Every stray glance, every chance encounter threatens to reveal the secret passion that keeps drawing them together.But finally after years of flirting with disaster, Crispin and Henrietta find themselves locked in a wine cellar, and now there is no denying the love and loyalties that have lured them and torn them apart time and time again. Will this one last chance, this tempting night of desire be the one that ignites a fire that will never be extinguished, no matter the price?

    She has been sold to the highest bidder so that she may produce an heir for the devilishly handsome and arrogant Earl and she is outraged. How can she have any respect or feelings for a man whose reputation is that of a complete wastrel and philanderer? She resolves to resist him at all costs yet Sophia is totally unprepared for the exquisite pleasure she experiences from her husband’s wicked hands as he introduces her to a world of sexual delight she had no idea existed. For Ralph, when his cousin had suggested he take a wife to heal the rift in his family, it had seemed the perfect solution to his problems. However, he hadn’t counted on choosing someone as spiritedly passionate as Sophia and something inside of him reacts to her in a way that disconcerts him. What started out as a necessary chore soon becomes an exciting challenge as he determines to do what he does best - seduce his young wife and put an end to the estrangement that exists between them. But why is Sophia’s good opinion becoming increasingly important to him? And why does he feel the compulsive need to convince her that he is not the unsavoury character she believes him to be?

    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 . . .

    Kisses were stolen and promises made. But what happens when morning comes? A new year brings new scandal when a rake awakens in the bed of the flame-haired temptress who had seduced him years before. All of society has them bedded, but can he convince her to become wedded?

    She is Elizabeth Curtis, a beautiful Englishwoman who wears the scarlet uniform of an English soldier and wields a sword like a seasoned fighter on the battlefield.Enemies meet, and passions collide...in THE REBELThe Rebel is a short story of 7000 words (approximately 28 pages). It first appeared in print in the MAMMOTH BOOK OF SCOTTISH ROMANCE, edited by Trisha Telep

    And the handsome, clever duke Chloe has long admired proves to be her worst enemy…An unscrupulous boarding school is exploiting orphans in a secret workhouse. Baron Vanderbean plots a daring rescue. When illness befalls him, Chloe must take the reins. But how can a lifelong wallflower lead the charge to save the children?

    Nor does he wear the most fashionable coats. But when Marissa York's brother approaches him, desperate to preserve Marissa's tenuous reputation, Jude does prove heroic enough to offer to marry the girl. In fact, the union should more than make up for his lack of social graces --- and his own scandalous past ...BUT MINDS CHANGE ...Marissa knows that betrothal to the son of a duke --- even one as raw and masculine as Jude --- will save her from ruin, but that doesn't mean she's happy about it. Soon, though, she finds that Jude has a surprisingly gentle touch --- and plans to use it to persuade Marissa that their wedding day cannot come soon enough ...

    Elizabeth, Lady Thornhill, is restless and hungers for something she cannot name. Society would never accept a countess and a mere bookseller, so they agree to a one week affair to indulge their desire. As their passion ignites and their connection grows, Elizabeth threatens the one thing Cale has protected above all else—his heart. Letting her go is the only solution...and the one thing he is not prepared to do.

    What she needs is a husband, and she knows well enough that romance and matrimony aren't always compatible. While providing for her twins and the child she now carries is paramount, wedding a virtual stranger—even a wealthy one, like Gideon St. Goddard, Duke of Stanthorpe—is no light matter.Sabrina knows the friend who arranged the union would not promise her to a true scoundrel, but one look at her future husband convinces her that he is a shameless rogue. A shockingly handsome and desirable one, at that. Why has he agreed to marry her? When Gideon flashes that wicked, seductive smile, the reason hardly matters, but the chance that he'll steal her heart becomes all too real...

    She was the scandalous darling of Boston's gilded age.SWORN TO REVENGENow she had sailed half round the world to Hawaii, to ruin the man who had ruined her ... who had taken her, despoiled her, and left her humiliated by her own awakened longings.RAVISHED BY PASSIONCorinne hated Jared Burkett as deeply as she wanted his manly, sensuous passion. And Jared ached to possess Corinne, though she would force him to hurt her again. Their love, so violent, so reckless, would either destroy them, or give them completely to the wild abandon of tropical nights in paradise.

