From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
A trio of bestselling authors -- Stephanie Laurens, Christina Dodd, and Elizabeth Boyle -- give beloved cameo characters their own spotlight in this charming historical collection. In "Lost and Found," when Reggie Carmarthen (first encountered in Laurens's On a Wild Night) drops his usual inconsequential demeanor to help the reclusive Anne Ashford in a matter of honor, he finds unexpected love in return. James Reyburn from Boyle's Once Tempted takes a gamble on happiness with Miss Amanda Preston in "The Matchmaker's Bargain" and spends an unexpectedly romantic night in jail. When Harry Chamberlain, first met in Dodd's Lost in Your Arms, plays the gentleman and helps Jessie Macmillien avoid her hapless suitors, they both find much more than they bargained for in "The Third Suitor." Ginger Curwen

From the Publisher

Two superstar New York Times bestsellers, Stephanie Laurens and Christina Dodd, join forces with one exciting rising star, Elizabeth Boyle, to create this sexy anthology with an exciting new theme.

In an innovative new twist for anthologies that first appeared in WHERE'S MY HERO, each author is reintroducing a secondary character from a previous book to star in his own story. Revisit your favorite Lost Heros, and see old friends from some of these authors' favorite books.

Publishers Weekly

Three historical romance veterans present novellas that give the spotlight to heroes who've appeared in previous books in supporting roles. In Laurens's gentle though disappointingly conflict-free Lost and Found, longtime friends are blindsided by love, but must reunite a boy with his aristocratic family before they can indulge their hearts. In The Matchmaker's Bargain, a whimsical tale that reels with delightful screwball scenes, Boyle binds her engaging heroine to a former rake-turned-recluse, who soon recognizes this sprightly girl has taught him to live again. The final entry, Dodd's The Third Suitor, a fast-paced adventure involving a hoyden heiress and a spy on vacation at the shore, delivers many thrilling twists and turns. While each story will satisfy the individual author's readers, Dodd's has the broadest reach and provides the most entertainment per page, doling out fun main characters, a sinister villain, sizzling love scenes and a marvelous ending that will make strong women cheer. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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Hero, Come Back

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Chapter One

London
September 1834

They were twits -- foolish, fashionable, and frivolous.

Reggie Carmarthen stood in Hyde Park beyond the end of Rotten Row, and studied the tonnish females currently gathered about the Avenue with a distinctly jaundiced eye. Especially the younger ladies, those desirous of finding a husband.

Their shrill laughter reached him. The ton was drifting back to the capital for the September and October round of balls and parties. In and about their mamas' coaches lined up along the carriageway, the unmarried young ladies chatted avidly, exchanging the latest news, every one of them hoping, soon, to feature in the latest story. Sun glanced off artfully arranged curls or was deflected by fringed parasols. The breeze flirted with full skirts, teasing the myriad ruffles currently in vogue.

Fashions had changed over the last ten years, but little else had -- he felt not the slightest wish to marry any one of the young things parading in the morning sunshine.

With an inward humph, he swung away and determinedly strolled west across the lawns, leaving the fashionable horde behind.

Despite his antipathy, he had to think of marrying. He was thirty-two. His mother had dropped hints, increasingly pointed ones, over the past decade, but she knew she could push him only so far -- after a few failed attempts, she'd refrained from pressing specific young ladies on him. This morning, however, the dam of her patience had broken, ruptured by the news of his great-uncle's failing health.

His great-uncle was the Earl of Carlisle; his father, Herbert Carmarthen, presently Viscount Northcote, was the earl's heir. Which meant he, Reggie, would, on his uncle's death and his father's accession to the earldom, step up to his father's present title.

Those facts were widely known, yet waking one morning to find himself Northcote was guaranteed, as his mother had waspishly informed him that morning, to focus the attention of every last matchmaking mama on him.

He could either exercise his prerogative and select a wife forthwith, or be inundated with candidates.

Reaching the carriageway that separated Hyde Park from Kensington Gardens, he paused. The looming threat filled his mind. Crossing the gravel, he walked into the heavily shaded walks of the gardens; in the less fashionable area there were only a few nursemaids and matrons quietly strolling.

The idea of marriage had gradually been gaining ground in his conscious mind. Visits, summer and winter, to old friends like the Fulbridges and the Ashfords were largely to blame -- impossible not to notice the satisfaction, the stability, the strength that successful marriage wrought. The Cynster twins, now Amanda Fulbridge and Amelia Ashford, had been his closest friends from childhood and had remained so through the years; the Cynster family in all its various branches numbered among his parents's closest acquaintances. If ever there was a case to be made for marriage, the Cynsters as a group exemplified all that was best, all that could be achieved in that sphere.

Other friends, too, had succumbed; most were quite contented now, even if that had not been their initial expectation. A few male friends remained bachelors, yet the companionship and activites they shared no longer satisfied as once they had.

Marriage.

His mother was right -- it was time he took the plunge. And far better to make the choice himself rather than have it thrust upon him.

He was naturally inclined to laissez-faire -- to leaving well enough alone -- yet in this case letting matters slide was not an option; to simply stand waiting and let the matchmaking mamas have at him would be the action of a lunatic.

He had to make up his mind and act swiftly.

So whom should he marry? In which direction should he look?

What he had to offer was easily catalogued -- a family ranked within the haut ton, sufficient wealth to make actual amounts of no account, and ultimately the earldom and all that meant. He possessed an even temperament, was not given to excess in any sphere, was experienced and assured in all tonnish matters, and was handsome enough -- admittedly not the sort who drew eyes or stood out in a crowd, yet the ladies with whom he'd shared liaisons over the years had never complained.

His lips twisted wryly. He suspected his quiet, unassuming handsomeness was viewed as less threatening by many ladies, in some cases as less in competition with their own beauty. Regardless, he was content with his appearance, confident in it.

So what of the lady he would wed? An infi- nitely more difficult question. He hadn't met her, or any like her, yet. He felt not the slightest connection -- physical, intellectual, or emotional -- with the young things paraded by their mamas through the ballrooms, the silly, giggling horde from which society would expect him to make his choice.

He wanted . . . someone different. Not, as some might suppose, a lady like Amanda or Amelia. Some of their traits he appreciated, like their honesty and courage, their intelligence, their understanding of their world; others, like their wildness, their willfulness, underpinned by their inherent Cynster strength, he could do without -- such traits were too powerfully disruptive.

He wanted . . . a lady with whom he could converse sensibly, who shared his views and his lik-ing for a peaceful existence, a lady with whom he could share a pleasant life . . .

Voices reached him. A gentleman's, tones harsh, denying; a lady's, soft and urgent.

The sounds jerked him back to the here and now; he realized his feet had led him down one of the garden's winding paths. The voices came from just ahead, the speakers screened by the next bend.

His first impulse was to retreat undetected, but then the lady spoke again. Memory pricked -- instinct came to the fore.

Apparently nonchalantly, he strolled on.

Continues...

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Excerpted from Hero, Come Back by Stephanie Laurens Copyright © 2005 by Stephanie Laurens. Excerpted by permission.
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