Violet Minturn, a half-Chinese/half-American courtesan who deals in seduction and illusion in Shanghai, struggles to find her place in the world, while her mother, Lucia, tries to make sense of the choices she has made and the men who have shaped her.

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for... and the most cruel. But this year, there's a ninth girl... and she's made of fire. Lei is a member of the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She's forced to go with the royal guards after her golden eyes pique the king's interest. Forced to learn the skills and charm that befit being a king's consort, Lei does the unthinkable--...

Memories of a dark past have left the Duke of Caradon disinclined to have any fun. But at the urging of friends, he finds himself attending a Cyprian ball in the hope that some woman will attract his attention. And one certainly does. A stunningly sensual woman who reawakens feelings of carnal desire he thought long lost.

Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci team up to expose a serial killer when Pope Alexander dispatches a Vatican courtesan to discern the truth about his beloved illegitimate son's murder. Their investigation reveals the secret history behind the controversial political work, "The Prince."

"Courtesan Georgette Lawson entrusts governess Kate Walcott with the care of her unruly children and the writing of her shocking memoirs, but when Colin Boscastle, Georgette's first lover, comes back to restore his honor and avenge his father's murder, Kate's finds her heart at risk"--

London's aristocrats pay handsomely for the company of courtesan Arabella Beaumont. Arabella, in turn, wisely invests her earnings in an art collection that will endure long after her legendary charms have faded. It's a decided blow, then, when her antiquities dealer is murdered before he can procure an item for which she paid dearly—a rare and provocative statue of Pan. Undaunted, Arabella decides to travel to Italy and locate the treasure herself....

"Since the age of sixteen, Arabella Beaumont has been happily employed as a highly paid woman of pleasure. True, respectable ladies of the ton would never deign to call at Lustings, her delightful home. Then again, Arabella has no desire to make dreary small talk and sip tea when she could be enjoying the company of amusing, intelligent, and extremely generous gentlemen. But while Arabella's admirers are legion, she also has enemies. A paper knife...

"... One September evening in 1785, Jonah Hancock hears an urgent knocking on his front door near the docks of London. The captain of one of Jonah's trading vessels is waiting eagerly on the front step, bearing shocking news. On a voyage to the Far East, he sold the Jonah's ship for something rare and far more precious: a mermaid. Jonah is stunned--the object the captain presents him is brown and wizened, as small as an infant, with vicious teeth...