Mystique

Imogen Waterstone has always prided herself on being a thoroughly independent young woman. But now she needed a man: one with an implacable will and nerves of iron. That's why she invited Matthias Marshall, the infamous explorer and Earl of Colchester, to her home in Upper Stickleford. Her scheme was simple, really: She would let it be known that when she inherited her uncle's collection of antiquities, she would also inherit a map to a fabulous ancient treasure. Certain that her enemy would risk financial ruin in pursuit of the artifact, Imogen expected Colchester to set himself up as the ruthless lord's rival and pretend to seduce her so that he, too, could get his hands on her map. In all of her pleading, Imogen never anticipated Colchester's reaction to her request or her own electrifying response to him. With his powerful build and the swath of silver in his dark hair, Matthias was more than magnificent. And as he entered her charade, Imogen found herself in the thrall of true passion at last.

The Earl of St. Merryn needs a woman. His intentions are purely practical - he simply wants someone sensible and suitably lovely to pose as his betrothed for a few weeks among polite society. He has his own agenda to pursue, and a false fiancée will keep the husband-hunters at bay while he goes about his business. The simplest solution is to hire a paid companion. Finding the right candidate proves more of a challenge than he expected.

After a year of grand adventures touring the classical ruins of Italy and Greece, Iphiginia Bright returned to England to discover that the real excitement was at home. It seems that her Aunt Zoe has fallen victim to a sinister blackmailer and only Iphiginia can hope to stop the culprit before he can do more harm. Her plan is inspired: Imitating history's most legendary beauties--Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Aphrodite--the former schoolmistress will remake herself, and descend upon London Society as the dazzling mistress of Marcus Valerius Cloud, the infamous Earl of Masters.

She's known as the Wicked Widow, for rumors abound that she dispatched her husband to the next world. But Madeline Deveridge has a more vexing problem than her scandalous reputation. Her husband's ghost is haunting her! She must exorcise him, and turns to Artemis Hunt for aid. Owner of London's favorite pleasure gardens, Artemis is no stranger to the exotic and the mysterious. So he agrees to join Madeline in her unusual enterprise, never expecting to find himself in the thrall of true passion. But the ghost is a real menace - and intent on using Madeline for a deadly purpose.

While investigating a suspicious death, private inquiry agent Ambrose Wells finds himself on the grounds of Aldwick Castle - and in the midst of utter chaos. The ramshackle castle is in flames - and a beautiful woman and four young girls are taking flight on horseback. It turns out that the strong-minded Miss Concordia Glade and her four bright students are on the run from a notorious London crime lord who'll stop at nothing to destroy them.

The sins of Adam Hardesty's past have been discovered. And if he does not hunt down his blackmailer quickly, his secrets will be revealed to all.... But there is an obstacle in his way: sensation novelist Caroline Fordyce. She knows that Adam's quest for justice could shatter her own reputation - and mire her family in lethal scandal. And she fears what he may find. Together they will navigate the shadow side of London, venturing into an underworld of cutthroats, connivers, and illusionists.

Emma Grayson is a sharp-tongued, quick-witted woman who's employed - for the time being - as a lady's companion. Her presence is required at a tiresome country house party, where she encounters the legendary Edison Stokes! Then murder strikes, and Emma realizes the awful truth. Unless she and Edison devise a scheme to outwit the merciless killer, she could forever lose the man of her dreams - and even her very life.

Anna Snow grew up in an orphanage in Bath knowing nothing of her family. Now she discovers that the late Earl of Riverdale was her father and that she has inherited his fortune. Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby, keeps others at a distance. Yet something prompts him to aid Anna in her transition from orphan to lady. As London society and her newfound relatives threaten to overwhelm Anna, Avery steps in to rescue her....

A widow with a past...The last thing Victoria Barrett, the Viscountess Waters, has any interest in is romance. When the only man she's ever loved was killed, she endured an arranged marriage to a cruel man in order to survive. Now widowed, her only focus is on clearing her son's name from the charge of murder. That is until the love of her life returns from the grave. A leader of a once great agency...Nathaniel Archer, the Earl of Exeter head of the Crown's elite organization, The Brethren, is back on British soil.

She wanted sanctuary... Helena Reynolds will do anything to escape her life in London, even if that means traveling to a remote cliffside estate on the North Devon coast and marrying a complete stranger. But Greyfriar's Abbey isn't the sort of refuge she imagined. And ex-army captain Justin Thornhill - though he may be tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome - is anything but a romantic hero. He needed redemption... Justin has spent the last two decades making his fortune, settling scores, and suffering a prolonged period of torture in an Indian prison.

Finishing school instructor Mrs. Rowena Bryant is hated by her students, revered by the headmistress, and absolutely determined to maintain her financial security. Deceived years ago by the only man she'd ever given her heart to, Rowena relies on no one but herself - that is the best way to keep her most scandalous secret. When Graham Linford returned from war on the cusp of death, he discovered he'd been betrayed by the woman he loved.

In financial straits and on a sure path to spinsterhood, Venetia Milton thought her stay at the remote, ramshackle Arcane House, far from society's prying eyes, would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engineer her own ravishment. She was there to photograph the relics and artifacts collected by a highly secretive organization, founded two centuries earlier by an eccentric alchemist.

The first kiss occurred in a dimly lit hallway on the upper floor of Elwin Hastings' grand house. Louisa never saw it coming....Of course, Anthony Stalbridge couldn't possibly have had romantic intentions. The kiss was an act of desperation, meant to distract the armed guard who was about to catch the pair in a place they most definitely did not belong.

Since his return from war, the Duke of Ashbury's to-do list has been short and anything but sweet: brooding, glowering, menacing London ne'er-do-wells by night. Now there's a new item on the list. He needs an heir - which means he needs a wife. When Emma Gladstone, a vicar's daughter turned seamstress, appears in his library wearing a wedding gown, he decides on the spot that she'll do.

The New York Times best-selling author of 'Til Death Do Us Part transports listeners to 1930s California, where glamour and seduction spawn a multitude of sins. At the exclusive Burning Cove Hotel on the coast of California, rookie reporter Irene Glasson finds herself staring down at a beautiful actress at the bottom of a pool. The dead woman had a red-hot secret about an up-and-coming leading man, a scoop that Irene couldn't resist.