Royal Ambition Series
7 primary works
Book 1
Arranging a season for an unruly young lady whose habit was to enter drawing rooms by sliding down banisters presented a challenge at best - especially since the hoydenish Mira had a sister of incomparable grace and beauty.
Mira wasn't daunted at all by the local society and its ridiculous marriage mart. Her heart belonged to Lord Charles, who had been the object of her dreams ever since she was a child. Alas, Charles had eyes only for her ever-perfect sister, Drusilla.
Along the sidelines, the Marquess of Grantley was enjoying Mira's jealous antics - although pushing her sister into the fountains had practically ruined her social cachet. It was up to him to restore her to respectability and make her an eligible bride once again. Yet when he succeeded, the lovelorn Marquess began to wish he had left well enough alone.
Book 2
Certainly the two should never have met. The handsome, wealthy Marquess of Rockingham was the most notorious man in London, as infamous for his violent temper as he was for his intemperate ways.
Miss Lucinda Westerville was a country vicar's daughter, as innocent as she was lovely and as proper as a young lady could possibly be.
Yet when this improbably matched pair met at a glittering social ball, they had struck the dubious bargain to become man and wife - in name only! But Lucinda soon found that she had taken on more than she bargained for when she vowed not to love this untamed, infuriatingly attractive man when she tried to rein her own foolishly galloping heart.
Book 3
The seventh book in M.C. Beaton's charming Regency Flame series.
The Misses Penelope Yarwood, Euphemia Perkins, and Letitia Helmsdale all smugly informed her that the Marquess of Cleveden was at once the most eligible and the most elusive catch in the London marriage mart. Society's most dazzling beauties had failed to win him over yet, and a newcomer like Fiona didn't stand a ghost of a chance of having him look at her twice.
That was all that fiery-tempered Fiona needed to hear, and she bet - far more wealth than she possessed - that she would snare the maddeningly elusive marquess before the season's end.
Now Fiona faces the risk of losing a wager she could not repay - and more, the even greater danger of losing her heart.
Searching for lighter romances set in the English countryside? Look no farther than the Regency Flame Series, which features mistaken identities, botched marriages, witty heroines, and the courtship of prime Corinthians.
Book 4
The handsome but arrogant Lord Charles Hawksborough desperately wanted to catch the infernally insolent thief who had held him up at pistol point on the King?s Highway and ridden off with his family's inheritance and jewels.
Hawksborough just as desperately tried not to want the piquant and penniless Miss Amanda Colby when this young lady and her twin brother came to stay at his London townhouse at the height of the social season.
Hawksborough feared his own desire for this slip of a girl when he was about to wed the most beautiful and more suitable Lady Mary Dane. Meanwhile, Amanda feared he would discover she was the thief before she could atone for the crime. Whatever was to happen, it was clear that neither was prepared for what was to take place in this bewildering labyrinth of love and larceny.
Book 5
A woman of independent means with a healthy dose of cynicism about the male persuasion, Harriet Tremayne is content with her circle of spinster friends and their devotion to literature, women's rights, and intellectual interests.
However, when she determines to undertake a London Season for her beautiful but featherbrained niece, she concedes she must appear less a bluestocking and more fashionable to successfully sponsor this impossible young lady whose only real desire, it seems, is to consume chocolate.
Certainly her modish new appearance has nothing to do with the attentions of Lord Dangerfield, a wicked man of the world who has designs on the fair niece, yet spends an inordinate amount of time trying to sell Harriet on the virtues of his all-too-obvious attributes.
Book 6
At age twenty-three, the petite Lady Margery has already graced the rows of wallflowers for many a season. With the one exception of Charles, the Marquess of Edgecombe, the only man who ever dances with her, Lady Margery will have nothing to do with men; what's more, she does not even particularly like Charles.
Bored beyond words, she firmly decides this to be the end of it all and returns to the comfort of her only love, her home at Chelmswood. But she does not find comfort, not even there. It seems her middle-aged father has taken for himself a dim-witted brat of nineteen to be his bride.
Forced into bankruptcy by his child-bride's lust for luxury, Margery's father determines to sell Chelmswood. But Margery will not hear of it and launches an all-out, military-like campaign to ensnare herself a wealthy husband and save her ancestral family home.
Everything seems to be going according to plan until the unforeseen intervention of Charles sabotages Margery's plan, giving them both a run for their money.
Book 7
London was all on edge and astir to have in its midst the exquisite Princess Felicity of Brasnia. What scandal would ensue should society discover that the bejeweled heir to a royal throne was in truth Miss Felicity Channing of Cornwall, fleeing a match she did not want and that had been arranged by her conniving stepfather!
But how long could Felicity carry off this lively masquerade before she would falter? Especially since the dark, raffish eyes of Lord Arthur Bessamy seemed to look right through her disguise - and set her spirited heart to pounding?