All posts by Celeste Bradley

VALENTINE COUPLE # 13!

AIDAN & MADELEINE!

I love this trilogy–and I love poor mixed up Madeleine especially! There’s something about someone who lies in a good cause–and then gets stuck with those lies!

DEVIL IN MY BED

Runaway Brides Bk 1

Three Lords and a Baby…

When Aidan de Quincy finds a precocious tot on the steps of his gentleman’s club, he is sure he isn’t the child’s father…well, nearly sure. In order to find out, he needs to find the only woman he ever loved–the one who broke his heart! Madeleine Chandler has a secret, but not the one Aidan thinks she does. Her past is about to catch up to her again and only Aidan can save her. All she has to do is tell one more tiny little lie…

 Quotes:

“From its unconventional prologue to its superb conclusion, every page of the first in Bradley’s Runaway Brides series is perfection and joy. Tinged with humor that never overshadows the poignancy and peopled with remarkable characters (especially the precocious Melody) who will steal your heart, this one’s a keeper.” –Romantic Times BOOKreviews

 Under the covers:

I wrote this book while pondering the meaning of fatherhood. What makes a father? Is it instinct? Having a good example to follow? Reading the parenting books that have been strategically left by the toilet with relevant passages highlighted in yellow? Aidan is a man who is locked down tight– until a child manages to pick that lock with a smile.

 Portraits of our lovers:

AIDAN

Aidan de Quincy, Earl of Blankenship, has only loved one woman in his life. Madeleine loved him beyond his wildest dreams, then coldly refused him and shredded his heart into tiny little pieces. If little foundling Melody is his daughter, then only Madeleine can be her mother. That’s a little trip in the way-back machine that Aidan really doesn’t want to take. Bringing Madeleine to live with him and Melody sounds like yet another journey into heartbreak… but he can’t resist her, even knowing that she’ll only destroy him yet again. Oh, but what a way to go.

MADELEINE

Miss Madeleine Chandler has been living a lie for so long she is beginning to believe it…until the day the past comes back to bite her in her lovely arse. The only thing to do is flee and the only place to flee is back into the arms of Aidan, the man whose heart she was forced to break years before. Unfortunately, the only way to get herself back into those arms is to lie yet again. Is she the mother of the child so recently left on his doorstep? Um, sure, yeah, whatever. But just when Maddie’s heart begins to remember why she loved Aidan so desperately in the first place, the brittle, shaky pyramid of her lies begins to sway beneath her feet! HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

VALENTINE COUPLE # 12!

SOPHIE & GRAHAM!

Sophie and Graham are one of the most popular couples I have written–for good reason! This book wrote itself, as if it couldn’t wait to find out what happened any more than I could!

DUKE MOST WANTED – Heiress Brides Book 3

In the game of love

Sophie Blake’s grandfather willed his fortune to the first of his granddaughters so marry a duke. Since her cousin, Deirdre, will seal the deal any day now, the quiet bookish Sophie can sit back and enjoy her time with the only man she truly adores: Graham. No matter that the part-charmer, part-scoundrel has absolutely no designs on her! Sophie is content to engage Graham in lively conversation, beat him at cards . . . and probe at the darkness hiding behind his rakish smile. read more

VALENTINE COUPLE # 10!

PHOEBE & RAFE!


A sleeping beauty tale, where the beauty’s sexuality has been asleep ever since she ruined herself at fifteen after encountering a little pri–dancing tutor!

I love frustrated, agonized Rafe, and I love Phoebe’s unwise, undeniable, unending passion for him!



DESPERATELY SEEKING A DUKE 

(Heiress Brides # 1)

Only a Duke will do.

The only way for vicar’s daughter Phoebe Millbury  to inherit a family fortune is to find herself a duke– just as her late grandfather demanded in his will.  But Phoebe, who’s still trying to make good after a  romantic scandal, also has her two cousins to  contend with. They’re all competing for the same  money, maybe even the same men…until Phoebe  meets her match in the terribly handsome and  charming Rafe Marbrook.

 

But will it be “I do” — or adieu?

When she receives a proposal from the Marquis of  Brookhaven, Phoebe is thrilled to learn that Rafe  is headed for dukedom…and accepts his offer.  There’s only one problem: It’s from Rafe’s older,  less captivating brother, Calder. Now Phoebe  finds herself on the verge of yet another scandal  as she faces a desperate choice: Marry Calder for  his money and status–or follow her own heart?  Either way can only lead to trouble…

 Quotes:

“What can Bradley come up with after The Liars Club and the Royal Four? The answer is a humorous  romp of marriage mayhem that’s a love and  laughter treat, tinged with heated sensuality  and tenderness. This winning combination  ensures Bradley’s Heiress Brides series will  climb the bestseller charts.” —Romantic Times Bookreviews

 Under the covers:

