The Mercer's House Series

A family in trade moving up in the world. A family of landed gentry stepping aside for them. And the sons and daughters caught in the middle. Julia Fletcher is the unimportant daughter of the Fletcher family, with neither beauty nor wit nor accomplishments, but always in a scrape. Somehow she never manages to get through the day without breaking or spilling or tearing something. She’s quite the despair of her stepmother. She’s looking forward to their grand new home because it will give her a vast estate to roam over without getting into too much trouble. Or so she hopes. James Plummer is the younger son of an impoverished baronet, forced to sell the imposing family home to the upstart newcomers. James doesn’t mind that; he’s the local clergyman so he’s snug in his rectory, with a curate to do the dreary business of the parish and leave him free to wander about with a gun or a fishing rod. It’s all pretty boring, though; his family, his neighbours, his dull daily round… nothing very exciting happens. Maybe the Fletcher family will liven things up a bit? And outspoken hoyden Julia Fletcher seems just the one to shake things up… maybe a little too much for everyone’s peace of mind. This is a complete story with a happy ever after. A traditional Regency romance, drawing room rather than bedroom. Book 1 of a 6 book series.

A family in trade moving up in the world. A family of landed gentry stepping aside for them. And the sons and daughters caught in the middle. Will Fletcher is the eldest son and heir to the family fortune, and although his father is reluctant to relinquish his roots in trade, Will is more than happy to become a gentleman. He looks and sounds the part, but can he act the part, too? He soon finds that the world of high society is not easy to break into. It’s humiliating enough that the aristocracy disdain him, but how dare a lowly poor relation spurn his attentions? Eloise Whittleton is very glad to be summoned to London to assist her distant cousin the Marchioness of Carrbridge manage her social engagements. For a few weeks she can forget she’s poor and dance her way through the season, storing up a few memories for when she returns to her retired life in Bath. There are some annoyances, though, and handsome, roguish Will Fletcher is everything she despises. When he tries to impress her, she’s determined to teach him a lesson he won’t forget. This is a complete story with a happy ever after. A traditional Regency romance, drawing room rather than bedroom. Book 2 of a 6 book series.

A family in trade moving up in the world. A family of landed gentry stepping aside for them. And the sons and daughters caught in the middle. Angie Fletcher is the lively, mischievous daughter of the family. All she wants in her life is music and dancing, plenty of pretty new bonnets, and perhaps just the occasional trick played on her tolerant family. She’s been unusually well-behaved during the season in London, in dread of the least transgression curtailing all those glorious balls. Now the family is off to Bath, and freedom - surely a little game won’t hurt? But Bath residents are not as forgiving as Angie expected, and she soon finds herself in deeper trouble than she could have imagined. Mr B Appleby is a man of strict routine, and even stricter principles. His orderly life was disrupted when his uncle married and cut him out of his expected inheritance. He’s not quite sure what to do with his life, but perhaps something will turn up. He has no chance of marrying now, but he doesn’t care about that - women are flighty, frivolous creatures, not worth noticing, and especially that irritating Fletcher girl, even though she dances like an angel. But then a miracle occurs - an anonymous letter from a secret admirer. There is one woman in Bath who values him, after all. But who can it possibly be? Who would be so daring? This is a complete story with a happy ever after. A traditional Regency romance, drawing room rather than bedroom. Book 3 of a 6 book series.

A family in trade moving up in the world. A family of landed gentry stepping aside for them. And the sons and daughters caught in the middle. Madge Paton has been the mainstay of the Fletcher household for a quarter of a century, and even though her role managing the household and raising the children has been usurped by Harry Fletcher’s new wife, there’s still work to be done for a spinster aunt. She misses their Yorkshire life, but things aren’t so bad in the south of England. If only she didn’t have to put up with that irritating Morgan Plummer, and his argumentative ways. Morgan Plummer has reached the advanced age of fifty without ever achieving anything in his life. Invalided out of the army twenty years ago, he’s lived at his brother’s expense ever since. The arrival of the Fletcher family in the neighbourhood has livened things up, and at last he has a worthy opponent to spar with in grumpy Madge Paton. But both families dislike their bickering, and they’re told to call a truce. To force them to get along, they’re given a puzzle to solve - find the groom who set out to visit his mother and never returned. Two sensible, middle-aged people can’t get into too much trouble with that, can they? But the past has a nasty habit of upending the best laid plans… This is a complete story with a happy ever after. A traditional Regency romance, drawing room rather than bedroom. Book 4 of a 6 book series.

A family in trade moving up in the world. A family of landed gentry stepping aside for them. And the sons and daughters caught in the middle. Johnny Fletcher is exactly where he wants to be - a Fellow at Cambridge, with a lifetime of scholarly pursuits in front of him. He’s not allowed to marry, but he has no need for a wife when he has his books for company. But his beautiful sister is on the brink of a wonderful marriage to an earl’s son, so he joins his family for a house party at the earl’s estate. At least there will be a decent library he can hide in. But when he intervenes to protect a young woman from unwanted attention, he finds himself caught up in scandal. Lady Jemima Corsfield married young to please her family. Now her husband’s dead, she’s not allowed to look after her two sons, and she consoles herself by flitting from party to party, and flirting outrageously. The last thing she wants is another husband she doesn’t love. But when she’s caught alone and dishevelled with a stranger, the pressure for her to marry is intense. And if she refuses, she’ll lose her sons altogether. Can she find a way through the tangle, and will she ever find happiness? This is a complete story with a happy ever after. A traditional Regency romance, drawing room rather than bedroom. Book 5 of a 6 book series.