A shipwreck near Castle Black sees Dr. Nicholas Warner risking his life to save a woman from the churning sea. As he pulls her to the safety of the shore, the villagers are stunned by her presence. She is no stranger to them. They identify her as Viola Grantham, Lady Ramsleigh, wife of the recently deceased Lord Percival Ramsleigh . . . a woman who supposedly died nearly two years earlier.
Viola, thanks to her cold, unfeeling father, her abusive husband and his profligate nephew, has no trust for men and very little use for them. But there is something about Dr. Warner that she cannot so easily dismiss. Drawn to him seemingly against her will and better judgement, she confides in him about the son she bore in secret, the heir to her late husband and that she had only returned to secure his future and his place in society.
As they spend more time together, their feelings for one another deepen. But their happiness and growing affection for one another are threatened by Viola's past. The late Lord Ramsleigh's nephew, Randall, will not willingly give up the title, even if his aunt has returned from the dead and is presenting a child as the true heir to the title. In fact, there is nothing he will not do and no depths to which he will not sink to ensure that never happens.
Abducted, held captive by unknown men for unknown reasons, Mary Mason had to use all of her resourcefulness to escape what would surely have been a terrible fate. But in the course of her escape, she encounters new dangers in the form of a mysterious man. Is he friend or foe? Can he be trusted, or will she prove to be just a pawn in whatever game he is playing?
Alexander Carnahan, Lord Wolverton, is a pariah in society, a known murderer. But as he carries the unconscious Mary Mason back to his crumbling estate to care for her, he recognizes that she is far more than just the key to the mystery he's devoted himself to, the mystery of who murdered his late wife. She stirs something inside him he thought long dead . . . hope.
As Mary recovers from her ordeal in his home, the truth slowly emerges. Their pasts are intermingled, the intrigues and mysteries of their lives are connected and hide unspeakable horrors committed by common enemies. As they work together to reunite Mary with her brother and to prove Alex's innocence, their feelings for one another only grow more complex and more undeniable.
However, the course of true love never does run smooth, and there are more obstacles and dangers ahead of them than behind . . .
Betrothed to Marcus Balfour, Marquess Althorn since infancy, the entirety of Miss Jane Barrett's life has been planned for her by others. Through an overheard argument, Jane discovers at a tender age that her betrothed is opposed to the match. The knowledge wounds her deeply and sows the first seeds of rebellion in her. Rather than marry her, the Marquess joins the army but disappears in one of the war's bloodiest battles.
Marcus's objections to the marriage were less about the bride than the immorally young age of the bride at which their greedy and meddling fathers wished to force the match. While fighting for king and country, Marcus is confronted with the knowledge that there is a traitor in their midst, a man far closer to him than he might wish to admit. But he is captured, imprisoned, tortured, and left to rot for years until he can make his way back home to take up his rightful place as the Elsingham heir . . . and as a husband to Jane Barrett.
The years that have passed have eradicated any reservations about marriage to his betrothed, at least on his part. No man looking at her would ever mistake her for a child. More surprising is the attraction that he feels for her instantaneously and his determination to make her his, whatever the cost. It appears, however, that his bride to be will require some convincing.
Elizabeth Masters has put her scandalous and painful past behind her. She's taken a position as companion to the tragic Lady Vale and her primary duty is to dissuade the woman from believing that everyone from the butcher's delivery boy to the ostler at an inn is her missing son. But a late night visit to an alleged mystic in the city of Bath results in near tragedy as Elizabeth is nearly abducted by ruffians waiting for them outside. They are rescued by a handsome and mysterious stranger who calls himself Benedict, the very name of Lady Vale's lost son.
Benedict has his own reasons for being in Bath-to locate his missing sister and see her safe once more. Waylaid by a pistol ball from the men who attacked Miss Masters, he finds himself dependent upon the assistance of Lady Vale to rescue his Mary. In exchange, he must consent to her investigation of his past to determine if he is, in fact, her missing son, an unlikely scenario in his mind.
Forced to work together, Benedict and Elizabeth cannot fight the attraction they feel for one another. Yet with every piece of evidence uncovered, the truth of Benedict's identity threatens their burgeoning relationship . . . and the danger that brought them together looms larger at every turn.
Graham, Lord Blakemore, was believed to be lost at sea as a boy. While his mother, Lady Agatha, has never given up hope of finding her son again, others-eager for the title and the wealth that accompanies it-have been conspiring to have him declared dead against Lady Agatha's wishes. Her only ally in the house is her late husband's ward, Miss Beatrice Marlowe.
But when a dark-haired stranger arrives on their doorstep claiming to be the lost heir to Castle Black, the plots and schemes of those who would have the castle for themselves take a dark and even more sinister turn.
An orphan when she came into the care of the late Lord Blakemore, Castle Black is the only home Beatrice has ever known. Its occupants are her family. This stranger, who claims to have lost his memory of his life there, threatens the order of all that she knows and holds dear. And yet, she is both drawn to him and strangely compelled to believe his claim. Beatrice finds herself torn between her desire for him and her belief that, if he is the lost lord of Castle Black, he is far above her reach.
