Heroines in Romance Novels

CATEGORY: Bantam Loveswept
SETTING: Contemporary US
HEROINE: 36 year old divorced Yale professor and actress with children

The moment she spies the rugged hunk in the faded jeans at the airport, Ellen knows she should run for cover. Instead, she throws caution to the wind and plunges into a sizzling affair with the gorgeous cop. Between romantic dinners, sensual limo rides, and a perfect night of passion, Ellen is living every woman's fantasy. Until she's caught in the sights of a deranged stalker, and the divorced single mother is suddenly turning to N.Y.P.D. detective Sam Schaefer for her very survival.…

Soon Sam's taking a bullet meant for Ellen, and racing against time to stop a killer from hitting his target. Keeping Ellen safe will take everything he's got. Earning her trust could be a mission impossible, as two wary hearts team up for a summer they'll never forget - and a sizzling adventure that could get them both killed…or give them everything they've ever wanted.

CATEGORY : Harlequin Presents
SETTING: Contemporary Ireland
HEROINE: 29 year old working at a music distribution business

Circumstance has left Finn McNeill without a place to stay. Which means her only option is the spare room of rugged firefighter Shane Dwyer. Soon Finn's burning question is--should she act on the attraction smoldering between them?

The tension's simmering, the chemistry's sizzling and the flames of passion are licking at their heels! Perhaps one secret white-hot night will be enough to put out the fire?

HISTORICAL: European Historical Romance
SETTING: England 1849
HEROINE: 29 year old French spy for Britain

Though a celebrated French beauty in 1849, Madeleine DuMais's cleverness is her greatest asset -- and one she puts to good use as a spy for the British. When her expertise is needed in the south of England to break up a smuggling ring, Madeleine willingly puts her life on hold to help the crown...

Arriving in the quaint resort town of Winter Garden, Madeleine meets her partner in subterfuge. Thomas Blackwood is unlike any man she has ever met. His quiet confidence and mysterious intensity send shivers of pleasure coursing through her ... shivers that slowly melt into a desperate passion. As duty gives way to desire, surrender holds its reward. And Madeleine will never recover from the touch of Thomas's hands on her body -- and the touch of his heart on her soul…

HISTORICAL: European Historical Romance
SETTING: England 1815
HEROINE: 22 year old gamester

They called it their "double act." And in Europe's most exclusive gaming halls, Judith Davenport and her brother Sebastian used the technique to dupe unwary noblemen out of their pocket money. First, Judith lured them to the card tables with her ravishing smile. Then, employing her fan in an elaborate code, she made sure that Sebastian's luck never ran out. It was a dangerous game played in preparation for one desperate purpose: to avenge their father's tragic death.

But the Davenports never bargained for the penetrating scrutiny of a certain strikingly handsome lord who had come to see for himself the woman who had all of Brussels at her feet, including his besotted nephew. Marcus Devlin the honorable marquis of Carrington, wasn't fooled for an instant by Judith's air of innocence -- or by her flirtatious way with a fan. Instead he was amused, infuriated, and intrigued enough to draw the bewitching schemer into a daring gamble of his own ... where the stakes were nothing less than the lady's heart.

CATEGORY : Harlequin Presents
SETTING: Contemporary UK
HEROINE: 26 year old office manager

Having just been fired, Francesca has three immediate requirements: a coffee, an extremely calorific pastry and a new job. Stopping off at her favorite café, Giovanni's, she manages to pick up all three!

Working for darkly handsome Giovanni Mazetti is fantastic--except Fran discovers the job comes with a tantalizing caveat: pretending to be his adoring girlfriend! Soon their kisses start happening in private as well as in public, and although Fran knows it's all a game to Giovanni, she can't help wishing his feelings were for real….

