Bøker av Catherine Stein

Wyatt Hartford, Earl of Windborne, spends his days running a smuggling operation under the noses of his political enemies. Twenty years prior, Wyatt and three other young, orphaned aristocrats fled war- and weather-ravaged Earth for the Martian city-state of Utopia. Now the four friends-nicknamed the Lords of Dystopia-use their money and influence to champion citizens' rights and progressive reforms. To the downtrodden, they are leaders. To the noble scions of Queen Victoria's empire, they are a threat.Mercenary Nova Pratt likes her assignments-and her life-efficient, tidy, and uncomplicated. Her latest contract ought to be perfect: Find and arrest the smuggler known as the Viper. Lock up the bad guy and save the day. Her target is no hardened criminal, though. He's a rainbows-and-sunshine chaos gremlin with a mischievous smile and hips that won't stop swaying to chipper Earth-pop. Nova can't look away.Wyatt won't let a surly, law-abiding merc derail his operation, even if her scowl and sharp commands make his blood run hot. When he uncovers a smuggling scheme far more nefarious than his own, he seizes the opportunity to point Nova at the real villains. It won't be easy to work as reluctant allies while resisting their inconvenient attraction. But as political games turn deadly, these opposites must trust one another to fight for what's right-by putting their lives and their hearts on the line.

Sometimes all love needs is a spark.Victor Franklin has two goals in life: finishing his mechanical man and hiding his feelings for his erstwhile-and sadly married-scientific collaborator, Mary Clay. After Victor inadvertently slights Mary, she shocks him by demanding a place in his laboratory. The charged atmosphere creates new opportunities for the Mecha-Man project, but every second spent with Mary tightens her hold on Victor's heart.Forced from her family's copperworks by her odious, perpetually absent husband, Mary takes solace in her scientific pursuits and the kindness of friends. But days working alongside handsome, charming Victor ignite sensual feelings she dares not succumb to. Worse yet, Mr. Clay's abrupt reappearance in her life threatens everything she holds dear.When a murder at the copperworks makes Mecha-Man a suspect, it endangers Mary and Victor's work, their reputations, and even their lives. As they hide from prying eyes, the crackling tension between them builds to an electric passion and the dream of a future together. Can they prove their innocence, evade the killer, and conquer old fears to bring their dream to life?

The most dangerous pirate in the skies might be the one who steals your heart.Yvette Séverin has piracy in her blood. The only child of the vile Captain Redbeard, she has commandeered his name, his best smuggling routes, and a perfect airship. Now she's determined to shove all her past failures aside and make herself the best possible captain. The new Captain Redbeard leaves no woman behind. If protecting her crew leads to kidnapping a prim and proper-and irresistible-psychologist... C'est la vie.The last thing Catalina Navarro needs is an alluring and chaotic pirate upending her orderly life. The offer to join Redbeard's crew of unconventional women is tempting, but Lina will only accept under her own terms: It's a job, and it's only for a few months. When her attraction to the pirate captain swells into something undeniable, Lina lays down the rules again: The affair will be casual, private, and temporary.But when mechanical monsters attack the pirates and threaten civilians, Yvette and Lina will be flung headlong into an ocean-spanning whirlwind of danger and intrigue. With enemies on their heels, they must rely on old friends, new crewmates, and on one another. Teamwork means time together, and soon Yvette and Lina will question both their intimate arrangement and their long-held beliefs. Saving the world won't be easy. But it might be possible if the captain and her mate can open their hearts and fight side-by-side.

When life is a broken wreck, it takes a special kind of doctor to put the pieces back together.Owen Cassidy's life is in a shambles. His business is plagued by catastrophic malfunctions, a near-fatal attack has left him with a shoulder full of gears and wires, and the lady doctor who saved his life insists on bedrest over action. To make matters worse, she's perpetually cheerful, utterly gorgeous, and entirely uninterested in him.Dr. Eleanor Taylor has no intention of letting an obstinate, uncooperative tycoon ruin her hard work. Nora's never been swayed by a handsome face, so desire is the last thing she expects to complicate the situation. But when she and Owen begin to bond, amorous feelings she's rarely experienced-and doesn't know how to handle-spark to life.As Nora and Owen find themselves lost in a tangle of friendship and blazing passion, their enemy's schemes become wilder and more dangerous. To escape with their lives and hearts intact, they'll need all their wits, all their skills, and a relationship built on the deepest trust.

