Showing results by author "Christi Caldwell" in All Categories

I don’t want visitors. But when the butler says the caller is a she, I spring to attention. The night just got a lot more interesting. Turns out the recently orphaned Helia Wallace has come to see my mother, her godmother, for help with a dastardly, dowry-chasing cousin. A likely story. But there’s a snowstorm brewing, and she begs me to let her stay the night. I reluctantly agree. It’s her reputation at stake, not mine.

Widowed Lady Sylvia Elton is out to save young ladies from the terrible fate of love and marriage. Her former husband has retained his reputation as an honorable and loving man in death, but Sylvia has privately mourned his lies and infidelity. Joined by two equally scorned and cast-off friends, Sylvia establishes the Mismatch Society. With each new liberated member, the scandalous circle wreaks havoc on the romantic prospects of London’s frustrated male peerage. But nothing prepares Sylvia for the Viscount St. John, a familiar face and her most formidable challenger.

Perpetually unattached Lady Cassia McQuoid has accepted her fate as a spinster. But how can she be expected to lead a life confined to drawing rooms and royal balls when there’s a vast, exciting world to explore? Cassia can find but one solution: she masquerades as a thrill-seeking lad and stows away on a ship bound for open waters. Adventure awaits. So does notorious privateer Nathaniel Ellsby.

Christopher Ansley, Earl of Waxham, has constructed a perfect image for the ton - the ladies love him and his company is desired by all. Only two people know the truth about Waxham's secret. Unfortunately, one of them is Miss Sophie Winters. Sophie Winters has known Christopher since she was in leading strings. As children, they delighted in tormenting each other. Now at one-and-twenty, she still has a tendency to find herself in scrapes, and her marital prospects are slim.

Adair Thorne has just watched his gaming-hell dream disappear into a blaze of fire and ash, and he’s certain that his competitors, the Killorans, are behind it. His fury and passion burn even hotter when he meets Cleopatra Killoran, a tart-mouthed vixen who mocks him at every turn. If she were anyone else but the enemy, she’d ignite a desire in him that would be impossible to control. No one can make Cleopatra do anything. That said, she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her siblings—even if that means being sponsored by their rivals for a season in order to land a noble husband.

Lady Emmaline Fitzhugh, a hopeless romantic, is tired of sitting with the wallflowers, waiting for her betrothed to come to his senses and marry her. When Emmaline reads one too many reports of his scandalous liaisons in the gossip rags, she takes matters into her own hands.

After the tragic death of his wife, Jasper, the 8th Duke of Bainbridge buried himself away in the dark cold walls of his home, Castle Blackwood. When he's coaxed out of his self-imposed exile to attend the amusements of the Frost Fair, his life is irrevocably changed by his fateful meeting with Lady Katherine Adamson. With her tight brown ringlets and silly white-ruffled gowns, Lady Katherine Adamson has found her dance card empty for two Seasons.

Proper, respectable Lucas Holman, Viscount Grimslee, has always done what was expected of him, and that included letting go of the woman to whom he was betrothed. Now, filled with regrets, Lucas is living quite contentedly and scandalously...for himself. He’s enjoying his new, roguish, carefree existence, until the holidays arrive and he’s summoned home.

A widow with a past...The last thing Victoria Barrett, the Viscountess Waters, has any interest in is romance. When the only man she's ever loved was killed, she endured an arranged marriage to a cruel man in order to survive. Now widowed, her only focus is on clearing her son's name from the charge of murder. That is until the love of her life returns from the grave. A leader of a once great agency...Nathaniel Archer, the Earl of Exeter head of the Crown's elite organization, The Brethren, is back on British soil.

Lady Patrina Tidemore gave up on the ridiculous notion of true love after having her heart shattered and her trust destroyed by a black-hearted cad. Used as a pawn in a game of revenge against her brother, Patrina returns to London from a failed elopement with a tattered reputation and little hope for a respectable match. The only peace she finds is in her solitude on the cold winter days at Hyde Park.

Despite a hero’s return to England from the Napoleonic Wars, Wesley Audley isolates from the ton. Deep wounds from the horrors of combat—and the despair of a broken heart—left him scarred. As he struggles to cope and resume his place in Polite Society, Wesley is quick to cut himself off from everyone…except for Ellie Balfour.

Lady Winifred Grisham has been in love with her brother's best friend, Lord Trent Ballantine, more years than she can remember. The only problem is, Trent is a notorious rogue who doesn't dally with the respectable. Except Winnie doesn't want a dalliance - she wants his heart. Born to a miserable family, Lord Trent has found joy and comfort in the folds of his best friend's family. Except over the years, he's begun to notice something. Winnie, who he'd always seen as another sister, is in fact something more - a captivating woman.

Lord Robert Dennington, the Marquess of Westfield, has long reveled in the freedom afforded him as the ducal heir. He knows he must someday do right by the Somerset line, but he's in no hurry to give up his carefree existence.Helena Banbury is a bookkeeper in a gentleman's gambling club, adept at analyzing numbers and accounts but helpless for lack of influence.

Miss Marcia Collins's cameo-perfect life is destroyed, when scandal leaves her standing alone at the altar on her wedding day. Her heart shattered, she decides to embrace her ruined reputation, and explore every forbidden pleasure. All she needs is a little help from her long-time friend - and society’s most wicked rogue - Andrew Barrett, Viscount Waters. He has no interest in marriage, or respectability, but even he knows he should avoid Marcia, and her harebrained attempts to embark on a life of impropriety. That is, until they push the boundaries too far.

Regina (Reggie) Spark has loved Broderick Killoran, the resourceful and protective proprietor of the Devil’s Den, ever since he saved her from the streets and made her his right hand at the notorious gaming hell. For just as long, Reggie has never admitted her true feelings for him. Nor has she revealed her spirited ambitions - to buck convention and expectations and open a music hall. While Broderick built his gaming empire with ruthless cunning, his loyalty to his employees is boundless.

Lady Eve Pruitt has never forgotten her childhood friend, the young pickpocket Calum, who she feared had been condemned to the gallows. Now, years later, Eve is the one in danger. Her brother, made desperate by gambling debts, threatens to steal her inheritance, and Eve has no choice but to run. Under an assumed name, she takes a job as a bookkeeper at the notorious Hell and Sin Club. Nothing in this bawdy den shocks her more than discovering that her employer is none other than Calum. Keeping her identity a secret is one thing - but hiding her feelings for him is another.

Lady Imogen Moore hasn't had an easy time of it since she made her coming out three seasons ago. With her betrothed, a powerful duke, breaking it off to wed her sister, she's become the tons favorite piece of gossip. Never again wanting to experience the pain of a broken heart, she's resolved to make a match with a polite, respectable gentleman. The last thing she wants is another reckless rogue.

As passions flare between Christina and Martin, she must choose between a future defined by predictable security or one built - with Martin - on a foundation of love.

Miss Julia Smith peddles flowers for her daily bread, but lands in the Duchess of Arlington's household when selling blooms becomes unexpectedly hazardous. To Julia’s surprise, Her Grace offers not only safety, but also a chance at a new, fancier life - a life Julia isn’t sure she wants.

Set apart by her ethereal beauty and fearless demeanor, Ophelia Killoran has always been a mystery to those around her - and a woman they underestimated. No one would guess that she spends her nights protecting the street urchins of St. Giles. Ophelia knows what horrors these children face. As a young girl, she faced those horrors herself, and she would have died…if not for the orphan boy who saved her life.