Wel­come to USA Today best­selling author Alexa Aston’s new Regency world—The Strongs of Shadowcrest—her first time to spot­light the love sto­ries of a fam­i­ly of sib­lings since her pop­u­lar St. Clairs series.

*Each Regency romance in The Strongs of Shad­ow­crest may be read as a stand­alone and in any order. The series will be avail­able exclu­sive­ly at Ama­zon and can be read for free in Kin­dle Unlimited.

A vir­gin wid­ow run­ning her own com­pa­ny. A man who returns home after years at sea. An odd­ly-matched couple—who may not be so incom­pat­i­ble after all …

James Jones recalls lit­tle of his past, only remem­ber­ing being tak­en as a young boy and grow­ing up on the Sev­en Seas. Ris­ing from cab­in boy to cap­tain of a ship, a chance encounter with a drunk­en stranger leads James back to his fam­i­ly, where he dis­cov­ers he is the heir to the dying Duke of Seaton.

Sophie Grant, daugh­ter of a vis­count, nev­er made her come-out, thanks to her father’s bad invest­ments, which were paid off by Josi­ah Grant, own­er of one of the lead­ing ship­ping lines in Great Britain. As part of the arrange­ment, the shy Sophie is giv­en to Josi­ah in mar­riage. Her new, much old­er hus­band helps Sophie to gain con­fi­dence in her­self by teach­ing her all about how to run his ship­ping empire.

James, a for­mer cap­tain for one of Grant’s ves­sels, encoun­ters the now-wid­owed Sophie and feels a con­nec­tion with the effi­cient, intel­li­gent woman. Rebelling against his new role as a lead­ing mem­ber of the ton, he spurns Polite Soci­ety and its expec­ta­tion that he wed some titled gentleman’s bird-wit­ted daughter—because James is increas­ing­ly drawn to the gos­siped-about, inde­pen­dent Sophie Grant.

Will a new­ly-mint­ed duke be able to win the heart of a woman who spurs the ton and has built a sat­is­fy­ing life for herself?

Find the answer in best­selling author Alexa Aston’s The Duke’s Unex­pect­ed Love, Book 1 of The Strongs of Shadowcrest.

https://amzn.to/3v5rNr0

A man who cher­ish­es his free­dom at sea. A woman who fears she will nev­er find her place in Polite Soci­ety. Two unlike­ly peo­ple who come together—and find love … 

As a boy, Seth Atwell falls in love with the sea. His uncle, Lord Hopewell, arranges for Seth to become a cab­in boy, and over the years, Seth works his way up to the posi­tion of cap­tain of a trad­ing ves­sel. On a return trip home to Eng­land, he is shocked to learn that he is the new Vis­count Hopewell—and must give up his sea­far­ing ways.

Lady Philip­pa Strong has a zest for life and is always in motion. Curi­ous about every­thing, with a love of lan­guages and geog­ra­phy, Pip­pa doesn’t want to make her come-out with her twin. Though she adores Georgina, Pip­pa knows when the ton com­pares the two Strong twins, she will come up lacking.

Seth retreats to Hope­wood, his coun­try estate, where he encoun­ters his ducal neighbor’s sis­ter. Seth is drawn to Pippa’s free spir­it and inquis­i­tive nature, and she agrees to give him rid­ing lessons since he has nev­er been atop a horse. The pair grow close, but friend­ship is not enough for this vis­count. He wants to claim Pip­pa as his viscountess.

Can Seth con­vince Pip­pa that friends can become lovers—and that love does not lim­it a woman’s opportunities?

Find the answer in best­selling author Alexa Aston’s The Perks of Lov­ing a Vis­count, Book 2 of The Strongs of Shadowcrest.

https://amzn.to/48Yzpu0

A war hero who returns to a title. A lady mak­ing her debut into Polite Soci­ety. Two peo­ple drawn togeth­er, yet oth­ers think them bet­ter apart …

Sec­ond son August Holt is serv­ing as a cap­tain in the Penin­su­lar Wars when he is grave­ly injured. August los­es an eye and also bears a hideous scar run­ning from his brow to his cheek from a saber wound. He returns home in time to speak to his old­er broth­er, the Mar­quess of Edgeth­orne, on his deathbed. Peter makes August promise to attend the Sea­son the fol­low­ing spring and find a bride.

Lady Georgina Strong is ready to make her debut in Polite Soci­ety with two of her sis­ters and two cousins. Yet one after anoth­er changes her mind, and at the begin­ning of the Sea­son, Georgie is the only one left to make her come-out. She has wit­nessed her twin Pip­pa wed for love, and Georgie decides she will set­tle for noth­ing less—even if it takes more than one Sea­son to find true love.

When August and Georgie meet, she is not repelled by his appear­ance in the least, see­ing him for the man he is. The new mar­quess finds him­self attract­ed to the kind­heart­ed lady, but he views her as a bright star who would be dimmed if they became involved. Instead, he hopes his lofty title and wealth will per­suade one of the ton’s wall­flow­ers to agree to mar­ry him. He will insist on sep­a­rate lives and bury him­self in the coun­try, allow­ing his mar­chioness to raise their children.

