Christina Britton

To protect the dukedom from an incompetent and greedy cousin, Daniel Hayle, Duke of Carlisle, has promised to find a bride in London this season. But the idea of facing ballrooms and card parties is as intimidating as any battlefield in France, including the fight at Waterloo that left him terribly scarred. Perhaps a month on the Isle of Synne can provide him with the practice necessary to find a wife who can tolerate him enough to give him an heir. Margery Kitteridge has been mourning her husband for four years, and while she's not ready to consider marriage again, she does miss intimacy with a partner. When Daniel asks for help navigating Synne's social scene, and they accidentally kiss, she realizes he's the perfect person with whom to have an affair. As they begin to confide in one another, Daniel discovers that he's unexpectedly connected to Margery's late husband, and she will have to decide if she can let her old love go for the promise of a new one.

A heartbreaking betrayal. A secret life. A love that deserves a second chance. Iain MacInnes, Duke of Balgair, has spent the last thirteen years believing his wife is dead—until he receives word that she is very much alive and living under an assumed name on the remote Isle of Synne. He sets off with only one goal in mind: bring his wife back to Scotland where he can divorce her and expose her for the liar she is. After a devastating deception by the man who was supposed to love her, Seraphina did what was necessary to keep herself and her sisters safe. And though she’s still haunted by the events that tore her world apart all those years ago, she’s made a happy life on Synne, surrounded by loyal friends and building a secret career as a popular author. Now that Iain has found her, however, all that is at risk. Despite their long separation, the attraction between Iain and Seraphina still burns strong. But with so much hurt and betrayal between them, can they possibly find their way back to each other?

Four years ago, a scandal cost Miss Katrina Denby everything. Now, companion to the irascible Lady Tesh and in possession of wonderful friends, she believes her luck has finally changed. Until the man responsible for her ruination returns to England and promptly dies in a fall from her bedroom window. Now the life she had begun to build for herself is in shambles. And not only is she ostracized and vilified, but her friends are suffering as well because of their association with her. Katrina will do anything to gain respectability again and protect those she cares for. But her plans to marry one of the few men who will still have her despite the stain on her name and lack of fortune are thrown into turmoil with the arrival of the only man Katrina ever loved. A man who is now about to become engaged to another. Sebastian Thorne, Duke of Ramsleigh, was a carefree rogue when he first met and began to fall in love with Katrina. But his father’s horrible actions forced him to give up on his dreams of a future with her. Now, after years of trying to save the dukedom, there is only one option left: to marry, and marry well. But though he has nearly secured the woman—and her fortune—necessary to protect the people who are counting on him, his future father-in-law sends him on one final errand to earn his blessing. What Sebastian doesn’t expect while seeing that job through, however, is Katrina—or that his feelings for her have not faded. In fact, they have only grown stronger, Katrina’s hold on his heart even more powerful than before. With both of their futures on the line and so many lives at stake, will their passion for one another lead to the ruin of them both—or give them a happiness they never dared to dream of?

Lady Clara Ashford's world changed fifteen years ago at the hands of a rogue who took her innocence. Determined never to give into temptation again, she settles into a life as caregiver for her family. With her younger sister recently engaged and about to embark on a life of her own, Clara feels adrift and without purpose―until Quincy, the new Duke of Reigate, arrives on her doorstep in need of a fake fiancée. When Quincy Nesbitt unexpectedly inherits a dukedom, he's determined to do his best by the title. One thing he won't do? Marry a woman he's never met just because she was engaged to his older brother. So, he enlists Lady Clara's help, since he can't marry another when he's engaged to her. But as they pretend for the ton, Quincy finds himself falling for real. Now, he just has to convince Lady Clara to take a chance on him.

Ash Hawkins, Duke of Buckley, no more wants to marry than he wants a stick in his eye. As the owner of a gaming hell, he is all too aware the odds of a happy marriage are against him. But raising his three rebellious wards alone is proving more than he can handle. He needs to find someone who stands to benefit from a marriage of convenience as much as he does. Someone logical, clinical, and rational. And in a stroke of luck, he quite literally stumbles over just such a woman. After years of ridicule for being more interested in bugs than boys, Bronwyn has accepted that she’ll never marry for love. Her parents, however, are threatening to find her a husband. Bronwyn doesn’t need any scientific research to show her Ash has secrets. But his proposal would give her the freedom to continue her entomology research and perhaps finally get published. Just as long as she can keep her mind on her work and off his piercing eyes, broad shoulders, and wicked, wicked tongue.

