Gabrielle Jerningham cherishes the portrait of her betrothed, the perfect Peter Dewland…until she meets his commanding older brother Quill. But it is Peter to whom she has been promised. And how can she possibly transform her voluptuous, outspoken self into the poised gentlewoman Peter requires?
When Gabby’s shocking décolletage plunges to her waist at her first ball, Peter is humiliated. But Quill comes to the rescue, to the peril of his heart. An accident years before has left Quill plagued by headaches–the kind that grows more excruciating with strenuous exercise. Needless to say, this hardly bodes well for siring progeny. But the very sight of Gabby leaves Quill breathless. One forbidden kiss and Quill vows to have her, headaches–and Peter–be damned! But it will take a clever man–and a cleverer woman–to turn the tables on propriety and find their way to true love…
To her legions of adoring suitors, it comes as quite a shock when Lady Sophie York rejects an offer of marriage from the dashing, rakish Patrick Foakes in favor of amiable but dull Bradden Chatwin. He may be an earl, but it is Patrick’s stolen kisses that sear her lips.
When Patrick, in disguise, scales a ladder to retrieve his friend’s fiancée, he never expects the elopement to be his own. Neither does Sophie, Braddon, or the rest of the tattling ton. One hasty wedding later, the passionate innocent and the sophisticated rogue play out their own intricate dance as Sophie masters what it takes to keep a man where he belongs. And Patrick learns the ultimate lesson in love.
Reckless desire sends Charlotte Daicheston into the garden with a dashing masked stranger. He’s powerful, unforgettable, a devastatingly handsome footman who lures her–not against her will–into a grand indiscretion at a masquerade ball. Then he vanishes.
Several years later, after Charlotte has made her dazzling debut in London society, they meet again. But the rogue is no footman. He’s rich, titled, and he doesn’t remember Charlotte. Worse, he’s the subject of some scandalous gossip: rumor has it, the earl’s virility is in question.
Charlotte, who knows all too intimately the power of his passion, is stunned by the gossip that has set society ablaze. At last, there can be a storybook ending…unless, of course, Charlotte’s one mad indiscretion had not been with him at all…
