Wolfe Family (Ferguson)

Romayne Smithfield knows she is acting out of hand when she agrees to elope with her admirer, Bradley Montcrief. But how could she have guessed their carriage would be attacked as soon as they crossed the Scottish border? Sure Bradley is dead, she is shocked to be rescued from the highwaymen by Major James MacKinnon, who has his own reasons for being out on a moonless night. He is pursuing a traitor who has sold out Britain to the French. He turns his attention to Romayne and takes her to where she can be safe - his home. When her maid arrives to take Romayne home, she insists that a duke's granddaughter cannot return from an elopement without a husband. James must marry her. After all, they spent a night together when he rescued her. When he agrees, Romayne is astounded... until he tells her that he has arranged for a fake ceremony. He needs to go to England to catch his prey, and taking her home to her grandfather gives him the excuse he needs. Now it is her turn to agree, but nothing goes as they plan. Neither of them guessed someone wants Romayne dead in a plot that began when she was only a baby... or that a marriage of convenience can become very inconvenient when true love gets in the way.

Heiress Lady Vanessa Wolfe is the talk of the season because everyone is curious whom she will wed. Her brother Corey, the true heir to Wolfe Abbey, has been reported missing after a battle against Napoleon on the continent, and he may be dead. But Vanessa doesn't want to marry; she wants to find Corey. Her reluctance offers the perfect opportunity for Ross Brickendon, a viscount, to make a bet with his two bored friends, Sir Wilbur Haskett and Bruce Swinton. The first one of them who can persuade the young lady to wed will win the bet... which is for a mere £3. Each has his own way of courting the lady, but Ross's is to try to help her find her brother, something that touches Vanessa's heart. Still, can she believe he is sincere and wants her love, not her estate? When the truth is revealed, Ross realizes he must prove his love, even if doing so costs him his life.

Ellen Dunbar (who first appeared in The Smithfield Bargain) visits Wolfe Abbey, the home of Corey Wolfe, Marquess Wulfric (who first appeared in The Wolfe Wager), to watch a fireworks show. She finds Lord Wulfric fun and enjoys the fireworks until something goes terribly wrong. Fireworks explode, knocking her from her feet and fatally wounding the marquess. She is shattered at his death, but her despair becomes astonishment when, that night, Corey reappears... as a ghost! He vows to find her the perfect husband before the chrysanthemums bloom at summer's end. The problem is, as Corey match-makes for Ellen (who is the only one who can see and hear him), he begins to fall in love with her himself. So what's a ghost to do when he's made a vow and he can't even touch the woman he loves?

Emily Talcott has a sister to fire off into the season and a father whose gambling debts are threatening to bring the whole family to bankruptcy, and is secretly the author of the immensely popular books of poetry supposedly written by the French Marquis de la Cour. Damon, Lord Wentworth's arrival in her life creates another complication - a very dangerous one, for she quickly realizes why the devilishly handsome viscount has gained the name of "Demon Wentworth." He has a reputation for liking games of cards with high stakes and women with low morals. Now her father owes him for gambling losses. If only her newest book could earn enough to pay them off... Everything gets complicated when an imposter claims to be the French poet. How can Emily denounce him? What if he takes her profits? What if his plan to marry her sister under false pretenses succeeds? Her only ally, though she cannot tell him the truth of her deception, is Damon. Like her, he is interested in halting the false marquis. He will not explain why, halting her questions with heated kisses. Suddenly Emily begins to realize how silly her poetry is, because it cannot compare with truly falling in love. Can she trust Damon to help her save her sister and not break her own heart?

Lorenzo Wolfe (previously seen in A Phantom Affair) has recently become Lord Moorsea, with lands in southwestern England. When he goes to claim them, he finds he already has company. Lady Valeria Fanning (previously seen in Rhyme and Reason) has come with her 8-year-old nephew to live with the man who was once her guardian, the previous Lord Moorsea. Now they are Lorenzo's responsibility, because she lost everything she owed when her late brother's debts swallowed everything. For Lorenzo, the simplest thing to do would be to find Valeria a convenient arrangement - a marriage to someone else. But that plan goes awry when one of her brother's debtors tries to force her into marriage by using her nephew as a pawn. Instead of the quiet life Lorenzo thought he wanted, he finds himself embroiled in saving the boy who has vexed him too many times. However, he has come to love the little boy as well as his aunt. Suddenly living alone in the isolated house has no appeal, but is it too late?