One Wicked Winter

When the beautiful Lady Isabella Scranford finds herself in the family way and her lover refuses to do the honorable thing, she knows her life is at an end. With a reputation for being a cold-hearted bitch, there will be no sympathy for her, only shame and ridicule. Finding that even her best - and only - friend refuses to be associated with her any longer, Isabella decides she cannot go on and makes a fateful decision. When a filthy and frightening man rescues Isabella from drowning, she begins to believe her fate has taken an even darker turn. Yet appearances can be deceptive....

Alexander Sinclair, Fourth Earl of Falmouth, has a reputation for rebelling in vice. Wine, women, and gambling are only one side of this dangerous man, for the earl has a second life, leading a criminal gang, smuggling contraband between France and Cornwall. Seeking ever more risk, Alexander often leads his men on their nighttime missions. One unlucky night the revenue men appear, and the smugglers sail into a violent storm in an effort to escape, but the ship and all aboard go down.

1815 - Along the wild and untamed coast of Cornwall, smuggling is not only a way of life but a means of survival. Henrietta Morton knows well to look the other way when the free trading 'gentlemen' are at work. Yet when a notorious pirate, known as The Rogue, bursts in on her in the village shop, she takes things one step further. Bewitched by a pair of wicked blue eyes, in a moment of insanity she hides the handsome fugitive from the local militia. Her reward is a kiss that she just cannot forget. But in his haste to escape with his life, her pirate drops a letter.

Benedict Rutland - the darkly handsome earl of Rothay - gained his title too young. His youth was spent clawing back the family fortunes. Now a man in his prime and financially secure, he is betrothed to a strict, sensible, and coolheaded woman who will never upset the balance of his life or disturb his emotions....  But then Miss Skeffington-Fox arrives. And as family members in line for the dukedom begin to die at an alarming rate, all fingers point at Benedict, and Miss Skeffington-Fox may be the only one who can save him.  

When the Duke of Ashbury returns from war scarred, he realises he needs an heir - which means he needs a wife! When Emma Gladstone, a vicar's daughter turned seamstress visits wearing a wedding dress, he decides on the spot that she'll do. His terms are simple: They will be husband and wife by night only. No lights, no kissing. No questions about his battle scars. Last, and most importantly...Once she's pregnant with his heir, they need never share a bed again. But Emma is no pushover. She has secrets and some rules of her own....

Since her cheating husband created a scandal by dying beneath his whore, Darcy de Merle is determined to enjoy widowhood and refuses to mourn a man she grew to loathe. Setting the ton ablaze, Darcy holds a ball to relaunch herself into society on the anniversary of his death. Cameron, the duke of Athelby, sees Darcy de Merle skirting the boundaries of respectability and reminds her of the proper etiquette to which she should adhere. Darcy refuses to allow another man to tell her what to do and decides to seduce the duke to show him there is more to life than proper conventions.

Life for Victoria Lacey should be perfect. And it is - perfectly boring. Agree to marry a lord who has yet to inspire a single, solitary tingle? Why, of course. Smile as though this is not the thousandth time he's mentioned hounds and hunting? It's all in a day's work for the oh-so-proper sister of the Duke of Blackmore. Surely no one would suspect her secret longing for heart-racing, head-spinning passion. Except, perhaps, a dark stranger...on a terrace...at a ball where she should definitely not be kissing a man she has only just met.

Rosamund prides herself on her matchmaking skills. After meeting Marcus Worthing, Earl of Somerville and her older sister's childhood best friend, she knows she's found the perfect fiancé...for her reclusive sister. Unfortunately, she's spending far too much time thinking about the man.

Widower Benjamin Romilly, earl of Furness, lives a melancholy life. The loss of his wife in childbirth four years before has robbed him of all happiness. He can barely look at his son, who resembles his mother so strongly and is a constant reminder of her loss. But Jean Saunders, a relative of Benjamin's late wife, erupts into the grief-stricken household to restore order and take Benjamin's son away. From all Jean has heard, she assumes he won't care - but she doesn't know how wrong she is. As they come together to raise Geoffrey right, their budding attraction is undeniable.  

When Victoria fell in love with the Earl of Pembroke, she never imagined he'd heartlessly wed, bed, and abandon her in the countryside. After he suddenly returns, determined to prove to her he's a changed man, she's not about to forgive him, trust him, or succumb to his scorching kisses. Will has devoted his life to enraging his loathsome father by creating one scandal after the next. Duty forces him back to the wife he resents, but he isn't prepared for the raw desire she makes him feel. Seducing her will hardly be a tedious task. Guarding his heart, however, is another matter.

Is it wrong for a woman to want more? Not if she is a Spinster Heiress. They do not settle. Any young miss would be very lucky to find herself promised to a man like the duke of Camberly. However, Miss Willa Reverly has watched her friends marry for love. Camberly may be the prize of the season, but she will not be “sold” to any man. She wants his devotion or she wants nothing at all.

For reasons of his own, Stephen Hampton, Lord Summerdale, is determined to learn the truth behind the tangled tale of Helen's ruin. There is nothing he abhors so much as scandal - nothing he prizes so well as discretion - and so he is shocked to find that he cannot help but admire her. But how can she trust a man so steeped in the culture of high society, who conceals so much? And how can he, so devoted to the appearance of propriety, ever love a fallen lady?

Adrian Hunter, the son of a duke's daughter and a black abolitionist, is determined to do whatever his family needs - even posing as a valet to gather information. But his mission spirals out of control when he's accused of dastardly intentions and is forced to marry a woman he's barely had time to flirt with. Camilla Worth has always dreamed of getting married, but a marriage where a pistol substitutes for "I do" is not the relationship she hoped for.

Devlin Drake is out for revenge. Since his brother’s mysterious death, the cruel and devious Miss Bromfield has taken to spouting vicious lies, spreading vile gossip - and he vows to make her pay. How better to punish the lady than to make her his wife? A lifetime of misery is what she deserves. Knowing the lady would never accept him, Devlin devises a plan to get her to the altar - he’ll win her hand in a bet. In choosing to marry the spiteful lady, Devlin must accept he will never know true love. But his fortunes turn when he’s offered another tempting option. 

Nicholas Lyon gambled his way into a fortune and ownership of the most opulent, notorious gentlemen’s club in England. But when Nick’s cruel brother dies, he inherits a title he never wanted. The sooner Nick is rid of the estate that has always haunted him, the sooner he can return to the life he’s built in London. But there’s one obstacle - the exquisite Thomasina Thorne.