The Duke of Brockenhurst, bored by society and cynical about the beautiful women who cast themselves before him in a desperate bid to become his duchess, accepts a wager to ride from London to York alone and incognito. Outraged by the suggestion that he has lost his verve and the command he once had distinguishing himself in the Army, he decides to reflect on his future, whilst setting himself the challenge to move amongst ordinary people undetected. Valora Melford is bereaved of her beloved father and left in the care of her grasping stepmother. Determined to force her lovely stepdaughter …

Although Chandra’s father Professor Barnard Wardell is the world’s most distinguished Sanskrit scholar, his earnings are barely enough to support him, his daughter, and their faithful servant Ellen. So when the dashing Lord Damon Frome invites him on a highly paid expedition to Nepal, it is a godsend. But, having spent much of his advance, the professor is struck down by a heart attack. So, to the fury of the woman-hating Lord Frome, demure young Chandra arrives in Nepal in her father’s place. An arduous journey through Nepal’s mountains follows, during which Chandra is entrusted with a sacred treasure by …

When John Chester returns to England after suddenly inheriting a dukedom, his life changes forever, but he didn't know just how much. Gina Wilton is like a breath of fresh air, but she is also everything John disapproves of in a young women: independent, assertive, and always ready to contradict him. Yet she has ideas about restoring his dilapidated castle, and he needs her help. The more they are together, the more he notices how pretty she is, how witty and sparkling. How can he believe Gina is attracted to him when she produces an heiress and advises him to …

For years Celina Storton has been in love with Robin, the Earl of Torrington, but he spends his time in Paris pursuing beautiful women, and the more the merrier. Then his mother’s illness forced him to return to England, where she demands that he marry quickly, as she does not have long to live. She has chosen his bride, Celina. He is horrified by this threat to his liberty, but since Celina is an old friend, he agrees. Only when the wedding is over does his mother reveal that she is not as ill as she had seemed. Furious at …

Young, happy, and deeply in love, the future looks rosy for beauty Lilliana Parker and her beau Robert, the dashing Earl of Sherborne. Their friends and family wait with baited breath for news of their inevitable engagement, certain that nothing can harm the charmed life of this golden couple. However, fate has other plans and the earl is called to rejoin his regiment in India on a mission that is both dangerous and vital to queen and country. Terrified of being apart, the sweethearts enter into a secret engagement, pledging to love each other always. Whilst he is away, Lilliana’s …

The Honourable Richard Brooke, younger son of the Earl of Grandbrooke becomes a close friend of Prince Ivan of Karlova. The prince however does not use his title, as he is incognito and is known as Ivan Sazon. As is usual in aristocratic families, Richard as the second son is ordained and appointed to a parish in Oxford. Prince Ivan is often at his house and it isn'tt long before he falls in love with Richard’s sister Elizabeth.They marry and are very happy for six years and have one child, whom they christen Tarena. Ivan is called back to Karlova …

Lord Frodham and his friend Sir James Overton lay a wager that they can dupe the snobbish, horse racing-obsessed Marquis of Ardsley into falling in love with some beauty of the lower orders. They can hardly believe their luck when by chance they rescue lovely young heiress Indira Rowlandson from her dead father’s evil lawyer, who is bent on marrying her off to a bankrupt stranger. Indira is set on joining a convent to escape the unwanted attentions of men, whom she hates, but, agreeing to their plan out of gratitude, she finds herself among high society at Ardsley Hall. …

The beautiful Lady Eleta Renton returns from France where she has stayed at the Convent School in Paris. Because her mother has married again after becoming widowed, and then she also died, Eleta is in no hurry to come home. When she arrives back in London, rather sad at leaving the Convent School, she is horrified when her stepfather, whom she never liked, tells her that she is to marry the Duke of Hazelware, because he is important to him in his business of shipbuilding and the Duke requires a wife with money. As she had never even seen the …