Joanna Maitland – författare

LADY IN LACE Regency TimeslipA shredded gold lace ballgown. The greatest rake in Regency London. And the modern woman who links them both.When costume curator Emma Stanley meets a frock-coated phantom in an endless museum passage, her body takes fire at his touch. But he melts away, leaving her lost, and clutching the shredded wreck of a Regency ballgown.The magic of the gold lace gown transports Emma across centuries. When is she? Where is she? Most importantly, WHO is she in this alien time?In front of her, a naked man rises from his bath. He welcomes her. He knows her name. He wants her. But he's dangerous – the greatest rake in London, the stud that every woman desires.Should Emma respond to him? Will she get back to her own time if she does? And, given the threatening shadows swirling round in her modern world, is it safe for her to return?

Beach Hut Surprise: Escape to Little Piddling this summer — six feel-good beach reads to make you smile, or even laugh out loudWho's there? Lovers, vampires… A body?Little Piddling—now renamed Little Piddling sur Mer—is a resort with ambitions.But odd things keep happening in Little Piddling. Especially among its delectable beach huts. They are a magnet for lovers and other, stranger, visitors.Take a romantic stroll along the beach after dark and you might encounter more than you bargained for.Six favourite authors let their hair down on the Piddling sands...

TO A BLISSFUL CHRISTMAS REUNION Timeslip RomanceNot a lover. No longer even a friend?Lucy Cairns and Gabriel Bliss were inseparable once. But when Gabe returns after years away and rents land from Lucy's millionaire father for a tree nursery, their relationship is far from blissful.Especially in the run-up to Christmas.Christmas trees are a cash crop for Gabe's struggling nursery, even though he hates Christmas. Lucy, too, has painful memories of the festive season, but she needs Gabe's help to find the perfect tree for the manor house and the business guests who will be arriving on Christmas Eve. The pair are forced into each other's company.Gabe remains professional and distant. His time away has changed him, though he won't say why. He refuses to get close to Lucy, insisting there's too much of a gulf between the millionaire's daughter and a struggling, dirty-fingered son of the soil like him.But then he chances on a 19th century image of Lucy's manor house with the master and mistress standing proudly outside the main door.A married couple who look exactly like Gabe and Lucy...

MY LADY ANGELPassion and Strife in Regency EnglandBook 1 of Feuding Families seriesCan a noble widow and a mysterious stranger find love while a family feud threatens to ruin her?Following her father's death, the widowed Angelina becomes Baroness Rosevale and head of the ancient family. But her father's earldom passes to the nearest male heir, her second cousin Frederick, head of the estranged side of the family.Angel and Frederick have never met. And Angel does not give a fig for the family feud. But when a claimant to Frederick's earldom arrives from France, Angel faces a dilemma. Should she support Frederick, the earl, now furious at having his position questioned? Or Pierre, the charming and handsome Frenchman who claims to have evidence to prove he is the real heir?Trying to escape her onerous responsibilities, and longing for the freedom that neither her father nor her late husband would permit, Angel attends a masked ball. There she meets Max, an intriguing and mysterious man whose kisses melt all her resistance.How far will she allow him to go when they are alone together? And what will she do if the results of their tryst become visible enough to ruin her? Who will help her then — irate Frederick, or fascinating Pierre? For the enigmatic Max seems to have completely disappeared.

THE SOLWAY BRIDEPassion and Abduction in the Scottish BordersBook 2 of Feuding Families seriesA runaway bride rescued by a lovelorn soldier. Is Gretna Green the answer?Ross Graham, having lost the woman he loves, flees to his native Scotland to seek out his roots in the Scottish borders. But, instead of family, he meets Cassie Elliott, a young woman trying to escape a forced marriage. Ross's attempted rescue of Cassie fails. Her hated half-brother, the laird, locks Cassie up and has Ross slung into the Dumfries Tolbooth. When Ross is released, thanks to a Peninsular War comrade, he sets about rescuing Cassie again. But the laird is determined to force Cassie into a marriage that will pay off his debts. Ross and Cassie may find safety in England, but that involves crossing the perilous sands of the Solway Firth. And the laird is bound to follow.They barely know each other, but is marriage the only way for Ross to save Cassie?Revised edition of the book originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2004 as Bride of the Solway

