Showing results by author "Christi Caldwell" in All Categories

I don’t want visitors. But when the butler says the caller is a she, I spring to attention. The night just got a lot more interesting. Turns out the recently orphaned Helia Wallace has come to see my mother, her godmother, for help with a dastardly, dowry-chasing cousin. A likely story. But there’s a snowstorm brewing, and she begs me to let her stay the night. I reluctantly agree. It’s her reputation at stake, not mine.

Miss Linnie McQuoid Smith has spent a lifetime dreaming of love, but the man she’s always longed for is no longer the one she remembers. Captain Jeremy Tremaine, once a devoted family friend, is now consumed by vengeance, his heart hardened by betrayal at sea. Lord Culross, on the other hand, offers Linnie the kind of future she ought to want. Yet his quiet devotion and steadfast affection pale in comparison to the intoxicating and undeniable pull she feels toward Tremaine.

His Bride for the Taking: It's the first rule of friendship among gentlemen: Don't even think about touching your best friend's sister. But Sebastian, Lord Byrne, has never been one for rules. He's thought about touching Mary Clayton - a lot - and struggled to resist temptation. But when Mary's bridegroom leaves her waiting at the altar, only Sebastian can save her from ruin. His Duchess for a Day: It was never meant to be... That's what Elizabeth Terry has told herself while trying to forget the man she married - her once best friend.

Lady Poppy Tidemore’s notorious family scandals assure her place in not-so-polite society. Of course, she didn’t help matters...with an infamous art lesson that left her name ruined. Now, Poppy’s only hope is to accept her sister’s invitation to live at the Paradise, the illustrious hotel owned by her brother-in-law. There she’ll be able to pursue her artistic studies without judgment.

Leaving behind her life as a courtesan and madam, Clara Winters is moving far from the sinful life to which she was accustomed in the gaming hell the Devil’s Den. Her more reputable and fulfilling endeavor is a music hall for the masses. One night, when she sees a man injured on the streets of East London, she rushes to his aid and brings him home. It’s then that she discovers he’s Henry March, Earl of Waterson, and a member of Parliament. No good can come from playing nursemaid to a nobleman.

Lord Robert Dennington, the Marquess of Westfield, has long reveled in the freedom afforded him as the ducal heir. He knows he must someday do right by the Somerset line, but he's in no hurry to give up his carefree existence.Helena Banbury is a bookkeeper in a gentleman's gambling club, adept at analyzing numbers and accounts but helpless for lack of influence.

At the notorious Hell and Sin Club nestled in London's dark streets, Niall Marksman relishes taking the fortunes of the very same society that once disregarded his existence. Oh yes, Niall has sold his soul to the devil and paid dearly. It's only when Lady Diana Verney appears at the gaming club looking for help that Niall knows that the devil has finally come to collect...by forcing him to protect the duke's pampered daughter.

Long ago, Dare Grey disappeared from privilege to help the downtrodden. Abandoning his future as a nobleman, he instead came of age as the most skilled - and wanted - thief in East London. But when the Robin Hood of the Rookeries is captured, his influential grandfather offers him a choice: face his heritage...or the gallows. And to step into his rightful role as marquess, Dare must find a wife. Little do they know, he already has. Marrying Dare rescued young Temperance Swift from a brutal life.

Widowed Lady Sylvia Elton is out to save young ladies from the terrible fate of love and marriage. Her former husband has retained his reputation as an honorable and loving man in death, but Sylvia has privately mourned his lies and infidelity. Joined by two equally scorned and cast-off friends, Sylvia establishes the Mismatch Society. With each new liberated member, the scandalous circle wreaks havoc on the romantic prospects of London’s frustrated male peerage. But nothing prepares Sylvia for the Viscount St. John, a familiar face and her most formidable challenger.

Christian Villiers, the Marquess of St. Cyr, despises the role he's been cast into as fortune hunter but requires the funds to keep his marquisate solvent. Yet, the sins of his past cloud his future, preventing him from seeing beyond his fateful actions at the Battle of Toulouse. For he knows inevitably it will catch up with him, and everyone will remember his actions on the battlefield that cost so many so much - particularly his best friend.

Lady Myrtle McQuoid has always felt a little forgotten, and this season is no exception. When her boisterous family vacates their London townhouse for the country, Myrtle finds she’s been left behind. But she just needs to stay warm, keep her belly full, and distract herself until her relatives realize their mistake and turn back to collect her. Surely that won’t take long.

Adair Thorne has just watched his gaming-hell dream disappear into a blaze of fire and ash, and he’s certain that his competitors, the Killorans, are behind it. His fury and passion burn even hotter when he meets Cleopatra Killoran, a tart-mouthed vixen who mocks him at every turn. If she were anyone else but the enemy, she’d ignite a desire in him that would be impossible to control. No one can make Cleopatra do anything. That said, she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her siblings—even if that means being sponsored by their rivals for a season in order to land a noble husband.

Turned out by his father after a tragic scandal, Lord Michael Knightly has grown into a powerful, but self-made man. With the whispers and stares that still follow him, he's been shut out of respectable society. He would rather be anywhere but London. Then he meets Lady Aldora, a young woman who mistakes him for his brother, the Marquess of St. James.

Since his wife was killed in an accident that stole his happiness and left him injured, William Helling, the Duke of Aubrey, is a broken man. Neither strong drink and loose women nor the power he wields as leader of the Brethren of Lords can free him from the nightmares that haunt him. He prefers to be left alone, and has no desire to heal the wound his life has become. Then one day Miss Elsie Allenby, rumored to be a skilled healer, enters his household. He should send her away and yet he’s enthralled by the mysterious stranger.

The cruelty of men is something Lady Chloe Edgerton understands. Even in her quest to better her life and forget the past, men always seem determined to control her. Overhearing the latest plan to wed her to a proper gentleman, Chloe finally has enough...but one misstep lands her in the arms of the most notorious rake in London. Leopold Dunlop is a ruthless, coldhearted rake...a reputation he has cultivated.

Regina (Reggie) Spark has loved Broderick Killoran, the resourceful and protective proprietor of the Devil’s Den, ever since he saved her from the streets and made her his right hand at the notorious gaming hell. For just as long, Reggie has never admitted her true feelings for him. Nor has she revealed her spirited ambitions - to buck convention and expectations and open a music hall. While Broderick built his gaming empire with ruthless cunning, his loyalty to his employees is boundless.

Intrigued by the scandal of London’s Lost Lords, intrepid Miss Faye Poplar resolves to untangle the mystery of those complicit in the disappearance of the young lords and ladies - even if it leads her to the steps of the most powerful peers. But she’ll require the help only one man can provide...the ruthless Beast of Newgate.

Lieutenant Lucien Jones, son of a viscount, returned from war, to find his wife and child dead. Blaming his father for the commission that sent him off to fight Boney's forces, he was content to languish at London Hospital... until offered employment on the Marquess of Drake's staff. Through his position, Lucien found purpose in life and is content to keep his past buried.

Mature, sensible Honoria Fairfax has never forgotten the chance meeting she had with a mysterious stranger at a forbidden masquerade years ago. She might be a spinster firmly—and happily—on the shelf, but she cherishes the memory of their illicit embrace. After finding and escorting a lost child home, Honoria is thrilled and worried to find herself face to face with the man who lives in her wicked memories.

What happens when an impoverished duke with a reputation for being a rogue collides with a strong-willed heiress who wants to explore the world? An unlikely friendship…and unexpected passion. Cailin Audley doesn’t fit in with Polite Society. A life spent among the working class taught her to...