Georgie enjoys her Sea­son and the atten­tion of many suit­ors, but she con­stant­ly thinks of Lord Edgeth­orne, who stirs feel­ings with­in her which she is unfa­mil­iar with. She wants not only a man who will love her—but a man who is her partner—and will help raise their chil­dren in a lov­ing home.

Will the mar­quess set­tle for a mar­riage of con­ve­nience, or will he real­ize mar­riage with Georgina could see love flour­ish between them?

Find the answer in best­selling author Alexa Aston’s Falling for the Mar­quess, Book 3 of The Strongs of Shadowcrest.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTHQ5C3L

A wid­owed duchess yearn­ing to find love. An orphan who became a sea cap­tain. A pow­er­ful, for­bid­den love which ignites between the pair …

Dinah Strong, the Dowa­ger Duchess of Seaton, was forced to wed a man much old­er than her­self. Much to his dis­may, she gifts him with four daugh­ters, who, along with the two nieces she rais­es, became the lights in an oth­er­wise dis­mal life.

Now wid­owed, Dinah decides to par­tic­i­pate in the Sea­son, hop­ing she might be for­tu­nate enough to final­ly find love. None of the gen­tle­men appeal to her–because of one man she can­not forgot.

Drake Andrews is a man who is every­thing her late hus­band was not. The sea cap­tain is bold, dar­ing, and unafraid of tak­ing risks, not to men­tion his sin­ful­ly deli­cious good looks. Dinah met him briefly before he sailed off on a lengthy voy­age, and she finds her thoughts turn­ing to him more and more.

Cap­tain Andrews was an orphan raised at sea, and it is the only life he has ever known. He has final­ly achieved his goal of cap­tain­ing his own ves­sel for Nep­tune Ship­ping Lines, but he can’t seem to get the Dowa­ger Duchess of Seaton out of his mind. His clos­est friend and for­mer fel­low sea­man intro­duced Drake to her just before Drake set sail on his maid­en voy­age as a cap­tain, and the woman has haunt­ed his dreams every night.

Now back in Lon­don and between sail­ing assign­ments, Drake calls upon the dowa­ger duchess, find­ing despite their ori­gins, they have much in com­mon. Their grow­ing attrac­tion flames into a tor­rid affair, with Dinah declar­ing her wish for them to wed.

Will Drake allow obsta­cles to keep them apart–or will love tri­umph over Polite Soci­ety’s expec­ta­tions for the wid­owed duchess?

Find the answer in best­selling author Alexa Aston’s The Cap­tain and the Duchess, Book 4 of The Strongs of Shad­ow­crest Siblings.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYQK16DJ

The return of the Duke of Seaton’s heir appar­ent after an absence of almost two decades has set Polite Soci­ety buzzing. Short­ly after James Strong’s arrival in Lon­don, his father, ill for sev­er­al years, dies. Now Duke of Seaton and the own­er of Strong Ship­ping Lines, the new duke turns the ton atwit­ter when he weds Mrs. Sophie Strong, a wid­ow who inher­it­ed Nep­tune Ship­ping Line from her husband—and has the audac­i­ty to run the ship­ping empire herself.

Two of the duke’s sis­ters, Lady Pip­pa and Lady Georgina, have already wed, and Seaton and his duchess are now host­ing a house par­ty at the end of the Sea­son. With more Strongs ready to make love match­es, Polite Soci­ety watch­es with bat­ed breath to see who will secure an invi­ta­tion to the house party—and what cou­ples will emerge from the social gath­er­ing betrothed.

Courtship at Shad­ow­crest is a Regency duet that tells the love sto­ries of twins Alle­gra and Lyric Strong, nieces to James, Strong, the Duke of Seaton.

Tempt­ed by the Earl – Part 1:

A cav­a­lier rake­hell. A feisty beau­ty. A pow­er­ful love which shakes this pair to their core …

High-spirt­ed and impul­sive, Miss Alle­gra Strong thinks more with her heart than with her head. She refused her cousin’s offer to pay for her come-out, but the duke’s wife wish­es to host a house par­ty at Season’s end for Alle­gra and her twin. Both girls hope to make love match­es with an invit­ed guest.

Ster­ling Ayles, Earl of Car­roll, has the black­est rep­u­ta­tion among the ton. He is a man who seduces women with both words and actions and can’t under­stand why he receives an invi­ta­tion to the house par­ty giv­en by the Duke and Duchess of Seaton. No one refus­es a duke and his duchess, though. He jour­neys to Kent, expect­ing to enjoy good food and com­pa­ny, with pos­si­bly a bit of light flirt­ing before he returns to his hedo­nis­tic life in London.

Much to Sterling’s sur­prise, he is thun­der­struck when meet­ing Alle­gra Strong. Despite hav­ing no desire to put on the shack­les of mar­riage, Ster­ling finds him­self offer­ing mar­riage to Allegra.

Can a stub­born beau­ty who will only mar­ry for love tame the best-known rake in London?

