Martha Keyes

She needs to be protected. He'll take on the job...for a price. Christina MacKinnon is secretly relieved to be a widow. She is equally desperate to distance herself from the clan of her dead husband, but as the heir to his estate-one she needs in order to support her siblings-she must first stave off both the advances and threats of the man next in line to inherit. It seems the only person she can turn to is a nearby stranger who seems inclined to help her. But he has a request.... Freshly returned from the war, Lachlan Kincaid has one aim: to see justice served to the MacKinnons for betraying his family years ago and depriving him of his inheritance. While biding his time at a nearby inn, he discovers the death of the MacKinnon laird-whose widow has inherited everything. The way to accomplish his goal is becoming more evident, but the path is murkier than he could have foreseen. As Christina's and Lachlan's lives intersect, it becomes clear that their separate aims may well only be achievable if they join forces. But to do so is to court more danger, and it requires a sacrifice Christina isn't sure she's prepared to make.

The Widow and the Highlander

MadiAfter two years and zero proposals, my relationship could use a little spark. Paris during the holidays seems like just the ticket-one perfect, final opportunity for my boyfriend to take things to the next level.The fact that he's rented me the tiny servant quarters in the apartment of a very good-looking Frenchman is . . . puzzling. And when he asks that Frenchman to take me around the city while he's busy at work trainings? Color me confused.Is this some sort of pre-engagement test? If so, I'm not sure I'm doing too hot.RémyOffering to host my friend's vacation rental means making sure the first review is five solid, sparkling stars. When the guest who shows up is a beautiful American woman, I'm thinking my task might be more enjoyable than I thought. Until I find out she has a boyfriend. Madi deserves to have an amazing time in Paris, though, so I'm more than happy to oblige when the guy asks me to show her the city.It's cool. I'm cool. This is all for that five-star review?

A Sweet Romance

Host for the Holidays

History has a way of repeating itself.SienaComing on the heels of a big, fat failure at work, my best friend Madi's glamorous French wedding is the perfect opportunity to prove I can do some things well-even if it kills me, which is looking like a distinct possibility. Maid of honor duties are no joke. And while I could honestly use an extra hand or ten, I have to refuse the offer of help from Madi's flirt of a brother, Jack. Nothing would spoil the beautiful wedding festivities faster than her finding out about that thing that happened between Jack and me that one time . . .Not that there's any danger of it happening again. It was so long ago, I've forgotten everything about it, down to the brand of his cologne. Aqua Di Gio is so utterly predictable.JackI admit, I haven't been the best brother to Madi. Okay, slight understatement-a history of dating her friends and ruining those friendships has landed me squarely in her black books.But my offer to help Siena isn't some underhanded scheme to hurt Madi a third time. I genuinely want to be a better brother. As for teasing Siena in the meantime? That's just standard procedure for me.Because everything is totally normal here. Nothing to see, folks.

Kissing for Keeps

The lines around the friend zone are blurrier than everStephanie "Stevie" JacobsMarriage to an A-list actor has its perks, but no one ever tells you about the drawbacks-paparazzi infesting your life like cockroaches after the divorce, for one. So when my longtime friend Troy offers me the empty side of his duplex while I get back on my feet again, the only possible answer is, "How soon can I come?"I've never seen Troy as anything but a friend, but when the gossip columns pin down my location, they're determined to make more of things between us, despite my assurances he's dating someone. The media are a tenacious bunch. Heck, they almost have me convinced, which is totally crazy. Right?Troy SheppardMy friendship with Stevie has survived a lot, including the day I caught the crazy bug and told her I wanted to be more than friends. Thankfully, that's far behind us. I'm here for Stevie-as a friend-now that she needs a soft place to land away from the gossip-hungry tabloids.There's just one problem: I may have seriously underestimated the power of the paparazzi-and possibly my feelings. Both seem bent on bringing the past into the present, but there's no way I'm going down the road to rejection a second time.

