Sherry L. Ranck

Benedict Fairburn does not quite need his ailing great-aunt's fortune, especially since he'll have to marry to get it. His family, however, thinks otherwise - as do many of the eligible ladies in London - and the pressure is mounting. An embarrassment of attentions fill Benny's time, but the young lady he prefers roundly dislikes him. Claire Dalton, cousin to one of Benedict's oldest friends, is too busy debuting in Society to pay much attention to the Fairburn boy who once insulted her past bearing.

The plan was for beautiful Claire to marry the terrifyingly sinister Simon of Navarre, wizard in residence to Richard the Fair. Instead, her plain sister, Alys, takes her place, proving herself more than a match for the man with the secrets. Meanwhile, sweet Claire falls in love with a handsome knight, and the truly evil Richard the Fair tries to make life miserable for all.

When Miss Elizabeth Waterstone encounters the enigmatic Duke of Diable Delamere in the most shocking of circumstances, she is determined to exploit his rakish expertise to the fullest extent. The duke agrees to teach her everything she needs to know, but in return expects to receive her unwitting cooperation to uncover an assassination plot against the monarchy. But Elizabeth is hard to deceive, and the duke finds himself needing more than her innocent skills in his bed.

Gabrielle Jerningham cherishes the portrait of her betrothed, the perfect Peter Dewland... until she meets his commanding older brother Quill. But it is Peter to whom she has been promised. And how can she possibly transform her voluptuous, outspoken self into the poised gentlewoman Peter requires?

Desperate to save her cousin from certain ruin with a notorious rake, Miss Heloise Merrill impersonates her cousin and takes her place at the "Chateau Debauchery". Heloise intends to convince the rake - Sebastian Cadwell, Earl of Blythe - to turn his attentions elsewhere. What she doesn't intend is to be splayed across his legs and spanked!