Mistress By Marriage

Too late for cold feet Baron Edward Christie prided himself on his reputation for even temperament and reserve. That was before he met Caroline Parker. Wedding a scandalous beauty by special license days after they met did not inspire respect for his sangfroid. Moving her to a notorious lovebirds' nest as punishment for her flighty nature was perhaps also a blow. And of course talk has gotten out of his irresistible clandestine visits. Christie must put his wife aside—if only he can get her out of his blood first. Too hot to refuse. . . Caroline Parker was prepared to hear the worst: that her husband had determined to divorce her, spare them both the torture of passion they can neither tame nor escape. But his plan is wickeder than any she's ever heard. Life as his wife is suffocating. But she cannot resist becoming her own husband's mistress. . . "A very talented debut author." —Romance Junkies Praise for Maggie Robinson's Mistress by Mistake "Sizzles off the page." —Anna Campbell

Too late for cold feet Baron Edward Christie prided himself on his reputation for even temperament and reserve. That was before he met Caroline Parker. Wedding a scandalous beauty by special license days after they met did not inspire respect for his sangfroid. Moving her to a notorious lovebirds' nest as punishment for her flighty nature was perhaps also a blow. And of course talk has gotten out of his irresistible clandestine visits. Christie must put his wife aside--if only he can get her out of his blood first. Too hot to refuse. . . Caroline Parker was prepared to hear the worst: that her husband had determined to divorce her, spare them both the torture of passion they can neither tame nor escape. But his plan is wickeder than any she's ever heard. Life as his wife is suffocating. But she cannot resist becoming her own husband's mistress. . . "A very talented debut author." --Romance Junkies Praise for Maggie Robinson's Mistress by Mistake "Sizzles off the page." --Anna Campbell

Deborah agreed to marry multimillionaire David Westlake, then, thinking he'd been unfaithful, she ended their engagement. Now he only wants her for her body! Years later, David reappears revealing he'll destroy her unless she becomes his mistress! Deborah has no choice, and agrees to David's demands. But David's about to up the stakes….

Scandal Is Only The Beginning. . . Charlotte Fallon let her guarded virtue fall once--and she's paid dearly for it ever since. She swore she'd never succumb to men's desires again. But even a village spinster's life miles from temptation can't save her from a sister with no shame whatsoever. Or a heart that longs for more, whatever the cost. . . Sir Michael Bayard found more than he expected in his bed when he finally joined his new mistress. He'd fantasized about her dewy skin and luscious curves, assured her understanding that what passed between them was mere dalliance. But he didn't expect the innocence and heat of her response in his arms. Nor her surprisingly sharp tongue once she was out of them. . . A few days of abandon cannot undo the hard-learned lessons of a lifetime. Nor can an honest passion burn away the restraints of society's judgments. Unless, of course, one believes in nonsense like true love. . .

I want him to marry for love, even though his partner isn’t me. A rumor says that a new feudal lord will come in the early afternoon. Sophie, who lives with her nephew, encounters the new lord, David, when she helps a child from a speedy carriage. For some reason, Sophie gets to see David, whose niece is the same age as her nephew, whenever possible. However, she also hears that David will marry Lady Lucinda soon. She imagines that the marriage between a feudal lord and a countess will be a happy marriage, but David is not excited at all. For him, marriage is just for convenience. At that time, Sophie feels the pain in her chest...?

Read this classic romance by USA Today bestselling author Lynne Graham, now available for the first time in e-book! Race to the altar—Maxie, Darcy and Polly are The HUSBAND Hunters! The terms of the will: Maxie, Darcy and Polly have each been left a share of their godmother’s estate—if they marry within a year and remain married for six months… The hunter: Maxie is faced with paying her father’s gambling debts. Her godmother’s bequest could be the answer to her prayers… The husband? Greek tycoon Angelos Petronides has waited three long years to bed Maxie, and mistakenly assumes she will be his the instant he asks… Only, Angelos finds that marriage is the price he must pay to make Maxie his! Originally published in 1998

