Spindle Cove

Welcome to Spindle Cove, where the ladies with delicate constitutions come for the sea air, and men in their prime are..nowhere to be found. Or are they? Spindle Cove is the destination of choice for certain types of well-bred young ladies: The painfully shy, young wives disenchanted with matrimony, and young girls too enchanted with the wrong men; it is a haven for those who live there. Victor Bramwell, the new Earl of Rycliff, knows he doesn't belong here.

Some wallflowers bloom at night...Violet is a quiet girl. She speaks six languages, but seldom raises her voice. The gentlemen aren’t beating down her door. Until the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas ball, when a mysterious stranger crashes into the ballroom and collapses at Violet’s feet. He’s wet, chilled, bleeding, and speaking in an unfamiliar tongue. Only Violet understands him. And she knows he’s not what he seems. She has one night to draw forth the secrets of this dangerously handsome rogue. Is he a smuggler? A fugitive? An enemy spy?

Minerva Highwood, one of Spindle Cove's confirmed spinsters, needs to be in Scotland. Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, a rake of the first order, needs to be...anywhere but Spindle Cove. These unlikely partners have one week: to fake an elopement to convince family and friends they're in love to outrun armed robbers to survive their worst nightmares to travel four hundred miles without killing each other. All while sharing a very small carriage by day and an even smaller bed by night.

After years of fending for herself, Kate Taylor found friendship and acceptance in Spindle Cove - but she never stopped yearning for love. The very last place she'd look for it is in the arms of Corporal Thorne. The militia commander is as stone cold as he is brutally handsome. But when mysterious strangers come searching for Kate, Thorne steps forward as her fiancé. He claims to have only Kate's safety in mind. So why is there smoldering passion in his kiss?

Beautiful and elegant, Miss Diana Highwood is destined to marry a wealthy, well-placed nobleman. At least that's what her mother has loudly declared to everyone in Spindle Cove. But Diana's not excited by dukes and lords. The only man who makes her heart pound is the village blacksmith, Aaron Dawes. By birth and fortune, they couldn't be more wrong for each other . . . but during stolen, steamy moments in the smithy, his strong hands feel so right. Is their love forged strong enough to last, or are they just playing with fire?

Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season - or any season - but his diabolical mother abducts him to "Spinster Cove" and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl. Overworked and struggling, Pauline Simms doesn't dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop.

Miss Elinora Browning grew up yearning for the handsome, intelligent lord next door...but he left England without a word of farewell. One night, inspired by a bit too much sherry, Nora poured out her heartbreak on paper. Lord Dashwood Missed Out was a love letter to every young lady who'd been overlooked by gentlemen - and an instant best seller. Now she's on her way to speak in Spindle Cove when snowy weather delays her coach.

On the night of the Parkhurst ball, someone had a scandalous tryst in the library. Was it Lord Canby, with the maid, on the divan? Or Miss Fairchild, with a rake, against the wall? Perhaps the butler did it. All Charlotte Highwood knows is this: It wasn't her. But rumors to the contrary are buzzing. Unless she can discover the lovers' true identity, she'll be forced to marry Piers Brandon, Lord Granville - the coldest, most arrogantly handsome gentleman she's ever had the misfortune to embrace.