Showing results by author "Patricia Rice" in All Categories

The descendant of adventuring-dead-aristocrats, Clarissa Knightley supplements a modest inheritance by penning gothic novels that cost more than they earn. Upon learning that she has mysteriously inherited a share of an earl's estate, she rashly packs up her household. In remote Gravesyde Priory, she hopes to find a safe haven and family who will welcome her and her young nephew. Instead, she discovers a drunken American army captain, his African servant, and ancient, surly caretakers.

On a long-delayed errand to remote Wycliffe Manor, ex-Lieutenant Jack de Sackville stumbles across the murdered body of London dandy, Basil Culpepper, in the hedgerow, a long way from his usual haunts. To Jack's dismay, he discovers the earl's daughter Culpepper hiding in Wycliffe's kitchen. Disguised as a lowly cook, Lady Elspeth Villiers may have liked to shoot Culpepper for ruining her life, but she dropped out of sight for more immediate reasons than an old scandal-her wealth has become the focus of greedy men.

John Fitzhugh Wyckerly has been the spare heir all his life, supporting himself with gambling and charm. The news that he's inherited the bankrupt title of earl of Danecroft shatters his indolent world. Even penniless, he's always paid his debts, but now the estate's creditors are closing in. He can fake his death and run for cover or accept overwhelming responsibility and find a rich wife - one who will also accept his illegitimate terror of a daughter.

Lady Marian Lawrence is in London to snare a rich husband to save her family from ruin - a difficult task given her biting wit and lack of beauty. Hiding her true self, Marian is about to win the wealthy and amiable Lord Darley - until the detestable Reginald Montague blocks their path to the altar. Reginald Montague has vowed to never marry and is determined to keep his bestfriend Darley from being snared by a fortune hunter.

Her pious father’s murder leaves Faith Montague orphaned and lost on the dangerous road to London , only to be rescued by a notorious highwayman. Morgan de Lacy, a lawless rake with the bearing of a nobleman, treats her finer than those who should have loved and protected her. Recognizing a fine gem when he sees one, de Lacy sets about seducing his orphaned companion. His caresses incite passion…his fiery kisses tantalize, and Faith is in peril of losing herself to temptation.

Blake Montague's draconian temper and clever mind belong on the Continent, decoding French communications. Instead, as the youngest son of a baron, he's terrorizing London ballrooms in search of a wife who will buy the commission he can't afford. Jocelyn Carrington, after years of smiling through the pain inflicted by an uncaring family, has just inherited a fortune. Now she can buy the special home with an aviary her eccentric younger brother needs - but Blake Montague's family owns it.

Having married once out of desperation, the virgin widow Lady Belden has no intention of giving up her independence - until her long-lost siblings arrive on her doorstep. By law their guardianship belongs to the power-hungry marquess of Belden, but Bell will defy law and society to keep her newly reunited family together. Formidable in trade, unlucky in love, Lord Quentin Hoyt has eyed Lady Bell from afar - not just because she possesses the family fortune but because she's the most desirable woman he's ever met.

Scarred in a duel over a feckless female, Gavin Lawrence leaves America to take up his new duty as Marquess of Effingham, vowing to never again care for another woman. But lurking in the Marquess' crumbling manor is a young woman in terrible danger. The self-sufficient daughter of a soldier, Dillian Whitnell hides her injured cousin in the secret passages of Arinmede Manor following an attempt on their lives.

Magic is her birthright.... The daughter of one of the strongest magical lineages, Ninian Malcom Siddons is a powerful witch. Determined to use her magic only for good, she lives a simple, solitary life as a healer in her village, where she meets Drogo.

Neville Perceval, the bankrupt Duke of Anglesey, has been burdened since youth with more responsibility than one man should handle. He has finally accepted that he needs to marry a wealthy, gracious lady who will ease his burdens and smooth his political path. Fiona MacDermot, the rebellious, untamed cousin of an Irish earl, has the freedom and independence Neville has never known. Like the duke, she needs cash to help starving villagers and orphans. Unfortunately, she'd rather earn a living than have anything to do with useless men, and the politicians she knows all belong at the wrong end of a rope.

Though enchanted by the selfless beauty of a duke’s granddaughter, Michael - a man of many names but none his own - has wisely kept his distance. But two years after the disastrous fire that brought Lady Blanche Perceval into his life, he is saddled with a lost, lying Irish waif and needs a woman’s understanding aid. To his dismay, the generous lady he remembers now despises him for deserting her when she needed him most.

"Mac" MacTavish impulsively steals his late sister's neglected children, only to discover it's easier to handle a clipper in a hurricane than steer two ornery brats. What he needs is a nanny until he can take the children back to his parents in America. Bea Cavendish has settled for a quiet life of feathering her father's nest - until he dies, and she's left with an estate she doesn't know how to manage. Alone and terrified, she doesn't know what to make of the very big, very angry man appearing at her door with two adorable hooligans in tow.

Nora Adams believes she is only a schoolteacher and a poor seaman's widow until the day she inherits a fortune, and her mother sends her to London to deliver a mysterious message to a newly arrived foreign princess - who looks much like Nora. Once Princess Elena receives Nora's missive, she steals Nora's identity and vanishes. Left adrift in unfamiliar waters wearing ill-fitting royal shoes, Nora determinedly sets out in search of the real royal.

Everything about Lord Harry's easygoing life is about to change. After unexpectedly inheriting the title of duke of Sommersville, he's also discovered it comes with a load of debt. To save the estate, he's going to need money. Lots of it - and quick.

All the Malcolms have some magic, but Lady Felicity's ability to read people's emotions simply by touching them or their possessions overwhelms her. She's reached a marriageable age, but how can she ever wed when she can see so clearly a man's guilty secrets?

Lady Leila Staines has always felt like an outcast among her magically gifted sisters. Desperate to discover her own talent, she seeks out Dunstan Ives, a dark and brooding aristocrat with a scientific bent who may hold the key to unleashing Leila's hidden powers.

Aidan Dougal is deadly, and he knows it. His self-imposed isolation is to keep others out of harm's way. However, it also makes any kind of intimacy impossible...and certainly not marriage! Asking for help is beyond him until a woman unlike any he's ever met slips into his life like an answered prayer.

The mystic Isle of Aelynn slowly gravitates toward the same disastrous fate as revolutionary Europe - its survival depends on returning an elusive treasure.... With her home torn by the loss of their spiritual leader, Lissandra Olympus, the heir apparent, seeks the help of the one man who might save them - renegade warrior Murdoch LeDroit. But Murdoch has turned his back on those who feared his extraordinary psychic powers and rejected him.

Sparks fly when special forces meets psychic forces Brilliant psychic Nadine Malcolm is held prisoner in an asylum by her stepfather, a power-mad general. As the Librarian, she secretly hijacks computers to prevent his plans to turn paranormal children into weapons. When her younger sister ominously disappears, Nadine reaches through cyberspace for help. Ex-Special Forces warrior Magnus Oswin has focused his formidable talents on stopping the rogue general who once held him prisoner.

When Dylan "Oz" Oswin's son is kidnapped, the high-powered producer will do anything to get him back. Desperately following an anonymous tip, he seeks help from a former child singing sensation called Syrene, only to find she's vowed never to sing again. Immune to her voice but not her charm, Oz is convinced she holds the key to his son's disappearance - and he'll stop at nothing to make her break her vow.