Unconventional Ladies Series by Aydra Richards

Grey St. Clair, recently created the Marquess of Granbury, has long nurtured a grudge against the aristocracy. Of common origins, he has spent years clawing his way into their exalted ranks, collecting their sins, secrets, and debts to use for his own purposes—all in the service of bringing about the downfall of the earl who destroyed his family nearly two decades ago... moreGrey St. Clair, recently created the Marquess of Granbury, has long nurtured a grudge against the aristocracy. Of common origins, he has spent years clawing his way into their exalted ranks, collecting their sins, secrets, and debts to use for his own purposes—all in the service of bringing about the downfall of the earl who destroyed his family nearly two decades ago. At long last, he is perfectly positioned to take from the Earl of Andover everything of value…beginning with the earl’s daughter. Lady Serena Tyndall has never been less than the perfect lady, of sterling character and reputation. .. until the day the marquess that polite society calls a demon arrives at her home and demands her for his mistress, leveraging her father’s debts to secure her acquiescence. Worse still, her father—hardly the model of fatherly devotion—agrees to sacrifice her to save himself. But the marquess has no interest in making her his mistress in truth, so together they strike a bargain: Grey will use Serena’s perceived disgrace as a weapon against her father, and in return for her compliance, he will leave her a wealthy woman when their association ends. While Serena contends with her changed place in society, she learns to appreciate her newfound freedom from the strictures of societal conventions. With no reputation to protect, she is free to pursue her own interests, free to skirt the bounds of acceptable behavior…perhaps free to fall in love with an unsuitable marquess, who—despite the circumstances of their meeting—has given her everything she never knew she wanted. less

Violet Townsend died eight years ago, the day that her father’s will stipulated that she marry a stranger. The last time she laid eyes upon her husband was the eve of their wedding, when he had her shipped off to be educated at an elite finishing school—which turned out to be a nightmare come to life... moreViolet Townsend died eight years ago, the day that her father’s will stipulated that she marry a stranger. The last time she laid eyes upon her husband was the eve of their wedding, when he had her shipped off to be educated at an elite finishing school—which turned out to be a nightmare come to life. After engineering a daring escape, Violet reinvented herself to avoid detection, living beneath assumed names, working in menial positions, always on the run…and always aware that her husband had never stopped searching for her. John Darling had not wanted a wife thrust upon him—particularly not a seventeen-year-old girl who had best been described as ‘headstrong’ and ‘willful. ’ But when Violet fled her finishing school and he had discovered the truth of what had occurred there, he had been forced to confront the ruin he had made of her life. In the years since, he has tracked her across England, collecting the pieces of the lives she has left in her wake, and finding that the image of the woman revealed through them isn’t at all what he imagined her to be. Now resurrected, Violet has a life that belongs to her once again, a home, and a career as a teacher at her dearest friend’s newly-founded school of deportment. But when her long-estranged husband arrives upon her doorstep as one of her students, it threatens to usurp everything Violet has struggled to build. Only, her husband isn’t quite the cold, unfeeling man from her memories. He claims only to want to get to know her, to make amends…but how could she possibly trust him? less

When Alex Dryden, Duke of Davenport, receives a letter from a disgruntled tenant alleging mismanagement by the land agent who oversees one of his estates, he knows something must be done. Given the antipathy in which his tenants hold him, he decides to investigate in disguise, masquerading as a simple solicitor newly arrived from London to sort out the situation on the duke’s behalf... moreWhen Alex Dryden, Duke of Davenport, receives a letter from a disgruntled tenant alleging mismanagement by the land agent who oversees one of his estates, he knows something must be done. Given the antipathy in which his tenants hold him, he decides to investigate in disguise, masquerading as a simple solicitor newly arrived from London to sort out the situation on the duke’s behalf. Theo Vance has lived and worked the farm that her father leases from the duke all of her life, but with their funds depleting further each passing quarter day, desperate measures must be taken lest they find themselves evicted. When Mr. Dryden arrives at her farm, summoned by the belligerent letter she’d penned to the duke, and claiming that he has come to resolve the issue, she is doubtful that anything will come of it—but her father nevertheless agrees to let Mr. Dryden stay on to conduct his investigation, so long as he also provides much-needed labor on their farm. It takes little more than a day for Theo to see through Mr. Dryden’s disguise, and when she realizes that she has got a duke playing at being a farm laborer, she can’t resist the impulse to make him miserable as retribution for the suffering the town has endured beneath his neglect. But she finds it harder and harder to keep hold of her resentment, when he’s not at all the kind of man she expected him to be…. less