When the redoubtable Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy is ordered to South America on business, he leaves his only daughter Sophy with his sister in Berkeley Square. Newly arrived from her tour of the Continent, Sophy discovers that her aunt's family is in desperate need of her talent for setting everything right: her uncle is of no use at all, the ruthlessly handsome cousin Charles has tyrannical tendencies that are being aggravated by his grim bluestocking...

When a man comes across a beautiful young woman climbing out of a window in a bid to escape, he finds the ideal opportunity to realize his own escape in this sparkling Regency romance with a decidedly Shakespearean twist.

When Frederica brings her younger siblings to London determined to secure a brilliant marriage for her beautiful sister, she seeks out their distant cousin, the Marquis of Alverstoke. Lovely, competent and refreshingly straightforward, she makes such a strong impression that the Marquis agrees to help launch them all into society. Normally wary of his family, Lord Alverstoke does his best to keep his distance. But with his enterprising country cousins...

"A fateful mistake... When Elinor Rochdale boards the wrong coach, she ends up not at her prospective employer's home but at the estate of Eustace Cheviot, a dissipated and ruined young man on the verge of death. A momentous decision... His cousin, Mr Ned Carlyon, persuades Elinor to marry Eustace as a simple business arrangement. By morning, Elinor is a rich widow, but finds herself embroiled with an international spy ring, housebreakers, uninvited...