They say he murdered his wife . . .

Entering her seventh unsuccessful season, Beatrice Albright is beginning to realize that her beauty cannot compensate for her shrewish ways. A desperate woman whom no one wants, she must seek a man whom no one else will marry: the despised and mysterious Marquis of Highcroft, Gareth Berenger. Rumor has it he is a killer, but Beatrice is far more terrified of spinsterhood--and the company of her mother--than she is of Berenger's dark reputation.

But Gareth, while intrigued by the alluring hellion's proposal, has a proposition of his own. A man of particular tastes, he will wed no woman unwilling to satisfy them. His bride must be adventurous, afraid of nothing, and eager to experience any passion and pleasure he can devise, no matter how shocking and taboo. If Beatrice agrees to a trial affair--if she can happily shed all her inhibitions--in the end they will be wed.

And so the die is cast--as Beatrice and Gareth embark on an erotic path where danger awaits them at every turn, en route to a world of exquisite ecstasy where there is nothing forbidden...nothing denied.

For summers Miranda Albright has watched--aghast, yet shamefully titillated--as her wicked neighbor Ethan Hamon, the notorious Earl of Rothschild, "entertained" a succession of lovers on the grounds of his estate. Now that her father has passed on, leaving behind a mountain of debt, Miranda must do the unthinkable. For Ethan has promised to sponsor her younger sisters, financially and socially, at a scandalously dear price: Miranda must offer herself to him completely for three full months, with no remorse and no restraints.

Ninety days and nights of unbridled sensuality await her in the arms of a rogue who views her submission as no more than a grand erotic game. But neither Miranda nor Ethan realize that fire blazes behind her innocent blush. And once her passion is unleashed by his lips and his touch, it is the student who will school the teacher in the ways of forbidden pleasure . . . and love.

Cupid is hot to trot!

One fateful weekend at a country estate, a beautiful, well-bred widow is caught between a rock and a very hard place when she must choose between two deliciously irresistible lovers...in Lacy Danes's seductive tale of courtship a la mode, "Torn Desires."

Long-distance lovers Edie and Ty are counting the hours until their scorching Valentine's Day reunion, each titillating the other with steamy letters describing their erotic journeys. And getting there is definitely half the fun in Megan Hart's wickedly wild "Get There."

Eternal damnation has its perks--especially for a voluptuous succubus who is about to receive a very special, very hot Valentine's Day "gift" from her demon lover...in Jackie Kessler's ode to paranormal passion, "Hell Is Where the Heart Is."

London's most irresistible rake has one week to prevent the woman he loves from marrying another. And he plans to do so by adeptly employing his most well-practiced arts--seduction...sensation...and erotic love--in Jess Michaels's sumptuous feast of juicy Regency romance, "By Valentine's Day."

Do you dare open the door and enter a place like no other?

In these three historical tales of sensual awakening, nothing that stimulates and titillates is taboo, ecstasy comes in many sizes, and pleasure is its own reward . . . a world of seduction and sensation, where inhibitions are unlaced and desires long corseted are gloriously freed. . . .

Fallen Angel Jess Michaels

London's greatest beauty and most notorious madam employs the services of a disgraced Bow Street Runner to keep her safe from a stalker . . . and satisfied after dark.

Parlor Games Leda Swann

An innocent virgin enters a brothel to escape starvation and receives expert tutelage in the steamy Victorian parlor games that rakish gentlemen indulge in. . . .

Border Lord Julia Templeton

Fleeing an unfaithful fiance, a nubile young lovely finds herself the prisoner of a lustful Scottish laird and must bow to his every erotic whim. . . .

Prim, headstrong, and beautiful Penelope is determined to expose the licentious affairs of the ton's randiest rakes. Now one of their powerful number--the unrepentant libertine Jeremy Vaughn, Duke of Kilgrath--has been selected to put an end to the prudish lady's interference. Jeremy's plan is devilishly clever: He will join Penelope's war against immorality, fighting passionately by her side, all the while showering her with anonymous erotic missives designed to titillate even the coldest, most unwilling maid. He will break down her defenses and inflame her repressed desires by escorting her (in the interests of their "noble campaign") to London's most notorious pleasure palaces. And he will visit her boudoir--masked--during the night to school her in the deliciously sinful arts she wishes to abolish. Then he will expose her hypocrisy to the world.

But the handsome rogue's scheme is doomed to go awry, even as the lovely Penelope sheds her every inhibition and freely gives in to his every whim. For in this sensuous game of hearts, it's the seducer who becomes seduced . . .

The San Francisco artist Jess (1923-2004) has for decades been known to cognoscenti as an inventive and sophisticated master of the collage aesthetic. Recently however, his works are receiving fresh attention from a younger generation attuned to Jess' interests in myth, narrative and appropriation. Jess used images taken from sources ranging from "Dick Tracy" to Durer, from a Beatles bubblegum card to medical textbook drawings, from 1887 "Scientific American" line engravings to frames from George Herriman's "Krazy Kat." In reexamining myth through a synthesis of art and literature, Jess' work remains a crucial assemblage of the meanings of our time. This volume brings to light collages, collage books, word poems and altered comics that have been largely inaccessible or unavailable since their making. Originally published in small editions and hard-to-find journals, or made as one-off artist's books, these works demonstrate the full range of Jess's extraordinary verbal and visual play. Several of Jess's surreal comic-strip manipulations, "Tricky Cad" (1954-1959), are reproduced for the first time in their entirety, as are others such as "Ben Big Bolt" and "Nance" that have never before been published. The book also includes a group of complex wraparound book covers, several unpublished collage poems, and two artist's books never before reproduced in full: "From Force of Habit," a "fantastic tale" which plays with the pages of a Swedish cult sci-fi novel, and "When a Young Lad Dreams of Manhood," a homoerotic paean (and naughty parody) of the priapic urge. A facsimile reproduction of the 20-page collage masterpiece "O " is included as a separate booklet, and the book sports a dustjacket that folds out into a poster-size collage.