Bride Trilogy (Putney)

An uncommon love story... Wrenched from a monastery before taking final vows, Adrian de Lancey's fighting skill wins him an earldom. Fierce discipline masters his darker nature-until he finds a winsome slip of a girl lost in his forest, an illegal falcon on her wrist. Encountering the ice-blond warrior Earl of Shropshire, Meriel de Vere knows his dangerous reputation-and hides her identity to protect her brother's estate from the enemy earl. She does not expect to be arrested. Still less does she expect such a great lord to want her as his mistress. Her passionate need for freedom clashes disastrously with his obsession with his enchanting captive. Given a second chance to properly woo Meriel, can Adrian learn tenderness? Will the two of them claim lasting happiness-or will they lose all to a brutal sworn enemy?

A mad heiress and a false fiancé... The younger son of an earl, Dominic Renbourne is offered an irresistible bribe by his arrogant, identical twin brother, Kyle, who is heir to the earldom. All he must do is take Kyle's place at Warfield Manor, where he is to politely court Lady Meriel Grahame, the orphaned and vastly wealthy heiress Kyle is pledged to marry. The deception need only take a few weeks and no one will be the wiser because the fey Lady Meriel lives in a world of her own. The last thing Dominic expects when he arrives is to be entranced by a silent sylph whose ethereal beauty is as stunning as her passionate love for Warfield's flowers and fields and creatures. Until now, Meriel has kept her distance from normal society, spending her days at one with nature and safe from the nightmare that nearly destroyed her as a child. She is content to live alone, until the handsome intruder begins to inspire dreams of the world beyond her sanctuary. He understands her as no one else ever has--and because she lives outside society's rules, she sees no need to restrain her desire for the man who is surely her destined mate. Though Dominic's sense of duty helps him control his longing for his brother's future bride, Meriel's untamed spirit proves more powerful than he can resist. In her garden paradise, passion binds them body and soul despite the agonizing consequences. Can Meriel forgive Dominic's deceit once she learns he is not Kyle, and can Kyle forgive the betrayal of the brother who had once been closer than his own shadow? Then past and present collide in a dangerous cataclysm that may bring destruction--or lasting love and a hope for beginnings. The Bride Trilogy Book 1: The Wild Child Book 2: The China Bride Book 3: The Bartered Bride

A lord yearning for adventure and a lonely woman longing for a home... The daughter of a Scottish father and a Chinese mother, Troth Montgomery grew up in Macao fluent in the language and culture of both parents, but her father's sudden death condemned her to a shadowy life as an interpreter in Canton. Then Kyle Renbourne, viscount and adventurer, discovers her true identity and persuades her to be his guide for a dangerous journey into the heart of the Celestial Kingdom. For Kyle, Troth is an enchanting combination of strength and wisdom unlike any woman he's ever met. As they travel together, attraction flares into a searing passion that ends when Kyle is captured and condemned to death. After a desperate prison cell marriage, Troth promises to carry news of his fate back to his family. Believing him dead, Troth makes the long journey to England, arriving in bitter winter at the estate of Kyle's brother. Though accepted as bride and widow, she is haunted by the memory of her dashing husband and the brief, forbidden love they shared as she struggles to adjust to her new life. Then the past reaches out to Troth, bringing passion, despair, and a danger that has followed her halfway around the world. In the wild hills of Scotland, she must draw on her unique heritage to save all she holds dear-and find the love and home she has always dreamed of.