Sandra Sookoo

Storms are oftentimes disruptive, but they can also clear a path and bring perspective.The Honorable Isobel Storme is a lady adrift. Her family is broken, loud, emotional, and busy with other pursuits. As the youngest in the Storme connection, she's always fought for attention, but now that change is imminent and inevitable, she craves a distraction in the form of a scandal, and if there's a handsome man involved, all the better as long as he doesn't come with a title, for she despises the ton.Doctor Royce Marsden is a surgeon of small acclaim. Though he's the oldest son to the Earl of Worchester, his calling and his passion is running a clinic for wounded and rejected soldiers. Though he has no plans to do the pretty in society or to court a woman, he can't avoid that reality when his father unexpectedly dies and plunges him into the title. Too bad the one woman who's caught his eye is wildly and inappropriately improper.As passionately intense affair develops between Isobel and Royce, the pair embraces the heated attraction with enthusiasm. Free from commitment, they dance perilously close to creating the sensation Isobel has always wanted. But when life-and death-catch them into its swirling vortex, responsibilities intrude, as do expectations tied to the beau monde.Though fear and pressure hold them back, if they don't fight for a happily ever after, it will never be theirs.The Storme BrothersThe Soul of a StormeThe Heart of a StormeThe Look of a StormeThe Sting of a StormeThe Touch of a StormeThe Fury of a Storme

Fear can be a bully unless one beats it back in order to chase adventure and love.The Honorable Francis Hildebrand Storme-Brand to those closest to him-didn't come out of the Navy unscathed. Though he's a handsome, gallant officer, the loss of an eye doesn't exactly appeal to the ladies. Being the third son means he's never had expectations placed upon him, so he's played the rake to the hilt. Why the hell should he settle down or act like a proper gentlemen when there's no need?Miss Elizabeth Hayhurst is the sister of a missionary. She's lived in Ipswich all her life, but in a few weeks, she plans to depart for India to keep house for her brother. Wearied from the war that took two suitors from her, she's glad to put heartbreak behind her, but when she receives an unexpected kiss from a dashing, randy Navy man while at the market, she might just change her mind.While Brand's not used to women rebuking his overtures, Elizabeth isn't accustomed to having a man desire her at first sight. Her lack of adventure and experience fires his imagination, while his worldliness and daring awakens her courage. They spend three glorious weeks together, both on land and on the sea, exploring, talking, and creating scandal. But then reality intrudes.When he's summoned to London and she readies to leave England, only they can decide what they truly want above all.The Storme BrothersThe Soul of a StormeThe Heart of a StormeThe Look of a Storme

Weakness and courage are found in the same broken form if one can but see.Major Phineas Allan Storme is struggling with his new life. After being paralyzed from injuries received during Waterloo, he's confined to a Bath chair. Depression bedevils him, making him feel useless and helpless. With his older brother sulking in the country and his younger brother no doubt causing scandal elsewhere, he's keeping his mother company. What the bloody hell else can he do but be a companion?Lady Jane Marsden-daughter of the Earl of Worchester-is popular within the ton. Though she enjoys society life immensely, it doesn't fill the emptiness in her soul. After having her heart broken twice over, she never lets males close, but when she meets a dark-haired man at a late summer rout, her thinking changes. The need and longing in his eyes draws her interest, but his personality captivates her mind. What could it hurt to introduce herself?As Finn and Jane strike up a friendship that blooms into something more, responsibility and duty constantly intrude, but each is determined to conquer the obstacles set before them. When an emotional misunderstanding threatens their romance, his depression convinces him he's a millstone about the necks of those he cares for, and he's determined to remove himself from life.It'll take a harrowing night of heart-wrenching emotions for him and Jane to discover if love is worth risking everything to keep.The Storme BrothersThe Soul of a StormeThe Heart of a StormeThe Look of a Storme

An intelligent man realizes that letting go of his anger makes him stronger.Welcome to book 1 in the exciting new series from USA Today Bestselling Author Sandra Sookoo.Andrew Charles Storme-ninth Earl of Hadleigh-has been in a monstrous temper for the better part of two years. Unable to join the fight against Napoleon due to the declining health and subsequent death of his father, his rotten mood worsened when his two brothers survived the war with life-changing injuries. Ashamed, Drew retreats to his country estate in Derbyshire to spare them his ire. Why the devil was he not worth more than his title?Miss Sarah Copeland is a poor relation. In exchange for room and board, she's become the governess to her great-uncle's two rambunctious offspring. It was better than being tossed in the street, but only just. Freedom and imagination are found in playing a flute, especially since dreams of her future died long ago. When she meets her handsome, growling neighbor, she believes she's finally found her purpose. After all, didn't music soothe the savage beast?While Drew battles with his guilt and anxiety, he finds safety and solace in Sarah's company. As they enter into a surprising marriage of convenience, the earl's temper slowly begins to improve, as does her outlook. But while an unexpected romance blooms over the summer weeks, responsibility to the title rears its ugly head, and his temper flares anew, threatening to tear apart everything they've built.Only patience, trust, and love will see them through to a happy ending.The Storme BrothersThe Soul of a StormeThe Heart of a StormeThe Look of a Storme