THE MYSTERY MISTLETOE BRIDEA woman with no name, no past, no memory—rescued by an earl with his own bitter secretsOn his return from the Peninsular War, Jonathan, Earl of Portbury, appears remote and forbidding, hiding his pain behind a wall of icy formality. Widowed, and childless, Jon needs a new wife, and an heir, but he knows himself to be incapable of love. The obvious solution is a marriage of convenience with a woman of sense.If he can find one.On one of Jon's minor estates, the woman he rescued from death, months before, still has no memory and no past, though she has acquired a name—Beth. She is no empty-headed debutante, fresh out of the schoolroom, but a lady of admirable sense and refinement, who devotes her energies to good works. She seems to fulfil all Jon's requirements in a wife.But Beth is a woman without a past. Is she fit to become Jon's countess?And how could a marriage be made to work when both of them have so many buried secrets?Revised edition of the novel originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2010 as The Earl's Mistletoe Bride

STAR-CROSSED AT TWILIGHTRomeo and Juliet in the Scottish BordersBook 3 of Feuding Families seriesA Fairytale Castle? With a REAL Fairy?Isobel Ritchie is about to marry money to save her family from ruin. She spends one of her last days of freedom in Caerlaverock Castle where, tempted by a beautiful sunset, she strips off her conventional gown and dances alone, high on the battlements.Major Robert Anstruther is back home in the Scottish borders to recover from his wounds. He is healing at last, so he rides out to a favourite retreat—the ruins of Caerlaverock—at his favourite time of the day. He loves its fairytale atmosphere, especially in the twilight, though he's never seen any fairies there.​​​​​​​Until now…A revised version of the ebook novella originally published by Harlequin Mills & Boon Ltd in 2010 under the title Delight and Desire

A PENNILESS PROSPECTBook 1 of Unsuitable Matches seriesCan a penniless runaway trust her noble rescuer not to betray her into a forced marriage?Plain and penniless Miss Jessamyne Calderwood—Jamie to those who love her—is to be forcibly married to a vile old man in order to pay off her father's gambling debts. Desperate to escape, she dresses as a boy and runs away, helped by her stepmother's former maid. But, on the road, the pair are taken up by Richard, the masterful Earl Hardinge, who has his own reasons for wanting revenge on the Calderwood family.Jamie manages to maintain her disguise as a backward gardener's boy on Richard's estate, but gets into hot water with both master and servants. Can she keep hiding there while her vindictive stepmother and her rejected suitor are searching everywhere for her? It's only for a few more weeks. Soon she will be 21 and her own mistress. But can her disguise keep her safe until then? And will the earl betray her to her despicable family if he discovers she is not what she seems?Revised edition of the novel originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2001

MARRYING THE MAJORBook 2 of Unsuitable Matches seriesMajor Hugo Stratton, a veteran scarred in body and soul. No fit husband for any gentlewoman?Heiress Emma Fitzwilliam has a fond memory of Hugo Stratton as a handsome young officer with a wicked sense of humour. But the Major Stratton who returns from the wars, years later, is a disfigured and prickly recluse who rebuffs all Emma's attempts to get near him.When an unwise romantic encounter in the garden threatens Emma with ruin, marriage is the only way to save her reputation. She longs to have Hugo as her bridegroom, but how can she persuade him to unbend enough to propose? Especially to a woman in disgrace?And, even if he does propose, could a marriage between Hugo and Emma ever be made to work? Revised edition of the novel originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2002

RAKE'S REWARDBook 3 of Unsuitable Matches seriesKit Stratton, handsome playboy, lucky gambler, notorious rake—with a score to settleWhen Marina Beaumont arrives in London, she expects to become the demure companion to Lady Luce, a reclusive old lady in her declining years. But after five years in exile in Vienna, Kit Stratton is back in England, bent on taking his revenge on Marina's employer, the old harridan who caused his disgrace and banishment. On her very first evening, Marina is taken to a gambling hell where Lady Luce loses a fortune to Kit Stratton, the handsomest man Marina has ever set eyes on. And the most dangerous, too.Unless Kit can be persuaded to forgive the debt, Marina will be packed off home without a penny of the wages her impoverished family so desperately needs. What choice does she have? Scandalous though it is, Marina must meet Kit Stratton alone to beg him not to claim the debt. Surely a gentleman will be open to persuasion? Especially by a lady?But Kit Stratton is a notorious rake. Is he a gentleman at all?And what reward will a rake demand in return for Lady Luce's debt of honour? Revised edition of the novel originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2003