Just Friends Forever

Diana Donovan was raised aboard a naval ship on a steady diet of war strategy, so when her orphaned friend, Lucy, is denied a perfectly respectable love match by her controlling guardian, Diana sees an opportunity to put her battle knowledge to use in service of a deserving friend.But Marmaduke Russell is not the middle-aged curmudgeon Diana is expecting. He is a maddeningly cool, unmarried gentleman who seems uniquely able to parry her tactics-and infuse her with even more determination to win. As battle ensues, though, it becomes clear that there may be more hearts in the balance than just Lucy's.

The Art of Victory

All that stands between him and freedom? Turning her hatred to love. Elizabeth Innes has a tongue too sharp for her own good, and she is never more ready to employ it than when faced with the MacKinnons. With just one piece of evidence connecting their clan to a near-deadly attack, she is determined to prove the laird guilty and see him brought to justice. So, when chance throws her in the company of one of the MacKinnon men, she resolves to take advantage of the opportunity to glean more information. Malcolm MacKinnon has long lived under the thumb of his cousin and laird, Angus, who keeps a secret with the power to ruin him. With his mother and siblings entirely dependent upon Angus's capricious generosity, he cannot afford to offend his cousin. When Angus proposes a way for him to finally be free of his shackles, Malcolm is more than ready to oblige. All he must do is help Angus seek revenge upon the rival, neighboring clan. The way to do it? Gain the trust-and love-of one of their young women. As Malcolm and Elizabeth pursue their goals, they find their tasks much more difficult than anticipated, with challenges to their loyalties at every turn. Both must decide how far they are willing to go for revenge-and love.

The Enemy and Miss Innes

All she needs is a little bit of change. She'll have to fight him for it. Georgiana Paige is on the shelf after eight full Seasons in London and not a single offer of marriage. When the opportunity to act as companion to her spinster aunt presents itself, she jumps at the chance to escape the Marriage Mart and embark on a new adventure. Upon her eventful arrival in the tiny Yorkshire village, though, she finds herself confronted with a man who both piques her interest and provokes her pride. A lowly country vicar, Samuel Derrick would do anything to keep his coarse but idyllic parish the way it is. When change arrives there in the form of multiple new tenants straight from London, he vows to fight against their meddling. He is unprepared, though, for Georgiana Paige and the way she forces herself into the inner workings of the parish. His past experience tells him to keep the woman at arm's length, but his heart-and her determination to stay involved-won't allow for it. As the village fights against the industrialization and poverty sweeping the North, Samuel and Georgiana find themselves working to pull the village together, even as those around them seemed determined to pull it apart. But how can two people who have lived such disparate lives bring anything together when they are fighting against their own desires for change and love? The Road through Rushbury is a stand-alone sweet regency romance novel, book one in the Seasons of Change series. Books in the series include: Book One: The Road through Rushbury by Martha Keyes Book Two: The Last Eligible Bachelor by Ashtyn Newbold Book Three: A Forgiving Heart by Kasey Stockton Book Four: A Well-Trained Lady by Jess Heileman Book Five: coming soon by Deborah M. Hathaway Bok Six: coming soon by Sally Britton Book Seven: coming soon by Jennie Goutet

The Road Through Rushbury

After being dumped last Christmas, I’m taking extreme measures to ensure nothing and no one ruins my happy holidays this time around. I’ll be safely wrapped in a cocoon of kitschy Christmas decor, complete with surrounding winter wonderland at the ultimate holiday mountain cabin. So what if the countless elf figurines make me a little uneasy or if there are a couple hiccups with cabin maintenance? There’s a bigger problem: the assistant manager happens to be one of (many) teasing classmates from my childhood and my former crush. He keeps showing up to my cabin to fix things. I’m more worried about what he might break....