Sometimes, the romance of a lifetime starts with one perfect night. It's the year 1885 and the world has just begun giving up its ancient secrets. Miss Charlotte Blakely is a librarian in Rome. She's researching evidence of the fabled Veil of Veronica, but her time abroad is drawing to a close. Her viscount father is dying and has called his children home, yet a chance encounter with a stranger one balmy night might change her direction. Mr. Everett Desmond is the English ambassador to Rome. He's dashing and would have been daring had he gone down a different path, but being jilted at the altar sent him far from England and sordid memories. Now, life has grown staid and boring. When he literally crashes into a pretty lady on the street, he's intrigued enough to further an acquaintance. Desire flares after a couple of moonlit strolls, and a kiss at the Trevi fountain irrevocably changes both of their lives. Budding romance blooms beneath the heat and they find themselves enchanted enough to land into potential scandal. Is it a love to last a lifetime or is it merely a moonlight indiscretion? Only they can decide what they truly want for the future.

Can wearing sexy stilettos win the heart of a demon, or will it cause Heaven to protest?Anne Jenkins never bought into the concept of a heaven or hell, but when she's rescued from a runaway horse hurtling toward a steep ravine by a guy who claims he's a demon, her freak detector goes off. When she demands proof, the leather-clad biker sets some local wildlife on fire. She starts to believe in a hurry.IRS agent Gregg Carter, bound to the Devil for all eternity for an audit gone wrong, seizes the opportunity to take possession of Anne's soul as a way to please his boss. What he didn't count on was the fact his libido would take the one-way bus to crazy town as he gets to know her better. When dreams of a future come calling, he's screwed.Trouble is, Anne and Gregg spend so much time trying to hide their true selves from each other, that they can't escape their mutual attraction. But everyone knows demons and humans don't mix, and neither can two people destined for two different eternities. In the matter of heaven or hell, maybe the answer is somewhere in between.

Love felt a whole lot like PMS--or so Madelyn thought when her childhood friend, Gordy, kissed her.In the midst of her crumbling business and lackluster love life, he breezes back into town like a snowstorm, with dating on his mind. To top it off, she's got a kinda/sorta boyfriend, a secret admirer who leaves her flowers every day, a cat who's scared of her own shadow, and a singles group that's growing by leaps and bounds.The question remains: just who is this mysterious love interest? And what will she do about Gordy, the man she never thought she'd have romantic feelings for? Can one go from friends to lovers and have the relationship survive? That's the trouble with love. She'll have to put her brain on autopilot and let her heart decide.

Unexpected surprises have the sweetest impact.Emmaline, the Countess of Archewyne, is looking forward to Christmas Day. She and her family are assembled at their Cairo estate, and though she misses London and all the hustle and bustle and the snow, there is something endearing about the holiday away, for romance-and love-is always just around the corner.Miles Lawrence Hawkins, the fifth Earl of Archewyne, is wrapping up the paperwork and packing as a result of a successful tomb discovery. However, when a valuable statue goes missing, he becomes distracted. Which is a blessing, for he's also worried about the impending birth of his next child. So far away from home and civilization, anything could go wrong.Their tranquil days leading up to a Yuletide ball are interrupted with the arrival of old friends and fellow king's agents bearing news, gifts, and concerns of their own. As the house fills with anticipation, Miles fears they have a thief in their mix, while Emmaline's worst fear comes true. A romantic tryst during the holiday revelry brings their lives into sharp relief, and if everyone survives the harrowing events that follow, Christmas will never be a happier time.

Sometimes love needs a few wagers to stick the second time around.Pleasure is his only pursuit... Colin Rowley, Viscount Hartsford, has been given an offer too good to ignore: if he comes home to Lancaster Hall and his family by Christmas morning, he'll win a coveted racehorse as well as an estate. Trouble is, recollections attached to his ducal father's castle leave him haunted, especially those regarding the first girl he's ever loved, the one who rejected him.Faced with reduced circumstances... Widow Lucy Ashbrook is leaving London for the last time. Now that her husband's savings have dried up, she can no longer afford her lifestyle, so after she attends the Christmas house party at Lancaster Hall-the site of so many delicious memories-she'll return to her parents on the neighboring property. Too bad the man who first won her heart, and who accompanies her on the journey to Derbyshire, hasn't changed his selfish ways.The magic of the holiday season... When a series of mysterious events continually throw Colin and Lucy together, they can't help but revisit the past, and rediscover the joy made during those long-ago winters. Happiness will elude them both unless they find the Yuletide wonder and give themselves over to a love that has waited... with the help of a few, secret Christmas wagers working behind the scenes.