SINGLE TITLE: Chick lit romance
SETTING: Contemporary UK
HEROINE: 25 year old marketing assistant

Emma is sitting on a turbulent plane. She's always been a v. nervous flyer. She really thinks that this could be her last moment. So, naturally enough, she starts telling the man sitting next to her - quite a dishy American, but she's too frightened to notice -all her innermost secrets. How she scans the backs of intellectual books and pretends she's read them. How she does her hair up like Princess Leia in her bedroom. How she's not sure if she has a G-spot, and whether her boyfriend could find it anyway. How she feels like a fraud at work - everyone uses the word 'operational' all the time but she hasn't a due what it means. How the coffee at work is horrible. How she once threw a troublesome client file in the bin. If ever there was a bare soul, it's hers. She survives the flight, of course, and the next morning the famous founding boss of the whole mega corporation she works for is coming for a look at the UK branch. As he walks around, Emma looks up and realises... It's the man from the plane. What will he do with her secrets? He knows them all - but she doesn't know a single one of his. Or... does she?

HISTORICAL: American Historical Romance
TIME PERIOD: Modern era
SETTING: US 1941
HEROINE: 25 year old pregnant widow with children

In town, they called her "Crazy Widow Dinsmore." But Elly was no stranger to their ridicule--she had been an outsider all her life, growing up in a boarded-up old house under the strict eye of her eccentric grandparents. Now she was all alone, with two little boys to raise, and a third child on the way.

He drifted into Whitney, Georgia, one lazy afternoon in the summer of 1941, hoping to put his lonely past behind him. He yearned for the tenderness he had never known, the home he'd never had. All he needed was for someone to give him a chance.

HISTORICAL: Elizabethan Romance
SETTING: England 1586
HEROINE: 30 year old leader of the criminal underworld

Amid the treachery and turmoil of Elizbethan England, Rafe Fletcher returns from war to rescue his kinsmen accused of plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth and place Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne. Racing to save his relatives' lives and restore the family's honor, Rafe has only one hope to find the truth: to infiltrate a cutthroat gang of thieves ruled by the notorious brother-sister team of Nick and Vivian Swift.

Rafe thinks Vivian will be easy to hate. But unlike any woman he's ever met, Viv draws him with a tantalizing power he finds irresistible. Proud and daring, Viv awakens a fire deeper and more consuming than any Rafe has ever known. To taste the passion of the fiery beauty's embrace, however, could expose his secret and finish his family. And for Viv, succumbing to her own exquisite desire could mean downfall too, for she harbors her own dark mystery. Rafe and Viv know that to give in to love may cost them their very lives. Yet how can they resist?

HISTORICAL: European Historical Romance
SETTING: England 1822
HEROINE: 25-ish year old widow

Margaret Esterly is desperate - and desperation can lead to shocking behaviour! Beautiful and gently-bred, she was the essence of prim, proper English womanhood - until fate widowed her and thurst her into poverty overnight. Now she finds herself at a dazzling masked ball,determined to sell a volume of scandalous memoirs to the gala's noble host. But amid the heated fantasy of the evening, Margaret boldly, impetuously, shares a moment of passion with a darkly handsome gentleman . . . and then flees into the night.

Who was this exquisite creature who swept into Michael Hawthorne's arms and then vanished? The startled, yet pleasingly stimulated Earl of Montraine is not about to forget the intoxicating woman of mystery so easily - especially since Michael's heart soon tells him that he has at last found his perfect bride. But once he locates her again, will he be able to convince the reticent lady that their moment of ecstasy was no mere accident . . . and that just one kiss can lead to paradise?

CATEGORY: Harlequin Blaze
SETTING: Contemporary US
SERIES: Book One in the Red Choo Diaries series
HEROINE: 32 year business woman in the financial industry

Nicknamed "The Porcupine," Jamie McNamara has a tough-as-nails attitude that makes her a force to be reckoned with on Wall Street. So it's a shock even to her when she seduces a sexy investment broker in a Hummer limo on the way to a business meeting. But when her erotic escapade becomes the topic of the "Red Choo Diaries" sex blog and threatens to destroy her steely persona, Jamie realizes a fling isn't always frivolous.

