Queen of dragons

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Debra Mullins

Three nights of passion...With a turn of the cards, her father is ruined -- and innocent Aveline Stoddard is lost. To honor the gambling debt, she agrees to submit for three nights to Lucien DuFeron's every desire, three nights of blistering sensuality and unparalleled ecstasy in the arms of the dashing, dark rogue they call "Lucifer." But the time passes all too quickly ... and when the debt is paid, the handsome devil vanishes. An eternity of desire Treachery delivered Lucien into the hands of evil brigands. Now five years after his abduction and imprisonment he has returned to London, searching for the enemy responsible -- and finding instead the beauty who still haunts his dreams. Aveline has grown more alluring since those unforgettable nights when she melted beneath his touch. Yet Lucien's need for vengeance must be satisfied. If the trail leads to someone close to Aveline, will it destroy forever the one love powerful enough to free his tormented heart?

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Mary Balogh

Lucas Kendrick, Duke of Harndon, is the ultimate Georgian gentleman. He has lived in Paris for ten years and even there he is known for leading fashion rather than following it. He is also known as a cold and ruthless man, a deadly shot with a gun and equally deadly with his sword. He is also known as a man who can charm any woman to his bed. Luke’s cold heartlessness is self-imposed. Ten years ago, when he was twenty, he was banished from his family home and cut off without a penny after he almost killed his elder brother in a fight. Now both his father and his brother are dead and Luke, very reluctantly, has been persuaded to return to England to sort out some problems on his estate and to deal with some family troubles involving his once-beloved younger brother and sister. He goes to London but refuses to go all the way home. And when his uncle tries to persuade him that his best course is to take a wife and settle to his responsibilities, he is openly hostile to the idea—until he sets eyes upon Lady Anna Marlowe at a London ball one evening. Anna Marlowe has always been devoted to the care of her family. Saving them from certain ruin, however, once drew her into deep, dark trouble, and she sees no way out of it for the rest of her life. She does agree, however, to go to London to stay with her godmother, but only for the sake of her younger sister, who needs to meet society and find an eligible husband. Anna expects to remain out of sight herself. Her godmother has other ideas, however, and first persuades Anna to clothe herself in a manner befitting her rank and suited to London society, and then persuades her to attend a few balls and parties. At her very first ball, Anna sees the gorgeously-clad Duke of Harndon across the ballroom and decides that surely there is no harm in dancing and even flirting with him just this once. - author's website

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Katherine Kingsley

He appeared on her doorstep as if by magic. A man of all work answering her ad--her last hope of saving her family, her farm, herself. Will Cutter was too handsome to trust, but she needed him now that her husband was gone. Will's dark eyes penetrated every defense she'd carefully constructed, leaving her confused and shaken, wanting what she'd vowed she'd never accept again: a man's touch. There was something special about Will, but she never guessed in how many extraordinary ways he would change her life. It was too late to tell Louisa Merriem that he was really Major Lord William Fitzpatrick, son of a marquess, home from Waterloo to pay his respects to his best friend's widow. To her. And then to deliver the letters she had written to his comrade in arms. After reading Louisa's letters, he'd half fallen in love with her. But in person she was stunning, the most beautiful, vulnerable creature he'd ever seen. First he vowed to earn her trust and save her farm. And then, to marry her, mend her soul, and make her believe....In the Presence of Angels.

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Mary Balogh

Critics call her "a veritable treasure, a matchless storyteller" (Romantic Times). Readers have fallen in love with Mary Balogh's sparkling blend of wit and romance. Now this dazzling writer sweeps us back to Regency England, into a world of dangerous secrets and glittering intrigue, as a dashing lord meets his match in a fiery beauty who vows to be ... No Man's Mistress.The dark, devastating stranger rode into the village fair and wagered twenty pounds at the throwing booth -- for a chance to win the daisies in Viola Thornhill's hair. The Gypsy fortune teller had warned: "Beware of a tall, dark, handsome stranger. He can destroy you -- if you do not first snare his heart."Recklessly Viola flirted, then danced with him around the Maypole. And then came his delicate, delicious kiss. Viola did not regret that she had let down her guard -- until the next morning, when he appeared at her door to claim her beloved Pinewood Manor. Lord Ferdinand Dudley won her home in a game of cards! Viola hated him for trying to take everything, including her soul. She was mistress of Pinewood Manor. Yet Dudley refused to leave, even as his conscience rebelled at compromising this beautiful innocent whose only proof of ownership was a dead earl's promise. Dudley held the deed, but at what cost? Each day under the same roof brought its share of temptation, intimacy, and guilt. But Viola knew it was a battle she could not afford to lose. Marriage was out of the question, and she would be no man's mistress. Even as Dudley's unnerving presence, his knowing smile, threatened to melt her resolve. Against his better judgment, Lord Ferdinand Dudley was beguiled. This maddening beauty had stirred him as no woman had before. And he was bound and determined to make her his own. At once sensuous, whimsical, and wonderfully romantic, Mary Balogh's new novel holds us in thrall, bringing to life a love story that sizzles with passion and originality. From the Hardcover edition.