Showing results by narrator "Jessica Bright" in All Categories

Lady Eliza Whitmoreland just wants to be left alone. A season and a husband are the last things she needs or wants. But when the ton's biggest rake tries to charm her, instead of rolling her eyes, she sees her chance. She challenges the blowhard to a game of chess. The prize? If she wins, he has to pretend to be her fiance for the rest of the season to get her mother off her back.

She must become a companion to a recluse's sister in the wilds of Yorkshire, but the past wants to drag her back into the darkness. When she meets the Beast of Hardcastle, she doesn't know if her last chance is worth surviving the dark nights in his domain—until he begins to awaken her broken heart and tease her with the promise of pleasure.

To protect her family, she has done the darkest of deeds, and now she is determined to find the protection of a good marriage. A marriage that will let her pursue her dreams. A powerful friend has arranged for her to marry the Earl of Derby. But when she arrives, the earl does nothing as expected. He demands a trial. Drawn to the Earl, who seems to carry a shadow in his heart, she agrees. Margaret cannot deny her desire for him, but if he learns the truth, will he cast her out? When her heart begins to long for him, she is determined to keep him... and her secrets.

When a governess of great talents is required, there is only one place the nobility of England go: The Governess Bureau. And one of the most trusted? Miss Anne Gilbert. She's known for keeping her employer's secrets, and when she is selected by the Earl of Clarcton, that is precisely why. Because the Earl, Timothy Lexington, has secrets. Secrets he has worked hard to keep from the world. While scandal waits in the wings, Clarcton Castle has entire wings that are shut off and the Countess is nowhere to be found. 

In the months since their father, Rory, died, the MacLeod sisters have had to contend with bands of smugglers convinced he left a treasure buried within the walls of their home at Castle Cairncross. Only the most mystifying occurrences have foiled the thieves—stirring whispers that the sisters are sorceresses. Yet, they have no treasure, nor are they witches. However, each inexplicably possesses a unique ability. The eldest, Catriona, is a brilliant healer and alchemist—a skill she is about to put to unforeseen use.

Plagued by guilt after escaping her impoverished childhood, Fontaine Shepherd, the Dowager Lady Kerry, uses her position on the board of a charitable foundation to relocate starving orphans—until contact with the office is lost. Fearing the foundation will discover she's been using funds to bribe workhouse owners to release children, she decides to travel across the ocean and re-establish communication. Except the only captain who can transport her insists that she not travel alone.

When a governess of many languages is required, there is only one place the nobility of England go: the Governess Bureau. Of course, Miss Elizabeth Fletcher doesn't broadcast that information. Constantly under-estimated and treated like the children she's responsible for, all she wants is a duke assignment and the respect of her peers.

When Fiona Hay offers Angus Gordon her virtue in exchange for a dowry for her sisters, she so intrigues the rogue that he demands a higher payment: She will be his mistress. Thus begins a battle of wills and sensual delights. Destiny soon draws the ardent lovers into the turbulent court of King James. But soon the king's political schemes force Fiona away from the man she loves...and into the arms of a wild and passionate highlander, The MacDonald of Nairn. Will this coldhearted and callous betrayal forever destroy Fiona's chance at happiness?

She is Catriona, Countess of Glenkirk, the dazzling green-eyed beauty whose silken sensuality fires the passion of men's very souls—making her a pawn in a dangerous game of royal intrigue. Wife to a count, unwilling mistress to the king, she has the undying love of the most courageous lord in all of Scotland . . .

Cold, arrogant, and demanding Henry Eldridge, Marquess of Riverton, would never dally with a mere servant. But when Henry is injured in a horrible fire, his pretty housekeeper Cassandra nurses him back to health, throwing them together, day and night. As he slowly heals from his burns, their friendship blossoms, and the class walls between them start to crumble. Cassandra is surprised by glimpses of a kind and thoughtful man beneath her employer's hard façade—and even more surprised when she develops tender feelings for him. But anything between lord and servant is impossible....

