Class Ebook Editions Ltd. – förlag

SECOND CHANCES, an anthology featuring four reissued novellas by New York Times bestselling author, Mary Balogh.

Another DreamEleanor Thompson, spinster owner and headmistress of a girls'' school in Bath, finds herself somewhat lonely and not as happy with her chosen way of life as she had expected. Then, on her way to help celebrate the birthday of the Duke of Bewcastle, her brother-in-law, she is stranded by a storm at a country inn, where she indulges in a brief, sweet flirtation with a gentleman who is also stranded there with his two young children. Neither adult realizes that they are bound for the same house party.

The Treasure HuntConstance Manning is eagerly looking forward to her twentieth birthday, when her secret engagement to the man who has been her dearest friend all her life is finally to be revealed to her family and friends. He is having second thoughts, however, and persuades his brother to go in his stead and make his excuses—the brother who has long loved Constance without her knowledge.

The Forbidden DaffodilsFor five years Kate Buchanan has been living in exile with her aunts in a remote part of Wales. She has come to love them and the place and has convinced herself that she is happy with her quiet life. But her hard-won peace is put to the test when the Marquess of Ashendon takes up residence nearby—the very man who caused her banishment.

The Betrothal BallThe Earl of Dearborne had returned to his country home to host a house party and pay court to the beautiful daughter of one of his guests. Laura Melfort, his ward’s governess, is everything he most abhors in a woman. She is intelligent and well-read as well as being plainly dressed and unalluring. Yet it is the governess to whose company he finds himself repeatedly drawn. And it is the governess with whom he chooses to waltz at his own betrothal ball.

George, Duke of Cranwell, and his duchess''s separation led to a bitter divorce and social ostracism for Sarah, who, unable to divulge to him the secrets of her heart, told instead the lies he expected to hear.

Now, four years later, the duke and Sarah Fifield meet again in Bath and are thrown together by the unfortunate fact that the lady with whom Sarah is living as companion is a close friend of the grandmother of George''s new fiancée.

Against all the odds and wisdom itself, Sarah and George seem fated to fall in love all over again. Yet the old secrets remain and come back to haunt Sarah in the form of the man who destroyed her innocence years ago and now threatens that of George''s sister and even of his fiancée.

Sarah, it seems, may have to sacrifice her own chance of happiness once more in order to protect that of the man she has never stopped loving. Unless, that is, he can uncover the truth and protect her.

A ROGUE''S DOWNFALL

The Anniversary

After the Earl of Reardon, one of London''s most notorious rakes, ruined the virtue and reputation of a young lady at a masquerade ball on Valentine''s Day, he did the honorable thing and married her before settling her at his country estate and abandoning her there. Now, one year later, he has returned home to his wife and young son, wondering if it is too late to woo her properly and make amends for a year of shameful neglect.

The Wrong Door

During a dull evening at a particularly tedious house party Viscount Lyndon, a notorious rake, makes an assignation to spend the night with a willing widow. In the darkness, however, he opens the wrong door and enters the wrong room. He soon finds himself honor-bound to offer for the young lady who was the unfortunate victim of his error. She, however, does not react with predictable meekness. Instead, she sets out to bring him to his knees.

Precious Rogue

Miss Peabody and her mother are ecstatic when Mr. Bancroft, London''s most elusive bachelor, accepts an invitation to a house party at their country estate. They boast that he is about to offer marriage. However, it is upon Patricia Mangan, the quiet, unremarkable, impoverished niece Mrs. Peabody treats more as a servant than a relative, that Mr. Bancroft finds himself turning his attentions, surprising himself as much as he surprises her and everyone else.

NO ORDINARY LOVE

The North Tower

Daphne Borland has inherited an old castle from her grandfather—provided she marries the earl of Everett, whom she has never met. She has never seen the castle either, yet she feels a deep connection to it as soon as she arrives there. As she awaits the arrival of the earl with trepidation, she gets caught up in the events and passions of long ago and finds herself falling deeply in love with a man who has been dead for a hundred years.

The Dark Rider

Malvern is an ancient house haunted by ghosts, but only a few people can actually feel and see them. Dinah Riddings, sent there to avoid the measles that have attacked her younger siblings, is one of them. As she feels the pain and longings of the dark rider and his lady, cruelly separated two centuries before, she also feels the pull of attraction to the master of the house, who looks incredibly like the dark rider.

The Heirloom

In order to celebrate his engagement, John Chandler drives his girlfriend from London to a remotely situated hotel in West Wales, once the home of his ancestors. However, when John produces her ring, an old family heirloom, and fits it on her finger, he finds himself catapulted back in time to become the John Chandler of Regency England, newly arrived at the house with his new wife—and dying of consumption.

A DAY FOR LOVE

The Substitute Guest

Claire Ward is invited at the last moment to a Valentine’s house party when another guest withdraws. She soon feels very out of place, however, when she realizes the party is intended to be something wild. When each gentleman draws the name of the lady who will be his Valentine for the next three days, the Duke of Langford, the worst rake of them all, finds himself deliberately but quite inexplicably choosing the card of the lady he suspects is prim and virtuous—and very unlike any other he has known.

Golden Rose

The Master of Ceremonies in Bath has devised an intriguing plan for the annual Valentine’s ball at the Assembly Rooms. Each gentleman is to send an anonymous favor to the lady of his choice and she is to wear it or carry it to the ball to discover the identity of her Valentine. But when Roger Bradshaw sends a golden rose to the lady of his choice, his mischievous young cousin, entrusted with delivering it, presents it to another young lady he considers more worthy.