A Sweet Romantic Comedy

Solo for the Season

She could use a bit of guidance in Society. Who better than the man who knows-and has broken-every rule? When Rebecca Russell's brother marries, she finally has the opportunity she has been dreaming of: to leave the seclusion of her reclusive grandfather's home and enter into Society. But when her inexperience has her making blunders and courting embarrassment, help comes from an unexpected source: the brooding, irritable brother of her chaperone. Valentine Donovan is a rake, mountains of gaming debt and all. With his only hope for financial relief tied up in the Admiralty Court, he must temporarily rely on his father's charity-and all the strings attached to it. His father demands Valentine show evidence that he is changing his ways, so when the engaging but naive young woman living with his sister presents a plan, he can't refuse the opportunity to fulfill some of his father's requirements, albeit reluctantly. But Valentine is unprepared for Rebecca's guileless optimism and how impossible he finds it to say no to her increasingly onerous requests-requests that put both their hearts and reputations in danger.

A Confirmed Rake

After nearly ten years in the army, Hamish Campbell is ready to settle in and call a place home. His sights are set on Dalmore House, the Campbell family estate seized by the Crown after the ‘45 uprising. To have any chance at all of regaining it, Hamish must not only find the money to pay off the estate’s debts but persuade the man who has charge of it to relinquish the property into the hands of a Jacobite’s son. With the help of his brother-in-arms, Hamish finds employment at an inn near to Dalmore’s overseer, putting him in an ideal location to seek the man’s favor. Ava MacMorran cannot marry Angus MacKinnon. Any fate would be preferable. Escaping her father’s threats of force, Ava sets out for the home of the childhood friend she knows will help her--perhaps even marry her. But when the merchant meant to take her there is nowhere to be found and Ava is mistaken for a long-awaited inn servant, she determines to go along with the misconception until she can be rescued by her friend. With Ava ignorant of Hamish’s goals and Hamish unaware that he is harboring the fugitive daughter of the lynchpin of his plan, attachment between them deepens and the threat of discovery looms large, making a satisfactory outcome seem all but impossible.

The Innkeeper and the Fugitive

Unrequited

The Christmas Foundling (Belles of Christmas

Love lessons have never gone so awry... Miss Ruth Hawthorn helps support her fatherless family the only way she can: doling out love advice in a local newspaper column under an assumed name, the Swan. When she receives a lucrative request for an in-person consultation from someone signed "O," her brother persuades her to go to London with him, teaching him what he needs to know in order to survive the short appointment. But when "O" moves up the time of the rendez-vous and Ruth's brother is nowhere to be found, she is forced to take matters into her own hands. Philip Trent, Lord Oxley, knows precisely which woman will best fill his late mother's shoes as the viscountess--now all he needs is a little help winning her over, swarmed as she is by suitors. Ashamed of his ineptitude with women but determined to succeed, Philip secretly enlists help. The youthful, bespectacled Swan seems like the last person capable of providing such help, but Philip finds in the young man both a friend and a confidant, with a surprising understanding of love. Philip's choice of woman is proving more difficult than anticipated, though, and Ruth's ongoing disguise and frequent meetings with him are taxing her conscience--and her heart. With more secrets than Ruth can manage and a heart long since lost to her most important client, she faces the threat of discovery and ruin--a prospect somehow eclipsed by the heartbreak she will face when those secrets are inevitably discovered by the man she loves. True of Heart is a sweet Regency retelling of Shakespeare's classic, Twelfth Night. Other books in this series: A Foolish Heart, Book One My Wild Heart, Book Two

