Brazen Heiress

A Double Life...

She was every man's fantasy–and most dangerous desire. One bewitching look, the whispered promise of unspeakable ecstasy, and London's richest and most notorious rakes followed the Brazen Angel like sheep–ready to be fleeced. All London was in her thrall as she waltzed from masquerade to masquerade, seducing and stealing with impunity–until she met her match in the dark and dangerous lord who vowed to unmask her.

A Single Passion...

London's most audacious thief. Giles Corliss, Marquess of Trahern, had come home to honor his father's last request and marry a woman he'd never met, Lady Sophia D'Artiers. It was to be a marriage of convenience to beget an heir. But Giles had yet to discover that behind the fragile, ailing facade of his intended, Lady Sophia, lay the mistress of disguise–an irresistible brazen angel who was about to lure him into a reckless passion that threatened to destroy them both...

She came to betray him...

No one could have known the truth: that the beauty who swept into the elegant ballroom was a pirate queen with a treacherous plan to save herself from execution by identifying an infamous privateer attending the ball in disguise. Only Maureen Hawthorne could expose the double life of Julien d'Artiers, the toast of the ton. After all, she was his wife...

But he caught her heart unawares...

Julien was stunned when he beheld the love of his life, the wife he'd presumed dead. But here she was, her turquoise eyes blazing across a crowded ballroom, a woman determined to bring about his complete ruin. She blamed him for her father's death, swore to see him hang. But he took her into his arms and made her dance instead, tormenting her with memories of the passion they'd once shared, determined to make her love him again... willing to do anything to keep from losing her again.

“A young lady with a fortune is subject to all sorts of untoward attentions by the worst sort of vagrants.” Aunt Allegra

A lesson Tabitha Timmons, a penniless spinster, has neverneeded to heed. That is, until she is left a vast fortune payableonly upon her marriage to the very respectable Mr. Barkworth—a match that offers little chance of discovering exactlywhat her aunt means by "untoward attentions."

But the same can't be said when the Duke of Prestonhappens along Tabitha's path. He spies a rebellious streak inher that matches his own and he makes it his missionto save her from such a passionless match, interfering in herlife at every turn. All too soon, Preston—whose veryname spells ruin—has Tabitha caught betweenthe good fortune that guarantees her security,and his kiss, which promises an entirelydifferent kind of happily-ever-after.

Note: This is a short story (less than 10,000 words) and not a novella. Ella Cynders is a hired companion with a romantic bent. So when she switches places with her charge--who is determined to find true love and elope--it is Ella who falls head over heals in love with the very eligible Viscount Ashe. In one masked night, the viscount and Ella find passion and romance, and then tragically are whisked apart before the midnight unmasking. Now five years later, Ella has once again found a way to steal inside the coveted ball, but can she rekindle the magic they found together before her deception is unmasked? This short story was originally published in The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance and in print is 33 pages long.

They Met At London's Notorious Cyprian's Ball . . .

Georgiana Escott has one night to find the perfect man to ruin her and leave her with a tattered reputation so she can avoid an arranged marriage to an aging, despicable roue. With a misstep, she tumbles into the arms of the disgraced and dashing Lord Danvers. But Georgie doesn't know that the lover she has enticed to follow her into the night and the stranger she holds responsible for her misfortunes are in the same . . .

When Lord Danvers find himself entangled with a tempting Cyprian, his secret mission to expose a dangerous spy goes awry. Yet once he starts to unmasked this bewitching lady, he realizes the seductress who claims his heart may be the traitor he seeks. Mistrust makes them adversaries in a perilous game—but how can he dismiss his obsession with her when one night of passion entwined their lives forever?

A Scandalous Elopement

The Marquis of Templeton has faced every sort of danger in his work for the King, but chasing after a wayward spinster who's had the effrontery to run off with the wrong man hardly seems worth his considerable talents. But when the heiress in question is none other than Lady Diana Fordham, Temple is about to meet his match. Tempestuous and passionate, headstrong and opinionated, the lady is everything a man should avoid...

A Dangerous Plan

Diana has no intention of making Temple's assignment easy. In fact she has every reason to turn his life upside down -- just as he did to hers when he broke her heart years ago. Now it's Diana's turn to give Temple a lesson in love, from a teasing glance to a scandalous embrace. However, as she leads him on a merry chase from London to Gretna Green, they soon realize that a kiss once given is hard to forget, and a rekindled passion is impossible to deny.

Mason St. Clair, the new Earl of Ashlin, has inherited a title for which there is no longer a fortune, thanks to his elder brother. Steeped in debt, with three ungainly nieces to marry off, Mason is desperate for relief. Only he doesn't expect it in the form of Madame Fontaine, a woman of questionable reputation. She arrives on his doorstep with partial payment on a debt owed to the former earl. When Mason demands full payment, she is at a loss. It's wacky Cousin Felicity who suggests that this woman, whom men cannot resist, can work off the rest of her debt by teaching the three wards how to attract worthy husbands. In a bind, Riley, as the Madame is known, agrees. Once the bargain has been struck, Mason finds that he too is falling under the Madame's spell, and it's not long before an additional couple is heading to the altar.

Innocence Lost

A notorious rake, the Marquis of Bradstone stole young Olivia Sutton's heart...and then ruined her life. For seven years she has been forced to hide her past behind a false identity. And now the dashing scoundrel has returned a different man: more handsome, more serious, more desirable...and far more dangerous thanthe cad who brought scandal and shame into Olivia's world.

Rapture Found

Major Robert Danvers is living a lie—but for a noble cause. Masquerading as his cousin, the late marquis, Robert's secret mission for the crown has led him straight to the beautiful, scheming seductress he believes was responsible for his brother's death. But there is a gentle innocence about this Olivia that belies her murderous reputation—and a passionate sensuality that makes him yearn to hold her forever in his arms. His loyalty to his mission tells him that surrender would be the worst sort of betrayal—yet once tempted, how can a man resist, when his heart tells him here is his one true love?

Lord Langley and Minerva, Lady Standon, began their faux engagement with three simple rules set down by the baron's all-too-proper (and utterly unlikely) bride-to-be.

1. No more kissing. The intoxicating kiss Langley stole from her lips still has Minerva aflutter.

2. She will not share his bed. (For if his kiss is that tempting, Minerva doesn't dare imagine what a night in Langley's embrace will do to her already addled senses.)

3. No scandals during their engagement. With the infamous Langley back in Town, there is no lack of trouble he can bring to Minerva's unblemished reputation.

Oh, the wily Lord Langley will keep his word—but that doesn't mean he won't use every rakish trick he knows to get Minerva to break her own proper rules, especially once he realizes that this convenient arrangement has led him to the only woman he's ever loved . . .

Scandal, outrage, ruin, rapture ... Who knows where one kiss can lead?