Showing results by author "Minerva Spencer" in All Categories

Lady Winifred, the young Dowager Countess of Sedgewick, has already had one husband. She doesn't want another. And if Freddie ever did change her mind on the matter, she most certainly would not marry a ruthless, dominating, and heartless block of ice like the Duke of Plimpton. The Duke of Plimpton has already had one wife who did not love, or even like, him. Unfortunately, it seems he will have to take another. Because there is only one real candidate when it comes to Plimpton's next duchess, and that is Lady Winifred Sedgewick.

It's Christmastime at the Bellamy ancestral home and all the Bellamy sisters have gathered to celebrate. But it isn't just the Bellamy siblings who've made the journey to Wych House with their spouses and families. Andrew Derrick, the Marquess of Shelton, would rather spend Christmas anywhere else but in the home of the woman he once abducted. But if he's ever going to mend his scandalous reputation and build a life for himself, then he'll need to face up to the actions that have defined his past.

John Fielding is not a gentleman. His brutal past has left him scarred, mind and body. But the scars are a valuable reminder of what's truly important. Revenge. And John will have his vengeance on the man who abandoned him when he was just a child. In fact, he'll make the entire bloodline pay for the sins of his father. No one can stop him. Except maybe Cordelia . . . She's everything John is not-kind and generous. She deserves so much better than living in the shadow of her cruel sister. And she certainly deserves better than a beast like him. But that doesn't stop John from wanting her.

Annis Bowman lost everything when she trusted the wrong man. Now, she needs money, and she needs it fast. Finding a wealthy husband is her only viable option. It's just her wretched misfortune that the only man who truly interests her is poor as a church mouse. Henry Singleton, the new Earl of Rotherhithe, is ready for desperate measures. He's tired of not knowing if women are interested in him—or his wealth. Switching identities with one of his employees is the perfect solution.

Balthazar and his siblings are living the good life in the utopian community of Canoga, New York, where they have a degree of sexual and intellectual freedom few men—and even fewer women—have ever known. But sadly, all good things must come to an end. When their father dies, the Hale siblings discover two disheartening truths. First, they have an older brother none of them knew existed. Second, this stranger is not only the heir to an English dukedom, he's also their new legal guardian.

Honoria Keyes isn't the gawky, impressionable fifteen year old girl she was when she first met Simon Fairchild. Twelve years have passed, and she's a successful artist, enjoying her independence to the fullest. Simon has changed, too. Gone is the beautiful, gentle boy of Honoria's dreams. In his place is a dangerous, damaged man intent on avoiding human contact—and emotions. It would be unthinkable to fall for this difficult, wounded recluse. But then again, Honoria has never been one to do things the easy way . . .

Straight-laced missionary Sarah Fisher has never met a man like Captain Martin Bouchard. He is the most beautiful person - male or female - she's ever seen. Overwhelmingly masculine, elegantly attired despite months at sea, he is in complete command of everyone and everything around him: everyone, that is, except Sarah. But that's about to change because Sarah has bought Bouchard's mercy with the only thing she has to sell: her body.

Drusilla Clare is full of opinions about why a woman shouldn't marry. But that doesn't stop the rush of desire she feels each time her best friend's brother, notorious rake Gabriel Marlington, crosses her path. So imagine her dismay when she finds herself in the clutches of a scoundrel, only to be rescued by Gabriel himself. And when Gabriel's heartless - and heart-pounding - proposal comes, it's enough to make Dru's formidable resolve crumble...

Lady Selina Bellamy is much more than a pretty face. And it's about time everyone realized it. Being the sweet, biddable, pretty sister isn't as easy as one might think. Selina knows this all too well. Love? That was never a possibility for her. Not when she was expected to marry a wealthy man and save her entire family from financial ruin.

The Bellamy family has four months before they'll lose the roof over their heads. While Phoebe's older sisters venture out into the world to earn the necessary funds, Phoebe herself stays home to care for her younger siblings and parents. But then she meets Viscount Needham, a wealthy new peer, and everything changes.

