Email Nicola

The Village of Fortune's Folly is the marriage mart of England!

Welcome to the World of Fortune's Folly!

When unscrupulous village squire Sir Montague Fortune discovers that he can revive all the ancient taxes in the village of Fortune's Folly he causes uproar amongst the populace, for the medieval Dames' Tax will allow him to take half the dowry of every unmarried woman in the village unless she weds within the year. Soon the village is bustling with fortune hunting bachelors out to persuade the ladies that it would be preferable to marry them than to lose their fortunes...

The Books:

Currently available in the US. Coming from MIRA Books UK in June - August 2010.

 The Secrets of a Courtesan (E-book prequel!)

Book 1 - The Confessions of a Duchess.

Book 2 -  The Scandals of An Innocent.

Book 3 -  The Undoing of a Lady.

The Characters:

Laura Cole is the perfect Duchess. Trained for her role from her earliest childhood, she is elegant, gracious and refined. Now a penniless widow, Laura knows that the most important thing in her life is to protect her young daughter. But Dexter Anstruther, the man with whom she shared one night of passion, threatens all her secrets and her future. Dexter brings out in Laura a wild side she has kept hidden for years and very much wants to indulge.

Dexter Anstruther is one of the Guardians who works for Lord Hawkesbury, the Home Secretary. The Guardians are counter spies who work to keep the country safe. Dexter is the epitome of honour, a man of utter integrity. Four years earlier he fell madly in love with Laura Cole even though she was a married duchess eight years his senior. Utterly disillusioned by her rejection of him he went spectacularly to the bad but managed eventually to get his life back on course. Now he is determined to keep on the straight and narrow, to do his job and to find an heiress to marry. But his passion for Laura threatens all his plans. Laura calls to his wild side. But Dexter must resist if he is to make the rich marriage of convenience he so desperately needs.

Alice Lister is the Regency girl next door. Loyal, thoughtful and the best friend one could have, Alice nevertheless nurses a lack of confidence over her humble origins as a servant girl. But when Miles Vickery sets out to blackmail and seduce her Alice finds the core of strength she needs to stand up to the wicked rake. Through her warmth of character, generosity of spirit and appealing innocence she sets out to reunite Miles with the family from whom he is estranged and to reform the rake.

 Miles, Lord Vickery, works for the Home Secretary as one of the Guardians but despite his role on the side of the angels he is bad and dangerous to know. Miles is the ultimate rake, a man who will pay his addresses to an heiress one moment and seduce her maidservant the next. When he sets out to force Alice into marriage for her money he is ruthless in his blackmail and has absolutely no scruples. And when he finds that Alice’s influence is starting to reform him he fights the process with everything he has, determined that Alice is not going to bring him to his knees.

Lady Elizabeth Scarlet is a wild child, the unhappy, mixed up sister of the squire of Fortune’s Folly who has never known a stable family life. Lizzie is always acting on impulse and regretting it later, never more so than when she seduces her childhood friend Nat Waterhouse. When Lizzie is unhappy she tends to become more and more outrageous and her exploits are the talk of the town. But Lizzie also has a core of strength and a fierce courage and when she is forced to grow up and take responsibility she can rise to the challenge.

 Nathaniel, Earl of Waterhouse is the third of the Guardians, the strong silent type who sees his role as that of protector. That is what Nat does – he protects his country, he protects his family and he has always seen his role to protect Lizzie too. Nat is conventional and he wants Lizzie to conform so when she is compromised into marrying him the scene is set for a spectacular showdown between the fiery heiress and her husband...

With a cast of rakes, fortune hunters, criminals, debutantes, matchmaking mamas and a walk on part for the Prince of Wales, the Fortune's Folly trilogy is a rich Regency world to explore!

"A Regency series of the highest calibre. If you haven't bought it yet - get thee to a bookstore." Romance Junkies

"A fun and engaging trilogy." The Good, The Bad and the Unread.

"Some of the most scintillatingly, sinfully romantic reads I've read by far. A truly wonderful and creative writer." Romantic Crush Junkies

The Brides of Fortune series have been my first bestselling books in the US and I would like to thank all my lovely readers, old and new, for their wonderful support!