Aydra Richards

Wrongfully accused of the murder of her husband, Geneviève Amberley, the Duchess of Venbrough, buried her past before it could bury her. In the twelve years since, she has reinvented herself from runaway duchess into Jenny Laurent, the manager of an exclusive ladies’ club. No one is looking for a criminal in the woman she has become, and the murderous duchess is so far in the past that she might as well truly be dead and buried—or so she believes. To Sebastian Knight, there is nothing quite so interesting as a mystery to be solved, and the woman who calls herself Jenny Laurent is the most fascinating mystery he has ever encountered. She is his latest obsession—an enigma so tantalizing, so alluring, that he cannot help but to make himself known to her. An affair with the perceptive Mr. Knight is the last thing Jenny needs, but she finds herself charmed by his candor and his persistence—even if his unique talents make him the most dangerous man in all of England to a woman like her. He could very well burn her carefully constructed façade to ashes…and destroy her in the process.

Lady Diana Beaumont has a fiancé—in theory. In practice, she’s languished at the edges of ballrooms for years, waiting for her absent betrothed to fulfill his obligations to her. But the Earl of Weatherford has eschewed polite society for a decade, and Diana is weary of waiting. If he will not come to her, then she will go to him, and put an end to their sham of an engagement at last.Ben Gillingham is an earl—in theory. In practice, it’s been nearly a decade since he has called himself anything other than plain Mr. Gillingham. Cut off by his father years ago, he is now only a simple laborer with a young daughter to provide for. A daughter whose origins make it impossible to bring her out in society, whose education is sadly lacking, and whose hellish behavior will see them ruined if he cannot find someone to watch over her while he works to secure a better life.When Diana arrives at his door to demand his assistance in breaking their engagement, Ben sees opportunity. He agrees to give her what she demands, if she will mind and educate his daughter. But as threads of attachment begin to bind them, an end to their engagement no longer seems quite so desirable. Can their unexpected love weather the obstacles still in their path?

James Bradford, Duke of Rushton, is a man obsessed with revenge. When his sister’s lover, the Earl of Westwood, refuses to wed her to save her from disgrace and give her child a name, he latches onto a nefarious scheme of his own: an eye for an eye. Or, more appropriately, a sister’s dishonor for a sister’s dishonor. Lady Jillian Kittridge has been crossed in love before, with absolutely no inclination to set herself up for disaster yet again. At twenty-two, she is very nearly on the shelf and is simply awaiting the day that the funds set aside for her dowry will fall under her control. But when the handsome Duke of Rushton begins to court her, she finds herself unwillingly tempted. The fact that James finds himself actually liking Jillian is an unwelcome complication. As his scheme draws ever closer to fruition, he wonders: Can he truly destroy the life of an innocent woman, a woman he admires and respects? Or has he been caught in his own trap?

She will break his heart even at the cost of her own.Lydia Alcott left London beneath a cloud of shame and ignominy five years ago, when her affair with Marcus Beaumont, Baron Newhaven, came to a disastrous end. Now she has built a successful career as an actress, but her return to London places her once more within Marcus’ notice—and the reach of his wrath.Marcus ordered Lydia away from London when the revelation of her infidelity left him devastated and heartbroken, warning her that to return would be to invite her own destruction. Now, seeing her upon the stage, the desire for revenge consumes him—he will hold her heart in the palm of his hand and crush it as she once did his own.But Lydia has resentments of her own to satisfy. Unjustly accused of infidelity, she now intends to bring Marcus to his knees in truth. Thus begins a dangerous game of retribution and seduction neither intends to lose. But when old passions surface once more, each must make the choice whether to surrender their antipathy. She will never again be his mistress, and he will not make her his wife…unless the truth, long buried, can set them free from the past.