Curate James Fletcher is content shepherding his parishioners through the good and bad times of their lives. If he sometimes dreams of making a deeper connection with a man who truly knows everything about him, it is an impulse he ignores. Declan Shaw solves problems at his family's many business enterprises. Recently, he's considered ceasing his travels to pursue a few desires of his own. He'd love to explore his secret love of cooking and perhaps have a relationship with a man that lasts longer than a night.

She was unmarried, untouched, and almost 30, but novelist Amanda Briars wasn't about to greet her next birthday without making love to a man. When he appeared at her door, she believed he was her gift to herself, hired for one night of passion. Unforgettably handsome, irresistibly virile, he tempted her in ways she never thought possible . . . but something stopped him from completely fulfilling her dream.

A celebrated beauty, Madeleine DuMais' cleverness is her greatest asset - one she puts to good use as a spy for the British. Assigned to help break up a smuggling ring in the south of England, she arrives at the quaint resort town of Winter Garden and meets her partner in subterfuge: Thomas Blackwood. Unlike any man she has ever met, Blackwood's quiet confidence and mysterious intensity send shivers of pleasure coursing through her. And, despite the danger, as duty givesway to desire, Madeleine aches for Thomas's gentle touch.

I have been immersed in criminal activity from the day I was born. I was bred for the sole purpose of carrying on my father's reign of terror. I was born into the Bratva, and I would die in the Bratva. It was my destiny. I learned how to spot a fighter from a very early age, and Kathleen had that fighting spirit inside her. I wasn't sure what her story was, but she piqued my curiosity. In my gut, I also knew I'd left my mark on her. She'll never be the same, never recover from unwittingly drawing my attention.

Communing with spirits has been both gift and curse to Emme Walters. Now it's made her a killer's target. Emme knows why the Dowager Duchess of Briarleigh invited her to a house party--to investigate whether the duke, Rhys Brammel, murdered his wife years ago. But Emme never imagined she would fall in love with the brooding duke. Branded by society as a possible killer, Rhys is suspicious of Emme and her alleged "gift." Then a late night encounter creates awareness of her other, more attractive, aspects. When Emme's life is threatened, Rhys becomes her protector. Emme and Rhys find passion and peril as they join forces to solve the mysteries at Briarleigh. She made him believe in spirits, but can she make him believe in love?