At times, believing is more important than seeing in matters of love and snowflakes. It's Christmastide 1817 and Miss Christiana Smythe, daughter of a squire, is not looking forward to the social obligations of the season. Wanting nothing more than to care for the area's sick and ailing animal population, doing the rounds in glittering ballrooms festooned with holiday finery makes her lightheaded. Yet it's a necessity to realizing the dream of love. Evan Tennant, Earl of Stanton's priorities are to avoid dancing with women he doesn't know as well as to avoid match-making mamas. He'd much rather spend his time charting the stars in the hopes of catching a meteor shower, yet he has responsibilities to his title and his mother insists he find an eligible lady soon. Except he doesn't believe in romance or the magic of Christmastide. Though she's a confirmed wallflower, Christiana's knack for helping animals throws her into the earl's path when his...

The quest to break a mummy's curse turns dangerous when a peer ends up dead. Miles Lawrence Hawkins, fifth Earl of Archewyne, is alone and the last of his line, save for a young daughter, and he's made peace with that...Yet unexpectedly finding an attractive female thief in his library searching for that same mummy gives him doubts. Drawn into the lady's insane plot to retrieve various stolen mummies from around London—including the British Museum—Miles accompanies her merely to see what will happen next. Being captivated by her quest and intrigued by her skill in skirting the law is a much needed distraction from the stress of his own life's misfortunes. Lady Emmaline Darling, skilled thief and daughter to the Earl of St. Ives, is nearly alone in the world, and not by choice. Believing herself damned due to her father's penchant for removing antiquities from Egypt, she's vowed to return a pair of mummies to their eternal resting place in...

When all else fails, sometimes it's up to fate to arrange a romance. It's Boxing Day as well as his ducal parents' wedding anniversary, and Graham Ivy—Lord Bonham—is stuck at a Christmastide house party. He hasn't been bothered with settling down or finding a bride, for he's had too much fun playing the rogue in London, but when a mysterious, pretty, stranger arrives at Ivy Castle during a celebration ball, he might just change his mind. Miss Arabella Holly is in a spot of bother. Her travelling coach broke a wheel on the muddy roads, and in desperate need of assistance, she walks a few miles until she reaches the Duke of Whittington's doorstep. Surely the occupants of the castle will assist in her quest to flee the clutches of a horrible man who wishes to claim her hand in marriage thanks to her father losing everything at the gaming tables. A series of events that smack of intrigue or a bit of theatric fiction worthy of...

The most powerful form of magic is free will.Averell Woode is a huntsman's daughter, hidden away in an enchanted tree from the evils of the world. Though she's skilled in all things forest-related, she yearns for life beyond the trees. A chance meeting with a stranger seems the perfect opportunity to stretch her wings, and she falls for the charm he wields, especially when an exciting adventure has come to her very doorstep.Devon James Quinn Lansdowne, the spare prince of Annanvale, is trying to avoid anything that smacks of palace life. He's not into intrigue or politics and much prefers running free through forested areas especially while in wolf form. Cursed to shift into the beast each night, he's not looking for romance, but as fate puts him into the path of a woman who draws an arrow on him, he's only too glad to change his mind.When Averell is given an ultimatum by an evil queen—kill Prince Charming of Annanvale or face...

Bedeviling Major Kenton (Willful Winterbournes, Book Five)

When a lady snubs love and romance in favor of being ruined, all hell will break loose. Lady Katharine "Kitty" Gibson is the youngest child of the Earl of Armestead. At six and twenty, she wants no part of living a fairytale and desires love even less. She has dreams for her life that do not include romance, but tolerating a man long enough to see herself ruined would be a lovely addition to her existence and might allow her past society's dictates that domestication and a good match is all she should aspire toward. Mr. Reginald Healy made his first fortune with the East India Company and his second importing beautiful silk fabric and selling it to ladies of the beau monde. All he has ever wanted in his life is to be respected as a gentleman instead of the "earl's fool" he's been nicknamed. But when he purchases a rundown manor house in the countryside and meets a winsome blonde who is not in his usual style, his dream shifts to include a...

