What would you give for the blessing of your God? What form would you want the blessing to take, and how much would you be willing to sacrifice to get it? In the introductory story of his Shivers collection, Randal Schaffer brings us the story of Josiah Cornwall, a boy on the verge of manhood who must face that question for the first time.

As the daughter of a famed author, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens. She never doubted romance would be in her future, too. The storybooks offered endless possibilities. And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one by one....Now Izzy's given up yearning for romance. She'll settle for a roof over her head. What fairy tales are left over for an impoverished 26-year-old woman who's never even been kissed?

Preacher's daughter Lauren thinks that she is going to work for wealthy Olivia Lockett as a secretary. Instead, the matriarch makes Lauren a scandalous offer to marry her son in name only. Lauren has strong feelings for him but are they strong enough?

In Night Fire, Arielle Leslie is a 16-year-old forced to wed Paisley Cochrane, a sadistic old man who abuses her. When he dies, she believes herself free. But she’s not. Burke Drummond, Earl of Ravensworth, a young man she’d worshipped three years before, is home from the wars, and he wants her. Together they face problems and obstacles never spoken of in the Regency time.

Philip Hawksbury, the Earl of Rothermere, obeying his father's dying wish, hies himself to Scotland to offer for one of the daughters of Alexander Kilbracken, the Earl of Ruthven. Frances Kilbracken, informed of the earl's arrival and his mission, disguises herself as a bespectacled dowd so she won't be the one selected by the young earl. But choose her he does, and for all the wrong reasons.

A Libertine... Jeremy Greymont certainly qualifies. "Sex rough and women loose" is his credo - one he's always taken very seriously, with no deference whatsoever to the society into which he's been born. He's been perfectly content milling along through life on an existence of courtesans and fine Scotch whisky...that is until his grandfather lets him know he's out of time, and his station in life comes with duties attached. Jeremy must produce an heir - posthaste.

In a time when women have few options for their futures, bluestocking wallflower Llysa Hamilton has aged out of the marriage mart. With offers for her hand unlikely, she enlists Madame Eve's 1Night Stand service to find the perfect man for one passionate night. Wolfe Thane, Duke of Foxhaven, has never lacked for anything, but he's bored with his entitled life. Winning a 1Night Stand voucher in a poker game appears to offer a perfect, commitment-free opportunity to add spice to his sex life.

Douglas Sherbrooke, Earl of Northcliffe, is a man besieged. He must have an heir. Thus he must first provide himself with the requisite bride. Alexandra Chambers, youngest daughter of the Duke of Beresford, has loved Douglas Sherbrooke since she was 15. Unfortunately, it is her sister, the incomparable Melissande, he wishes to wed.

Strong-willed Miss Mary Dunaway had a plan for her future and she would stop at nothing to reach her goal of working with the poor in London. She was even willing to ask a gentleman, a stranger, to help her. Twelve years later, the same gentleman reappears in her life. Although he doesn't seem to recall her, she remembers every detail of the kisses they shared. The attractive Lord Fellington apparently sees her as the saintly, nun-like matron of the foundling asylum.

In New York Times best-selling author Marie Force’s dazzling historical romance debut, the clock is ticking for a wealthy duke who must marry by his 30th birthday - or lose his title. Derek Eagan, the dashing Duke of Westwood, is well aware of his looming deadline. But weary of tiresome debutantes, he seeks a respite at his country home in Essex - and encounters a man digging on his property. Except he’s not a man. He’s a very lovely woman. Who suddenly faints at his feet.

Lady Julie has dreamed of marrying her childhood sweetheart since she was four years old. Unfortunately, her father has other plans. He has his sights set on her marrying an earl. When she is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Julie needs to make a choice: wait for her true love and destroy her honor, or make a deal with the forbidding earl.

How to seduce an estranged husband - and banish debt! - in four wickedly improper, shockingly pleasurable steps.... 1. Learn the most intimate secrets of London's leading courtesan. 2. Pretend to be a courtesan yourself, using the name Juliet Leighton. 3. Travel to Venice and locate said husband. 4. Seduce husband, conceive an heir, and voila, your future is secure! For Julia, the Duchess of Colton, such a ruse promises to be foolproof. After all, her husband has not bothered to lay eyes on her in eight years.

When a nearly naked woman crashes into his arms, Paul, the new Earl of Latterly, knows he's left his monk-like world behind. Raised apart from females by his misogynist father, Paul hardly knows how to speak with the delightful girl who's dashed out of the dance hall. But in a single night's tryst, they discover a passion he's long denied himself. Yet to his dismay, he learns Emma is the adopted sister of the very man he seeks: the true heir to the earldom, Paul's ne'er-do-well cousin.

Fiercely loyal to his friends and comrades, Ewan Mostyn is the toughest in a group of younger sons of nobility who met as soldiers and are now trying desperately to settle back into peaceful Society. Ewan trusts his brawn more than his brains, but when he's offered a job watching the Duke of Ridlington's stubbornly independent daughter, he finds both are challenged. Lady Lorraine wants none of her father's high-handed ways, and she'll do everything in her power to avoid her distressingly attractive bodyguard - until she lands herself in real trouble.

At the age of nine, Josephina Cochrane is mockingly dubbed the "Duchess" by her half-cousin, Marcus Wyndham. Little does Marcus suspect that the Duchess will one day reign sovereign over his own future. For the Earl of Chase, the Duchess's father and Marcus' uncle, leaves a double-edged inheritance, a legacy that will bind their fates.