She's trying to make ends meet. He's out for a bit of fun. Cordelia is busy, focused, worried about the future of her fledgling bookbinding business. When a handsome man stops her on the street to pester her with questions, she gives him the consideration he deserves: none. That handsome man happens to be the Duke of Stroud, and he finds Cordelia's hostility hilarious. He gives chase, if only for the pleasure of provoking her again. He thinks life is a game. She doesn't play around. Within days of meeting Cordelia, Stroud sets a marching band on a matchmaking mama, defaces a local monument, and ropes Cordelia into a round of his favorite game. In that same time, Cordelia stitches together the complete works of Mary Wollstonecraft, enthusiastically devotes herself to a petition demanding expanded legal rights for married women, and beats Stroud at his own game. She defies all expectations. So does...

All's fair in love and war...Lady Lily Spark has been missing, presumed dead, for years. Now she’s back in England, and in possession of a secret that could change the course of history. And she has no intention of giving it—or herself—up to anyone. John Tacitus Ware doesn’t know Lily’s secret. All he knows is that she has one—and he’ll have to win it from her if he wants to regain his place at the heart of British diplomacy. John and Lily are playing a dangerous game, with war and peace as the stakes. But as John’s ruthless ambition collides with Lily’s skilled manipulation, the attraction between them may change the rules for good.