Affair introduces Charlotte Arkendale, an industrious young woman who provides a very special service. Wealthy women hire her to check the qualifications of their suitors. When one of Charlotte’s loveliest clients is murdered, she hires the darkly handsome Baxter St. Ives to be her assistant and bodyguard. But as they pool their powers of deduction and begin to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murder, they also uncover the force of a powerful, and mutual, chemistry.

Venetia Milton's memories of a romantic night with Gabriel Jones—an alchemist's descendant—are shattered soon thereafter by news of his death. Adopting the guise of his respectable widow, she embarks on a new career as a fashionable photographer in London, where her unique ability to "see" beyond her subjects makes her photographs highly prized. But Venetia's romantic whim causes unexpected trouble.

Upon her father's death, beautiful, headstrong Lady Clare knew that she must wed, for the protection of the Isle of Desire now fell to her. Yet when her guardian's choice of prospective husband rode through her castle gates, she felt utterly betrayed. All sinewy muscle and savage steel, Sir Gareth of Wyckmere was not the poet she'd requested but a fearsome knight whose only interest was in war.

Novelist and professional companion Evangeline Ames has rented a cottage in the outskirts of Little Dixby, far from the London streets where she was recently attacked. Fascinated by the paranormal energy of nearby Crystal Gardens, she finds some pleasurable diversion in sneaking past the wall to explore the grounds. And when her life is threatened again, she instinctively goes to the gardens for safety. Lucas Sebastian has never been one to ignore a lady in danger, even if she is trespassing on his property.

At five and 20, Prudence Merryweather knew very well the risks a woman took by visiting a gentleman in the dead of night. But bearding the notorious Earl of Angelstone in his den was the only way to stop him from engaging her hot-headed brother in a duel. And that was why she found herself ushered into Sebastian's forbidding presence at three in the morning - and thoroughly kissed before dawn.