The heart-breakingly handsome Duke of Tynemouth is appalled to find that his torrid affaire d'coeur with the alluring Aline, Countess of Langstone, is destined to end, because Queen Victoria insists that he marries one of Prince Albert's German relatives, who is fat and ugly. To refuse is unthinkable, so, in desperation, he agrees to pre-empt his Monarch by cynically marrying Aline's innocent young niece, Honora.The beautiful Honora is horrified at the prospect of marrying a man she has never met, let alone love, but she has little choice. Heartbroken and facing a life without the love she has always dreamt about, a husband who seems to hate her and a wedding night she dreads, she flees and falls prey to an even worse fate. Now that he might lose her forever, the Duke realises that it is not hate for Honora that beats in his heart. It is love! But has his awakening come too late?

Innocent and lovely Shimona Bardsley's father, the celebrated actor Beau Bardsley, has fallen desperately ill and yet he insists on persevering with the evening's performance as Hamlet at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. A concerned Shimona accompanies him to the theatre where she overhears the notoriously disreputable Duke of Ravenstone – known as 'His Disgrace' – offering her father the huge sum of five hundred guineas to find him an actress to play 'a part' for just two nights. Desperate to raise enough money to take her father to a warmer clime and thereby save his life, Shimona accepts the Duke's offer and finds herself reluctantly embroiled in a deception that her conscience finds hard to bear. Unchaperoned in the grand Ravenstone House in London with the devilish Duke and an imperious Clan Chieftain, Shimona is afraid, alone and in trouble – But soon, to her bewilderment and ecstasy, she finds that she is also in love.

Widowed Mrs. Mansforde and her younger daughter Philomena (or 'Mena' for short) are pleasantly surprised when elder daughter Lais returns unannounced to the family home.They have not seen her for an age, not even at her father's funeral. And the news she brings is not so pleasant as it seems that she too has been widowed, but already has another wealthy and prestigious husband in her sights, the highly respected Duke of Kernthorpe.The Duke, who is much older than Lais, has invited her to bring her mother to meet him, an invitation that Lais does not extend to young Mena, seeing how beautiful she has become.Mrs. Mansforde insists that Mena goes with her and then it is decided that she will pose as her mother's employed companion.Once at the Duke's Castle Mena goes for a walk in the garden and then sees a stallion and rider galloping towards her. The horse is clearly out of control and throws the rider so Mena rushes over to see if he has been hurt.He is a handsome...

Oppressed and trodden on by her aunt and uncle, the Duke and Duchess of Bruntwick, who despise her because her father died in debt and her mother was French, Rocana Brunt yearns to escape the confines of their Bruntwick Castle.Yet when her dear cousin Lady Caroline is ordered much against her will to marry the imperious Marquis of Quorn, simply to extricate him from a potential scandal over one of his many liaisons, loyal Rocana agrees to take her cousin's place at the altar so that Lady Caroline may elope with her beloved Patrick.At least she believes that this deception and the loveless marriage that would undoubtedly follow, might free then her from her virtual slavery.Her deceit is not revealed until long after the wedding, when she and the Marquis reach Paris and her cousin and Patrick are safely and ecstatically wed.And soon, through her own magic and some dangerous escapades, Rocana herself feels a glimmer of hope that she too is about to find eternal...

Major Michael Moore has been playing a very dangerous part in the Great Game in India where he foils a plot to kill the Viceroy who tells Michael he is now a marked man and that he must return to England immediately.To his astonishment on his way home he reads in a newspaper that following the death of his grandfather he has become the Duke of Grangemoore.When he reaches England he decides he will not announce his arrival to the family Solicitors as he wishes to visit Grangemoore Hall under another name to see for himself what the situation is before he takes up his new position as Duke.While he is driving there he is stopped in the countryside by a beautiful young girl who begs him frantically to save her. Adela is running away from her stepmother and she is so persistent that Michael agrees to take her with him.When Adela and Michael arrive in disguise he discovers an appalling situation because a distant cousin has taken over the house and filled it with his...

An unexpected letter from an old friend, His Royal Highness Prince Kraus of Oldessa, to the Duke of Norlington contains a surprise that could change the lives of the young Duke and his ravishing sister, Lady Latasha, forever.Happily living on the Norlington family estate, quietly content amongst the lovely gardens and beauty of the English countryside, both siblings are astonished to learn that the Prince is seeking the Duke's consent for his brother, Prince Stefan, to ask for Latasha's hand in marriage. Appalled at the thought of marrying a man she has never met, Latasha quickly realises that this is a political alliance that would benefit Prince Kraus, regardless of her feelings. Beautiful and intelligent, Latasha understands her main charm for him is her blood link to the Royal family, and the British protection such a marriage would afford his small principality from a Russian takeover.Whilst appreciating the severity of the situation in the Balkans, Latasha quickly...

