AustLit

'A young lady's tarnished reputation might cost her everything in this first book in the Disreputable Debutantes series.

'Shy, bookish Sophie Brightwell is expected to make an advantageous match to improve her family's fortunes. However, Sophie's plans to make a spectacular debut go horribly awry when she and her three closest friends are expelled from a young ladies' academy for unbecoming conduct. Since the ton will be sure to close their doors on these disgraced debutantes, they determine that unconventional means need to be employed in the husband-hunting market. Rakehells—the beau monde's wickedest members—might be the only men willing to overlook a young lady's besmirched reputation.

'A debutante with a scandalous past is whisked away from London only to create new headlines on the Continent.

'After being expelled from a young ladies’ academy, it seems Miss Arabella Jardine will never find a well-connected husband. Not that she minds. A bluestocking at heart, she’d rather bury her nose in a medical text than wed. When Arabella is forced to accompany her family on a Grand Tour in Switzerland, she unexpectedly encounters the irresistible rakehell-in-exile, Gabriel, the Earl of Langdale. Arabella soon realizes the only thing worse than getting married to a charismatic but unrepentant rake would be to fall in love with him.

'A reserved debutante and a former soldier make an unlikely but fated match as they hasten for the Isle of Skye.

'Orphaned heiress Olivia de Vere should have the world--or at least the men of the ton--at her feet. But when she's thrown out of a young ladies' academy, Olivia doubts she'll ever find someone who will love her, rather than her bank account. To make matters worse, her dissolute cousin Felix is determined to marry her against her wishes. A virtual prisoner in her guardians' London townhouse, Olivia can’t help but develop a tendre for her neighbor, a handsome Scottish marquess.

'Battle-scarred in more ways than one, Hamish MacQueen, Lord Sleat, has braved many dangers in life. But nothing has quite prepared him for the shock of having a young child dumped on his doorstep, with a note claiming she’s his daughter. Just in the nick of time his pretty neighbor appears, offering to act as a nursemaid for the young girl on their journey to his estate in Scotland. He suspects she has her own reasons for wanting to flee the country…
 
'The close traveling quarters leads to a fierce attraction between Olivia and Hamish that seems impossible to resist. But when ghosts from the past and monsters from the present threaten to tear them apart, will their unlikely love survive?'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Lady Charlotte Hastings—already branded a hellion by polite society—is in a terrible scrape courtesy of London's most notorious blackguard. One thing is certain: her name cannot appear in the gossip rags… again. However, Charlie's bold attempt to extricate herself from the fine pickle she's in takes an unexpected turn when the devilishly handsome Maximilian, the Duke of Exmoor—the rakehell she's secretly loved for years—comes to her aid.

'Upon discovering the irrepressible Lady Charlotte—his best friend's younger sister—is in danger, Max Devereux feels duty bound to offer assistance. Only he soon realizes he's also mired in deep trouble when an entirely inconvenient desire for Charlie sparks to life. If that's not enough to contend with, Max's manipulative mother is busily engineering his betrothal to a perfectly polished debutante. A hardened rake with an armor-plated heart, Max has absolutely no intention of becoming leg-shackled to anyone. At least not this Season.

'When unforeseen disaster strikes plunging both Charlie and Max headlong into a new public scandal, Max proposes a deal: to restore Charlie's good name and to help Max avoid his mother's machinations, they'll enter a temporary engagement-of-convenience. But even the best laid plans can go awry. As passion flares between Max and Charlie, their arrangement doesn't seem like make-believe anymore… and hidden enemies intent on ruining Charlie once and for all, are waiting in the wings. Will a happily-ever-after ever be within their reach?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.