Lady Euphemia Marlington hasn't been free in 17 years - since she was captured by Corsairs and sold into a harem. Now the sultan is dead and Mia is back in London facing relentless newspapermen, an insatiably curious public, and her first Season. Worst of all is her ashamed father's ultimatum: marry a man of his choosing or live out her life in seclusion. No doubt her potential groom is a demented octogenarian. Fortunately, Mia is no longer a girl, but a clever woman with a secret - and a plan of her own....

When Eva de Courtney kidnaps Godric Fleming, her only plan is to stop the irritating earl from persecuting her beloved brother. But once she has the intriguing rogue in the confines of her carriage, she longs to taste the passion she senses simmering beneath his rugged exterior. Her forbidden plan is foiled, however, when Godric turns the tables, taking her hostage instead - and demanding they marry at once....

Romance isn't for the plain, shy, and awkward—a painful truth that Hyacinth knows better than anyone. But Hy refuses to let anything or anyone stop her from living life on her own terms. Independence—and the opportunity to secure her family's future—is finally within her grasp. But then Hy crosses paths with a meddling duke and everything changes.

Lord Roland Crewe wants nothing to do with love or romance. He's already proven he's a terrible husband-twice!-and has no interest in doing it again. But for some reason, he struggles to remember that when he's with Aurelia. He knows a scarred, hardened man like him has nothing to offer a beautiful young idealist like her. So, why can't he stay away?

Once the reigning beauty of her social set, Celia - whom the newspapers dubbed Lady Infamous - has fallen on hard times and is practically destitute, her reputation in shreds. When Celia is forced to attend a society wedding as a companion to an elderly guest, she must confront the clique she once commanded; the gentleman she'd once hoped to marry - who is now wed to a girl Celia relentlessly taunted; and the powerful man who ruined her life a decade before - and is threatening to do so again....

Hugh Redvers is supposed to be dead. So the appearance of the sun-bronzed giant with the piratical black eye patch is deeply disturbing to Lady Daphne Davenport. And her instant attraction to the notorious privateer is not only wildly inappropriate for a proper widow but potentially disastrous. Because he is also the man Daphne has secretly cheated of title, lands, and fortune. She could be his salvation. Daphne Redvers's distant, untouchable beauty and eminently touchable body are hard enough to resist.

Magnetic and educated, Marianne Simpson has the manner of a lady and the looks of a lover, not a fighter. Neither of which explains her occupation as a boxer in her uncle's circus, Farnham's Fantastical Female Fayre. Nonetheless, when St. John Powell, the exquisitely handsome Duke of Staunton, begins turning up at her shows, she finds herself dangerously distracted by the powerful peer's mysterious presence. With her safety at stake, Marianne's days in the ring are numbered. But how long can she fight her attraction to the man the ton calls Lord Flawless?

Lady Elinor wants nothing to do with love. Her arranged marriage—and one glorious but ill-fated kiss with a handsome footman—cured her of any romantic notions she'd ever entertained. Now a widow, all Elinor plans to do is rebuild her life—without a man in it. She has no intention of falling for the charming and entirely too tempting American who seems so determined to win her favor. Stephen Worth is no longer the impoverished footman who lost everything because of the impulsive actions of a reckless young lady. Having reinvented himself long ago, his sole focus now is revenge.

Gareth Lockheart is one of the richest men in England, but it will also take a proper country estate and an aristocratic wife with impeccable connections to gain entrée into the corridors of power. Gareth is determined to find the right woman the same way he does everything: using logic and mathematics. Serena Lombard might be the widow of a duke's son, but she's always existed on the ton's fringes. The unconventional French emigre has worked hard to create a secure home for her son and has struggled to establish herself as a sculptor and landscape gardener.

Lady Io Hale has no time for men. And certainly no time for her older brother's stuffy, grumpy, and oh-so-proper best friend, Corbin Masterson, who believes he is so morally superior to everyone else, especially her. Io might have been wrenched from her home in New York, dragged to London, and forced to attend ton parties and balls, but she is drawing the line at tolerating Masterson's snooty, judgmental, and accusatory looks for one second longer.