by Monette Cummings (1990)
Ariel goes to London pretending to be a young widow, with her cousin Clare in tow. Not only is Ariel trapped in this role, but she's forced to take on another -- one which could ruin her reputation, and any chance to be with her beloved Lord Dexter.
Caroline Richards
"Lord James Rushford is the only man in London who can lead Rowena Woolcott to the villain who has been tormenting her family for years, and she will stop at nothing to enlist his help, even if she must pretend to play a dangerously enticing role: his mistress"--Publisher.
Margaret Forster
KIRKUS REVIEW Furiously independent potter Alexandra Grove, age 32, has just evicted her longtime lover from her London flat and has been forced to take on the guardianship of 13-year-old Casper (his parents have died in a plane crash). So Alexandra moves her gear, gumption, and Casper to a bleakly beautiful, remote Cumbrian village--but, despite freedom from school and a purchase of jeans and sweatshirts, silently glum Casper obviously dislikes Alexandra. . . and she him. Her attention, therefore, turns to village neighbours: brawny male-chauvinist-pig Geoff Crosthwaite; his unlovely, abused sister Eileen, to whom Alexandra reads the liberation message; mad little Miss Cowdie, once jilted at the altar, who now Miss-Havershams it up on the highways; slickly attractive antique-dealer David Garibaldi; randy Roger Markham, factor for Howard, Earl of Cumberland; and Howard's sly wife Jennifer, an old and unwelcome acquaintance of Alexandra's. There are some moderngothic-style scares--animal heads meaningfully left about; prowler noises, and then near-rape for a blindfolded Alexandra. There are also shocking village secrets. And, increasingly involved with her neighbors, Alexandra cuts loose with Garibaldi and most unwisely, as it turns out, attempts to administer sexual liberation to glowering Geoff. The busy finale, then: a snowbound night with a mad intruder, Miss Cowdie gabbling away (on target for once), gunfire, a death, and a whopping confession by the heroine herself. . . . Rather dotty, and Alexandra's a tad abrasive at times--village gothic and feminism aren't the easiest mix--but it's all agreeably smooth, fast, and scenic.
Anne Mather
The lush night released undreamed-of passions When a tropical storm battered the tiny Caribbean island of Indigo, Ruth Jason's sheltered life was dramatically changed. Young and vulnerable, having lived virtually alone with her father on the island, she lost her heart, not surprisingly, to the shipwrecked Dominic Howard. Worldly, mysterious and handsome, he exuded a powerful attraction. Later, in London, Ruth struggled to build a new life for herself, always haunted by her lover's image. But she knew their love was impossible. For although Dominic's spell still held her, he was bound to another woman....
Hannah Howell
"For Lady Primrose Wootten nothing has been ordinary since her father the Baron died and his wayward family filled the estate with greed and treachery. Primrose knows if she can just track down her brother, he can send the odious relations on their way. But instead she finds this enormous, powerful stranger, and forgets entirely what she was doing in the first place. Sir Bened Vaughn isn't much afraid of a pistol. But he is a bit afraid of the woman holding it, who stirs up something so primal he's not sure he can shake it off. Vaughn is an honorable man, and he knows he has no right to desire Primrose. Yet he does have an obligation to help her, and as they learn more about her brother's disappearance, he realizes that means staying by her side...and wondering how much longer they can resist temptation" --