Find the answer in best­selling author Alexa Aston’s Tempt­ed by the Earl, Part 1 of Courtship at Shad­ow­crest, Book 5 of The Strongs of Shadowcrest.

The Viscount’s Heart – Part 2:

A charm­ing rogue. A serene beau­ty. A fear that will dri­ve the cou­ple apart …

Miss Lyric Strong is a nur­tur­ing, capa­ble young woman, loy­al to her fam­i­ly and her twin sis­ter Alle­gra. She is thrilled when her ducal cousin informs her of the house par­ty which will be held in Lyric and Allegra’s hon­or, hop­ing she will find love as oth­ers in her fam­i­ly have done.

Lord Blanken­ship was ignored by his self­ish par­ents, nev­er win­ning their atten­tion, must less their love. While intel­li­gent and con­ge­nial, the hand­some rogue has nev­er felt wor­thy. He is try­ing to be a bet­ter man ever since assum­ing his title and is ready to find his viscountess.

At the Duke of Seaton’s house par­ty, Silas finds the woman he wish­es to make his wife and offers for her. Lyric, how­ev­er, believes in love, and Silas can­not bring him­self to utter words he does not believe in.

Will Silas find the courage to believe in him­self and love—and con­vince Alle­gra they can share a life of happiness?

Find the answer in best­selling author Alexa Aston’s Tempt­ed by the Earl, Part 2 of Courtship at Shad­ow­crest, Book 5 of The Strongs of Shadowcrest.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5Z1T21N/

A woman look­ing for a love match … A sol­dier home from the war … A pas­sion which ter­ri­fies the both of them …

Cap­tain Byron Bal­four nev­er expect­ed to inher­it the title Mar­quess of Bridge­wa­ter, let alone the weight of respon­si­bil­i­ty that comes with it. When his beloved broth­er dies in a phaeton race in Hyde Park, how­ev­er, Byron sells his army com­mis­sion and returns to Eng­land, ready to uphold the Bal­four fam­i­ly lega­cy. As he nav­i­gates his new­found duties, he meets the enchant­i­ng Lady Mirella, a woman who cap­tures his heart and fills him with hope for a future he nev­er thought possible.

His broth­er had been betrothed, though, to their neighbor’s daugh­ter. Byron’s father had always instilled in his sons the impor­tance of ful­fill­ing their oblig­a­tions and had want­ed to join the Bal­four fam­i­ly with that of this neigh­bor, his clos­est friend. Byron finds him­self torn between duty to his fam­i­ly and his desire for true love.

Lady Mirella Strong makes her come-out, becom­ing the dar­ling of Polite Soci­ety. Her fam­i­ly is known for mak­ing love match­es, and Mirella will set­tle for noth­ing less. She falls in love with Byron, but he informs her he can­not pur­sue her because he will soon announce his betrothal to anoth­er woman. Crushed, Mirella throws her­self into the activ­i­ties of the Season—but real­izes the hand­some mar­quess is the man who holds her heart.

Will Byron wed anoth­er woman and pine for Mirella the rest of his life, or will he choose love over duty to his family?

Find the answer in best­selling author Alexa Aston’s The Mar­quess’ Quest for Love, Book 6 of The Strongs of Shadowcrest.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8XLJNLN/

An inde­pen­dent woman mak­ing her come-out … A wid­owed duke seek­ing a sec­ond mar­riage … A love match that is meant to be …

Mal­colm Ware, the wid­owed Duke of Water­bury, accept­ed a mar­riage of con­ve­nience the first time around, which caused him much regret. He attends the Sea­son with his sis­ter Ada, who is mak­ing her debut into Polite Soci­ety, hop­ing he will find a lady who can be an accept­able duchess and not bore him to tears. Always the best at every­thing he’s attempt­ed and not used to ever hear­ing no, Mal­colm is stunned when Ada’s new friend blithe­ly ignores him.

Lady Euphemia Strong comes from a fam­i­ly known for mak­ing love match­es. The trou­ble is, Effie doesn’t want to wed at all and is only mak­ing her come-out to please her moth­er. She hopes to make a friend or two dur­ing her Sea­son but when it ends, she plans to return to Shad­ow­crest, her home in Kent, and revert to wear­ing breech­es and tend­ing to her ani­mals, hap­pi­ly unwed.

At first, she looks upon Lady Ada’s broth­er as a silent, brood­ing, pesky chaperone—but then she becomes aware of him as a man. Effie falls in love with the hand­some duke but knows the life of a duchess is not one meant for her. When she dis­cov­ers Water­bury has con­sult­ed the men in her family—who have drawn up a list of guide­lines for the duke to use to win Effie’s heart—she is mor­ti­fied and appalled.

Will Mal­colm con­vince Effie that his love knows no bounds and he accepts her as the tomboy she is, or will the final love match in the Strong fam­i­ly fall flat as these two go their sep­a­rate ways?

Find the answer in best­selling author Alexa Aston’s The Duke’s Guide to Win­ning a Lady, Book 7 of The Strongs of Shadowcrest.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFZT7GC5/