When Veronica said "I do" to Sebastian Sinclair, Duke of Edgefield, she thought all her dreams had come true. He was dashing and doting, and she absolutely adored him—until he betrayed her trust, shattering their marriage, and her heart, into a million tiny bits. She hasn't seen her husband in the two years since, and she'd just as soon make it twenty. But when she learns that her beloved grandfather's dying wish is for her and Sebastian to attend the family's Christmastide celebration, she swallows her pride and asks him a favor: to pretend they're the happy couple they once were.

When Clara Mayfield helps her sister elope, she's prepared for the scandal to seal her fate as a spinster. What she doesn't expect is to find herself engaged to the vile Baron Rutherford as a means of salvaging her family's reputation. Determined not to be chained to a man she loathes, Clara slips out of Essex and sheds her identity: She becomes Helen, maid at the Earl of Ashworth's country estate.

As far as rash decisions go, it was formidable. But Lady Jocelyn Rathbourne's will remains strong. If the only way to save her family's estate and reputation is by aiming a small pistol at the Duke of Calydon, then so be it. For Lady Jocelyn demands satisfaction - and she will have it at any cost. Even if it means demanding the hand of the intense and foreboding Duke himself....

Lady Diana Malbury is known for her charm and intelligence, why else would she rather solve another one of the late Earl of Chestwick's word puzzles than entertain potential suitors for the Season? The old earl presents her with the highest-stake challenge yet . . . If she remains unwed for the Season, she can return to his estate next summer and solve the latest puzzle by way of his extensive library, her favorite place in England . . . But Randal Wilson, the new Earl of Chestwick, has returned from the war a decorated hero but also wounded and angry.

Sophisticated. Scandalous. In fact, Miss Sarah Hamilton, a proper Philadelphian, finds London society altogether shocking. How can it be that she has awakened from her innocent slumber to find herself in bed next to a handsome - and exceedingly naked - man? The laughing onlookers standing in the doorway are no help whatsoever and surely this amorous lunatic cannot be a duke, as he claims. She is compromised - though she most certainly will not marry him!