Wicked Widows

With her whirlwind social life in London, Lady Isabella Wharton has little interest in the customs of the country. But when her godmother asks her to pay a visit to her bachelor grandson in Yorkshire, Isabella can't refuse. It behooves her to please the old dowager, since she harbors one of Isabella's most scandalous secrets. So off she goes to see the newly titled-and notoriously rustic-Duke of Ormond. Trevor Carey doesn't care about what goes on behind ballroom doors. He is content with the simple life-and isn't ashamed to admit it to a society flirt like Lady Isabella. But the country air brings out a different side of Isabella-one full of longing and passion. Can her sophistication be hiding a desire for love? When a blackmailer from the city arrives to threaten Isabella, Trevor will shield her from harm-even travel to London. Can the duke tackle the ton on Isabella's behalf . . . and manage to keep her all to himself?

Young widowed Georgina Mowbray is settling into her role as Lady Russell's companion quite well-until the lady's nephew Dominic, the Earl of Coniston, arrives in Bath for a visit. Georgie's always found him shallow and too smooth, and trusts him as much as she trusts most men . . . which is to say, not at all. But Con turns out to be more intriguing than she remembers-and completely irresistible . . . Pretty, practical Georgie is nothing like the women Con usually woos-especially since she seems blind to his charms. But his elderly aunt is so fond of her that Con is determined at least to be sociable . . . with the occasional flirtation thrown in just for fun. But things take a serious turn when a dangerous figure from Georgie's unhappy past appears and threatens to bring her harm. Con will do whatever it takes to keep Georgie safe. And if he can show her that all men are not menaces, he might be able to keep her in his arms and never let go . . .

Perdita, the widowed Duchess of Ormonde, keeps a dangerous secret-the truth of how her brutish husband died. But a mysterious avenger seems to know it, too, and when anonymous threats turn into public attacks, there's only one friend she can turn to for help: her husband's former secretary, Lord Archer Lisle. The man who witnessed her every heartache. The kind of man whose love she can only dream of . . .The youngest of the Duke of Pemberton's five sons, Lord Archer Lisle is used to waiting his turn. For years, he could only stand by, seething, as Perdita suffered at the hands of her husband, but now she's under threat from another source-one who will stop at nothing to make her pay for the late duke's death. But the good-natured Archer can be dangerous when crossed-and he'll do anything to keep the woman he's adored for so long safe in his arms.