Karen Ranney’s books have a lot of fans at AAR. Our reviewer called this one satisfying.

When Douglas McRae visits a business acquaintance named Hartley, he is surprised to be confronted by a woman he has believed dead for years. Jeanne Du Marchand is governess in Hartley’s household, and Hartley openly sizes her up as a potential bedmate in front of Douglas, who listens on, infuriated. Douglas is torn between the breathtaking chemistry they once shared, and hatred for the woman whom he believes tried to kill their child. He resolves to have Jeanne watched, in case she tries to leave the city without his knowledge. A chance encounter in the street leaves him certain that he is unable to let her out of his life so easily again, feelings of loathing for her past sins aside.

As the plot goes on we learn that, ten years previously, Jeanne Du Marchand conducted an intimate affair with Douglas. When she broke the news of her impending pregnancy to her father, a wealthy French aristocrat, she expected he’d permit her to marry. Instead he confines her to a convent for the duration of her pregnancy and commissions a servant to have the baby killed. Douglas is led to believe it was Jeanne who ended their relationship, and when he eventually goes back to look for her, finds that she appears to have absconded and dumped his child to die. His bitterness towards her as they meet again ten years on is clearly explained.

Douglas is torn between hatred for Jeanne and the powerful chemistry that exists between them and continues to draw them closer. When Hartley attempts to seduce Jeanne, she flees the house in secret, only to be nabbed by one of Douglas’ servants. She is taken to Douglas’s remote estate, where she will act as governess of his own daughter. Meanwhile, Jeanne’s noble French father, whom she has learned to hate while confined for ten years in the nunnery and subjected to torture at the hands of a crazed, sin-obsessed nun, has come back in pursuit of a very valuable gem that belonged to Jeanne’s mother, which he believes she has.

It’s 1.99 here.

We love Carla Kelly! This Regency romance is a winner.

The daughter of a baronet, the heroine, Grace, has slipped. When her father died penniless, she was forced to become a baker and is now considered a member of the working class. Pragmatic Grace has never minded her new station in life, as she is doing work that she enjoys, and that allows her contact will people from all walks of life – from the candler’s young grandson to the Marquis of Quarle, Lord Thomson. She bonds with the elderly Marquis over her specialty biscuits, Quimby Cremes, taking them to him personally when he becomes too ill to purchase them at the shop himself, and then feeding them to him when he becomes too ill to even do that. When the Marquis passes away, Grace is told to come to the reading of his will. There she learns that she is to be given the dower house and thirty pounds per annum from the estate, and that an American POW, the Marquis’ bastard son, is to be paroled there under her care.

When Grace and the Marquis’ lawyer reach Dartmoor to release the prisoner they find him dying. Before he passes away, the Marquis’ son begs Grace to take another prisoner in his place, and while the lawyer is obtaining medical help the switch is made and Grace releases a different prisoner, Rob Inman. What follows is typical Carla Kelly. Rob quickly endears himself to Grace’s friends and neighbors, and becomes Grace’s friend and confidant. But a villain has plans for Rob, other than his release when the war is over, and it soon becomes difficult for Rob and Grace to decide friend from foe. Mysterious letters appear in the dower house, with instructions such as “Trust No One”, and Rob is followed everywhere he goes by a man that will kill him if he’s ever out of Grace’s sight. In this atmosphere of confusion and danger, Rob and Grace fall in love.

 

It’s a Amazon for 1.99 here.

Looking for angsty? Here you go.

Madeline works as a prostitute called The Mysterious Miss M at Lord Farley’s notorious club, and men gamble for the chance to bed her. She hates this life, but learns the hard way that Farley isn’t going to let her go – not that she has anywhere to go. She meets her next customer, a soldier, and realizes quickly that he’s different from the others. Devlin is kind to her, and his courage in fighting for his country stirs her respect. For the first time ever, Madeline wants to make love to a customer and the passion that they share transcends their roles of prostitute and customer.

Several years later, after Waterloo, Devlin returns to the gambling club and wins a fortune at cards, despite the fact that Farley rigged the game. When Farley, angry over his losses, strikes at Madeline for refusing a customer, Devlin intervenes and winds up accepting her as payment for Farley’s debt. Madeline comes with an unusual piece of luggage – her little daughter, Linette.

Devlin does his best by his new dependents. He shows consistent kindness to Madeline and Linette, which Madeline doesn’t understand at all. She has cherished her initial encounter with Devlin all these years, but she’s not about to trust him after the life she has led with Farley. When she tries to seduce him as repayment for sheltering her and her daughter, his refusal stuns her. Devlin wants to sleep with Madeline, but he wants her honest desire, not her skills in seduction, no matter how tempting they are. He gradually gains her trust, never expecting that, in the process, he is losing his heart to her….

Add in a heartless villain who has nefarious plans for Devlin and little Linette, an intriguing subplot about an unhappy marriage between two people who actually long to please each other, and a few neat plot twists, and you have a top notch read in The Mysterious Miss M that scores on all emotional bases.

It’s at Amazon for 1.99 here.

This recent work by Shalvis has a 4.5 rating from thousands of Amazon readers.

When Emma Harris wakes up from a coma she learns that her fiancé and her BFF have fallen in love, she’s lost her job, and the life she knew is gone. Overwhelmed but grateful to be alive she starts over from scratch. Not as easy as it sounds, of course. But she’s never been a quitter, even if she wishes she could quit rehab, where her hot but evil physical therapist, Simon, puts her through the wringer.

Eager for a new beginning, Emma opens a doggy day care. Unfortunately, the only space she can afford is owned by her childhood nemesis Ali Pratt. But hey, she’s been through worse, right? She tries to roll with the punches, but a friend drops his grandpa off at the doggy day care in desperation then on top of that, she and Ali bring the term ‘frenemies’ to a whole new level. And then another grandparent shows up. And another.

In the midst of all that, Emma realizes she’s accidentally fallen for Evil PT. But the most horrifying thing of all is that Ali just might have turned into the best friend she’s ever had. And as Emma grows from the pain of her past and takes on her new path, she comes to realize that life isn’t what you’re given, it’s what you make of it.

It’s at Amazon for 1.99 here.

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