Masquerade

On the run from Napoleon's Grand Army, commanding a pathetic column of wounded men, Major Lev Orlov, has the misfortune to discover the Countess Irina Barova sheltering in a deserted inn. The fate of one woman, however helpless, is trivial compared to the Major's need to outpace Napoleon and reach the safety of Kaluga with his men. Yet how can he abandon the gentle Irina? When he reluctantly offers her his protection, he realises that he has taken a step that will alter the rest of his life - unless the French cut it short.

Thanks to her dead brother's reckless gambling, Princess Nadya Serova's life has been a hard one. Condemned by his profligacy to a life of poverty in the back streets of Moscow, she can no longer afford even the price of a horse and cart to flee from Napoleon's invading army. It seems that she must walk to safety with her possessions on her back and her only protection must come from Captain Andrei Valyev, who freezes into icy enmity at the mention of her name. Hurt by his cruelty, Nadya is distressed to find herself falling in love with him, especially when he so clearly loves Tatya, the very friend who has given her shelter!

Mary Burns is travelling through Europe with her friends when war resumes between Britain and France in 1803 and Napoleon orders the arrest of all British subjects on French territory. Their fate is to be decided by Captain Armand Dufour, who has bitter personal reasons for taking vengeance on the English. He offers safe passes for the whole party ­ on condition that Mary remains behind as his wife. With internment as the alternative, what choice has she? Yet cold, sarcastic and disfigured as he is, she finds herself drawn to the enigmatic Captain. If her situation is so terrible why does she fail to take advantage of the opportunity to escape?

Anything would be better than marrying Cousin George declares Miss Deborah Phipps. High ideals may be fine in theory and soon she discovers is alone and destitute, in Victoria London. And that why she agrees to marry Lord Rutherford - a man she knows nothing about, except that he seems burdened by some terrible secret.

When Miss Sara Saunders married brooding Sir Tarquin Pengelly, she little dreamed of the depths of passionate delight he might awake in her. But once stirred, Sara vows she will never leave his side - even if that means embarking for Spain, where her new husband is to join his regiment for the campaign of 1808. And it is in Spain that she discovers that Tarquin is both a perfidious womaniser and a traitor to his country. But now that she has experienced the heat of his desire, how can she contemplate life without the only man she loves and needs?

The two sons of Duncan, Laird of Clan Seidhe, are different in more than birth and looks. Lachlan, the legitimate heir, is reckless, generous and a convinced Jacobite: Jamie, his bastard brother, is cold and cares for nothing but his own gain. Fiona Seidhe Maclaren, their orphaned cousin, is caught in their bitter struggle when, loving Lachlan, she is forced to marry Jamie. The feud begun between children in a Scottish glen in 1736 comes to a terrible climax nine years later, at the Battle of Culloden, when the Stuart Cause is fought to its end.

The Lady Gida Rune vows never to see Sir Adam de Clancy again. Soon, however, the rebellious Gida is forced to admit that marriage - even to Sir Adam - is preferable to the alternative of being banished to a nunnery.

It is 1486, and with the ending of the bloody Wars of the Roses the proud Lord Alvar has come to claim his bride. The Lady Elspeth Murran was barely fifteen years old when she first set eyes on the man known as the Wolf of Alvar, yet she was fascinated by him. Now her fascination is tempered by fear for the mystery that lies in his past. When she learns the truth, can she accept the terrible secret that had been hidden in his heart, or will it destroy her love?

Sir Piers Tregarron, handsome, ambitious and a man of fair estate, should be the ideal husband for any girl. At Queen Elizabeth's Court he is important, intent on rising even higher, but Catherine Benton is not impressed by this man selected as her bridegroom. She is even less impressed when his gallantry to the Queen prevents him attending his own wedding! Yet what do Sir Piers's heartless aspirations matter when the man Catherine truly loves is dead? How can she be other than indifferent to her husband's attentions? Can their marriage by proxy be anything but doomed, especially when Catherine learns that her beloved Will may still be alive?

“Save that bullet—I’m coming back.” When war weary Jared Ruell arrives in Tanglewood, a vast cotton estate in South Carolina, he doesn’t expect to find it defended by its proud young mistress, Holly Beaufort. Nor does he expect to fall so deeply in love with her, for he is a Yankee major with orders to destroy Confederate plantations and she has sworn to kill anyone who tries. So Jared rides off leaving Tanglewood’s barns in flames, Holly swears revenge—if he comes back . . . and if she has the courage to shoot the man she loves.

Minerva looked forward to a honeymoon in Paris, but to her dismay, her husband, handsome Lord Dominic, declined his husbandly duty. However, in Paris, Minerva discovered Dominic's old flame was eager to return to his arms. Somehow, Minerva had to melt her husband's reserve toward her--his wife--and put her rival on ice.

Would his love take second place to his desire for revenge? Roy MacKenzie would never love another woman as he loved Anne Frazer, even though she was a member of the clan who were his family's deadly enemies. He was going to marry her and keep her. But how could Anne become his wife, knowing it would cause more bloodshed? Unless Roy could keep separate his love for Anne and his hatred for Ewen, her brother, the heather would run red with blood. Roy had given his word that he would not be the first to raise his sword in anger against her brother, but neither would he refuse a challenge when it came. And it would come when the Frazer discovered that his sister had become the MacKenzies's Lady!

Her indifferent heart had never been touched ! Every man Juliet had met had tried. Now... it was different. She was irritated by the strange reserve of both the mysterious Stephen Thorne and the handsome Sir Nicholas Childe. For the first time in her life Juliet set out to arouse a man's desire. But she met only rebuff and she was sure both men had something to hide. Was one of them the dark highwayman who was terrorizing the lonely roads? If so, did she dare get involved? She began to fear the wild promptings of her heart.