Playful Brides

Lady Lucy Upton's tongue may be too sharp to attract suitors, but her heart is good, and when her painfully shy friend Cassandra needs help, she devises a brilliant scheme to help her discourage an unwanted suitor, the Duke of Claringdon. Lucy will hide behind the hedgerow and tell Cass just what to say to discourage the Duke of Claringdon . . . but it turns out that he's made of sterner stuff than either of them anticipated. And Lucy is shocked to discover that tangling with the tenacious man is the most fun she's had in ages. Lord Derek Hunt made a promise to his dying friend to marry the demure Cassandra, and for a man who wants nothing more than peace and quiet after the horrors of war, she'll make the perfect bride. If only the impudent Miss Upton will let him court the girl! Doing battle is the last thing on his mind, but bantering with Lucy behind the bushes is too tempting to resist. And the spoils of this war just may be true love.

For seven long years, Lady Cassandra Monroe has waited for the man of her dreams to return from the war. Unfortunately, he happens to be engaged to her flighty cousin. When he mistakes Cass for Patience Bunbury, a fictitious friend her cousin has invented to escape social obligations-even with her future husband-Cass thinks this is her chance. After defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, Captain Julian Swift is not quite ready to settle down and enter into his unwanted arranged marriage. Patience Bunbury is witty, independent, passionate, and, unbeknownst to him, the cousin of his current fiancée. When the truth about Cass comes out, will he surrender his heart to a woman who really is too good to be true?

Certain that no man wants a bluestocking for a wife, Miss Jane Lowndes is careful to wield her books and her spectacles as weapons against matrimony. Convincing her ambitious mama that she's content to stay a spinster is easier said than done, however. It's a good thing that Jane is not above a bit of manufactured scandal if it will keep her from the altar and the argumentative, contrary Lord Garrett Upton . . . With the war over, Garrett is determined to enjoy his bachelor's life while he can, even when it means attending a celebration of a friend's wedding-and suffering Jane's notorious disdain. But when a masquerade ball leads to a mistaken kiss, he's surprised to learn that Jane's bookish exterior hides a truly passionate soul. When two very headstrong people are determined to remain unattached, can love lead to a happy ending? Contains mature themes.