From RWA's 2017 Golden Heart Winner comes a story of passion that is much more than meets the eye. An aging spinster at 26, all Imogen Duncan sees ahead of her is a life of servitude to her overbearing mother. Her London Season has passed and her desperate shyness and reserved demeanor has destroyed any chance for a match. As her younger sister Mariah begins her own Season and must choose between many suitors, Imogen believes her chances for excitement are well and truly past. But a case of mistaken identity and an unintended kiss brings an excitement into her life that she never dreamed of. Burying the guilt he suffers from his brother’s death a decade ago beneath a life of debauchery, Caleb Masters, Marquess of Willbridge is content enough to meet willing widows in dark gardens to numb the pain. But he is wholly unprepared when an innocent miss stumbles into his life, turning his superficial world on its head. Drawn to the quiet, kind girl, whose kiss he stole, Caleb and Imogen form an unlikely friendship. But the more Imogen reveals of her wit and charm, the deeper Caleb finds himself falling for this bespectacled beauty. Refusing to let Imogen be tainted by his demons, he does everything in his power to fight the growing attraction. But when friendship turns to passion the situation between them takes an irreversible turn. Caleb learns that behind Imogen’s placid exterior lies a will of steel when, to his bafflement, she refuses his marriage proposal. But now that he has possessed her, he cannot not let her go so easily. Can Caleb convince Imogen to give him a chance—and to perhaps heal his soul in the process?

After her third fiancé leaves her at the altar, Lenora Hartley is beginning to think she's cursed. One thing's for certain: she needs to escape London and her father's tyrannical attempts to find her yet another suitor. The Isle of Synne, an isolated and idyllic retreat off Britain's northern coast, is blessedly far from society's gossip, but it also carries haunting reminders of her first fiancé. Letting go of the past to find happiness seems impossible—until Lenora is thrown in the path of a gruff, mysterious blue-eyed man who makes her pulse race. Next in line for a dukedom he doesn't want to inherit, Peter Ashford is only on the isle to exact revenge on the man who is responsible for his mother's death. Once he's completed the task, he'll return to America where his life can finally be his own. Yet when he meets the beautiful and kind Miss Hartley, he can't help but be drawn to her. Can Peter put aside his plans for vengeance for the woman who has come to mean everything to him?

Previously published as part of the ONE SCANDALOUS SEASON anthology. Poppy Tilburn’s life has been one of heartache and difficulty. The only person who ever cared for her was her childhood friend, Marcus. But when they began to show an interest in one another that was decidedly not friendship, Poppy was confronted with the horrible truth of her birth and driven from home. Now, lady’s maid to a cruel young woman, Poppy finds herself visiting the Duke of Hollyton’s house party for the holidays—only to learn that the duke is actually her dear friend Marcus. But no matter her joy in seeing him again, she cannot forget that her first priority is to protect her dear friend from being polluted by the shame she has been painted with. For if a romance between them was out of the question before, it is so much worse now that he is a duke. Told his childhood friend Poppy died in her youth, Marcus has pushed past the grief of losing her, surviving the past decade by focusing on duty, and duty alone. Never expecting to take up the mantle of duke, he nevertheless throws himself into the role, and has prepared for a life of stark responsibility. He certainly never expects to see his dear friend alive and well at his holiday house party—or that she’ll be almost immediately thrown out on her ear by her cruel employer. But Marcus is not about to look a gift horse in the mouth: this is the ideal chance, after all, to convince Poppy to remain with him as family, for he cannot lose her again. Poppy, however, is as prideful as she’s ever been, and refuses to accept charity. And so he offers her the position of companion to his elderly aunt. But as the wintry days pass, and Marcus and Poppy find the romance between them that had sparked so long ago rekindle into something so much stronger, will he get a Twelfth Night miracle and convince her to stay for good?