Margaret Rome

A Bride Most Dear Brokenhearted from a shattered romance, Lord Kittridge agreed to marry Cassandra Chivers for forty thousand pounds of her father's money. But he recalled having seen her exquisite face somewhere before--and he was sure Cassie had planned to ensnare him in marriage. Was his new bride a crafty schemer behind her shy demeanor? Cassie loved him from the moment their eyes met... Why was he determined to believe the worst about her? All she wanted was his happiness -- and his love -- no matter what the cost might be.

Stranded in Madeira, Samantha found herself under the protection -- and, far more annoyingly, under the thumb-- of the lordly Joao Goncalves Zarco, the local lord of all he surveyed. The situation came to a head when he announced that she must marry him. One half of her wanted to agree; the other half realized it was madness. What answer would Samantha give?

It had been a dreadful shock to Caroline when her sister disappeared, leaving her baby with Caroline, but she vowed to herself she would do the best she could for the infant. So when the baby's uncle, Domenico Vicari, appeared, with an offer to marry Caroline and give the child a home and security, she felt she could not refuse. A condition of the marriage was that it would be in name only - but when Domenico had made it he had been under the impression that Caroline was the child's mother. What would his reaction be when he discovered how she had deceived him?

The English dove would be the bait Sicily, the home of her forefathers—and the home of the vendetta! Rosalba Rossi had no idea how vengefully the two were entwined. Then Silvatore Diavolo presented himself. The hatred between their families had erupted before either Rosalba or Silvatore was born, but family loyalty and fierce Sicilian pride decreed that the insult must still be avenged. Unwittingly, Rosalba, visiting her grandfather, became the instrument of that vengeance. The Diavolo family must either be destroyed, or united with the Rossis in marriage...

But love was only a romantic dream Tarini Brown was just twenty and had never really begun to live. Now, holidaying in the romantic alpine principality of Liechtenstein, she hoped her chance had come! The tiny country was captivating, and she lost no time falling in love with it--and with one of its leading countrymen, too--Graf Hugo von Tiersen. It was a hopeless situation, for Tarini could never compete with the beautiful baroness the handsome Graf was said to love.

The Guarded Gates The assignment in Spain was a challenge and Dionis was assured by her sister that her new fiance had the authority to make changes on behalf of the owner. But Don Juan Vicente de Velez y Stebelo knew nothing of the plans to redecorate his villa, as Dionis discovered at their first, eventful meeting. Pay Me Tomorrow Ismay had gone to see Keith Otterbury on a matter pertaining to her sister when he made his preposterous offer. The little she had heard of him hadn't been good, so his offer of marriage to save her family from financial disaster had to be regarded with suspicion. But did she really have any choice in the matter? The Darling Pirate Escaping the unwanted attentions of a suitor, Maggie Jefferson left London for a position in Jersey, in one of the island's luxury hotels. The first person she met was Alain Hautger, who enjoyed a vagabond existence in spite of the earnest efforts of others to reform him. But was he really as carefree as he seemed?

She had a quest, and nothing would stop her High in the Andalusian mountains, Frances sought information on the rare Spanish imperial eagle. Finishing her late father's book was all-important. Another kind of predator, however, thwarted her attempts--El Conde, who abducted Frances for a purpose of his own. "Tradition has imposed upon me the duty to produce an heir," he arrogantly informed her. Frances, swayed by the mystery and superstition of his Gypsy ancestry, fell under his irresistible spell...and fell in love.

"Women aren't welcome at Danes' Dyke," the inscrutable Thor Halden told Raine; nevertheless circumstances forced him to take her under his roof and to persuade her to masquerade as his wife for a time. Even before she found herself falling in love with him, it was a difficult situation for Raine. Would she ever be able to make him trust her?

Never again would she dance on the stage Birdie 's career as a ballerina was over, ruined by a fluke accident. Reeling from shock, she lets sympathetic friends lure her to the island of Menorca to rest and heal herself. It was there she meets Vulcan, the Conde, who is the antithesis of all she knew a--and would not not let her retreat into herself. He was overbearing and manipulative; and offers her the role of a companion to his ward to teach her balle and takes her to his castle . When he asks "of what are you afraid senorita", Birdie knew he could wreak more havoc in her life....

Fleur had married Alain because she loved him -- not, as he thought, either because he was blind and she felt sorry for him, or because he was rich and her motives were completely mercenary. But how could she ever convince him of the truth?

It was the answer to their dreams! Chantal and her brother could hardly believe their luck when they inherited from their grandmother prosperous vineyards in France. But the legacy was not lovingly given--their unknown grand"mere had disowned them long ago. Only a quirk of fate brought this gift to them. Their arrogant neighbor, Marquis de la Roque, laughed when he learned of their plans to work the land themselves. But that was just the challenge Chantal needed to prove him wrong!

The celebrated explorer Ramon Vegas had been given the nickname "Caramuru" -- Man of Fire -- by the Brazilian natives, and that, said Tina Donnelly's botanist aunt, was exactly what legend had him to be -- a truly volcanic personality. "I'm absolutely thrilled at the idea of joining him on his latest expedition up the Amazon," declared Aunt Chris. But it was not to be. At the last moment Aunt Chris had an accident and could not go - so Tina took her place. After all, they were both botanists, even their names were the same, so why shouldn't Tina just pretend to be her aunt? She should have known, even before she met him, that Senor Vegas was not the man to appreciate having that kind of deception practiced on him; but by the time she had met him -- and immediately fallen in love with him -- it was too late.

"Then you must agree to be my bridegroom !" Jo Domini's impulsive behavior finally led her into trouble. It wasn't enough that she had insulted the Conte Leandro Tempera, aggravated her father and frustrated her sister who wished to marry. Now, she had lashed out in despair at the Italian custom requiring the older sister to be wed first. When Leandro accepted her challenge, Jo thought she could provoke him into rejecting her as a bride. But the seemingly calm, patient Leandro outwitted her!

Once back at her job in Brussels, Helen told herself, she'd be able to forget the barbaric Scotsman who had stripped her entire being of dignity. And to think she had once imagined herself in love with him! To spend a lifetime with a man as impossible as Damon Murray, a woman would need to be insensitive, uncaring and hard. Why, then, did she feel so miserable about leaving him?

Bon gre, mal gre -- Whether we like it or not! Lucien's arrogant ancestral motto echoed in Cherry's mind. Enmeshed in a glittering jet-set world and hotly pursued by the playboy duke, she trembled in angelic innocence. Lucien had introduced her to her secret self. His caresses evoked in her a passionate response, a sweet flame of wantonness that shocked her. As his pretended fiancee, she owed him only the appearance of love -- yet how close he was to winning her heart!

With her schooldays in Paris behind her, Elise could hardly wait for her return to Jamaica to be reunited with Jacques, from whom she had been parted for too many years. Jacques, her childhood sweetheart, to whom she would soon be married. But Elise was to find reality very different from the dreams she had cherished. Jacques, it seemed, had not shared her wish to be married; he looked on the whole thing as a figment of her childish imagination. If he married anyone at all, it would be the glamorous Camilla Nelson. Hadn't Elise better forget the whole thing?

She represented a noble investment Lady Morva Eden was living proof the aristocracy's breeding program still existed. Once her family realized her brother's illegitimacy would cost them their nobility, they naturally turned to Morva. And so for a price -- the ancestral home for her grandmother to live in and prestigious employment for the disentitled brother--Morva allowed herself to be practically sold to the new Earl of Howgill, a shrewd Canadian millionaire with an eye for bargains. He planned to turn Ravenscrag into a lucrative tourist resort, but what did he have in mind for Morva?