A Waltz Among the Stars

Viscount Brandon, determined to put behind him his grief over the death of his young wife two years before, accepts an invitation to a Valentine’s house party, where he plans to woo the young daughter of the house. However, he finds himself drawn instead to her older sister, who nurses a deep grief of her own while also living apart from her family under the disgrace of a youthful indiscretion.

I met a man, a wonderful man. He kissed me, touched me like no other man ever has. I think I’ve fallen in love. What am I going to do about it?

That’s the dilemma confronting Keely Preston upon meeting dashing Congressman Dax Devereaux. The attraction between them was like a lightning strike – hot and unexpected. But also terribly inconvenient. Keely is in Washington D.C. to appeal to a congressional committee on behalf of families of soldiers Missing In Action. Serving on that committee is Dax. Both are under close scrutiny. What has sparked between them is difficult to keep secret.

After twelve years of living in limbo, married but alone, Keely is reawakened to desire by Dax’s passion. But he also touches her heart, where she has preserved the sweet memory of her husband. One love represents her past; another her future. Will clinging to one mean having to sacrifice the other?

Give up while you’re ahead, ol’ boy. She doesn’t want you. Then he remembered the passion of her kiss, the taste of her mouth, the scent of her hair, the feel of her skin beneath his hands, and he knew he wasn’t about to give up.

While serving his country, Trevor Rule experienced the wrenching heartache of losing his best friend in a brutal attack. His grief is coupled with guilt when he falls in love with that friend’s wife by reading letters she’d written to her husband.

Kyla gave birth the same day she learned that her husband had been killed in a terrorist assault on Marine barracks. That was almost two years ago. Now, Kyla is struggling to rear her son alone…and wrestling with the longing generated by the handsome stranger who fortuitously enters their lives.

Except Trevor’s entrance into Kyla’s life isn’t accidental. He has sought her out not only because he feels he owes her and her child a debt he can never repay, but also because he remembers the impassioned words she wrote to her husband. Which Trevor took to heart.

Will her growing love be strong enough to forgive his deception?

LED ASTRAY

“My name is Lucas Greywolf.”

A raspy voice, as soft and sandy as the wind that blew across the desert, spoke directly into her ear. It was a gentle sound, but Aislinn wasn’t deceived. Like the winds it reminded her of, it could be whipped into a fury. . .

Aislinn Andrews knows his name because his escape from prison has prompted a statewide manhunt. As lean and menacing as a panther, the fugitive invades her house, her bed, and then takes her as his hostage. Overnight, Aislinn’s safe and predictable life is upended by a man considered criminal and dangerous. However, his greatest threat to Aislinn isn’t the knife he wields, but his untame appeal.

All his life, Lucas Greywolf has harbored a bitter grudge against Anglos, resenting even that half of his heritage. Years spent in prison for a crime he didn’t commit hasn’t quelled his fighting spirit, but only fanned it. After escaping, he comes face-to-face with blond, blue-eyed Aislinn Andrews, the epitome of everything he hates. Yet he must have her. Now the war Lucas wages is personal, and his fiercest enemy is his longing for the wrong woman.

Two people. Two worlds. One shared moment of incandescent passion…when nothing else mattered.

But can that unifying instant withstand everything that divides them, when the largest obstacle they face is the most difficult to overcome? Pride.

“...his eyes met hers in the mirror. They were dark and smoldering, like the purest of blue flame. And in her own eyes was the glassy sheen of desire.”

Arden Gentry went to the lush island of Maui for the specific purpose of ingratiating herself into Drew McCasslin’s world.

The dashing widower, who had bitterly grieved the death of his wife, is ready to tackle life again and believes that his meeting with Arden is fortunate happenstance. He and his young son, Matt, are drawn to Arden’s warmth and tenderness, and both open their wounded hearts to her.

But even as the passion between Drew and Arden intensifies and points toward love, she’s harboring the secret of their inextricable bond…which could also rip them apart.

“‘Forget everything you’ve ever heard about technique. Kiss me the way you think a bad girl would and we’ll both have a much better time.’”

Sportswriter Judd Mackie has earned fame with his scathing columns. Women’s tennis pro Stevie Corbett is a favorite target of his sarcastic prose. In his view, she’s too focused on being a cute, crowd-pleaser to be taken seriously as an athlete on the court.

What Stevie’s nemesis doesn’t know is that she’s suffering a medical condition that’s all too serious and potentially ruinous to her career.

When Judd uncovers the sensational story, he recognizes it as one that comes along only once in a lifetime...but telling it would cost him the woman he now doesn’t want to live without.

A sudden snowstorm strands Rosamund Hunter and Justin Halliday, Earl of Wetherby, at a hunting lodge in the country. Despite their initial embarrassment over the fact that they are strangers, they soon relax and enjoy a magical three days of friendship, fun, and passion. They part reluctantly, expecting never to meet again. She is on her way, after a year of mourning for her late husband, to rejoin her family for the celebration of the long-awaited betrothal of her niece. He is on his way to honor a match arranged long ago by his mother and Rosamund''s and recently made more formal when he made a definite offer to her brother and guardian.

By the time Rosamund and Justin realize that they are bound for the same place, it is too late for him to withdraw honorably from his betrothal and far too late for either of them to avoid heartache.