Authors: Karen Ranney

A Scandalous Scot (40 page)

BOOK: A Scandalous Scot

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A man of the wild, tempest-tossed ocean, James MacRae never dreamed he’d find his greatest temptation on land. Yet from the instant the dashing adventurer first gazed deeply into Riona’s haunting gray eyes, he knew there was no lass in all of Scotland he’d ever want more. The matchless lady is betrothed to another—and unwilling to break off her engagement or share the reason why she will marry her intended. But how can MacRae ignore the passion that burns like fire inside, drawing him relentlessly toward a love that could ruin them both?

The Highland Lords: Book Four

To Love a Scottish Lord

Hamish MacRae, a changed man, returned to his beloved Scotland intending to turn his back on the world. The proud, brooding lord wants nothing more than to be left alone, but an unwanted visitor to his lonely castle has defied his wishes. While it is true that this healer, Mary Gilly, is a beauty beyond compare, it will take more than her miraculous potions to soothe his wounded spirit. But Mary’s tender heart is slowly melting Hamish’s frozen one . . . awakening a burning need to keep her with him—forever.

Never before has Mary felt such an attraction to a man! The mysterious Hamish MacRae is strong and commanding, with a face and form so handsome it makes Mary tremble with wanting him. Already shadowy forces are coming closer, heartless whispers and cruel rumors abound, and it will take a love more pure and powerful than any other to divine the truth—and promise a future neither had dreamed possible.

The Highland Lords: Book Five

So In Love

Jeanne du Marchand adored her dashing young Scotsman, Douglas MacRae, and every moment in his arms was pure rapture. But when her father, the Comte du Marchand, learned she was carrying Douglas’s child, Jeanne was torn from the proud youth without a word of farewell—and separated not long after from her newborn baby daughter. Jeanne feared her life was over, for all she truly cared about was lost to her. Can the power of love prevail?

Once Douglas believed his lady’s loving words—until her betrayal turned his ardor to contempt. He cannot forget even now, ten years later, when destiny brings her to his native Scotland, broken in spirit but as beautiful as before. His pride will not let him play the fool again, although memories of a past—secret, innocent, and fragile—tempt him. Can passion lead to love and forgiveness?

After the Kiss

Margaret Esterly is desperate—and desperation can lead to shocking behavior! Beautiful and gently-bred, she was the essence of prim, proper English womanhood—until fate widowed her and thrust her into poverty overnight. Now she finds herself at a dazzling masked ball, determined to sell a volume of scandalous memoirs to the gala’s noble host. But amid the heated fantasy of the evening, Margaret boldly, impetuously shares a moment of passion with a darkly handsome gentleman . . . and then flees into the night.

Who was this exquisite creature who swept into Michael Hawthorne’s arms, and then vanished? The startled yet pleasingly stimulated Earl of Montraine is not about to forget the intoxicating woman of mystery so easily—especially since Michael’s heart soon tells him that he has at last found his perfect bride. But once he locates her again, will he be able to convince the reticent lady that their moment of ecstasy was no mere accident . . . and that just one kiss can lead to paradise?

My True Love

Anne Sinclair has been haunted by visions of a handsome black-haired warrior all her life. His face invades her dreams and fills her nights with passionate longing. So the beautiful laird’s daughter leaves her remote Scottish castle, telling no one, to search for the man called Stephen—a man she does not know but who fights in war-torn England, a place she has never seen. Stephen Harrington, Earl of Langlinais, never expected to rescue this unexplained beauty from the hands of his enemy. And yet, when their eyes first meet, he feels from the depths of his soul that he should know her . . . that he needs to touch her, and keep her by his side forever. For unknown to both of them, they are in the center of a centuries-old love . . . a love that is about to surpass their wildest dreams.

My Beloved

They call her the Langlinais Bride—though she’s seen her husband only one time . . . on their wedding day, twelve years ago.

For years naïve, convent-bred Juliana dreaded being summoned to the side of the man she wed as a child so long ago. Now her husband, Sebastian, Earl of Langlinais, has become ensnared in his villainous brother’s wicked plots—and has no choice but to turn to his virgin bride for help.

Juliana now finds herself face-to-face with a man so virile and so powerful that she’s fascinated by him—just as he asks her to go against everything she holds true. Sebastian never counted on being enchanted by the beauty of this innocent angel he intended to keep as wife in name only—and he dares not reveal to her the secret reason why their love can never be . . .

Upon a Wicked Time

Tessa Astley is everything a duke should want in a wife. A breathtaking beauty with a reputation that is positively above reproach, she desires nothing more than the love of her husband, the man she’s long pined for.

Only Jered Mandville doesn’t want a soul mate, just a proper duchess hidden away on his country estate to beget heirs. He certainly doesn’t see a place for his bride in his decadent life in London.

Tessa won’t let her fairy tale slip through her fingers. She’d do anything to win Jered’s heart. So Tessa starts a campaign to win her husband’s heart by invading his home, his reckless adventures, and his bed—all to prove to her cynical duke that even a happy ending can be delightfully wicked . . .

My Wicked Fantasy

Mary Kate Bennett was married too early, widowed too young, and left to fend for herself without a penny. Her path was never meant to cross with Archer St. John’s, except for a terrible carriage accident with the wickedly handsome Earl of Sanderhurst. Mary Kate awakens in a mysterious lord’s bed to a life more luxurious than she could have ever imagined, facing a man she’s never met before, but instinctively knows . . .

The whispers about Archer follow him wherever he goes. Had the reclusive nobleman murdered his unhappy countess? When Mary Kate enters his life so unexpectedly, the bold earl is convinced that she has all the answers he has been searching for. So why can’t he think of anything else besides her decadently red hair, her luminescent skin, and the feelings this vibrant, spirited beauty evokes within his masculine soul?

Their love can be a fantasy, or it can be strong enough to entwine their destinies forever.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A SCANDALOUS SCOT
. Copyright © 2012 by Karen Ranney. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition JULY 2012 ISBN: 9780062130723

Print Edition ISBN: 9780062027795

FIRST EDITION

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