Too late for cold feet Baron Edward Christie prided himself on his reputation for even temperament and reserve. That was before he met Caroline Parker. Wedding a scandalous beauty by special license days after they met did not inspire respect for his sangfroid. Moving her to a notorious lovebirds' nest as punishment for her flighty nature was perhaps also a blow. And of course talk has gotten out of his irresistible clandestine visits. Christie must put his wife aside--if only he can get her out of his blood first. Too hot to refuse. . . Caroline Parker was prepared to hear the worst: that her husband had determined to divorce her, spare them both the torture of passion they can neither tame nor escape. But his plan is wickeder than any she's ever heard. Life as his wife is suffocating. But she cannot resist becoming her own husband's mistress... "A very talented debut author." --Romance Junkies First comes seduction. . . As children, Desmond Ryland, Marquess of Conover, and Laurette Vincent were inseparable. As young adults, their friendship blossomed into love. But then fate intervened, sending them down different paths. Years later, Con still can't forget his beautiful Laurette. Now he's determined to make her his forever. There's just one problem. Laurette keeps refusing his marriage proposals. Throwing honor to the wind, Con decides that the only way Laurette will wed him is if he thoroughly seduces her... Then comes marriage. . . Laurette's pulse still quickens every time she thinks of Con and the scorching passion they once shared. She aches to taste the pleasure Con offers her. But she knows she can't. For so much has happened since they were last lovers. But how long can she resist the consuming desire that demands to be obeyed...? Scandal Is Only The Beginning. . . Charlotte Fallon let her guarded virtue fall once--and she's paid dearly for it ever since. She swore she'd never succumb to men's desires again. But even a village spinster's life miles from temptation can't save her from a sister with no shame whatsoever. Or a heart that longs for more, whatever the cost... Sir Michael Bayard found more than he expected in his bed when he finally joined his new mistress. He'd fantasized about her dewy skin and luscious curves, assured her understanding that what passed between them was mere dalliance. But he didn't expect the innocence and heat of her response in his arms. Nor her surprisingly sharp tongue once she was out of them... A few days of abandon cannot undo the hard-learned lessons of a lifetime. Nor can an honest passion burn away the restraints of society's judgments. Unless, of course, one believes in nonsense like true love...

The Mancini Sisters, Marie and Hortense, were born in Rome, brought to the court of Louis XIV of France, and strategically married off by their uncle, Cardinal Mazarin, to secure his political power base. Such was the life of many young women of the age: they had no independent status under the law and were entirely a part of their husband's property once married. Marie and Hortense, however, had other ambitions in mind altogether. Miserable in their marriages and determined to live independently, they abandoned their husbands in secret and began lives of extraordinary daring on the run and in the public eye. The beguiling sisters quickly won the affections of noblemen and kings alike. Their flight became popular fodder for salon conversation and tabloids, and was closely followed by seventeenth-century European society. The Countess of Grignan remarked that they were traveling "like two heroines out of a novel." Others gossiped that they "were roaming the countryside in pursuit of wandering lovers. "Their scandalous behavior -- disguising themselves as men, gambling, and publicly disputing with their husbands -- served as more than just entertainment. It sparked discussions across Europe concerning the legal rights of husbands over their wives. Elizabeth Goldsmith's vibrant biography of the Mancini sisters -- drawn from personal papers of the players involved and the tabloids of the time -- illuminates the lives of two pioneering free spirits who were feminists long before the word existed.

LOVE GONE BAD. MURDER GONE WRONG. West Coast doctor Kenneth Stahl would do anything to free himself from his wife Carolyn. Then Adriana Vasco—Kenneth's former receptionist and mistress of nine years—obliged by introducing him to ex-con Dennis Earl Godley. The deal was set. Godley would murder Carolyn for thirty-thousand dollars. On the day after her 44th birthday, the trusting victim was lured to a lonely stretch of road. The deadly rendezvous took a shocking turn. Not only was Carolyn gunned down with a .357 Magnum, but Kenneth would also be killed. The hit man's getaway driver was the other woman, Adriana Vasco. In a sensational trial, a tangled web of lies, sex, and betrayal unfolded as Adriana and Dennis turned against each other...and Michael Fleeman tells the whole shocking story in his true crime book Deadly Mistress.

Includes excerpts from "Off kilter" by Donna Kauffman, "My fair highlander" by Mary Wine, and "Pride and pleasure" by Sylvia Day, (p. [275]-296).