True of Heart

He waylays her carriage and runs off with her property. Can she keep him from stealing her heart as well? By day, Reginald Sinclair works in the post office, but by night, he is the increasingly infamous Paladin, the gallant highwayman making young women swoon all over Somerset. With a vendetta against the wealthy that spans both past and present, Reggie's escapades allow him to take justice into his own hands while helping his uncle avoid insolvency. Joanna Carmichael's father has finally chosen her a husband. While she is not thrilled with her father's selection, Joanna understands it as a business arrangement, something which suits her practicality perfectly. Her father hopes her good sense will exercise a beneficial effect upon her younger sister, Frances, who is regrettably prone to romantics. Frances's preoccupation with reports of the Paladin threaten to overshadow Joanna's coolheaded example, but Joanna is determined to show her sister how foolish and unworthy of admiration the outlaw is. During their encounter, though, the maddening highwayman takes an item of Joanna's-then has the audacity to send her a letter with instructions on how to recover it, beginning a battle of wills that brings Reggie within reach of the people responsible for his family's ruin and forces Joanna to reconsider the desirability of her business arrangement. Sons of Somerset: A Clean Regency Romance Series Can five working class men find love on the job? This is the fifth book in the clean Regency romance Sons of Somerset series. Although this working class romance is a stand-alone novel, the books are best enjoyed when read in order. Book 1: Carving for Miss Coventry by Deborah M. Hathaway Book 2: The Stable Master's Son by Mindy Burbidge Strunk Book 3: In Pursuit of the Painter by Ashtyn Newbold Book 4: An Agreeable Alliance by Kasey Stockton Book 5: The Highwayman's Letter by Martha Keyes

A Regency Romance

The Highwayman's Letter

Lawrence Debenham has finally escaped his dictatorial parents--even if it's only to the estate they expect him to rehabilitate and grace with a wife. But he has his own plans: inviting his friends to stay and doing as he pleases. He will do whatever it takes to show his parents he is the master of his own fate. Eleanor Renwick has taken care of her younger brother since their mother's death two years ago. Responsible and deliberate, she is unprepared for the accident they meet as they travel to their new home. They are taken in by a handsome, amusing gentleman to his run-down estate where she finds herself relying on him in the care of her energetic young charge. Eleanor discovers herself confronting a growing desire for companionship from a man who is anxious to avoid marriage. Lawrence, abruptly challenged by Eleanor's calm example of duty, feels a fast-increasing regard for her, forcing him to decide just how much he is willing to sacrifice to teach his parents a lesson.

Eleanor

He jilted her sister. She will never forgive him for it. Can her anger survive a snowing in and a Christmas truce? Emma Caldwell doesn't hate anyone--except for Hugh Warrilow, the man who jilted her older sister and left like a coward to join the army. Men are clearly not to be trusted, and Emma is determined not to give her heart to one. No, a marriage of convenience is the very thing to suit her. Hugh Warrilow has been secretly in love with Emma Caldwell for years, so when the time comes to live up to both families' expectations and marry her sister, he can't find it in himself to do it. Disgraced and misunderstood, he joins to fight Napoleon on the Continent, hoping he will forget Emma and be forgotten by everyone he has disappointed. An injury brings Hugh home--just in time for Christmas and the snowstorm that leaves him trapped under the same roof as Emma. How will he explain that his unforgivable act was motivated by how desperately he loved her? Her icy reception doesn't leave him the chance, nor does it offer much hope for the season's expectation of peace on earth and goodwill to men. Book 2 in the Belles of Christmas series, Goodwill for the Gentleman is a standalone Regency holiday romance. The series can be enjoyed in any order: Unmasking Lady Caroline by Mindy Burbridge Strunk, Book 1 Goodwill for the Gentleman by Martha Keyes, Book 2 The Earl's Mistletoe Match by Ashtyn Newbold, Book 3 Nine Ladies Dancing by Deborah M. Hathaway, Book 4 A Duke for Lady Eve by Kasey Stockton, Book 5

Goodwill for the Gentleman

1794 Scotland For more than twenty years, the Lowland village of Craigmuir has been untouched by smallpox, leaving the people vulnerable to a painful lesson on the price of belonging, belief, and survival. Isla Findlay belongs nowhere. The daughter of a disgraced woman and the Highlander who abandoned them both, she tries to be a dutiful niece to the uncle who has taken her in, blending into the village as best she can. But when a young Highlander's arrival in the area coincides with an outbreak of dreaded smallpox, it stirs up questions about Isla's past and forces a confrontation between the beliefs she holds and the community she wants to belong to. Dr. Graeme MacNeill killed the only patient he ever had: his own father. The only way he can think to atone is to cut all ties from the Lowland world his father hated-including his education as a physician-and embrace the Highland heritage he used to be ashamed of. He travels to Craigmuir to sell the unwanted estate he has inherited from an uncle and return home, but fate-and the red-headed young woman he encounters in the village-have no intention of letting him leave things so easily behind.

