Romance Retold

**Previously published as True of Heart Love lessons have never gone so awry Miss Ruth Hawthorn helps support her fatherless family the only way she can: doling out love advice in a local newspaper column under an assumed name, The Swan. When she receives a lucrative request for an in-person consultation from someone signed O, her brother persuades her to go to London with him, teaching him what he needs to know in order to survive the short appointment. But when O moves up the time of the rendez-vous and Ruth's brother is nowhere to be found, she is forced to take matters into her own hands. Philip Trent, Lord Oxley, knows precisely which woman will best fill his late mother's shoes as the viscountess-now all he needs is a little help winning her over, swarmed as she is by suitors. Ashamed of his ineptitude with women but determined to succeed, Philip secretly enlists help. The youthful, bespectacled Swan seems like the last person capable of providing such help, but Philip finds in the young man both a friend and a confidant, with a surprising understanding of love. Philip's choice of woman is proving more difficult than anticipated, though, and Ruth's ongoing disguise and frequent meetings with him are taxing her conscience-and her heart. With more secrets than Ruth can manage and a heart long since lost to her most important client, she faces the threat of discovery and ruin-a prospect somehow eclipsed by the heartbreak she will face when those secrets are inevitably discovered by the man she loves.

**Previously published as My Wild Heart Can a ruse turn to romance? No one stands in doubt of Edith Donne's opinion on marriage-or of her ability to ward it off using nothing but her stinging wit. With the fortune her aunt has left her, Edith has no reason to marry and certainly no intention of it. When she inadvertently overhears that her lifelong archrival is in love with her, she is stunned, but she has no compunction in setting him straight. Elias Abram trusts no woman, but he can bandy words with the best of them-and Edith Donne is undoubtedly the best. Her razor-sharp tongue has been a constant companion and a welcome challenge since their prank-filled childhood days. But when Elias is given to believe that Edith is secretly in love with him, his world is flipped on its head, forcing him to reconsider everything he thought he knew. Soon realizing they have been duped by their conspiring friends, Edith and Elias resolve to turn the tables on them in the most shocking manner they can concoct-the ultimate revenge. But what's to be done when the lines between charade and reality begin to blur?

**Previously published as A Foolish Heart. Redeeming Miss Marcotte is a sweet Regency inspired by Shakespeare's timeless classic A Midsummer Night's Dream. She wants him back. He'll have anyone but her. Mercy Marcotte doesn't deserve a second chance at love. At least, that's what she's believed since jilting Solomon Kennett, the man she loved, when his fortunes took a turn for the worse. But Solomon is back from the West Indies, rich, aloof, and about to offer for Mercy's best friend. Mercy resolves to stay out of it-until her friend runs off with another man. She can't stand by while Solomon is humiliated yet again. Whatever the past, Solomon Kennett is taking control of the future. He is certain he will get what he wants now that he has proven himself worthy of consideration by even the most fastidious of fathers. When the woman he is supposed to propose to is kidnapped by another man, he feels honor-bound to go after them-only to be followed by Mercy, the woman who spurned him years ago. With end goals, loyalties, and history at odds for all involved, nothing is as it seems. The last thing anyone needs is a love potion to further entangle things. Skeptical in the highest degree and determined not to surrender control to his heart, Solomon finds himself wondering if there isn't perhaps something to the potion after all.