SURPRISING The war-scarred Thornton Lindsay, Duke of Penborne, can scarcely believe the news when a beautiful stranger comes to London proclaiming to be his lover. SECRETIVE Caroline Anstretton is on the run and desperate. Her gamble that the reclusive duke won't leave the sanctuary of his home is lost when he coolly confronts her. SENSUAL Courtesan or charlatan, this mysterious, sensual woman intrigues Thorn. There's a vulnerability beneath her smile and easy laughter. Could she be the one to mend a life he'd thought damaged beyond repair?

No Ordinary Mistress London, 1814 Remington Hawthorne, Earl of Latham, has spent his life protecting the Crown. When he's assigned to play the part of lover to Emma Masterson, one of the few female spies in England and the one woman he can't forget, he'll have to risk his heart as well as his life. It isn't easy being an independent woman, much less a spy. Perpetually tasked with proving she is as valuable as any man in her profession, the last thing Emma needs is to be reunited with the one man who makes her want to forget her duties and get lost in passion. Pretending to be his mistress isn't difficult - remembering that it is all a charade is a challenge. With every glance, every touch, every kiss, she is drawn deeper under his spell and pulled further from her goals. She refused him once, but it will take every ounce of strength to not give in to the passion that still burns strong... For Her Spy Only England, 1814 When Winifred is rescued from her snow-stranded carriage by the notorious and reclusive Alistair, Marquess of Coventry, she is instantly drawn to him. Jilted by her betrothed and socially ruined by untrue rumors, Winifred is tired of paying for crimes she didn't commit and decides to play the seductress London society claims she is. Thinking a night of passion shouldn't leave any lasting effects, she instead finds her heart marked forever. Six years later, Alistair is working for the Regent as a spy. A search for Napoleon's English supporters leads him to the beguiling Winifred, recently widowed with a young son. He hasn't forgotten how the unconventional beauty warmed his bed, and the heat between them rekindles immediately. The spymaster is determined to uncover all of plucky Winifred's secrets. Especially the one regarding her son... Misadventures in Seduction With five siblings to care for, Prudence Hixsby's duty comes first, even if it means becoming a spinster. When the eldest - and most cherished - of her younger brothers decides to join the war, however, Prudence is determined to keep him safe. So she strikes a bargain with an old acquaintance: her body in exchange for her brother's safety. In the dead of the night, she slips into the bed of a man whose touch is both fierce and passionate... little knowing she's just seduced the wrong man. Harrison Carlisle, the Duke of Sutcliffe, never imagined that the lovely Prudence would honour his bed, or just how bewitching those lush curves could be. Yet he keeps a gentleman's silence. After all, a spy for the Crown can ill afford to marry. But when Prudence's brother is killed, they find themselves uniting to track down the traitorous murderer. And while death lurks within the shadowy world of espionage, there is also passion... and the unbidden thrill of a seduction!

No Ordinary Mistress by Robyn DeHart London, 1814 Remington Hawthorne, Earl of Latham, has spent his life protecting the Crown. When he's assigned to play the part of lover to Emma Masterson, one of the few female spies in England and the one woman he can't forget, he'll have to risk his heart as well as his life. It isn't easy being an independent woman, much less a spy. Perpetually tasked with proving she is as valuable as any man in her profession, the last thing Emma needs is to be reunited with the one man who makes her want to forget her duties and get lost in passion. Pretending to be his mistress isn't difficult - remembering that it is all a charade is a challenge. With every glance, every touch, every kiss, she is drawn deeper under his spell and pulled further from her goals. She refused him once, but it will take every ounce of strength to not give in to the passion that still burns strong...

The darkest hours of the night bring the deepest passions… Haunted by rumors following her husband's suspicious death, Aurelia St. Harlow has withdrawn from society. To secure her family's future, there's only one man who can help. And that man demands payment—with a kiss! Lord Stephen Hawkhurst finds the troubled beauty impossible to resist. But Aurelia is suspected of treason and, as England's greatest spy, Hawkhurst must uncover her every secret. As the truth unfolds, so does their desire. Drawn together in the dark of the night, they unleash passions neither has ever experienced before….