Of Lands High and Low

**Previously published as My Wild Heart Can a ruse turn to romance? No one stands in doubt of Edith Donne's opinion on marriage—or of her ability to ward it off using nothing but her stinging wit. With the fortune her aunt has left her, Edith has no reason to marry and certainly no intention of it. When she inadvertently overhears that her lifelong archrival is in love with her, she is stunned, but she has no compunction in setting him straight. Elias Abram trusts no woman, but he can bandy words with the best of them—and Edith Donne is undoubtedly the best. Her razor-sharp tongue has been a constant companion and a welcome challenge since their prank-filled childhood days. But when Elias is given to believe that Edith is secretly in love with him, his world is flipped on its head, forcing him to reconsider everything he thought he knew. Soon realizing they have been duped by their conspiring friends, Edith and Elias resolve to turn the tables on them in the most shocking manner they can concoct—the ultimate revenge. But what's to be done when the lines between charade and reality begin to blur?

A Conspiratorial Courting: a Sweet Regency Romance

A babe in a manger once saved the world. Can this one save a failing marriage? Lydia Blakeburn, Baroness Lynham, wants nothing more than to present her husband with an heir, but after five years of marriage, she has all but given up on doing so. What started as a love match has since begun to sour, yet there is nothing Lydia can do to free Miles from a marriage she is certain he regrets. The future they had envisioned together is slipping farther and farther away. Miles Blakeburn is at his wit's end. Not only has he failed to produce an heir to the family's ancient title, his wife has withdrawn from him entirely. The one thing in the world she wants, he has thus far been unable to give her: a child. He is a failure in every regard. When they happen upon an abandoned baby at the Frost Fair, Miles simply can't resist the light he sees sparked in his wife's eyes as she holds the child. He agrees to take the foundling in until Christmastide is over, when they will find the babe a permanent home. But, for a couple who's been yearning for a baby for years, the infant can't help but expose all the feelings Lydia and Miles have long been trying to bury, feelings that have the power to bring them back together--or estrange them forever. *This book deals with the topic of infertility, which can be triggering for some Five Christmas romances and the Frost Fair that started them all. This is the fifth book in the clean and sweet Regency romance Belles of Christmas: Frost Fair series. Although this second chance romance is a stand-alone novel, the books are best enjoyed when read in order. Book 1: Her Silent Knight by Ashtyn Newbold Book 2: All is Mary and Bright by Kasey Stockton Book 3: Thawing the Viscount's Heart by Mindy Burbidge Strunk Book 4: On the Second Day of Christmas by Deborah M. Hathaway Book 5: The Christmas Foundling by Martha Keyes

A Christmas Regency Romance

The Christmas Foundling

A gentleman's impulsive wager to marry a stranger. A young woman's determination not to marry the man she wants. When Isabel Cosgrove is informed by her father that he lost her hand in marriage while playing cards with Charles Galbraith-the gentleman she's been admiring from a distance for years-she is filled with dismay. How can she agree to wed a man whose reason for marriage is part-revenge, part-indifference? Intent on avoiding a painful union where her regard cannot be returned, she concocts a plan. Charles Galbraith didn't intend to become engaged as a result of a drunken wager at cards, but after the woman he loves spurns him, what does it matter whom he marries? But even Miss Cosgrove, the fiancée he won by wager, seems intent not to marry him-a fact that both relieves and piques him. She instead suggests a plan that has the potential to temporarily appease her father's demand of marriage while also winning back the love of the woman Charles truly wants. But when Charles and Isabel are thrown into the midst of a brewing scandal and another man's potential disinheritance, their plan begins to unravel thread by thread, challenging what Galbraith thinks he wants-and just how much more time with him Isabel's heart can stand.

Martha Keyes

About

Books

Join the club