Revenge is in her future. But falling for her enemy's son is one fate this spiritualist could never have envisioned.Playwright Maxwell Millerson would rather spend his days dreaming up stories than cleaning up his father's messes. But a trendy renovation has the family's gaming club on the brink of ruin, and not even Max's imagination can conjure a way out. Desperate, he turns to the multi-talented-and alluringly audacious-Madame Xyla to help him spin gold from straw.Lydia Weaver, professionally known as spiritualist Madame Xyla, has long sought revenge on the man responsible for her cousin's imprisonment. When her enemy's son visits her seance room seeking advice, Lydia leaps at the opportunity for vengeance-until Max's easy charm and poetic words threaten to turn her plans upside-down.As their friendship grows and they give way to their mutual attraction, Lydia and Max must weigh family duty with their hearts' desires. And only when they confront old wounds and new feelings can a happy ending be in the cards.

Theirs was a love to last forever. If only they could remember it.Anna Harper has no memory of her old life. Or even of yesterday. She's alone, pregnant, and in a foreign country, but none of those things will stop her from investigating the mystery of her unusual ailment. She's determined to explore every clue, whether it be a whisky company that bears her name, or a handsome man who shares her problem.Smith. Whisky. Newcastle. With his mind wiped by a pernicious potion, Quinn remembers little beyond those few words. All he knows is that he's captivated by the outspoken dark-haired beauty searching for answers. And he'll do all he can to protect her from the enemies bent on stopping her.As Anna and Quinn join forces to unravel pieces of their past, they uncover a tangled web of deception and betrayal. Only Anna's keen insight and Quinn's steadfast spirit can lead them to the truth. And only the yearning of their two hearts can revive the love their minds have forgotten.

Football, mechanical dragons, industrial espionage, sexy romance. Welcome to fall in Ann Arbor.Eden Randall has her life under control. Sure, people call her weird for having a mechanical dragon with her at all times, but she's content. All she needs are her studies and her sports--and for the football team to have another undefeated season. What she doesn't need are nosy men from out-of-town poking into her business.Spending months in a tiny town shadowing the football team is the last thing Boston reporter Bruce Caldwell wants to do, but the tedious job could be his ticket to something bigger and better. When he meets a sports-mad spitfire on the sidelines, he realizes the town may hold stories far more interesting than he expected.With dragons running loose in the laboratory and a ruthless New York industrialist threatening their budding friendship, Eden and Bruce find themselves players in a game far more dangerous than the one on the gridiron. Never ones to quit, they know the only way to emerge as The Victors is to become a team. This football season, winning might mean losing their hearts.

A determined widow. Rachael Fasching doesn't shy away from scandal. But living her whole life with the name of her murderous late husband? Intolerable. Her solution: find the most passionate, romantic man in all of England and marry him. When she discovers that "dull and disagreeable" historian Avery Cantrell is the secret author of warrior love poems, she takes the risk and sets out to woo him. An ancient curse. Avery has spent his entire life researching, in the hopes of finding a cure to the ancient affliction that has made potions deadly to every male of the Cantrell family line. He needs to marry, but he wants the matter addressed efficiently: no fuss, no delays, no timid virgins. Beautiful, enigmatic Rachael seems the perfect candidate. Crime and passion. When news of a murder interrupts their wedding plans, Rachael and Avery stumble upon a mystery of long-forgotten magic and deadly secrets. Plots and poisons threaten their marriage-of-convenience, but as they delve into the intrigue together these unlikely heroes might discover they have what it takes to hunt down a killer-and to find true love along the way.