the opulent world of the aristocracy and inspired by real events, Lucinda Brant delivers another lavish 18th-century experience in her trademark style—heart-wrenching drama with a happily ever after.

    But when the gentleman in question approaches her in a bookshop, mistaking her for his fiancée, Lady Johanna Albright, the flirtatious encounter only raises more questions. Could Mary, a servant raised in a St Giles orphanage, actually be Lady Joanna's long-lost twin sister? If so, Mary has been betrothed since birth - to the rakishly handsome aristocrat himself....Henry Collins, Viscount Blackwell, is far too intrigued by Mary to let her go so easily. He's drawn to her sharp mind, her indomitable spirit, and the fiery way in which she dismisses him - ladies simply don't dismiss Lord Blackwell. But as Mary makes her first hesitant steps into society, she can't help but wonder if she truly has a place in Henry's world - or in his heart.

    Against her better judgment, however, she is powerfully drawn to the elusive and dangerous Lucien, whose hard-hearted façade hides a tragedy that is slowly devouring him from within.As Lucien and Madeline circle each other in a magnetic play of desire and denial, their passion will rise to a crescendo of longing and sacrifice that will change their fates forever.

    Unwittingly, she becomes the savior of an enigmatic man who suddenly approaches and kisses her to evade the violent scoundrels stalking him. Terrified and aghast at his audacity, she abandons him to his fate, only to discover his identity as a roguish nobleman engaged to the very woman who insulted her! She finds herself drawn into a web of frightening intrigue, in which the only way out is to trust the desire in her heart....

    But oil has brought change to Healdton, Oklahoma, and she doesn't like it one bit. She might not have the means to stop history in the making, but that doesn't mean she has to rent rooms in her boarding house to oil well riff-raff. Needless to say, her temper flares when she discovers that while she was out shopping, her help rented a room to Briar Nelson, a roustabout for Rose Oil.Briar just wants a place to sleep and eat and if the lovely, crazy woman has a problem with that, she can take it up with a lawyer. He signed the contract for three months and paid the rent in advance and nothing is going to make him leave. Besides, he already has two women in his life and doesn't need another.Can a woman who was jilted ten years ago fight the past and fall in love with the very kind of man she vowed to have nothing to do with? Changes more personal than the discovery of oil take place in the Morning Glory Inn as Clara and Briar fight the past and fear the future.

    The memories are too much to bear, and when she sees an advertisement for mail-order brides, an idea forms in her head. The next thing she knows, she's waiting for her intended at the train station.John Thomas sent for a wife because he was lonely. There weren't many prospects in his prairie town for a good wife, and when he receives Jenny's response, he knows she's the one.Will John and Jenny find love in their marriage, and can a quilt bring them together? Find out in this sweet, clean short story.Dear Reader- Please note that this is a short story of 25 pages.

    Both have promised to marry one of the rough men toiling in this strange new world in order to escape suffering in the old. Geneviève knows life won’t be easy, but at least here she can establish a home and family without fear of persecution for her outlawed religious beliefs. When she falls in love with Tristan Lanier, an expatriate cartographer-turned-farmer whose checkered past is shrouded in mystery, Geneviève realizes that even in this land of liberty one is not guaranteed peace. Trouble is brewing outside the fort between the French colonists and the native people surrounding them. And an even more sinister enemy may lurk within. Could the secret Geneviève harbors mean the undoing of the colony itself?

    Her father’s debts thwart those plans, and to protect her sister, Helen, Grace must marry a man of her father’s choosing. As each suitor proves less than desirable, Grace comes up with clever schemes, causing each to reject her. While staying at the mysterious Sutherland Hall, a middle-of-the-night mishap sends Grace into the arms of a stranger, Nicholas Sutherland—and provides inspiration for her grandest plan yet—one that will leave her reputation in tatters yet free both her and Helen from all possibility of marriage. Too late Grace regrets her rash actions when her father’s last choice, Mr. Samuel Preston, proves to be a gentleman and a friend. But Samuel is the sworn enemy of Nicholas Sutherland, the man responsible for her “ruin.” Now instead of being free, Grace is caught between two men—each with his own agenda.

    Her father’s unscrupulous business partner offers her an indecent proposal to earn a living. Instead, to fulfill a promise she made to her father, she resolves to start a school to educate and uplift their race. Sorting through her father’s papers, she discovers he had carried on a mysterious correspondence with a plantation in Milford, Georgia. She determines to start her teaching work with the formerly enslaved. However, when she arrives, the mayor tells her to leave. There’s nowhere for her to go. Virgil Smithson, Milford’s mayor, blacksmith and sometimes preacher man with a gift for fiery oratory, doesn't want anything to do with a snobby schoolteacher from up North. On top of everything else, the schoolteacher lady has a will hard enough to match the iron he forges. He must organize his fellow formerly enslaved citizens into a new town and raise his young daughter alone. Still, his troubled past haunts him. He cannot forget the promise he made to his daughter’s mother as she died—that their child would learn to read and write. If only he didn't have secrets that the new schoolteacher seems determined to uncover.To keep THE PREACHER’S PROMISE, Amanda and Virgil must put aside their enmity, unite for the sake of a newly-created community in a troubling age, and do things they never imagined. In the aftermath of the flood that was the Civil War, God set his bow upon the earth to show love and understanding for humankind. To reflect God’s promise, these combatants must put aside their differences and come together--somehow.