Scots, Spies & Salacious Lies (Regency Novellas)

Matthew Trent always knew what was expected of him and that was to become the Perfect Vicar and a Perfect Gentlemen. When Grace Cooper enters his life he is forced to face what he really wishes to become.

Grace Cooper has three options for marriage available to her in the small village where she resides. However, Grace would rather be placed on the shelf than enter into a miserable union.

When someone threatens her father and then makes an attempt on her life, it is Vicar Trent who vows to protect her and brings scandal to her doorstep, upsetting the delicate balance of both of their worlds.

Mr. Jordan Trent, the spare, was raised to be a rake.  Not only did his father encourage his roguish life, but insisted that Jordan do nothing except enjoy the life of women, gambling and fine brandy – the life his father had wanted.  It is a life Jordan enjoyed until he realized something, or someone, very important was missing.

Miss Audrey Montgomery had been warned to avoid rakes like Jordan Trent but fell under his spell like so many ladies before her.  She should have known better and vows to protect her heart whenever he is near. If only his kisses weren’t so delicious it would be so much easier. 
 

It is time for Clayton Trent, Earl of Bentley, to take a bride.  He knows exactly what he needs and the type of lady who should become his Countess.  His life is orderly, scandal free and exactly the way it should be until Miss Eleanor Westin careens into him, upsetting the perfect balance of his world.  She is everything his father said he should not marry.  Yet, he cannot put her from his mind, not even when a decade old scandal threatens the very foundation of his family.

Miss Eleanor Westin has spent her life in the country on the brink of poverty and raising her siblings after the death of her parents until her grandfather finally decides to do his duty and brings her to London.  Eleanor simply wants to find a gentleman who is willing to take on her family in the bargain.  Love is not even a consideration if she can land security.  Unfortunately, the only gentleman who has made any offer is Lord Bentley, and he will never do.  If only he would stay out of her dreams so she could forget him and his intoxicating kisses.
 

Lady Madeline Trent had grand plans for her future until she learned her family’s awful secret. When a fall through an icy lake lands her in the arms of a handsome Scot, her future is more unsure than ever.

Lachlan Grant, the Marquess of Brachton, may hold an English title, but he's a Scot through and through. He's bound and determined to marry a lass just as Scottish as he is, at least until his fate is altered one snowy night.

A Lass for Christmas is a novella of approximately 27,000 words and the fourth story in the Tenacious Trents series.

Compromised for Christmas which is found in A Summons from His Grace (published Nov. 2011); A Misguided Lord (published May 2012); and A Perfect Gentleman (published Nov. 2012)

Hiding from a dangerous man, Tess Crawford thought The Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies would be the perfect place to disappear. Or it would be if the local villagers weren’t on edge because of the vampire in their midst, at least they think he’s a vampire. The fascination with the reclusive viscount disrupts the girls’ studies and Tess fights an unending battle to convince her students that monsters do not exist.

Vincent Latimer, Viscount Atwood, is not a vampire, no matter what the villagers believe. He wishes the book, Wake Not the Dead, had never been written. There is a very good reason he visits his wife’s grave at night, and it has nothing to do with trying to raise her from the dead.

When a storm thrusts Tess into Vincent’s path and destroys the school, both of their pasts collide.

Lady Phoebe Johansen embarks upon her first season with two goals in mind – to remain unwed and scandal free in London.  It isn’t that she is against marriage and if her situation were different, she would welcome the opportunity for love and children. It is just not practical.  Unfortunately, her older brother is smothering any chances she has of actually enjoying the season out of fear her impetuous nature will land her in predicaments more ruinous than the physical mishaps she had suffered at home.

Taylor Qualls, the Earl of Sandlin, is forced once again to face his own obligations this season. He has a year and a half to find a suitable bride and produce the heir as dictated in his grandfather’s will.  Nobody needs to tell him that Lady Phoebe is the last woman on earth he should marry.  After all, given his own track record with wives and Lady Phoebe’s penchant for mishaps, she wouldn’t survive a month as his bride.
 

Emily Frasier has lived as the ward of Duke Ellings since her father died when she was fifteen. She also knows that soon it will be time to leave his household and make her way on her own.  When she discovers a cottage while visiting her aunt and uncle she knows this is where she wants to live and become a teacher, as her father once was.

Dillon Chambers must find a wife this season in order to please his mother.  If she didn’t have control over something more precious than his freedom and life, he would not have made the promise to marry a lady with high connections at the end of the season.  When he comes across Emily at his cottage and learns she is the ward of a duke, he feels his luck has finally changed. He could please his mother and settle with a lady he would actually want to have as his wife.

When the truth becomes known in London that Emily is only a professor’s daughter, Dillon knows his parents will never approve. Will he risk everything to have her?  Will Emily do the sensible thing or risk her reputation and heart so that Dillon doesn’t destroy all he holds dear?
 

The Season has only just begun, but already Ambrose Benson Earl of Hawthorne is bored. That is, until his brother offers him a challenge. Something worthy of his particular talents.

The object: The girl hiding behind the potted plants: the one in the horrible dress.

The Goal: Turn her into the envy of the ton. A lady suitable for a duke.

But there is just something about the lady. In spite of all her social misgivings, something inexplicably draws him in, making him want to waltz with the wallflower.

Phillip Crawford, the eighth Earl of Rawlings and notorious rake of the ton, has come to the end of his rope. Out of money, out of favor, and out of luck, he wanders the streets of London in the rain, hoping to be hit by inspiration...or a runaway carriage. Something has to give. It is his father's final cruel trick to hold his inheritance just out of reach, requiring him to marry by his next birthday in order to claim his full rights as earl. His step-mother refuses to offer him any more support. With no money, no prospects and no other place to turn, he has only two options:

Marriage or debtor's prison.

The better choice seems clear enough, but with his name and reputation being attacked daily in the society papers, there's not a proper lady in all of London desperate enough to accept him. It isn't going to be easy, even if the reports of his exploits and rakish lifestyle are greatly exaggerated.

On the other hand, debtor's prison does start to look much more appealing when the only friends he has left decide to help him in his search for the perfect bride. Matters become much more complicated when the only woman who shows an interest in him just happens to be the young sister-in-law of the Duke of Tempest; the same man who, just months ago, had been tempted to kill him.

One thing is for certain, as the Season draws to an end, Lord Rawlings will have to decide once and for all, if his wicked ways are enough to bring him contentment in life, or if a leopard really can change his spots. Or in Phillip's case—can a devil truly be redeemed?

When the angelic Duke of Tempest, Sebastian St. James, appeared unexpectedly at his boyhood friend’s home, he had but one goal: Find a suitable wife as soon as possible. However, his impeccable reputation made him a prime target for ambitious mothers of debutante daughters. He needed a plan.

Help came in the form of an unlikely alliance with Miss Emma Gates, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy viscount, who has deemed herself on the shelf, and only wants to marry in order to appease her parents. Together they could sort through the mire of would-be mates to find their perfect matches. That is, if they could keep their hands off each other long enough to pursue likely candidates.

When a man from Emma’s past makes a play for her hand, the truth about her life threatens to destroy Sebastian’s reputation, a reputation he has carefully guarded since his youth. In the end, the Angel Duke has to make a choice that will end up changing his reputation forever.