Augusta Ballinger was quite sure that it was all a dreadful mistake. The chillingly pompous and dangerously disturbing Earl of Graystone could not possibly wish to marry her. Why, it was rumored that his chosen bride must be a veritable model of virtue. And everyone knew that Augusta, as the last of the wild, reckless Northumberland Ballingers, was a woman who could not be bothered by society's rules.

With her reputation forever tarnished by a youthful indiscretion, lovely Emily Faringdon is resigned to a life of spinsterhood, until she embarks on an unusual correspondence and finds herself falling head over heels in love. Sensitive, intelligent, and high-minded, her noble pen pal seems to embody everything Emily has ever dreamed of in a man. But Simon Augustus Traherne, the mysterious Earl of Blade, is not at all what he seems.

During an investigation, gentleman thief turned private inquiry agent Ambrose Wells finds himself at Aldwick Castle - in the midst of chaos. The building is in flames. Men are dead. And a woman and four young girls are fleeing on horseback. Although a natural loner, Ambrose takes Miss Concordia Glade and her young charges under his wing. With their lives at risk, he insists they must remain in hiding until he is able to unravel the truth behind their recent imprisonment at the castle.

The Earl of St. Merryn needs a woman: his intentions are purely practical. He needs a fiancée to keep the husband-hunting ladies of the town at bay while he goes about his business. His simple solution is to hire a paid companion and Miss Elenora Lodge appears to be the perfect candidate. Elenora's sorry financial circumstances convince her to accept St. Merryn's generous if somewhat scandalous offer.

It isn't as though attractive widow Venetia Jones doesn't have enough problems. She has worked hard to become a fashionable photographer catering to Victorian Society's elite. Her career has enabled her to provide a comfortable living for her brother, sister and elderly aunt.

Adam Hardesty has a serious problem: a diary containing his family's darkest secrets has been stolen and, in the course of investigating his would-be blackmailer, he discovers the dead body of a prominent psychic. His only lead is a list of the dead psychic's last visitors. The most likely suspect is Mrs Caroline Fordyce whom he confronts - only to discover an inconvenient attraction to this beautiful young widow.

Victoria Huntington thought herself quite adept at fending off fortune hunters...until she came under siege from Lucas Colebrook, the darkly disturbing new Earl of Stonevale. For the earl would use her every weakness to woo her and ultimately wed her. And soon Victoria would find herself ensconced in a crumbling mansion deep in the English country side, where the real reason for her hasty marriage becomes all too apparent - and where the ghosts of her dark-stained past are waiting to rise.

Charlotte Arkendale knew all there was to know about men. After all, she'd made a career out of steering women away from untrustworthy members of the opposite sex. Yet nothing could have prepared her for Baxter St. Ives - an arresting stranger too dangerous to be her new man-of-affairs.

Plagued by rumors that she poisoned her fiancé, Lucinda Bromley manages to live on the fringes of polite society, tending her beloved plants - and occasionally consulting on a murder investigation. For the notorious botanist possesses a unique talent: she can detect almost any type of poison, especially ones that have their origins in the botanical kingdom.

Townsfolk called him the devil. For dark and enigmatic Julian, Earl of Ravenwood, was a man with a legendary temper and a first wife whose mysterious death would not be forgotten. Now country-bred Sophy Dorring was about to become Ravenwood's new bride. Drawn to the glitters of desire that burned in his emerald eyes, Sophy had her own reasons for agreeing to a marriage of convenience. One was vengeance, and in it's pursuit she would entangle Julian in a dangerous masquerade.