Many cultures have myths about self-imitation, stories about people who pretend to be someone else pretending to be them, in effect masquerading as themselves. This great theme, in literature and in life, tells us that people put on masks to discover who they really are under the masks they usually wear, so that the mask reveals rather than conceals the self beneath the self.In this book, noted scholar of Hinduism and mythology Wendy Doniger offers a cross-cultural exploration of the theme of self-impersonation, whose widespread occurrence argues for both its literary power and its human value. The stories she considers range from ancient Indian literature through medieval European courtly literature and Shakespeare to Hollywood and Bollywood. They illuminate a basic human way of negotiating reality, illusion, identity, and authenticity, not to mention memory, amnesia, and the process of aging. Many of them involve marriage and adultery, for tales of sexual betrayal cut to the heart of the crisis of identity.These stories are extreme examples of what we common folk do, unconsciously, every day. Few of us actually put on masks that replicate our faces, but it is not uncommon for us to become travesties of ourselves, particularly as we age and change. We often slip carelessly across the permeable boundary between the un-self-conscious self-indulgence of our most idiosyncratic mannerisms and the conscious attempt to give the people who know us, personally or publicly, the version of ourselves that they expect. Myths of self-imitation open up for us the possibility of multiple selves and the infinite regress of self-discovery.Drawing on a dizzying array of tales-some fact, some fiction-The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was is a fascinating and learned trip through centuries of culture, guided by a scholar of incomparable wit and erudition.

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This unique ethnographic investigation examines the role that fashion plays in the production of the contemporary Indian luxury aesthetic. Tracking luxury Indian fashion from its production in village craft workshops via upmarket design studios to fashion soirées, Kuldova investigates the Indian luxury fashion market's dependence on the production of thousands of artisans all over India, revealing a complex system of hierarchies and exploitation. In recent years, contemporary Indian design has dismissed the influence of the West and has focused on the opulent heritage luxury of the maharajas, Gulf monarchies and the Mughal Empire. Luxury Indian Fashion argues that the desire for a luxury aesthetic has become a significant force in the attempt to define contemporary Indian society. From the cultivation of erotic capital in businesswomen's dress to a discussion of masculinity and muscular neo-royals to staged designer funerals, Luxury Indian Fashion analyzes the production, consumption and aesthetics of luxury and power in India. Luxury Indian Fashion is essential reading for students of fashion history and theory, anthropology and visual culture.

Ordered to marry, Laird Lachlan Kerr thought a betrothal to homely, timid Lady Grace Stanton was hardly worth the trouble of protest. Yet, despite everything, he found there was something about her that was…brave. All his life he had been surrounded by betrayal, and this woman, who believed there was still goodness in him, was special indeed. Grace knew that the safety of her home depended on her betrothal—signed, sealed and delivered! Lachlan's strength and unexpected care of her were dangerously appealing. She could fall for this man with secrets in his eyes….

England, 1814 When Winifred is rescued from her snow-stranded carriage by the notorious and reclusive Alistair, Marquess of Coventry, she is instantly drawn to him. Jilted by her betrothed and socially ruined by untrue rumors, Winifred is tired of paying for crimes she didn't commit and decides to play the seductress London society claims she is. Thinking a night of passion shouldn't leave any lasting effects, she instead finds her heart marked forever. Six years later, Alistair is working for the Regent as a spy. A search for Napoleon's English supporters leads him to the beguiling Winifred, recently widowed with a young son. He hasn't forgotten how the unconventional beauty warmed his bed, and the heat between them rekindles immediately. The spymaster is determined to uncover all of plucky Winifred's secrets. Especially the one regarding her son... A Scandalous Novella