The Marquis of Alchester is furious when his horse in the Derby Stakes of 1831 finishes in a dead heat, purely because of the unsporting behaviour of the rival horse's owner, the Earl of Branscombe. The Marquis is doubly incensed when he hears that the Earl is arrogantly talking about marrying his Ward, who is an immensely wealthy heiress and he needs her riches to support his extravagant lifestyle. Bent on revenge, the Marquis visits an orphanage on his estate in search of an orphan waif he can pass of as his Ward and marry her to the unsuspecting Earl who has never the real Ward. Plucked from the hell of starvation and abuse at the hands of a wicked matron, the beautiful young Kistna is in Heaven at the Marquis's magnificent house and soon finds that she is falling in love. But it seems inevitable that she is condemned to hell after all when the Marquis breaks her heart by offering her hand to the unpleasant and grasping Earl of Branscombe.

Although her vast inheritance seemed a blessing, it has become a curse now that Susanna Laven's mother is determined to marry her against her will to the impoverished Duke of Southampton. What's worse that as her mother repeatedly and cruelly tells her, she is the family's "ugly duckling" her only attraction is her fortune! Desperate to escape a loveless marriage, she responds to an advertisement for a reader in French and Italian for a temporarily blind gentleman. Meeting the gentleman, a Mr. Dunblane, who is swathed head to toe in bandages after a terrible motor car accident, she finds him rude and short-tempered, but still accepts and soon finds herself on a luxury train speeding across France on its journey to Florence.There Susanna's eyes are opened to the glories of Florence – and love! to She had prayed to God to give her love, and in the blossoming relationship with her blind employer, who himself seems entranced by her, she may have found it. But it's an agony, not a joy...

But Adella had never felt anything quite like the glow that was now spreading through her whole body and pulling her towards the young man who stood beside her. In another moment she would be in his arms and everything would be forgotten. Digby let go of her hand. “I am sorry,” he said. Adella knew that she must hurry, that there was still a little way to walk to the teashop and then the long road back out of town to Mottram’s, but she could not. The golden spell of the Botanical Gardens did not want to let her go and her steps were slow and heavy as she walked beside Digby to the entrance. As they stood beside the great stone archway, he drew her to him. “We must leave this other world we have stepped into,” he sighed, “but before we do – ” Adella felt all her breath leave her body as his lips touched hers. It was the sweetest sensation, as if all the sunshine, the heavenly scents of the gardens, every blissful moment of the magical time she had spent with him, was caught up in his kiss. Then he released her.

While staying at Lady Merrill's French Riviera villa, flame haired and beautiful American heiress Nevada van Arden passes her time by casually breaking the hearts of her many ardent suitors – particularly that of young David, Lord Merrill.When his uncle, intrepid explorer and diplomat Tyrone Strome, overhears her cruel humiliation of his lovelorn nephew, he resolves to teach this 'vixen' a lesson – and save David from his misery.Tyrone Strome abducts Nevada, spiriting her away in his luxury yacht to Morocco.There the reluctant voyager, swaddled in native clothing, is terrified by the perils of the Sahara and its nomadic tribesmen. But, as they flee from certain death or worse, they find sanctuary in a beautiful hidden valley, a second Garden of Eden, where to Nevada's surprise, love begins to blossom in the desert.

The Marquis of Whisinford and his friend Lord Alfred Middleton meet at White's Club and tell each other how bored they are with the London Season and the same parties with the same people night after night. They commiserate with each other for finding life so repetitive where nothing new ever happens. Listening to them, the old Duke of Dunstead tells them that he has a solution to their problem and so he bets one of his well bred horses against one of theirs that, if they go out disguised as ordinary men, they will undoubtedly find an adventure of some kind on the open road. Because it is a bet and betting at White's is traditional, the Marquis agrees to ride North as far as Northumberland disguised as an ordinary man, while Lord Alfred is to go South to Land's End. The Marquis sets off alone, his only possessions being what he can carry on his horse, Samson, using the name of Neil Barlow. But he has not gone very far when a very pretty girl joins him on the road in a state of...

King Maximilian of Valdastien, handsome, clever but with a well deserved reputation as a ladies man, is under pressure from his Prime Minister to leave behind his bachelor ways, get married and produce an heir as soon as possible. Despite the fact that he vowed never to marry, with political unrest in Europe and encroaching danger from the Prussians, the King reluctantly decides to visit the surrounding countries to seek a suitable Queen.Meanwhile, beautiful but tempestuous Princess Zita flies across the alpine countryside of neighbouring Aldross on her dazzling horse Pegasus.Full of a fire that matches the stunning flame red of her hair and sparkling with intelligence, Zita could not be more different to her elder sister, the placid and homely Princess Sophie. So when a visit by King Maximilian is heralded, their shrewd mother wastes no time in ordering Princess Zita to stay out of sight so that she cannot catch the King's eye and ruin any matrimonial chances for her...