Beautiful Sylvia Gabriel has more cause than most to despise the Game of Kings. Chess has been the ruination of her life ending her engagement, filching her fortune and reducing her to poor relation. But when she finds herself falling in love with chessmaster David Rutherford, the new Lord Donhill, Sylvia stakes her heart, her future and her reputation on the riskiest gambit of all.

Although she is titled, beautiful and wealthy, Lady Katherine Steele finds widowhood leaves her powerless to protect those she loves. With her young daughter, Kate flees London and the evil man who has been given control of her child and her fortune. The deserted property of her husband’s late comrade-in-arms Lord Duncan MacLean, becomes her home. Posing as the Laird’s widow, Kate ekes out a meager existence in the remote Scottish castle that has fallen to ruin. Wounded and left to die in a French prison, Duncan MacLean escapes and returns to England, seeking revenge upon the man who betrayed him and the soldiers under his command. Due to his “death” the Crown has claimed all of his properties save one. When he finds his castle occupied by a beautiful woman claiming to be his widow, he offers her a devil’s bargain. Kate will become the wife she claims to be in every way if she and her child wish to remain in his home. Torn between safety from the demon who pursues them and the devil who demands the surrender of her honor, Kate chooses to give the MacLean his due. But no pact with Hell is ever simple. Kate fails to reckon with her own desires and Duncan discovers that the mysterious widow could be far more than he has bargained for.

Sebastian Armitage is personally acquainted with the damage caused by secrets and lies. Wanting nothing to do with the pain of his past, the rakehell had broken all ties with England. But when his elderly godmother falls ill, her companion, Amanda Westford, summons him home. Sebastian soon discovers that the prunes and prisms widow that he expected is not only young and beautiful, but clearly harboring some secrets of her own. Is it his godmother’s fortune that is allowing Mrs. Westford to live far beyond her means? Amanda had vowed that she would never again accept desire without love. Although Sebastian’s infamous reputation had earned her scorn, it is impossible to despise this charming, handsome man who personifies temptation on two feet. Amanda knows that only a fool would be seduced by the promise of passion with the man known as the Demon Rum. Why then is she longing to play the fool?

With a reputation for making misfits into marriageable maidens, Morton House has become one of the premier seminaries in London. Daniel, Viscount Corvin, believes that the school is his sister's only hope until he can find a suitable wife and remove Emmeline from their father's uncaring custody. But when Daniel meets a mysterious early morning rider in Hyde Park, he finds himself distracted from his review of Marriage Mart eligibles. Determined to unravel her identity, Daniel discovers that the woman he knows as “Elaine” resolutely resists his blandishments. Society would be aghast to learn that Morton schoolmistress Guinivere Courtney is hiding from a disreputable past. When the Viscount Corvin's sister becomes a pupil at the school, Guin is drawn into Emmeline's brewing batch of scandal broth. She knows that it is only a matter of time before Daniel discovers that she and the elusive Elaine are one and the same, and the bond of passion between them ruins her and the school.

A decade has passed since Rebecca Creighton was jilted at the altar at 17, and she has resigned herself to spinsterhood and the task of keeping her spendthrift family afloat. Her lectures and popular penny tracts have made “doing the Creighton” synonymous with proper behavior. But when mayhem breaks out during one of her speaking engagements in a disreputable part of London, she is saved by a seductive stranger. Sir Michael Fairgrove knew that his best friend, Ollie, narrowly escaped the parson's mousetrap years ago. Now, Ollie's only hope to avoid Fleet is marriage to his former fiancée, Rebecca Creighton. But Michael's plan to persuade her to accept his friend's suit soon goes horribly awry. When he rescues Rebecca from a raucous mob, and they face the dangers of a late-night London riven by unrest, Michael finds his good intentions fading in the face of growing fascination. Rebecca is far from the plain-faced, pompous paragon that Michael had been led to expect. How can he persuade Rebecca to agree to Ollie's offer, when Michael finds himself falling in love with the Paragon?

An RWA Golden Heart Award Nominee Fiona’s recall of her last covert assignment in Portugal is buried in a haze of drugged pain. She never knew the name of the stranger who saved her life. When Stephan Aubrey, the new Earl of Camford offers to use his connections to help her investigate the failed mission, Fiona discovers that he is her mysterious savior. Never having been able to forget Fiona’s beauty and courage, Stephan finds it hard to credit the accusation that this woman is the driving force behind the infamous Hades spy ring that has wreaked havoc on Britain’s military efforts. Reluctantly, he consents to take the role of a suitor for her hand as part of a trap to prove her treachery. As Stephan’s sham courtship of Fiona becomes increasingly real, he discovers that they may be pawns in a deeper, deadlier game. Will they fall prey to a web of lies and will their love be strong enough to survive the inevitable betrayal?