Used to getting what he wants, gorgeous man-about-town Andrew Brooks knows a good thing when he sees it--and he sees and wants Jamie. Her drive and passion have him consumed. He's determined to transform their passionate limo encounter into a long-term merger--and he's prepared to negotiate!

SINGLE TITLE: Contemporary romance
SETTING: Contemporary US
HEROINE: 32 year old lawyer

When it comes to the laws of attraction, there are no rules The battle between the sexes is about to make these two lawyers hot under the collar. Opposites collide when two lawyers try to make partner at the same firm. Payton Kendall is a feminist to the bone. Cocky J.D. Jameson was born privileged. But when they're asked to join forces on a major case, they gain a newfound awareness of each other's personal assets. The partnership spot will be offered to only one of them, though. The competition heats up. Sparks fly. Let the games begin.

CATEGORY: Harlequin Blaze Historical
SETTING: England 1887
HEROINE: 26 year old widow

Mariah Eller was only trying to save her inn from being trashed. So how did the widow manage to attract the unwanted - and erotic - attention of the Prince of Wales? Not that being desired by royalty is necessarily bad. Only, Mariah much prefers the prince's best friend. Jack St. Lawrence is very tempting, and very loyal. And he knows that the prince gets involved only with married women. So he figures sexy Mariah is safe.until the prince demands Jack find her a husband! The problem? Jack and Mariah can't fight their sizzling attraction. And once they give in to their desires, the situation is even worse. Because the prince's man has found a husband for Mariah. Himself.

HISTORICAL: European Historical Romance
SETTING: England 1834
SERIES: Book Four in the Seduction series
HEROINE: 22 year old illegitimate woman

The illegitimate daughter of a prince and a notorious courtesan, Lucia has been confined to schools and convents for most of her life. But that hasn't stopped her from causing one scandal after another. Exasperated, her royal father decides that his exquisite hellion of a daughter must be married immediately. And Sir Ian Moore, Britain's most proper diplomat, is the perfect man to choose her a groom.

Diplomacy, not matchmaker, is Ian's forte, but he vows to get Lucia married off as soon as possible so that he may return to his real duties. Yet, despite an abundance of very eager, worthwhile candidates, none is a match for Lucia's spirit and fire. And the more time Ian spends with the infuriating beauty, the more reluctant he is to marry her off. Could it be that he has already found Lucia the perfect husband...and it is Ian himself?

SINGLE TITLE: Contemporary romance
SETTING: Contemporary US
SERIES: Book One in the New York Blades series
HEROINE: thirty year old publicist

Janna MacNeil is a publicist on a mission—to change the image of the bad boys of hockey: the Stanley Cup Champion New York Blades. Ty Gallagher is a captain on a mission—to get his team to win the Cup again…at any cost. His determination is legendary, as well as his unwillingness to toe the corporate line. When the persistent publicist and the stubborn captain butt heads, it’s hard enough to crack the ice. But they may end up melting it instead.

HISTORICAL: European Historical Romance
SETTING: England 1788
SERIES: Book Four in the Rakes of London series
HEROINE: 26 year old widow

Georgianna Exley's passionate nature has always been her undoing, and for this reason the beautiful young widow allows her lovers only a single night in her bed. But Ivo Dauntry has come home to England, and for him she'll break her most sacred rule: granting him six nights of sensual bliss, one for every year he's given up for her...

As a gentleman born, Ivo risked his reputation and his life in a duel to defend Georgianna's honor. Now, returned from exile, Ivo discovers that she has proven to be less than a lady...and soon, his daring seduction becomes a sensual contest of wills. But the long-ago duel that bound them forever has fueled the hatred of a madman determined to make Georgianna pay for her misdeeds with her life, and once again, Ivo must risk everything to save the woman he loves...