Lily Henderson's greatest passion is knowledge. Christopher Farnsworth thrives on order and decorum. But her penchant for Suffragette rallies and logical reasoning soon clashes with his quiet, controlled ex-military lifestyle over a bowl of potato soup.The two agree to a wager and matchmaking-or rather romance-is the intended outcome. The premise? A suitable match by Easter. If he loses, he'll attend Easter church services dressed in one of his aunt's outrageously-colored and beaded gowns. If she loses, she'll ride, Lady Godiva-style, around the heart of Indianapolis, which is the height of scandal for 1904. The problem is neither Christopher nor Lily can find matches as good as themselves. Romantic sabotage becomes the order of the day. The original wager is forgotten when the only thing the pair gambles with is their hearts.

The most powerful force in the world is love.Lady Christiana Tremaine lives in the kingdom of Vesance, but ever since her father remarried, her stepmother-Lady Tremaine-has stripped her of everything befitting her station, has reduced her to that of a maid, and forced her to answer to the slur of Cinderella. Though the life of drudgery is horrid, she carries hope circumstances will change, especially when she remembers dancing with the prince who stole her heart. A chance meeting with that same man strengthens her resolve to change... if she can survive that woman's deadly machinations.Alto August Henry Ferdinand Lansdowne, Prince Charming of Annanvale has been searching for the woman who sent his world upside down and ran from him at midnight leaving a glass slipper behind. Though he's been cursed to shift into wolf form each night, he has faith that the woman he's coming to love will overlook his affliction. When he finds her, they begin an unorthodox courtship and he falls ever deeper, but their romance is fraught with obstacles.When Christiana is locked into a high tower by her stepmother and kept there by an enchantment, Henry is quick to come, but when Lady Tremaine gets wind of their plot to escape, she lies in wait for the noble prince and leaves Cinderella to an ugly fate, for she desires power above all else. But as long as there is love, there is hope. The beleaguered pair will need to fight hard for their happily ever after. With luck and a little magic, they just might win.

The most powerful form of magic is free will.Averell Woode is a huntsman's daughter, hidden away in an enchanted tree from the evils of the world. Though she's skilled in all things forest-related, she yearns for life beyond the trees. A chance meeting with a stranger seems the perfect opportunity to stretch her wings, and she falls for the charm he wields, especially when an exciting adventure has come to her very doorstep.Devon James Quinn Lansdowne, the spare prince of Annanvale, is trying to avoid anything that smacks of palace life. He's not into intrigue or politics and much prefers running free through forested areas especially while in wolf form. Cursed to shift into the beast each night, he's not looking for romance, but as fate puts him into the path of a woman who draws an arrow on him, he's only too glad to change his mind.When Averell is given an ultimatum by an evil queen-kill Prince Charming of Annanvale or face death herself-she wonders if fate is nothing more than dark magic. Quinn can't let that happen, for Charming is his older brother, but how can he give up one life for the other? As midnight closes in, and at a ball no less, they each must make a choice. If luck-and magic-is on their side, everyone, even love, will survive.

Some of the sweetest things are memories that life is built from.Miles Lawrence Hawkins, the fifth Earl of Archewyne, is on a rather urgent mission. He must visit the British Museum in London for the express purpose of finding and taking back an Egyptian relic that once belonged to his father, for it is needed on an upcoming dig. If he's fortunate, he'll have it in hand quickly and be on his way.Emmaline, the Countess of Archewyne, is thrilled that the new adventure in her life won't come with danger nipping at their heels or people chasing them with murder in their hearts. A simple trip to London is just the thing to fire her excitement. Perhaps she'll cajole Miles into kissing her in the Egyptian gallery, where their first mission for the Crown-as well as their romance-began.Their task careens down an unexpected path when they cannot immediately locate the Egyptian statuette. Throughout the extended search, they must elude the night watchmen while locked in the museum after dark. Miles and his wife revisit memories of their past as they pave their future with new ones. No matter how strong their love, somehow they have to find a way out with their reputations intact and the treasure secured lest all their dreams come to naught.