THE DUKE AND THE DUBIOUS DAMSELIsabella Winstanley has successfully duped Society about her fortune and her unconventional work among the poor. Until the day she finds herself looking down the barrel of the Duke of Amburley's pistol. Can she deflect his attempts to expose her "e;wicked masquerade"e;?London Society believes Isabella Winstanley is a penniless companion. No one knows that she uses her fortune to help poor widows and orphans. Her spinster life is under control—until the day she is caught out by the Duke of Amburley.Amburley is intrigued to find that the ill-clad and mannerless harpy he tried to rescue on the road has been transformed from poor relation to wealthy Society lady. A wicked masquerade, without a doubt, and one that will prove to be misguided, once he has exposed her for what she clearly is—an imposter on the catch for a husband.Will Isabella succeed in keeping her secrets while Amburley tries all his tricks to catch her out? The more the pair are together, the more difficult it becomes, especially when Amburley challenges Isabella to a curricle race. Through London's streets, of all places. What will become of Isabella if her outrageous conduct becomes known? And will she be in Amburley's power if she loses their wager?Revised edition of the novel originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2001 as A Poor Relation

HIS CAVALRY LADYBook 1 of Aikenhead Honours seriesDominic Aikenhead, Duke of Calder—rich, handsome, a power in the land. And a spy.In the summer of 1814, Europe's crowned heads come to London to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. Dominic, Duke of Calder, nominally the British liaison officer to the Russian Emperor, has a more important, secret role. As a spy. For Tsar Alexander is believed to be plotting against England's interests.Dominic strikes up a friendship with Captain Alexei Alexandrov, a decorated Hussar and the youngest officer on Alexander's staff. Dominic is troubled, both by the enigmatic Russian captain and by the memory of a mysterious lady he held in his arms only a few weeks before. She disappeared like smoke, but she haunts him, first as a Frenchwoman and then as a passionate lady from Scotland. Even with the help of the rest of the Aikenhead Honours spying band, Dominic cannot fully resolve the puzzles his mysterious lady presents. When he is sent to Russia in the wake of the Tsar and his entourage, Dominic has to operate alone.Can he find the answers he is seeking in that alien land?Revised edition of the novel originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2008

HIS RELUCTANT MISTRESSBook 2 of  Aikenhead Honours seriesLord Leo Aikenhead—playboy, rake, irresistible to women. Except one…Leo becomes acting leader of the Aikenhead Honours in late summer 1814, when they are sent to spy at the Congress of Vienna, where most of the crowned heads of Europe are assembling to carve up the continent. Aided by his brother Jack and their friend Ben, Leo uses his reputation as a notorious rake to cover his spying activities.For once, Leo's success with the ladies is not assured. He encounters Sophie, a woman who is more than a match for him. But there is increasing unrest in France and the Duke of Wellington wants his own spies on the ground there. Wellington orders the Honours' forces to be split—Jack and Ben to France, Leo to remain alone in Austria to defend England's interests.Can Leo tackle all the intrigue alone?And how much is he prepared to risk to rescue the woman he loves?Revised edition of the novel originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2009

HIS FORBIDDEN LIAISONBook 3 of Aikenhead Honours seriesLord Jack Aikenhead—charming, irresponsible, a gambler. Past redemption?Until their arrival in France, in the spring of 1815, Jack and his friend, Ben Dexter, have been mere foot soldiers in the Aikenhead Honours. Operating alone for the first time, they reach Lyons together, where their spying mission becomes even more urgent following Napoleon's escape from exile in Elba. Worst of all, Ben is severely wounded when their work has barely begun.Jack, the incorrigible playboy, must assume more responsibility than ever before and go on, without Ben, to Paris and beyond. Travelling alone would jeopardise his mission, but his only possible companion is a woman who is forbidden. If they brave the dangers of enemy territory together, will he be able to resist the temptation she presents?And will she consent to keep her distance, even if he does?Revised edition of the novel originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2009

HIS SILKEN SEDUCTIONBook 4 of Aikenhead Honours seriesBen Dexter—wounded, abandoned, a baron in disguise. In the enemy's bed.Ben Dexter, heir to a viscount, is the most junior member of the Aikenhead Honours and Wellington's spy in Lyons in the spring of 1815. When Ben is badly wounded, he assumes the identity of a German traveller in order to survive. He has little choice, for he is sheltering alone in a weavers' household that supports the enemy, the newly-returned Emperor Napoleon.Ben's nurse is a beautiful silk-weaver. Day after day, her hands caress his battered flesh. Her touch is driving him wild. But she's the enemy. She must not discover who he is. Surely she will betray him? He has a choice—duty, or desire.Will he dare to trust her with his life, his mission, and his heart?Extended edition of the ebook originally published by Harlequin S.A. in 2009