Impetuous

Some wallflowers bloom at night...

A Spindle Cove Novella

Violet Winterbottom is a quiet girl. She speaks six languages, but seldom raises her voice. She endured bitter heartbreak in perfect silence. The gentlemen aren't beating down her door.

Until the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas ball, when a mysterious stranger crashes into the ballroom and collapses at Violet's feet. His coarse attire and near-criminal good looks would put any sensible young lady on her guard. He's wet, chilled, bleeding, and speaking in an unfamiliar tongue.

Only Violet understands him. And she knows he's not what he seems.

She has one night to draw forth the secrets of this dangerously handsome rogue. Is he a smuggler? A fugitive? An enemy spy? She needs answers by sunrise, but her captive would rather seduce than confess. To learn his secrets, Violet must reveal hers—and open herself to adventure, passion, and the unthinkable... Love.

Warning: The heroine packs a pistol, the hero curses in multiple languages, and together they steam up a cold winter’s night.

No one in tiny Chesley knows the truth about Damaris Howard; a woman of wealth and beauty, she rarely allows anyone to get close. Her past was marked by scandal and abandonment—better to stay aloof and reinvent herself.

Then Damaris meets Alec Stafford, the Earl of Rowden. The tall, handsome border lord is a man of quiet but deep passion, raised to show no weakness and burned once before by a woman’s love. But when he and Damaris cross paths inside London society, they set sparks of attraction blazing—and rumors flying.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens has returned to another utterly irresistible branch on her beloved Cynster family tree . . .

The only thing more troublesome than a Cynster man . . .

. . . is a Cynster lady who believes love is not her destiny. Famously known in London society as "The Matchbreaker," Henrietta Cynster's uncanny skill lies in preventing ill-fated nuptials—not in falling victim to Cupid's spell.

But then she disrupts one match too many and feels honor-bound to assist dashing James Glossup in finding a suitable bride for a marriage-of-convenience.

A task infernally complicated by the undeniable, unquenchable attraction that flares between James and Henrietta, who continues to believe she will never fall . . .

How can she dare to imagine he loves her . . . when all London calls her The Ugly Duchess?

Theodora Saxby is the last woman anyone expects the gorgeous James Ryburn, heir to the Duchy of Ashbrook, to marry. But after a romantic proposal before the prince himself, even practical Theo finds herself convinced of her soon-to-be duke's passion.

Still, the tabloids give the marriage six months.

Theo would have given it a lifetime . . . until she discovers that James desired not her heart, and certainly not her countenance, but her dowry.

Society was shocked by their wedding . . . and is scandalized by their separation.

Now James faces the battle of his life, convincing Theo that he loves the duckling who blossomed into the swan.

And Theo will quickly find that, for a man with the soul of a pirate, All's Fair in Love-and War.

Miss Minerva Lane is a quiet, bespectacled wallflower, and she wants to keep it that way. After all, the last time she was the center of attention, it ended badly—so badly that she changed her name to escape her scandalous past. Wallflowers may not be the prettiest of blooms, but at least they don’t get trampled. So when a handsome duke comes to town, the last thing she wants is his attention.

But that is precisely what she gets.

Because Robert Blaisdell, the Duke of Clermont, is not fooled. When Minnie figures out what he’s up to, he realizes there is more to her than her spectacles and her quiet ways. And he’s determined to lay her every secret bare before she can discover his. But this time, one shy miss may prove to be more than his match…

The Duchess War is the first full-length book (97,000 words) in the Brothers Sinister series. It is preceded by The Governess Affair, a prequel novella. Each book stands alone, but those who prefer to read in order might want to read that book first.

For Winfield Elliott, Viscount Stillwell, finding a prospective bride always seemed easy. Perhaps too easy. With three broken engagements to his name, Win is the subject of endless gossip. Yet his current mission is quite noble: to hire a company to repair his family's fire-damaged country house. Nothing disreputable in that--until the firm's representative turns out to be a very desirable widow.

Lady Miranda Garrett expected a man of Win's reputation to be flirtatious, even charming. But the awkward truth is that she finds him thoroughly irresistible. While Miranda resides at Millworth to oversee the work, Win occupies her days, her dreams. . .and soon, her bed. For the first time, the wicked Win has fallen in love. And what began as a scandalous proposition may yet become a very different proposal. . .

All her life, Olivia Moreland has denied her clairvoyant abilities, working instead to disprove the mediums that flock to London. But when Stephen, Lord St. Leger, requests her help in investigating an alleged psychic, she can't ignore the ominous presence she feels within the walls of his ancient estate. Nor can she ignore the intimate connection she feels to Stephen, as if she has somehow known him before….

The last time he'd lived in Blackhope Hall, Stephen had watched as his elder brother claimed both the family title and the woman he loved. Now, following his brother's death, Stephen reluctantly returns home and finds his family ensconced in scandal. Who is behind his brother's murder-a dark spirit or the psychic who claims to have channeled it? And what is it about psychic investigator Olivia Moreland that awakens his long-dormant passion?

As they search for answers, Stephen and Olivia discover that the only way to fight a powerful evil is with a powerful love….