Fujiwara Ryo has an offer she can't refuse: a marriage proposal from her archenemy. As the shogun's royal prisoner, she'd be guaranteed a comfortable life in a gilded cage. But Ryo isn't the kind of girl to take the easy way out. So refuse it she does. And now a failed revolt against the Ashikaga shogunate has left her with a price on her head and her spurned fiance hot on her heels. Ryo escapes with Sen, her loyal lady-in-waiting, to sacred Mt. Koya. There, Sen's uncle summons the mighty Kala Sarpa. If all goes as planned, the "Serpent of Time" will transport Ryo far out of the shogun's...

Jane Austen's "Persuasion" has the reader rooting for the protagonists to rekindle their estranged affections. But what of the novel's nemeses? In the end, the wily and impious Mr. Elliot casts aside his carefully groomed reputation and persuades the infamous Mrs. Clay to become his mistress. But every persuader needs a persuadable partner, and Mrs. Clay is no ingenue; she'd send a Willoughby or a Wickham packing. Though no less calculating than those romantic villains, Penelope Clay and William Elliot discover in each other the kind of kindred spirits they fail to find among the titled...

Aubrey St. Clair awakens in a locked room, having barely survived a misguided enchantment that turned her into a cat. Kidnapped by unprincipled magicians and exploited by ruthless politicians, her only recourse is to literally claw her way to safety. Safe in body but not in soul, Aubrey is forced to confront the slippery memories of her own bespellment. Is forgetfulness really the best defense? In her hunt for the truth, Aubrey is aided by a cool-headed police officer. His interest in her, however, may be more than merely professional. But how much more? It slowly begins to dawn on her that...

Recently appointed to a hoped-for government post, Richard St. Clair struggles to suppress less-than-appropriate feelings for his new assistant, especially since he's seen through her disguise. He's a formally engaged man, after all. And he's got everything under control-until an unknown adversary slips him a love potion that unleashes his true affections. With the help of his once-enchanted sister, his policeman brother-in-law, and the woman he really loves, Richard scours Kingston for his foe and way to ethically express his heart's desires. The second installment in the "Roesia" series,...

Years before encountering the St. Clair family (as both a scourge and a blessing), the mysterious magician Lord Simon used his considerable (but untested) powers to save a woman under assault. As a result, he bespelled her into the walls of his house, where she remains. Trapped. Driven obsessively to free her, Simon consorts with grave robbers and physicians, politicians and priests, twisting the arms of the powerful and the profane in any profession. As his reputation blackens and his house crumbles, his obsession to save a woman long thought long dead may drive him mad. The third...