Cirrus@Austlit

'A rebellious Lady, a Baron’s heir, a too proper Marquess, matchmaking gone awry, a storm drenched kiss in the haunted ruins, a last minute triumph of love.

'Lady Grace Wellford has always been happy riding about the countryside with her best friend, Miss Amelia Gardner, and Amelia's brother Theodore. Far happier than when she is expected to be ladylike indoors. But now that she is eighteen, her mother intends that to change, in preparation for the coming Season. Even the chance for Amelia to stay at Hesterton Park with her is not enough to make up for the loss of her freedom...

'Mr Theodore Gardner is coming to realise that, now that they are both grown, he sees Lady Grace rather differently from before - but he knows that she can never be for him - she is far above his social standing, and her mother hopes that she will marry a man of even higher standing than her. But part of him still hopes...

'When the Marquess of Chesterport and his sisters come to visit Hesterton Park, Lady Grace's mother is determined that she will make a match between the Marquess and Grace. It is a plan which does not meet with Grace's approval.... Then, when a sudden storm results in an unexpected kiss amongst the supposedly haunted castle ruins, four lives are thrown into turmoil.

'Will they have the courage to admit their true feelings? or will Grace and the Marquess bow to family pressure and each marry the wrong person?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A Lady forced into marriage, a Duke with a dark reputation, an unseen enemy, lies, secrets and ‘helpful’ friends – can they find their way to love, despite it all?

'Lady Ariana Torryngton was forbidden the only man she had ever loved – and has resolved to stay a spinster. But her dictatorial father, driven by his own approaching death, has arranged a marriage for her – to a man with a terrifying reputation. A marriage which she cannot avoid.

'Benedict Blackshaw, the Duke of Darkmire, is plagued by the rumours of dark horrors of his ancestors – horrors which the common people believe he may well perpetuate. As a consequence, the young women of the ton have turned away from him. When the Earl of Hazelworth suggests a match with his daughter, Benedict agrees, hoping that marriage will change things in his life.

'From the moment of their first meeting, nothing goes as either might have wished, with the ghosts of the past filling their present with the misery of secrets and lies, and their marriage seems doomed before it has barely begun. Each turns to a friend for support and advice – but is that the best thing to do?

'When danger threatens from an unexpected quarter, will they realise the risk in time?

'Can they see past the terrible beginning to their life together, and discover love?

'Or will Ariana follow her first love to a terrible death before Benedict can save her?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A young lady with a lifelong dream of writing, a novelist who is far more than he seems, a Duke who leads a double life, a noblewoman bent on revenge, a love born in fire and passion.

'Miss Ella Radcliffe’s family is in desperate straights. And rather than marry the man her mother has chosen, she looks for work – hoping that her love of writing might help her save the family from starvation. When a mysterious offer of employment turns out to have come from her literary hero, she begins to hope that things may improve. But it soon becomes obvious that nothing is quite as it seems…

'Mr Oscar Harman is a celebrated author – with a problem. More than one problem, in fact. First, his inspiration has deserted him, and second, the spectre of old wrongs haunts him – rather literally. If he is ever to finish another book, he needs help – so he decides to hire a secretary. When the applicant for the job turns out to be a woman – and a woman who seems like the perfect composite of every heroine he has ever written, everything changes.

'The Duke of Shadowbrook has lived a double life for many years now, avoiding the public eye, and resenting the requirements of the title. Now, his great aunt has forced him to see that his double life is a trap. But how does one escape a trap of one’s own making?

'With Ella’s influence, for the first time in ten years, Oscar begins to consider changing – taking up responsibilities he has left abandoned, and mending long broken friendships. As the attraction between them blooms, the pressures of the past and the culmination of a vengeance declared bring them to the brink of disaster.

'Can Oscar overcome his stubbornness, and forgive the transgressions of the past?

'Can Ella trust her own instincts, and help him, or will she be driven away?

'Can they admit their love for each other in time, or will everything end in fiery ruin?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.