**All or Nothing originally appeared in the Gambled Away limited-time historical romance anthology.**England, 1819—the hottest summer in years…Simon Radcliffe-Gould’s career as an architect is stalled and his bank account is almost empty. Yet every week he finds himself losing money he can’t afford at Maggie da Silva’s bohemian gambling den, just so he’ll have an excuse to see the beautiful, irrepressible hostess.Maggie thought she had her life sorted out. She has a best friend (with benefits), a successful business, and a truly spectacular wardrobe. But lately she’s been…bored. Intrigued by serious, shy Simon, she finds a way to draw him into reluctantly betting on her favors at the faro table.A few glorious nights are all she expects. But when an old flame hires Simon to design a folly during a scandalous house party at his country estate, Simon asks Maggie to pose as his mistress so he can actually get...

Goldengrove's towers and twisted chimneys rose at the very edge of the peaceful Weald, a stone's throw from the poisonous marshes and merciless waters of Rye Bay. Young Tabby Palethorp had been running wild there ever since her mother grew too ill to leave her room.I was the perfect choice to give Tabby a good English education: thoroughly respectable and far too plain to tempt her lonely father, Sir Kit, to indiscretion.I knew better than to trust my new employer with the truth about my past. But knowing better couldn't stop me from yearning for impossible things: to be Tabby's mother, Sir Kit's companion, and Goldengrove's new mistress.All that belonged to poor Lady Palethorp. Most of all, I burned to finally catch a glimpse of her.Surely she could tell me who cut the strings on my guitar, why all the doors inside the house were locked after dark, and whose footsteps I heard in the night... "It gave me nightmares...a furious, tender, aching,...

Historical Romance

When upstairs valet meets downstairs maid, the line between work and play blurs.Lively St. Lemeston, Book 3John Toogood dreamed of being valet to a great man...before he was laid off and blacklisted. Now he's stuck in small-town Lively St. Lemeston until London's Season opens and he can begin his embarrassing job hunt.His instant attraction to happy-go-lucky maid Sukey Grimes couldn't come at a worse time. Her manners are provincial, her respect for authority nonexistent, and her outdated cleaning methods—well, the less said about them, the better.Behind John's austere façade, Sukey catches tantalizing glimpses of a lonely man with a gift for laughter. Yet her heart warns her not to fall for a man with one foot out the door, no matter how devastating his kiss.Then he lands a butler job in town—but there's a catch. His employer, the vicar, insists Toogood be respectably married. Against both their better...

As far as Penelope Brown is concerned, marrying Lord Nevinstoke is the same thing as signing a business contract. Nevinstoke needs Penelope's substantial dowry to repair his family's estate, and, in return, Penelope will gain the titled husband her parents have always wished for her. Of course, before Penelope marries Nev, she insists he give up wine, women, and song-well, two out of three-and become a respectable man. The newlyweds head off to Nev 's estate with high hopes, but things take a disastrous turn once they arrive and discover the troubles that await them. When they finally begin to trust each other, they not only find inventive solutions to their problems but also quickly realize that they want more from their marriage than a business partnership. Rich in subtle characterization, deftly seasoned with danger, and tempered with just the right dash of tart wit and historical grit, Lerner's historical romance is to be savored.

Fire and ice cream...Robert Moon risked everything, including his father’s hardwon legacy, to open his beloved Honey Moon Confectionery on the busiest street in Lively St. Lemeston. Now he’s facing bankruptcy and debtor’s prison. When a huge catering order comes in, he agrees to close the sweet-shop for a week to fill it. There’s only one problem: his apprentice is out of town, so his beautiful shop-girl Betsy Piper must help Robert in the kitchen.Betsy’s spent the last year trying to make her single-minded boss look up from his pastries and notice that she would be the perfect wife. Now the two of them are alone in a kitchen full of sweet things. With just one week to get him to fall in love with her, she’d better get this seduction started...She soon discovers that Robert brings the same meticulous, eager-to-please attitude to lovemaking that he does to baking, but can kisses—no...