    But the rules of her father’s exclusive academic society forbid her entrance unless she weds one of its members. To clear her ailing father’s name of a scandalous rumor, Cecily needs to gain admission into the Egyptian Club—and is willing to marry any old dullard to do it.Lucas Dalton, Duke of Winterson, is anything but dull. He’s a dashing and decorated war hero determined to help Cecily—even if that means looking the other way when she claims the dance card of Amelia Snow, this season’s most sought-after beauty. But Lucas has a reason for wanting Cecily to join the Egyptian Club: His brother went missing during one of Lord Hurston’s expeditions to Egypt. An alliance with the explorer’s bluestocking daughter could bring Lucas closer to the truth about what happened…or it could lead him to a more dangerous love than either he or Cecily could have imagined…

     Lady Philippa Casemore caused quite a scene at her very first ball of her very first season. She even landed herself, somehow, on the pages of the infamous betting book at White's gentleman's club. Unfortunately, she doesn't remember one moment of the night in question. Not the music. Not the notorious rake she'd dragged into the middle of the dance floor. Not the flask of opium-laced brandy she'd downed without realizing it's contents... Jason York, the wicked Earl of St. Austell, can't quite forget the lady who stole his breath away the previous night. Of course, his broken nose, courtesy of the girl's brother, did have a way of making an impression. When he stumbles into Lady Philippa the next day, his ego is more than bruised when she doesn't seem to recall him at all and a scheme to make certain she never forgets him again quickly forms in Jason's mind. * * * In Jane Charles's Landing A Laird... Heiress Lady Moira Kirkwood will do anything it takes to marry a laird to take her north - far, far away from London and her domineering mother. Unfortunately, a pair of gentlemen overhear her jest about Scotland and compromising a fellow if she has to. Before the sun has risen the next day, Moira’s name and a scandalous wager have found themselves inside the infamous betting book at White’s. One penniless gentleman after another begs Gideon Baxter, Viscount Ainsely, for his assistance in wooing Lady Moira. Unfortunately, Gideon would like to woo the charming lady himself. If only she cared more for him than for the location of his estate, he’d could be assured of where her true feelings lie. * * * In Jerrica Knight-Catania's The Marriage Trap... When Miss Patience Findley discovers, at her first ball of her first Season, just how much her father's scandal has affected her chances of marriage, she resigns herself to being alone and dying a spinster. That is, until she hears that her friends' names have landed in the Betting Book at White's. In a moment of desperation, she asks her reprobate cousin to place a bet on her behalf, in hopes of trapping an unsuspecting gentleman into marriage. Tristan Wallford, Lord Swaffham, loves a good challenge. So when his friend, Rowan Findley, claims that his cousin Patience cannot be cured of her melancholy state, Tristan lays a bet that he will be the one to cure her. He could certainly use the money, after all. But as the game begins, Tristan begins to realize that not only does Miss Findley not need curing, but she might be worth trapping for himself.

    A man of intense passions, he resolved to deny his emotions and desires forever, taking refuge in the wilds of the moorlands and shutting himself off from the world. But on one extraordinary night, on a rare trip to London, the unthinkable occurs. An intoxicatingly beautiful stranger stirs the sensuous hunger he has sworn to resist. Simon Blackwell believed that no woman could tempt him. No woman . . . save Annabel McBride. Annabel knows nothing of Simon's secret pain. But one irresistible kiss plunges her into marriage with a man she scarcely knows, a man who hides a shattered past. She can feel the blistering heat of the fire that smolders within this exquisitely handsome man, making her yearn for much more than the union in name only he has promised her. But Simon dares not love again—for fragile love can be lost in an instant. And now Annabel must find a way to open his heart to the most glorious risk of all . . .

    Experience has taught him that love is found only in fairy tales and that very few women can be trusted—especially young and attractive ones.As for Taffy, she finds the rakehell cynical and arrogant—definitely not the hero, the man of principles and romance, her heart longs for. Besides, as one of the Rogues Three, she is more concerned with social injustice than a man who could use his influence to right wrongs but shows no interest in doing so.So why does Tarrant find himself enchanted by the beautiful and high-spirited Taffy? Why does Taffy’s sporadic gift of sight insist on showing her visions of Tarrant as a bold and passionate lover—her lover?When the prince of flirts catches the princess of thieves in a ‘Robin Hood’ encounter gone wrong, a secret is discovered, a promise is given, and two lives will be changed in ways neither could have dreamed.

    Now tasked with making certain her charge, Lady Euphemia, does not contract herself to someone inappropriate, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to Mr. Henry Dawkins, the inappropriate gentleman Lady Euphemia wants to charm, who keeps the books at Madame Follette’s. But it seems that Henry only has eyes for Miss Katherine Grant. Originally published in the Dressed to Kiss anthology.