The most powerful force in the world is love.Lady Christiana Tremaine lives in the kingdom of Vesance, but ever since her father remarried, her stepmother—Lady Tremaine—has stripped her of everything befitting her station, has reduced her to that of a maid, and forced her to answer to the slur of Cinderella. Though the life of drudgery is horrid, she carries hope circumstances will change, especially when she remembers dancing with the prince who stole her heart. A chance meeting with that same man strengthens her resolve to change... if she can survive that woman's deadly machinations.Alto August Henry Ferdinand Lansdowne, Prince Charming of Annanvale has been searching for the woman who sent his world upside down and ran from him at midnight leaving a glass slipper behind. Though he's been cursed to shift into wolf form each night, he has faith that the woman he's coming to love will overlook his affliction. When he finds her, they...

There is only one path to true love, no matter how fate, fortune, or destiny play.Lady Isabella Fortescue has tired of trying to bring a man up to scratch. At thirty-one, she's put herself on the shelf and is glad for it, except she wants to have one splendid folly to call her own before that happens. But the unorthodox arrival of a horribly rude man makes her think even a scandal isn't possible.Captain Peregrine St. John has sworn off women—indefinitely. With the ill-luck of his last relationship fresh in his mind, he retires from naval service sporting a bum leg and a shattered heart. Rustication proves beyond boring, and a visit to a gypsy fair has him face down in the mud on a stormy afternoon. The heated admonishment from a lady only further cements his attitude on the fairer sex.As fate would have it, Isabella and Peregrine are neighbors in Buckinghamshire. As country social life throws them together, tempers rise with each new meeting and...

Sometimes love needs a few wagers to stick the second time around.Pleasure is his only pursuit... Colin Rowley, Viscount Hartsford, has been given an offer too good to ignore: if he comes home to Lancaster Hall and his family by Christmas morning, he'll win a coveted racehorse as well as an estate. Trouble is, recollections attached to his ducal father's castle leave him haunted, especially those regarding the first girl he's ever loved, the one who rejected him.Faced with reduced circumstances... Widow Lucy Ashbrook is leaving London for the last time. Now that her husband's savings have dried up, she can no longer afford her lifestyle, so after she attends the Christmas house party at Lancaster Hall—the site of so many delicious memories—she'll return to her parents on the neighboring property. Too bad the man who first won her heart, and who accompanies her on the journey to Derbyshire, hasn't changed his selfish ways.The magic of the holiday...

Christmastide brings about nostalgia as well as romance, even if it didn't work the first time. Stephen Alexander Ivy—Viscount Tilbury—has no interest in finding romance again, especially during a Christmastide house party his parents have thrown at Ivy Castle. Being jilted years ago sent wounds deep into his heart, so he's content to watch the antics of his siblings with a hearty dose of sarcastic skepticism... and envy. Widow Lynette Hodgins—daughter of a baron whose property neighbors Ivy Castle—is back in the Warwickshire countryside to help save her mother from becoming so destitute that she'll lose the family home—Birch House. It's the last thing she wants to, for after her husband died, she's been existing merely for the good of her son... and she certainly doesn't wish to see the man she left all those years ago. However, fate has a way of picking at past wounds. When both Stephen and Lynette are...

A Storme’s Christmas Legacy (The Storme Brothers, Book Four)

When two people are too shy to give romance a chance, a little ducal interference is needed. It's Christmastide, and Griffin Ivy, Earl of Hollingsworth, has been summoned by his ducal parents to Ivy Castle, a monstrosity of an estate deep in the heart of Warwickshire County. He's terrified of taking the title of duke soon, and instead of mingling with society, he'd rather bury himself in books or walk the acreage, for then anxiety can't touch him... until he meets his father's nurse, Nora. When Miss Nora Ridley is told to draw the earl out of his shell during the holiday season, so he'll feel more comfortable at social events, she balks at the odd request. Not only would it mean she'd need to circulate within the duke's family in public, but the order also comes with a borrowed wardrobe making her into someone she isn't... but then she meets Griffin and her perspective changes. They're both ill-at-ease within company, but Ivy Castle is...