Daughter of the Game by Tracy Grant (2002)
HISTORICAL: Historical Mystery Romance
SETTING: England and Spain 1819
SERIES: Book One in the Charles and Melanie series
HEROINE: 26 year old married mother
On a cloud-shrouded night in November 1819, six-year-old Colin Fraser vanishes from the safe cocoon of his family's Berkeley Square home. For his father Charles, an idealistic MP, former intelligence agent, and grandson of a duke, and mother Mélanie, a beautiful war refugee and society's most charming hostess, it is a tragedy that will rip their extraordinary marriage asunder and force them to question everything they believe in. Colin's captors are demanding a bizarre ransom: an exquisite ring surrounded by the promise of power. The search for it will pull the Frasers into a maze of intrigue that winds through the lowest and highest levels of London secrets -- revealing layer upon layer of deception and betrayal, and a shocking truth that binds Charles and Mélanie inextricably together ... even as it threatens to destroy them both.
Winter Garden by Adele Ashworth (2000)
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…
The Pretender by Celeste Bradley (2003)
HISTORICAL: European Historical Romance
SETTING: England 1813
SERIES: Book One in the Liar's Club series
HEROINE: 25 year old woman
Agatha Cunnington, a headstrong beauty from the country, has come to London in search of her missing brother James. The only clue she has is a cryptic letter signed The Griffin. Agatha decides to disguise herself as a respectable married woman so that she can go about the city unnoticed. But for her charade to work she needs a suitable "husband," preferably someone tall, elegant, and rakish-someone like Simon Montague Rain.
Simon Montague Rain, also known as The Magician, is a member of The Liar's Club, a renegade group of rogues and thieves in the service of the Crown. When someone begins murdering members of the undercover cabal one by one, Simon is given the mission to bring in The Griffin, one of his comrades who is suspected of betraying his brothers. Simon goes undercover and infiltrates the home of "Mrs." Agatha Applequist who he believes is the Griffin's mistress. Before Simon knows what's happened, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to Agatha's soft, feminine charms-and he is tempted beyond reason to break the first rule of The Liar's Club: never fall in love.
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (2008)
HISTORICAL: European Historical Romance
SETTING: France & England 1803
SERIES: Book Four in the Pink Carnation series
HEROINE: 25 year old woman,
Lauren Willig continues the exciting Pink Carnation series with her fourth novel, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, featuring Lord Vaughn, the delightfully devilish spy from The Masque of the Black Tulip, and Mary Alsworthy, the raven-haired beauty whose sister accidentally stole her suitor in The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Determined to secure another London season without assistance from her new brother-in-law, Mary accepts a secret assignment from Lord Vaughn on behalf of the Pink Carnation: to infiltrate the ranks of the dreaded French spy, the Black Tulip, before he and his master can stage their planned invasion of England. Every spy has a weakness, and for the Black Tulip that weakness is black-haired women--his "petals" of the Tulip. A natural at the art of seduction, Mary easily catches the attention of the French spy, but Lord Vaughn never anticipates that his own heart will be caught as well. Fighting their growing attraction, impediments from their past, and, of course, the French, Mary and Vaughn find themselves lost in the shadows of a treacherous garden of lies.
Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase (2008)
HISTORICAL: European Historical Romance
SETTING: Venice & England 1820
SERIES: Book Two in the Fallen Women series
HEROINE: 27 year old divorced courtesan
James Cordier is all blue blood and entirely dangerous. He's a master of disguise, a brilliant thief, a first-class lover - all for King and Country - and, by gad, he's so weary of it. His last mission is to "acquire" a packet of incriminating letters from one notorious woman. Then he can return to London and meet sweet-natured heiresses - not adventuresses and fallen women.
Francesca Bonnard has weathered heartbreak, scorn, and scandal. She's independent, happy, and definitely fallen; and she's learned that "gentlemen" are more trouble than they're worth. She can also see that her wildly attractive new neighbor is bad news. But as bad as James is, there are others far worse also searching for Francesca's letters. And suddenly nothing is simple - especially the nearly incendiary chemistry between the two most jaded, sinful souls in Europe. And just as suddenly, risking everything may be worth the prize.