Sometimes the only way to gauge the depth of a man's regard is with the magic of gingerbread. In 1888 London, Miss Eleanor Redding, possessed of a beastly, grouchy attitude, works for Western Union Telegraph Company. It gives her a certain independence and a place to hide from her disappointing past in America. When she accidentally intercepts a Morse-coded message alluding to clandestine and nefarious activity, she accepts the challenge with alacrity. It will take her mind off the fact she's once more alone for the Christmas holidays. Why couldn't a man look past her prickles and scars to fight for her? Mr. Cameron Hallewell, grandson of the Earl of Albemarle, is employed by the Home Office in the matters of foreign interests. He takes his occupation of protecting British interests seriously, but he longs for a woman to surprise him in unexpected ways, to want him instead of his social standing. When there's news of a foreign operative lurking about Victoria Station planning something vile, he intends to track them down... only to find an attractive woman tailing various strangers on the platform and looking for all the world like a spy herself. They get on together like oil and water, but despite Eleanor's prickles and Cameron's bruised heart as well as his secrets, a spark catches between them. As the unlikely pair work together to capture a spy and prevent harm from befalling London, they come to care for and rely on each other. Throw in the intriguing prospect of an unexpected Christmas courtship, and they could have a romance that spans the ages... if they'll only let themselves give into granted wishes and a passion that's been there all along.

Even if the world is falling to pieces, when the treasure of the heart is discovered, a fight is needed to keep it.King's agent, Bentley Courtenay-Lord Castlereagh-has been sent on his first solo mission to rescue a widow, who's been abandoned in the dense jungles of Venezuela. He intends to bring her back to England to answer questions regarding the poisoning death of a peer. Yet what awaits him in the on the Orinoco River has him wondering why the devil he ever signed up to work for the Crown.Widowed Cora, Lady Trammel, is on a quest to locate a deadly orchid and destroy every last bloom before the toxin she accidentally created can fall into the wrong hands. When she encounters a king's agent who fires her imagination, she declines his demand to return to London. The fate of the world is at stake, and she has to fix her mistake, for her discovery has the capacity to kill every human on Earth.In the course of the journey, desire flares between Bentley and the older, more experienced Cora, but she's not looking for love. While he loses his heart, evidence of the fabled city of El Dorado comes to light, and their mission takes a critical turn into dangerous adventure, so matters of love are shelved. Pursued by threats, time is running out to destroy the deadly toxin and protect the world's greatest treasure from men who mean both to use both for their own insidious gain.

Life isn't always perfect, but the key to living happily is enjoying what you have. Since the peril and danger stalking them has passed, the Hawkins family is at their country estate in Kent to rest. Emmaline, the Countess of Archewyne, is both excited and melancholy when she stumbles upon a note written by her father-the Earl of St. Ives-before he was murdered that outlines a treasure hunt just like he'd done for her when she was a child. Perhaps she can finally tell him goodbye. Miles Lawrence Hawkins, the fifth Earl of Archewyne, has much on his mind now that his friend and mentor has died, leaving the responsibilities of the king's agents to him. First and foremost, he wants to make certain his growing family is still intact after the horrors they'd come through, but how to usher in healing when well-meaning friends and colleagues keep dropping by and shattering the peace? Not to mention the damned geese that won't leave him alone. As Emmaline and Miles follow the clues her father hid about the estate, they make plans for a holiday to Egypt, the country where their love affair first began. Throughout it all, St. Ives' written words bring them closer as a family. With their children and the ever-present geese gathered around, the treasure they seek is found, and serves to make them all delighted on a summer's evening.

When destiny calls, you can run, or stand and fight for what you've always wanted. Either way you'll have no choice but to change.Mrs. Ava Southerly, apothecary assistant and widow, lives in fear. She's become an expert at hiding to keep second sight visions at bay. In the year 1885, such things as witches surely don't exist anymore, regardless of her ancestry. If she doesn't emotionally engage her heart, those otherworldly powers will stay dormant and the people she cares for won't be hurt, but she longs for acceptance and romance. Douglas Wallace, an American doctor and descendant of a Scottish witch hunter, is in London to deliver a series of lectures on new medical advancements and techniques. As he meets the passing glance of a blonde beauty in a restaurant window, he's compelled to follow her, as if their lives are linked on a supernatural level. Though he believes in logic and the evidence of his own eyes, spending time in Ava's company shows him how wrong his thinking is.When a three-hundred-year-old evil spirit possesses Douglas in an effort to kill Ava due to her witch status, she and the doctor must find a way to thwart the threat from beyond the grave despite personal peril. As their relationship evolves into something deep and abiding, they'll discover just how powerful a force love truly is.