Larkhall Letters

A secret venture, a regrettable love letter, and a heart he can't afford to lose. When faced with an unwanted marriage, Alice Rosemeyer accepts an invitation to the estate of Larkhall. Determined to earn her future security without a husband, she begins operating as the anonymous Ace of Hearts, writing letters and offering advice on behalf of the men eager to secure a match at the close of the London season. If she can manage to keep her identity secret, her reputation intact, and avoid the arrogant house guest, Mr. Thomas Herring, she might just call herself successful. When Thomas Herring's sister marries an indebted man because of a love letter, he has no choice but to marry into money himself. Invited to stay at Larkhall, he sets his sights on the wealthy sister of his host. When she appears indifferent, he stumbles upon an advertisement: a gentleman offering assistance in matters of the heart. An ace, so he is called. But when he turns out to be she, and also a guest at the same house, his task is further complicated—especially as Alice proves herself to be as captivating as she is clever. With reputations, secrets, and more than one heart at risk, Alice and Thomas become trapped in a game with no rules, a game neither intended to play. Had they been wrong to play love for a fool?

For as long as Bridget Northcott can remember, she has loved her brother's closest friend, Colin Foster. She loved him long before he grew up, became Captain Foster, and long before he left her behind for a life at sea. Although she knows her feelings will never be returned, Bridget cannot help but turn away every suitor in the hopes that one day Colin will come back to Larkhall and see her for what she has grown up to be-refined, elegant, and the precise opposite of the silly girl he once knew. When family circumstances bring Colin's unexpected return, he too has changed. Once carefree, he is now cold, hard, and distant. Determined to unravel the mysteries of Captain Foster, Bridget writes her thoughts in a note, one she never meant to send. As a hesitant friendship grows between them through their letters, Bridget determines to keep her heart uninvolved. But when her facade begins to break, she realizes the childhood silliness she abandoned might just be precisely what is needed to pull him back to shore. Faced with a choice between loyalty and selfishness, love and letting go, Bridget must find the strength to confide her own feelings in Captain Foster before the man she loved is lost forever. But there is only so much she can do when she discovers a match between them is what she has always feared-forbidden.

An innocent letter is only dangerous when it falls into the wrong hands. Louisa Rosemeyer is a lady with no money, no parents, and, regrettably, no husband. Left with no place to go, she writes a letter to her aunt, Mrs. Irwin, asking for an invitation to live with her. Ever cautious and optimistic, Louisa hopes the trip will bring the new beginning she has been searching for. After being forced out of his childhood home, Jack Warwick lets Mrs. Irwin's house, happy to be away from his family and their many squabbles. Haunted by his past, he drowns his loneliness in drink, and with it, his better judgment. When a letter arrives at his new house, addressed to the previous occupant, Mrs. Irwin, from her niece, Jack writes an incoherent reply, inviting the young lady to come stay . . . an event which his drinking causes him to forget. When the chaos surrounding Louisa's untimely arrival at Jack's house causes a scandal, there is only one way to mend her reputation: Marriage. As Jack's feelings for Louisa grow, he realizes there is only one way to mend himself: To be loved by Louisa. Devastated to be married to a near stranger, and a scoundrel at that, Louisa closes off her heart. She has always planned to marry for love. But she quickly learns that love has plans of its own.

His new challenge: Keep himself from falling in love again at all costs. At odds with love, Matthew Northcott has firmly decided that he will never marry, much to the dismay of his relatives . . . and nearly every young lady he meets. Rather than seek a marriage for himself, he attempts to find matches for others, grateful to see that love is not entirely cruel-just cruel to him. When a letter arrives from Matthew's friend Jack, asking an immense favor from him, Matthew undertakes a new challenge: Find a husband for Jack's spinster sister, Miss Cassandra Warwick before the end of the season. Though a strange request, Matthew is determined to help his friend. But as he comes to know Cassandra and the circumstances which placed her in his path, he begins to wonder who the matchmaker truly is.

Until death do they part . . . Margaret Lovell tries her best to love everyone. But when it comes to Lord Blackwell, she doesn't care to succeed. After the young Earl of Blackwell accused her father of cheating and tricked him out of his fortune, she has despised him for causing their disgrace and lack of security. So when she learns that Lord Blackwell is on his deathbed, she cannot help but feel a lack of sympathy. With her family's financial situation worsening, she doesn't have time to think of anything else, especially the man who caused it. Peter Trafford, Earl of Blackwell, has never had reason to evaluate his life before now. But with certain death looming before him, he is awakened to a sense of his guilt. When struck with this strange desperation to repair his misdeeds, he writes a letter to Margaret Lovell, the daughter of the man whose reputation he singlehandedly destroyed. In the letter, he offers to marry her. He offers Margaret and her family a life of wealth and comfort-and promises that he will die shortly after their wedding. But promises, fickle as they are, have a way of breaking.