Showing results by author "Loretta Chase"

Hugh Philemon Ancaster, seventh Duke of Ripley, will never win prizes for virtue. But even he draws the line at running off with his best friend's bride. All he's trying to do is recapture the slightly inebriated Lady Olympia Hightower and return her to her intended bridegroom. For reasons that elude her, bookish, bespectacled Olympia is supposed to marry a gorgeous rake of a duke. The ton is flabbergasted. Her family's ecstatic. And Olympia? She's climbing out of a window, bent on a getaway.

Rupert Carsington, fourth son of the Earl of Hargate, is his aristocratic family's favorite disaster. He's irresistibly handsome and unapologetically irresponsible, & trouble follows wherever he goes. Still, Rupert somehow manages to escape entanglement - emotional or other - with maddening grace! But now he's a prisoner in Cairo's most infamous jail and his only chance out is accepting a beautiful widow's dangerous proposal.

James Cordier is a master of intrigue, a brilliant thief, a first-class lover, and an intimate friend of danger - all for King and Country - and thoroughly sick of it. He just has to complete one last mission, and then he can retire peacefully, and resume his aristocratic life in Regency London, where his most dangerous task will be courting sweet, respectable heiresses. But first, James must charm a set of incriminating letters from a woman who is anything but quiet or respectable: the notorious Francesca Bonnard.

Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain, is big, bad, and dangerous to know. No respectable woman would have anything to do with the "Bane and Blight of the Ballisters", and he wants nothing to do with respectable women. He's determined to continue doing what he does best - sin and sin again - and all's going swimmingly…until the day a shop door opens and she walks in.

Leila Beaumont is a gorgeous and talented portrait painter trapped in a loveless marriage with her profligate husband, Francis. Though long ago, Francis very much played the hero, rescuing and wedding the orphaned 17-year-old Leila - Francis' more recent hedonistic lifestyle of drinking, drugging and womanizing has not only earned him quite a few enemies in London, but lost him the love of his wife.

When kidnapped English heiress Zoe Lexham daringly escapes from captivity, her problems have only begun. After 12 years in a harem, she knows far more about erotic practices than how to conduct a proper conversation in civilized parlors. Enter Lucien de Grey, the Duke of Marchmont. Lucien is no knight in shining armor; he's cynical, easily bored, dangerous to women, and utterly indifferent to popular opinion. But good looks, combined with money and title, make him welcome everywhere.

War hero Alistair Carsington really really loves women, and his romantic impulses have landed him in nearly as much danger as the Battle of Waterloo. To avoid his usual temptations and perhaps even repay the friend who saved his life, he's exiled himself to a place far from civilization - Derbyshire - in winter! Fate laughs at his good intentions and drives him straight into conflict with Miss Mirabel Oldridge, his match in tenacity, intelligence, and deviousness - who also happens to be wildly irresistible.

The Duke of Ainswood, Vere Mallory - the last of the infamous Mallory hellions - lives a charmed life: he's rich, titled, and exceedingly handsome. And he's seemingly bent on throwing it all away in his reckless race toward self-destruction, until a devastatingly beautiful blonde amazon literally knocks him off his feet.

Tall, dark, and handsome Benedict Carsington, Viscount Rathbourne is the perfect aristocrat. As the heir to the Earl of Hargate, he is renowned for his perfect manners, perfect breeding, and perfect wardrobe. Unlike his scandalous brothers, Benedict is in no danger of ending up in the scandal sheets - until he meets her. Bathsheba Wingate, is a member of the DeLucey family - the rotten side - notorious for being cheats, frauds, and swindlers.

Darius Carsington is a spectacularly attractive rake, who's all brains and brawn...and no heart; a man who's equally expert at bedding loose-moraled women and writing scholarly papers. He finds society's "perfect darlings" exceedingly boring. Then why is he so intrigued by the supposedly faultless Lady Charlotte Hayward? Darius senses a crack under her polished surface - and finding it is a challenge he can't resist.

Peregrine Dalmay, Earl of Lisle, may have survived the deadly perils of Egypt, but back in Regency London, he faces the most dire threat yet: his irrational, emotional family...and the completely uncontrollable Miss Olivia Wingate-Carsington! Descended from a line of notorious - but very aristocratic - adventurers, Olivia has a long history of driving Peregrine to distraction, and her debut into polite society hasn't lessened her flair for drama, or her ability to drag him into her scandalous schemes.

Biweekly marriage proposals from men who can't see beyond her (admittedly breathtaking) looks are starting to get on Lady Clara Fairfax's nerves. Desperate to be something more than ornamental, she escapes to her favorite charity. When a child is in trouble, she turns to tall, dark, and annoying barrister Oliver Radford.

Her father’s prodigal ways have forced the extremely lovely Alexandra Ashmore into an engagement with a strange man in a strange land: a man blind to the effect her unearthly beauty has on other men, and which has earned her the title "the English Witch"! So when she’s kidnapped by another love-struck suitor, Alexandra assumes she’s truly doomed to a loveless marriage with her captor.

Gorgeous, stubborn Esme Brentmor, daughter of a disgraced lord, is used to a wild, dangerous life among the tribes of Albania, to whom her father is the legendary, controversial Red Lion whose death she's courageously vowed to avenge - even if it leads to her own. Instead, her quest finds her rescued by the most unlikely (and very reluctant) hero! Lazy and spoiled, Lord Varian St. George has gambled away his heritage and lives on his considerable looks, charm and wits.

Brilliant and ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirotis London's rising star. And who better to benefit from her talent than the worst-dressed lady in the ton, the Duke of Clevedon's intended bride? Winning the future duchess' patronage means prestige and fortune for Marcelline and her sisters. To get to the lady, though, Marcelline must win over Clevedon, whose standards are as high as his morals are...not. The prize seems well worth the risk-but this time Marcelline's met her match.

At the advanced age of 26, the independent, wealthy and imminently practical Isabella Latham has no expectation of marriage. But, good-hearted and dutiful, Isabella accompanies her two young country cousins to oversee their London debut...only to find that it's she who is attracting suitors...all of whom do seem to have quite an excess of creditors!

A blue-eyed innocent on the outside and a shark on the inside, dressmaker Sophy Noirot could sell sand to Bedouins. Selling Maison Noirot's beautiful designs to aristocratic ladies is a little harder, especially since a recent family scandal has made an enemy of one of society's fashion leaders. Turning scandal to the shop's advantage requires every iota of Sophy's skills, leaving her little patience for a big, reckless rake like the Earl of Longmore.

Lethally charming Simon Blair, Marquess of Lisburne, has reluctantly returned to London for one reason only: a family obligation. Still, he might make time for the seduction of a certain redheaded dressmaker - but Leonie Noirot hasn't time for him. She's obsessed with transforming his cousin, the dowdy Lady Gladys, into a swan. Leonie's skills can coax curves - and profits - from thin air, but his criminally handsome lordship is too busy trying to seduce her to appreciate her genius.

Delilah Desmond is not happy. To provide for her, her father has sold his memoirs, filled with scandalous and embarrassing exploits - effectively ruining her chances for a suitable marriage, so she can support her family while saving her father from disgrace. But it seems the manuscript is in demand by all sorts of unscrupulous persons, and preventing its publication is going to be impossible - especially now that it has been stolen.

Lilith Davenant has ample reason to detest Julian Wyndhurst, Marquess of Brandon: He's exactly the kind of man who hastened the demise of her profligate husband, and the debt he owed to Julian has forced her to an engagement with a wealthy suitor for the sake of supporting her beloved nieces and nephews. Besides that, Lord Julian somehow manages to ignite disturbing...feelings...she's never felt before!