Mary Lancaster Knihy

Can a wife hide behind a mask? Lady Frances married her Scottish earl for love. Now one year and one child later, she feels bored, trapped and lonely, convinced Lord Torridon only married her for convenience. When she can stand it no longer, she flees his stately Highland home for the Edinburgh town house of her most scandalous friend, widow Ariadne Marshall. Unfortunately, she has also brought the Torridon rubies, which she stakes in an outrageous wager with Ariadne - that their own families will not recognize them at a masked ball. In no time, they are off to Blackhaven, and the infamous masked ball at Frances

A sinister baron besieged by bad luck and bad tidings... can love save him?Read Book 2 in Mary Lancaster's latest hit series, The Unmarriageable Series!Lady Cecily, a daughter of a duke, has a habit of getting into trouble. Perhaps it's her natural curiosity or maybe, she likes excitement, especially where the notorious Lord Verne is concerned. When she's mistaken for a hussy at the Hart Inn-by every fault of her own-staring at the handsome lord through a partially opened door in a private parlor and watching him out of her chamber window in the middle of the night-is it any surprise he abducts her? Of course, she foolishly imagines her rank and her identity are enough to protect her.But her family name doesn't change Verne's mind, for he is still fascinated by Cecily. With her reputation hanging by a thread after spending the night in Verne's house, she's forced to make a fateful decision, face the consequences of her actions, which could mean utter ruin for her and her family, or agree to a fake engagement with the rakish lord.Lord Verne has a tragic past and his own dark secrets to contend with, making him a bad match for the vivacious Cecily and her powerful family. But once the news of their "engagement" gets out, neither one of them is in a hurry to call it off.Will they find their happily ever after with each other? Or will Verne's sinister past destroy everything?Books in Series: The Deserted HeartThe Sinister Heart

The love story of Vlad Dracula Europe's most fearsome prisoner, Vlad Dracula, gifted military commander and one time Prince of Wallachia, the notorious Lord Impaler himself, is about to be released after twelve long years, in order to hold back the tide of Ottoman aggression. The price of his new alliance with his Hungarian captors is the king's cousin Ilona. Ilona does not wish to be married. In particular, she doesn't wish to marry Vlad. Gentle, faded and impossibly vague, Ilona is hardly fit for court life, let alone for dealing with so difficult a husband. But Ilona's wishes have nothing to do with Vlad's reputation and everything to do with a lifelong love affair that finally broke her. Ilona's family blames Vlad; Vlad vows to discover the truth and sets out by unconventional means to bring back the woman who once enchanted him. Among court intrigues, international manoeuvrings and political deceptions, Vlad reveals himself more victim than villain. But he's still more than capable of reclaiming his lost rights to both Wallachia and Ilona; and Ilona, when it counts, has enough strength for them both.

An old Blackhaven tragedy merges with a new quarrel. When Gervaise, the Earl of Braithwaite, first sees beautiful gypsy Dawn, he is struck by her likeness to his political enemy, Julius Gardyn. In his cups, he grasps the opportunity for a little vengeance and sweeps her off to his ancestral castle. In the morning, he is frustrated in his attempts to make things right by Dawn herself, who refuses to return to her family. Dawn, dazzled by the handsome earl, has several reasons for staying with him. Pretending to be Eleanor Gardyn, lost heiress to Haven Hall, begins as a fun means to upset the earl's enemy, but when memories begin to tug at her, everything becomes much more serious. As she falls heavily in love with Gervaise, she starts to believe that happiness might be possible. Until the earl's prospective bride arrives at the castle. However, many people, including Julius, fail to see the steel beneath Gervaise's good nature. Few have noticed that he always gets what he wants in the end. And he wants Dawn.