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The Earl of Rutherford was handsome, rich and as adept at giving pleasure as he was avid in pursuing it. He was certain his conquest of Jessica Moore--a mere governess--would be swift and satisfying. But what he did not know was that Jessica planned to teach him a lesson in manners.<

Miss Rebecca Shaw had lost her heart once in her young life — lost it and had it broken.

At last it had mended — mended enough for her to say yes when the handsome, high-minded young Reverend Philip Everett asked her to be his wife and share a life of the purest propriety and best of good works.

But now Christopher Sinclair had returned. He was free now of the marriage that had given him fabulous wealth at the price of leaving Rebecca behind and betrayed. He was free now to turn Rebecca's head again…away from the man who soon would be her lawfully wedded husband. And Rebecca was also free to change her mind- but was she foolish enough to turn toward a love that had proven faithless once and now could be utterly ruinous…?

HOW COULD SHE LOVE A MAN WHOM SHE COULD ONLY DESPISE?

How could Lady Helen Wade possibly love a gentleman like William Mainwaring handsome and wealthy as he might be?

How could she love this object of her two older sisters matrimonial designs?

How could she love this cad who was shockingly involved with another man's wife?

How could she love this rogue who shamelessly employed his seductive skills on an innocent young country miss he came upon in the woods…especially when he was so successful in planting Eros's arrows and when his willing victim was Helen herself…?

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The Sinful Suitor

Miss Helen Wade had been driven to the limits of self-restraint. Mr. William Mainwaring simply would not abandon his pursuit of her-and his campaign to reconquer the heart he had so sinfully won and then so shamelessly abandoned was casting a dark shadow over Helen's glittering London Season. Now, when he informed her that she had been acting most unladylike toward him, her patience snapped.

"Mr. Mainwaring," she informed him, "when I refused to dance or converse with you at the marquess's ball, I believed, I had made it clear that I had no wish to renew our acquaintance. And when you came to me with your insulting offer of marriage, I thought I had made it abundantly obvious that I both hate and despise you. I had no wish to see you last night, I had no wish to drive with you this afternoon-and I should be happy never to see you again."

That, she told herself, should be that.

Except that it wasn't…

At four in the morning, the night of his twenty-fifth birthday, Baron Montford finds himself quite sauced with a large group of gentlemen in his library. Spurred on by revelry, pride, and drink, Montford takes on a wager he'll soon regret: to successfully seduce the virtuous Katherine Huxtable within the coming fortnight.

The Huxtables have recently fallen into a great deal of wealth and prominence, and Katherine Huxtable knows that she's been lucky in every way but one. Despite her great beauty and newfound life of leisure, Katherine believes she is not made for passion or romance. She has avoided any suitors and all men of the ton, Lord Montford most of all due to his notoriety of as a dangerous rakehell.

With a sour reputation, Baron Montford certainly has a steep hill to climb - will he lose his wager or perhaps even his heart?

Por fin la oveja negra de los Huxtable está a punto de encontrar una compañera a la altura de las circunstancias… una mujer con una reputación aún más escandalosa.

Su nombre es Hannah Reid. Nacida plebeya, se convirtió en la duquesa de Dunbarton desde que a los diecinueve años se casó con el anciano duque al que, según los rumores, le fue constantemente infiel. Y ahora que su marido ha muerto, Hannah, más femenina y bella que nunca a sus treinta años, ha obtenido la libertad que tanto deseaba y sabe muy bien lo primero que va a hacer con ella: buscarse un amante; no cualquier amante, sino el más peligroso y atractivo de toda la alta sociedad londinense, Constantine Huxtable.

Siendo un hijo ilegítimo, Constantine no ha podido acceder al título de conde, así que nunca se ha negado ningún placer que pudiera manchar su reputación. Se dice de él que lleva una vida de asueto y placer carnal en su villa del campo y que siempre elige como amantes a las viudas más recientes. Con lo que Hannah parece entrar dentro de sus expectativas.

Pero una vez que estos dos apasionados y escandalosos personajes cruzan sus vidas, se dan cuenta de que no es tan fácil liberar las llamas del deseo… sin salir chamuscado, y que ambos guardan secretos que, cuando sean revelados, nadie será capaz de decidir quién de los dos se enamorará primero, quién domará a quién y quien saldrá ganador de este juego de corazones.

An omnibus of novels

Old loves rekindled, new loves found, and family bonds strengthened are the themes of these stories from the beloved, multiple-award winning author Mary Balogh. The four classic stories included here are The Star of Bethlehem, The Best Gift, Playing House, and No Room at the Inn. The new story exclusive to this trade collection is A Family Christmas.

He'd served with her husband on the battlefield—and secretly desired her for years. Yet for Dominic, Lieutenant Lord Eden, Ellen Simpson has remained tantalizingly out of reach—until she is widowed by the war. Suddenly pursued by the dangerously handsome nobleman, Ellen is stunned by the depth of attraction he arouses in her. Soon their friendship flames into something deeper…and as scandal ignites, marriage seems the only solution. But Ellen has a secret—one she can share with no one—that prevents her from fully opening her heart to Dominic. Until he devises his own plan for the ultimate consummation of their passion—and the woman he is determined to possess at any cost…

Julian's words haunted Alison "your're only a schoolgirl," he'd saidl, and Alison knew he still considered her a child. Could she really mean so little to him? Somewhere under all the planning and preparations Alison had cherished a faint hope that her business-arrangement marriage with Julian would turn into the kind of relationship she'd always dreamed of. But now, with sickening certainty, she realized that Julian had never loved ehr. And Rosalie was free again, deternimed to win Julian back. Alison felt suddenly that there was no use fighting anymore.<

Edward, lord Palin zawsze uwielbiał cudowną Emily Meriton, była więc bardzo zadowolona z ich zaręczyn. Tuż przed zapowiedziami zjawia się jednak tajemniczy przybysz, twierdząc, że to on – nie Edward – jest jedynym prawowitym potomkiem rodu.

Czy to możliwe, by był kuzynem Edward, zaginionym dziesięć lat temu we Francji? Intrygujące pytania wokół jego tożsamości mnożą się, a Emily odkrywa, że sama uwikłana jest w konflikt. Daleko bardziej kłopotliwe są jednak jej uczucia do tajemniczego przybysza – uczucia o wiele mocniejsze niż miłość…?