Anne Middleton never plays by the rules. She is willful when she should be obedient and unabashed when she should be decorous. Worse still, she can never resist a good wager . . . or a very naughty book. And Confessions of a Courtesan is about as risqué as a book can be. Michael Grey—Earl of Thornhill—had once courted Anne's sweet and modest sister. But whilst Anne is certainly no lady of decorum, her bold impulsiveness slips through his armor, and propriety is forgotten. Now he too is immersed in the book of forbidden delights, where each page is an invitation to sin.

Infamous courtesan Julia Forsythe is the former mistress of a ruthless marquess. She's also expecting his child. But while she longs to flee from his cold clutches, the welfare of her unborn babe prevents it. Now she must find a way to remain a "mistress" in name, if not in deed. Fifteen years ago, Adam Radcliff once shared a close friendship with Julia. Now they stand worlds apart in both lives and statuses, sharing only the memory of that old friendship. But even as Julia slips out of the marquess's lascivious clutches, she finds herself seeking the pleasure of Adam's company. 

Hampshire, 1818. To her family, Olivia Middleton is a problem of the most vexing sort. With her older two sisters married off, Olivia is now the target of her mother's matrimonial scheming. Shy and somewhat plain, Olivia prefers the thrill of a gothic novel to the hunt for a husband. And as far as her family is concerned, something must be done. But Olivia has no interest in the men paraded before her—except, perhaps, the sought-after bachelor William Cross. But she's not about to inflate his already oversized ego by telling him so.

Miss Helena Patrick is not a governess. At least, not really. The famed and celebrated actress is a little down on her luck, and grasps the chance to masquerade as a governess until better luck comes around. Worse luck for her, she's stuck out in the country with a master who is afraid to leave his house with a wife who died but no one will speak of, his sister who mysteriously disappears whenever anyone wants her, and a brother who . . . a brother who absolutely should not be kissing her. Especially as he's a duke.

Scandal. Intrigue. Love matches. The Governess Bureau was never supposed to be full of these things, but over the last few years, no fewer than five matches have been made. It's something the proprietress, Miss Vivienne Clarke, simply cannot allow to continue. With only one client remaining for the previously esteemed Governess Bureau now it has been called into disrepute, Vivienne has no choice but to take on the assignment herself; caring for the daughter of Edwin, Viscount Bysshe.

When you wake up with no memories from the last ten years, what do you do? For Miss Rachel Herriot, she has only one option—to be sent to a quiet manor house with one charge, Violet, to care for. A little governessing and recuperation, that's all she needs. Unfortunately, that's not what she'll get. Waiting for her at Quintrell Hall is not the idyllic quiet country life she was promised, but a gentleman called Timothy Astor. Mysterious, frequently absent from his home, and kissing her passionately in corridors with no introduction, Mr. Astor is not what Rachel expected.

Struggling to support her family after her husband’s death, Caroline Harding attracts the attention of the ruthless Captain Francis Grafton who offers her a devil’s bargain to pay back her debts to him. Outwitting her enigmatic employer and unwillingly gaining his approval significantly changes her life for the better, but can she win his loyalty and his heart when he appears to care for nothing but profit?

A survivor of spousal abuse, matchmaker Olivia Heather, the Dowager Countess of Allen, devotes her time to preventing the young ladies of society from following in her footsteps—until a series of newspaper articles accuse her of murdering her late husband. Her plan to use her feminine wiles to convince the man responsible for the attacks to stop is stymied when the man in question, the infuriatingly handsome Thellusson Vaith, Marquess Lowell, requests that she find a match for his daughter.

A duke with a reputation to uphold and a woman with a scandalous past take a gamble on their forbidden love in this Regency romance—perfect for fans of USA Today bestsellers Sophie Jordan and Kerrigan Byrne! Raised in a foundling home and now proprietor of a successful club, Gabriel Cadieux...

Despite their village's wild rumors, middle sister Freya MacLeod is no more a witch than her extraordinary siblings. Quiet and observant, she can't control the weather—although her drawings often predict it. But now a very different sort of storm has besieged their home of Castle Cairncross. When Freya's younger sister disappears and is accused of murder, Freya is determined to prove her innocence—and bring her back. That means matching wits with a warrior.