When I was young, I found the most fascinating part of the story of “Sleeping Beauty” to be the tangle of thorns that grew up around the castle of the sleeping princess and the fates of all the princes who died there, trying to fight their way past it. I always felt as though they deserved the princess more than the guy who just happened to ride up the day the hundred years had passed and the thorns fell away.
When a man earns a woman’s trust and love through trial and self-sacrifice–and a great set of buns!–it is always more satisfying to me. In DESPERATELY SEEKING A DUKE, Rafe Marbrook has to earn what he most desires. He must put away his rakish ways and grow to be the man that Phoebe most needs, a man who will protect the tender heart she offers, not trample it or lock it away unused.
I found Phoebe to be one of the most intricate characters I’ve ever written. Imagine the very real conflict a woman would feel even now  between choosing a respectable man–a good and handsome man–who would give her all the security she would ever need and is known to honor his commitments–not to mention that her father thinks he invented sliced bread!–or choosing a man with a very bad reputation, no visible means of support, a real problem with  commitment yet makes your knees weak to watch him walk across a room!
Be honest–wouldn’t you have to think about that one for a while? Phoebe literally must choose between love and life itself–for if she  chooses the rake, she will most definitely lose the life she knows.
Phoebe emerged from the most romantic side of me–from the girl inside who cries when Heathcliff shouts Cathy’s name into the wind,  when Darcy walks away from Elizabeth after being refused, and when no one can reach the princess sleeping inside the thorns.

 Portraits of our lovers: read more

VALENTINE COUPLE # 9!

STANTON & ALICIA!


When Stanton first meets Alicia, she is covered in oatmeal. Things go swiftly downhill from there! 😉



SEDUCING THE SPY (Bk 4)

Elite spies, secret defenders of the king, The Royal Four are unsurpassed in courage, honor, and daring. Known to his brothers-in-arms as The Falcon, Lord Wyndham is the most secretive and aloof of the four. But when The Falcon meets the impetuous Lady Alicia, he discovers a soul mate whose hidden fire matches his own….


Lady Alicia Lawrence was cast out of polite society  and branded a liar for a youthful mistake. When she  overhears details of a conspiracy that could affect  her country’s fate, she turns to the one person who might believe her—Stanton Horne, Lord Wyndham. Posing as Wyndham’s mistress in order to root out the enemy, Alicia is drawn into an uneasy  partnership…and a wildly seductive liaison.
Lord Wyndham’s uncanny ability to detect lies has made him a valuable member of the Royal Four, but in matters of romance it has proven a distinct liability. Alicia is the only woman whose thoughts he cannot read… and the only one whose sensual touch quenches every secret desire. As the mission grows more dangerous and more personal, and each encounter with Alicia more fiery than the last, this daring spy must face his greatest challenge yet—learn to trust the passion in his heart…

 Quotes: read more

VALENTINE COUPLE # 8!

MARCUS & JULIA!


This book was a joy to write–full of drama and sexy intensity and humor! 

Seriously, a pet lion? Who gets away with that?



ONE NIGHT WITH A SPY  (Bk 3)

They are…The Royal Four. This is the story 

of the spy known as The Fox…


For years, Lady Julia Barrowby has acted the part of 

an old man’s ornamental bride, never revealing that  read more

VALENTINE COUPLE # 7!

DANE & OLIVIA!


What can I say about this couple–except that 
I knew someday I’d have to write a book about a man who needs help with an ENORMOUS problem! 🙂 Luckily, Olivia is woman enough for the job!

SURRENDER TO A WICKED SPY (Bk 2)

They are known simply as the Royal Four—

but there is nothing simple about the elite 

band of spies who serve the Crown in secrecy. 

Their missions are dangerous, their love 

lives are scandalous…and each man in the read more

VALENTINE COUPLE # 6!


NATHANIEL & WILLA!

These two are by far one of the most popular pair of lovers 

I have written. Nathaniel, with the tragic sacrifice of his 
honor for the good of the Crown?  And Willa–quirky, 
brilliant, jinxed, steadfast Willa!–who never ceases to believe
in him? 

Magical!



TO WED A SCANDALOUS SPY(Book 1)

Four dangerously elite spies who answer 

only to the King will sweep readers into 

court intrigue and society scandal, into  read more

VALENTINE COUPLE # 5!

ETHAN & JANE!

I loved writing Ethan’s initiation into the Liar’s Club–

and Jane is one of my all-time favorite heroines!




THE ROGUE(Book 5)

A gambler and a liar?

Ethan Damont’s legendary gambling skills have  earned him a place at the gaming tables of London’s  most exclusive homes. He has used his dubious 

place in Society to aid the Liar’s Club. But his latest  read more

VALENTINE COUPLE # 4!

This is one of my absolute favorite couples…
I really love it when hate turns to love!

COLLIS & ROSE!





THE CHARMER(Book 4)

Who is the charmer?

Collis Tremayne could make any female swoon;  yet no one would guess the hidden desperation  that drove him to become the most skilled spy in 

service to the Crown. All that stand in his way is… read more