DOWNTRODDEN SERVANT OR GRACIOUS LADY? When Max, Earl Blakehurst, meets Verity he sees a downtrodden servant. He doesn't recognize her as the daughter of a colonel under whom he used to serve, the girl he'd once helped years before. The life Verity's now living is untenable. So he proposes a shocking solution—he will set her up as his mistress. It's only once that Verity's finally agreed, once Max is beginning to lose his heart to her, that he discovers her true identity. Max is taken aback; he would never have suggested this lady become his mistress. Now, to avoid scandal, they'll have to marry!

As a girl she had been bubbling over with mischief. As a woman she seemed half lost in shadow. But Richard Blakehurst couldn't miss the flash of connection between them when his hand touched hers. It was as if he had awakened something deep inside her. Seeing Richard again brought back the taunting memory of their dance at her come-out ball. She must tame her wayward thoughts, because Thea doubted even her considerable fortune could buy Richard's good opinion of her if ever he learnt the truth....

Miss Christiana Daventry will do whatever it takes to keep from being thrown out on the streets—even accept the insufferably attractive Lord Braybrook's proposition! Julian Trentham, Viscount Braybrook, urgently needs to hire a governess and companion, and Christy is conveniently available. Headstrong, with charmingly mismatched eyes and soft tawny hair, Christy is unlike any woman he has ever encountered. But there is something so deliciously endearing about her that Julian quickly forgets how scandalous it would be to give in to the mounting attraction for his penniless governess….