Taming the Hawk

Rescuer…Protector…Husband?

Miss Hester Waring's father was a wastrel and a drunkard, who had alienated most of Sydney society.When he died, Hester found herself destitute and alone, with no one to rely on. Her rescue came from a most unlikely source-Mr.Tom Dilhorne, an ex-convict, now the richest man in Sydney. He engineered a teaching job for her, but knew that if he was to be accepted by society he needed a lady for a wife. And Hester was every inch a lady. Luckily the skinny schoolteacher wasn't at all his type, so he wouldn't be in danger of losing his heart…would he?

The overly scientific, always respectable, and socially awkward Alexander Banks has just been informed his name resides on a betrothal agreement right above the name of the worst chit in all of England. With a loophole that allows him to marry another without consequence before the thirtieth anniversary of his birth, he has only four weeks to find another woman and make her his wife. Being the logical scientist he is, Alex decides to take his friend's advice and treat his quest for a bride just like a science experiment...

Caroline Sinclair is still trying to scrape her jaw off the floor after hearing her cousin, Lady Olivia’s, latest announcement when the object of their conversation, Alex Banks, Olivia’s intended, arrives for what Caroline assumes is a bout of drawing room chitchat with his betrothed. But when an experiment is mentioned, Caroline, who cannot resist a science experiment any more than she can deny her lungs air, volunteers to help before she even knows what his latest experiment is!

In a last, desperate attempt to escape her horribly abusive stepfather, beautiful and frightened, Angeline Maxwell has no choice but to bend to her aunt’s will and sacrifice herself in marriage to the mysteriously absent Laird Ethan McCutcheon Carroll. Mere hours after the wedding ceremony is concluded by proxy, however, Angeline is informed of her husband’s untimely death. For nigh onto a year, she experiences a peaceful, man-free, fear-free existence that she had never imagined possible. But now her husband is back…and very much alive!

She is everything he cannot have…

Long-believed-dead, a weary and battered, Ethan McCutcheon Carroll returns home to the highlands of Scotland, intent upon reclaiming his rightful place as Laird of his clan. But home is not the way he left it. Ethan had never imagined that he would be forced to convince his own people that he is indeed alive and not some demon just risen from the devil’s hiding place—nor that this would turn out to be the very least of his problems. By his own fierce vow, he remains a man alone…unwed and without heir. So what is he to do with a wee lass of a wife, who is obviously just as terrified of him, as he is of himself…?

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.
 

Upon their first meeting, seventeen year old Edwina Banks loses her heart to the handsome, Sir Wallace Benedict. She then spends three years doing everything in her power to see him again only to be devastated when she hears that he still holds a tendre for his former love interest—Lady Chatterfield.

Disappointed but not defeated, Edwina forms a plan to help Sir Wallace gain his much-deserved and long awaited happily-ever-after by winning the object of his affection’s favor. For truly then she can put aside her feelings for him and pursue her own match.

Or can she...

Despite his three engagements, the thrice-jilted baronet, Sir Wallace Benedict, has never had an easy time charming those of the fairer sex. Having been deceived and used more times than he'd care to remember, he's erected a wall around his heart and is skeptical of everyone. Everyone except one Miss Edwina Banks, that is. With an inquisitive disposition, yet a relaxing presence, Edwina is a mystery which has held him captive ever since their first meeting three years ago. So when she offers to give him advice for how to conduct a courtship that will end with the most favorable result: marriage, he agrees without hesitation.

But when Wallace learns that not only does Edwina have another suitor, but that her advice was meant to help him woo the wrong lady, he forms his own plan: use Edwina's wooing advice on Edwina.

Miss Lydia Charingford is always cheerful, and never more so than at Christmas time. But no matter how hard she smiles, she can't forget the youthful mistake that could have ruined her reputation. Even though the worst of her indiscretion was kept secret, one other person knows the truth of those dark days: the sarcastic Doctor Jonas Grantham. She wants nothing to do with him...or the butterflies that take flight in her stomach every time he looks her way.

Jonas Grantham has a secret, too: He's been in love with Lydia for more than a year. This winter, he's determined to conquer her dislike and win her for his own. It all starts with a wager and a kiss...

A Kiss for Midwinter is a novella (38,000 words) in the Brothers Sinister series. It follows The Duchess War. Each book stands on its own, but those who prefer to read in order might want to read that book first.

What he wanted was a plain and meek wife to take care of his children and stay out of his bedroom. What he got was a fiery temptress who, despite her plain appearance, was far more desirable than he could handle.

Patrick Ramsey, Viscount Drakely, is used to having everything go according to his plans. And usually, it does, except when it comes to his three young daughters who are in desperate need of mother and governess. In an attempt to find a suitable woman, he stumbles upon the perfect woman for the job: Miss Juliet Hughes. Juliet, a local village girl, has been educated at London’s most highly respect school for young ladies, and better yet, her plain features will make it easy for him to keep his hands off of her.

But what Patrick doesn’t realize is this plain young lady from a humble background is anything but the docile, biddable young lady he bargained for, and if he’s not careful, he’ll lose his heavily guarded heart a little more with each encounter they have. With unshakable confidence and a strong determination, Juliet has no intentions of letting this lofty lord run roughshod over her and will stop at nothing to remind him that they may have been born at unequal stations, but where it counts, they’re matched perfectly.