BOOKS

BRIDE OF THE SOLWAY

Cassandra Elliott, hated half-sister of a Galloway laird, has been offered a stark choice. Either she allows herself to be sold in marriage to a man of the laird’s choosing, or she’ll spend the rest of her life in the Bedlam. With no friends in Scotland who would dare to help her, she steels herself to flee across the Solway Firth to find sanctuary with her godfather on the English side. But the crossing is too dangerous for her to go alone. And the laird will soon be on her trail.

Captain Ross Graham has fled from London after being rejected by the woman he loves. He risked his life to rescue her, but it brought him nothing but heartache. Now that he has reached the Scottish Borders, he can breathe again. He resolves to harden his heart against all thoughts of love. He will spend his time safely searching for his long-lost Scottish family. Danger lies among deceitful women. So he will simply avoid them all. Especially if they need rescuing.

Can Ross keep to his resolve when his path crosses Cassie’s?

Read an extract.

Available from Amazon.co.uk

A REGENCY INVITATION

You are cordially invited to the House Party of the Season at Lyndhurst Chase, the hunting box of Major Anthony Lyndhurst. 

Anthony has no hope of children of his own, since his wife disappeared without trace while he was fighting at the Battle of Waterloo. Now, four years later, he has arranged this house party to decide on an heir to his wealth.

Among the large Lyndhurst clan, there are several potential heirs. Will it be Cassie, the headstrong heroine of Nicola’s story, The Fortune Hunter, whose radical past scandalised Society? Or perhaps Marcus, the hero of my story, An Uncommon Abigail, who has spent rather too many years avoiding parson’s mousetrap? Alternatively, there is William, a younger son without prospects, who really could use Anthony’s money. And what about the nameless man who is in hiding at Lyndhurst? Anthony’s solution is revealed in Elizabeth’s story, The Prodigal Bride, along with the answers to several other puzzles we gleefully created along the way.

Although An Uncommon Abigail is the second of the three stories, I don’t think it will spoil your enjoyment of Nicola’s story if you read this extract from mine.

If you are interested to find out how three authors managed to collaborate in such detail when two were in England and one was 12,000 miles away in Australia, you might like to read the short article that appeared in the December 2005 issue of RWR, the magazine of the Romance Writers of America.

For even more information, we created a blog of some of the emails we exchanged while we were devising the outline plot, the characters and the setting, and learning to write each other’s characters. You can read it at http://cornrollsland.blogspot.com

Available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

MY LADY ANGEL

Angelina, the widowed Baroness Rosevale, needs a husband and an heir to prevent her hated cousin, the Earl of Penrose, from inheriting her wealth. There would be plenty of candidates for her hand, but she is afraid to put herself in a man’s power again. Besides, if she is unable to bear a healthy child, she would be sacrificing herself to no good purpose.

The Earl of Penrose has been brought up to hate and avoid Angelina’s family. But when he learns that she is promoting the claims of a long-lost French "cousin" to be the rightful Earl of Penrose, he is furious enough to confront her. Angelina’s confused responses quickly turn to anger. She determines to do everything in her power to undermine the Earl.

Penrose is not so easily overcome. So far he has offered the haughty Baroness only harsh condemnation and lacerating anger. But he has another, totally different, side – gentle and charming and deeply seductive.

Faced with an accomplished lover, will Angelina be able to continue the fight?

Read an extract.

Available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

A POOR RELATION

Isabella Winstanley has duped London society about her fortune and her unconventional work among the poor. Her life is under control--until the day she finds herself looking down the barrel of Lord Amburley's pistol.

Amburley is intrigued to find that the mannerless harpy he met on the road has been transformed from poor relation to wealthy society lady. A wicked masquerade, without a doubt, and one that will prove to be misguided, once he has exposed her for what she is--an imposter on the look-out for a husband.

Read an extract

Available from Amazon.co.uk as Volume 5 of The Regency Lords & Ladies Collection and from Amazon.com

RAKE'S REWARD

Kit, the black sheep of the Stratton family, has returned to England after five years of enforced exile, determined to have his revenge on the Dowager Countess who ruined him at cards. That may not be easy, however, for the old Dowager has recently acquired a watchdog, in the shape of a grey spinster companion, Marina Beaumont.

Marina desperately needs her companion's wage to support her widowed mother, but her situation is impossible. The Earl will dismiss her if she fails to prevent the Dowager's reckless gambling…and the Dowager will dismiss her if she makes the slightest move to interfere. How can a mere companion thwart the intentions of a man like Kit Stratton, who has money, looks…everything? What reward can Marina offer the most ruthless rake in London to persuade him to spare his quarry?

Rake's Reward is the sequel to Marrying the Major.

Read an extract.

Available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

MARRYING THE MAJOR

For years, Emma Fitzwilliam has been surrounded by callous fortune hunters who indulge her every whim in an effort to win her hand. She will have none of them. Her future husband must love her, and want her, for herself alone. The only man who has ever attracted her was Hugo Stratton--a handsome, laughter-loving young man who treated Emma like a lady rather than the grubby little hoyden she was--but he went off to join the army while she was still in the schoolroom. Emma wove her childish dreams around him for a while, but eventually they faded. Nothing has prompted her to think of him for years.

Until now.

Now he is barely fifty yards away, out on the lawn. And Emma has totally failed to recognise him, giving him barely a second glance as she rode by. This Hugo Stratton is nothing like the man of Emma's fantasies. Nor is he the sort of man to be manipulated by a woman, even one as skilled as Emma in the use of feminine wiles. If she is to pierce Hugo's armour, she will first have to let down her own guard, for Hugo will never make a move towards her…except, perhaps, to save her honour.

Read an extract

Available from Amazon.co.uk as Volume 14 of The Regency Lords & Ladies Collection and from Amazon.com

A PENNILESS PROSPECT

Jessamyne Hazelwood is on the run. What other choice does she have, if she is to avoid a forced marriage to an old miser who has buried two wives already?

Desperate to find somewhere to hide for the few weeks until she turns twenty-one, she has disguised herself in her brother's clothes and is calling herself 'Jamie'. But her attempt to board the stage to Bath has failed. Soon the search party will be hunting for her. Offered the chance of posing as Annie Smithers' backward brother, Jamie grabs at this perilous escape route…only to find herself propelled into the carriage of the enigmatic Earl Hardinge who seems determined to ensure that she never reaches Bath at all.

Read an extract

Available from Amazon.co.uk as Volume 5 of The Regency Lords & Ladies Collection and from Amazon.com