Penelope Ashford, Portia Cynster's younger sister, has devoted her life to the care of orphans. But lately, her charges seem to be disappearing without a trace. Penelope enlists investigator Barnaby Adair to solve the mystery. Adair agrees, intrigued by both the case and by Penelope.

It's December 1837, and the young adults of the Cynster clan have succeeded in having the family Christmas celebration held at snowbound Casphairn Manor, Richard and Catriona Cynster's home. Led by Sebastian, Marquess of Earith, and by Lucilla, future Lady of the Vale, and her twin brother, Marcus, the upcoming generation has its own plans for the holiday season.

It's December 1810, and Lady Therese Osbaldestone is looking forward to her usual Christmas with her family at Winslow Abbey, her youngest daughter Celia's home. But then a carriage rolls up and disgorges Celia's three oldest children. Their father has contracted mumps, and their mother has sent the three - Jamie, George, and Lottie - to spend this Christmas with their grandmama in Little Moseley.

Sebastian Cynster knows time is running out. If he doesn't choose a wife soon, his female relatives will line up to assist him. Yet the current debutantes do not appeal. Where is he to find the right lady to be his marchioness? Then Drake Varisey, eldest son of the Duke of Wolverstone, asks for Sebastian's aid.

Jacqueline Tregarth, lady and guardian of Nimway Hall, is devoted to protecting her people, the Hall, the estate’s wood, and its farms. She yearns for a husband to help her meet the challenges, but all those seeking her hand are interested only in controlling her lands. With the estate’s stream running dry and summer looming, she sets men digging to reopen an old spring. Her workers discover a dirt-encrusted ornament buried at the spot; once removed, water flows and fills the old lake - and Jacqueline realizes the ornament is some kind of ancient orb.

Lady Gemma Lively’s life as the darling of London’s fast set was carefree and fun, filled with exciting friends, daring fashions, and scandalous parties. But when the death of her father leaves her family with nothing but a dilapidated coaching inn at the end of the Earth, it’s up to Gemma to change their fate. She needs a rich husband immediately—but the only bachelor in sight is a devilishly distracting barkeep who doesn’t know the peerage from a pint glass.

Long-held secrets rise to the surface in a battle of wills that threatens to tear apart everything Kitty and William thought they knew about each other and about love. Because sometimes, happily-ever-afters aren't just granted . . . sometimes, they must be fought for.

Lenore Lester was perfectly content with her quiet country life, caring for her father, and having no desire for marriage. She took steps to remain inconspicuous and tried her best to show indifference--but to no avail! The irresistible Duke of Eversleigh had found her out and was quite persistent in his affections....

When Thomas Cardwell, an upstanding man-of-business, is murdered, Roscoe enlists the aid of the best investigators in London—namely Barnaby and Penelope Adair and Inspector Stokes of Scotland Yard—to solve the puzzle of why anyone would want to kill a man as honest as Cardwell. Dispatched by Roscoe, London’s gambling king, to learn what “nefarious activity” an upstanding man-of-business has stumbled upon, Jordan Draper—Roscoe’s own man-of-business—arrives at Thomas Cardwell’s office to discover Cardwell very recently murdered.

Miss Dorothea Darent has no intention of ever getting married, certainly not to a rogue such as the Marquis of Hazelmere. A disreputable scoundrel, he is captivated when they meet by chance and is determined to win her heart, even while she's busy dazzling the rest of London society. Now Dorothea has a choice to make: stick with her plan to remain a respectable spinster, or run into the arms of her dashing stranger.