DARK ANGEL SERIES di MARY BALOGH

di elisarolle

The Ideal Wife (1991): Just after the Earl of Severn has vowed that if the plainest, dullest, most ordinary female in England were to be set before him he would marry her without further ado, Abigail Gardiner calls on him at his town house. The strong-minded Abigail is a distant cousin of the earl's and has been driven, much against the grain, to seek his aid. To do so, she has decided to dress as plainly as possible and to act the part of a dull brown mouse. The inevitable inevitably happens!

A Precious Jewel (1993): Luck is a Lady . . .

Once Miss Priscilla Wentworth had been a well-bred young lady. That was before family tragedy left her without shelter from poverty and want. Now Priscilla supposed she should count herself lucky that a gentleman like Sir Gerald Stapleton wanted her to be his most favored favorite --- someone who was worthy of being his mistress. But Priscilla was not foolish enough to think that lucky in lust meant lucky in love-just as Sir Gerald did not dream that Priscilla could be anything more to him than a plaything of passion.

But though both Priscilla and Sir Gerald knew the ways of the world all too well, they knew all too little about the ways of the heart . . .

Signet Regency Romance - AE # 7619

Dark Angel (1994): The Scandalous Suitor . . .

Miss Jennifer Winward was engaged to be wed. Even better, her husband-to-be was the dazzlingly handsome, impeccably upright Lord Lionel Kersey, the man of her dreams since adolescence. But Jennifer had never dreamed that a man like the Earl of Thornhill could possibly attract her -- or even want to.

Why should this disreputable rake whose very name sent shock waves through society use all his will and wiles to seduce an innocent like Jennifer? And how could Jennifer forget her flawless fiancé when she found herself in the arms of this licentious lord who was everything that a proper young lady should despise? Jennifer had a great deal to learn about men . . . about herself . . . and most of all about when love was true and when it was a lie.

Signet Regency Romance - AE # 7953

Lord Carew's Bride (1995): Never had she felt so torn--there were plans she had made, things she wanted to do, but now, faced with this charming rogue, all these things seemed distant. And as she looked into his mesmerizing eyes, she felt herself slipping deeper under his delicious spell--and closer to her own desire.

Love has not been kind to Samantha Newman, but friendship has. When her emotions are rubbed raw by the reappearance in her life of a villain who had broken her heart some years before, she turns with gratitude to the kindly Hartley Wade, with whom she had developed a warm friendship when she mistook him for a gardener during a visit to the country. She accepts his proposal, expecting a quiet, safe, undemanding marriage. She does not know that Hartley is the Marquess of Carew and that he loves her passionately--and believes she returns his feelings.

The Famous Heroine (1996): Cora Downes was only a merchant's daughter. But when she saved a duke's son from drowning, her reward was entry into London high society. Then when she saved a highborn lady's poodles from disaster, she became belle of every ball. But nothing could save her from the threat of heartbreak--nothing, perhaps, except a most unlikely love.

When Lord Francis Kneller first sees Cora Downes, she is tripping over her own feet, shrieking, and laughing rather too loudly. His conclusion is that she is a frightful young lady. When Cora first sees Lord Francis, he is wearing a bright satin turquoise coat with silver and turquoise striped waistcoat and silver knee breeches and copious amounts of lace. She immediately thinks of peacocks. Cora has a habit of getting herself into dreadful scrapes, and Lord Francis always seems to be close enough to get her out of them--at the cost of compromising her once too often. Soon this ill-assorted pair is forced into a marriage neither of them has sought.

The Plumed Bonnet (1996): Enchanting romance from the author of The Famous Heroine. A vicar's daughter defends her virtue against a lascivious lord--only to find that even the most proper of ladies can still fal in love.

Targeted by the amorous Duke of Bridgewater, who saves her from a terrible highway mishap and then requests a less-than-proper reward, Stephanie finds both her virtue and her heart at risk.

A Christmas Bride (1997): A wealthy man makes a promise to his aging father that he will marry a proper young lady by Christmas, but instead he becomes involved in a scandalous liaison with a beautiful widow.

Wealthy businessman Edgar Downes comes to London seeking a young, well-born wife, having promised his aging father a daughter-in-law by Christmas Day. Instead of the youthful miss he seeks, Edgar finds himself under the spell of Lady Helena Stapleton, a beautiful and sensuous widow his own age with whom he shares an irresistible night of passion. Their liaison surprises the straight-laced Edgar but wounds Helena to the core. Fearing she can only bring destruction to those she loves, she has lived her life on the edge of respectability, deftly avoiding any entanglements. Now that Edgar has breached her protective battlements, she must face her growing love for him. When, to their mutual surprise, Helena discovers she is pregnant, Edgar takes her as his Christmas bride over her protestations of disinterest and unworthiness. They retire to Edgar's country house for a family Christmas, and Helena is thrust among kind, loving people. Despite her best efforts, she finds herself warming to them and to the man who has become her husband--a man determined to find the reason for his bride's pain and bring about the healing necessary for her to accept his love.