The upper class of the social circle regarded Sir Benjamin Wright with utmost honour and respect. Yet Lady Emma knew her husband was, in fact, a drunken jealous brute who delighted in humiliating her both in and out of the bedroom. His murder had been a blessing, she thought - that is until the constable's accusing finger pointed to her. But it soon became apparent that her late husband hid secrets and enemies. When the practical Comte Saint-Juste...

In Regency England, 27-year-old Leonora Appleby is considered by many - herself included - to be beyond her most eligible marrying years. With her childhood home, Hasterleigh Manor, soon to be taken over by the heir to the land, George Lockwood, she's happily resigned herself to a quiet life as a country Miss. But life has a way of springing surprises and the return of the brooding war hero Earl Rokeby, presumed dead on the French battlefields, to...

Affairs of honour between bucks and blades, rakes and rascals; affairs of the heart between heirs and orphans, beauties and bachelors; romance, intrigue, escapades and duels at dawn. All the gallantry, villainy and elegance of the age that Georgette Heyer has so triumphantly made her own are exquisitely revived in these wonderfully romantic stories of the Regency period. This collection also includes three newly discovered stories not seen since 1939,...

It is a sad fact of life that if a young woman is unlucky enough to come into the world without expectations, she had better do all she can to ensure she is born beautiful. To be handsome and poor is misfortune enough; but to be both plain and penniless is a hard fate indeed. In Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice', Mary is the middle of the five Bennet girls and the plainest of them all, so what hope does she have? Prim and pious, with no redeeming...

Though it was true, Frederica chafed at the restricted life she lived as the adopted daughter of the infamous bluestocking Mrs. Waverly, she did however agree with Mrs. Waverly's philosophy. She knew that until the day men stopped preferring lisping dimwits over intellectual equals, Frederica would be better off without them. Still, the recent elopement of her sister, Fanny, had sparked the fires of romance in Frederica's well-educated head. So it...

Miss Abigail Abbott desperately needs to disappear - permanently - and the only person she trusts to help her do that is Lord Stephen Wentworth, heir to the Duke of Walden. Stephen is brilliant, charming, and - when he needs to be - absolutely ruthless. So ruthless that he proposes marriage instead of 'murder' to keep Abigail safe. Stephen was smitten the instant his sister introduced him to Abigail, a woman with the dignity and determination of a...

Flavian was devastated by his fiancee's desertion after his return home. Now the woman who broke his heart is back - and everyone is eager to revive their engagement. Except Flavian, who, in a panic, runs straight into the arms of the nearest young woman. Agnes Keeping has never been in love - and never wishes to be. But then she meets the charismatic Flavian, and suddenly Agnes falls so foolishly and so deeply that she agrees to his impetuous proposal...

For the first time since the death of his wife, the Duke of Stanbrook is considering re-marrying and finally embracing happiness for himself. With that thought comes the treasured image of a woman he met briefly a year ago and never saw again. Dora Debbins relinquished all hope to marry when a family scandal left her in charge of her younger sister. Earning a modest living as a music teacher, she's left with only an unfulfilled dream. Then one afternoon,...

Annabelle Carruthers could only dream of being kissed by a man as dashing as Lord Darkwood. She remained locked in misery - married to a rakish drunk who gambled their lives into financial and social ruin. His sudden death - and rumors of spies and treachery - only made matters worse. Burdened with gambling debts, Annabelle feared she was on her way to the poorhouse. The only solution Annabelle could see was to offer herself up as mistress to the...