Viveka Portman

Her life is entirely about propriety and conduct, but this Christmas, she will give herself the gift of being wild...

London 1813

Miss Smith is dreading the festive season. With her students gone, long cold days and endless dreary nights are a glum and lonely prospect. So when she comes across a beautiful gown left behind by one of her students, she can't help but try it on. And perhaps a walk down the street as a little Christmas gift to lift her spirits. And a small, warm drink at a local pub. No one will recognise her, and what harm could it do?

Lonely and worried about raising a daughter by himself, handsome widower Robert Carring knows he must find another wife. But having already endured one passionless marriage, he refuses to enter another. He will only marry when he finds the intelligent, spirited woman of his dreams. And then he sees her, making merry on a cold winter night.

Finding herself admired in the eyes of handsome man for the first time, Miss Smith is more determined than ever not to resign herself to a life as a spinster school matron, and makes a daring decision that will change all her Christmases forever.

From the hottest writers in Australia comes a scintillating new series. Enter the world of Sydney's elite, and find out what goes on behind the doors of the most exclusive addresses in the country…

Meet the Housewives of Sydney. They are wealthy, elegant, poised, and constantly in the public eye. But what goes on behind closed doors, in the private homes and parties where the cameras and paparazzi aren't welcome? Delve into the most personal details of their relationships, their friendships and their lives. The only question is: can you handle the heat?

Travel, money, a gorgeous pro-surfer husband, healthy son, and a new house overlooking the ocean – it looks like Emma Ross has it all, but inside she's torn apart by insecurities and her failure to have another child.

She knows that she's putting her relationship in jeopardy, so to make up for their difficulties, Emma gives Rosco carte blanche in the bedroom. But is explosive sex enough to save a marriage that is falling apart from the inside?

The final instalment in Viveka Portman's sexy, sinful Regency Diaries sees an unhappy wife desperately seeking love–and her taciturn husband who doesn't know how to reach her.

My husband, though I do not doubt his goodness, does not love nor want me. He married me for pure convenience. He needed a bride and I was the one offered to him. Thus I find my pleasures where I may…

Mrs Maria Reeves has been married for six years. Six long, lonely years. She craves love and affection, but married to a handsome but pious vicar she receives little in the way of earthly pleasures. The Reverend Vicar Frederick Reeves is a man of principle and morals, and is more likely to provide his wife with suggested Bible readings than carnal knowledge.

 If her husband will not please her, then she will find a man who will.

But infidelity doesn't come naturally to the vicar's wife. Though Maria finds herself getting the sexual pleasure she desires, she also finds herself emotionally frayed and unhappy. To make matters worse, in the small village of Stanton there are always people watching, and Maria discovers that some secrets are impossible to keep. What will her upright husband do when he discovers that Maria has broken not only one of the commandments, but her vows to him?

 

Viveka Portman's latest instalment in the sexiest set of diaries you have ever read...

When Miss Martha Swan enters the fine home of Lord and Lady Stanton to become a governess, she is full of lofty ideals. Yet something is amiss in the hallowed halls of Stanton: whispers, laughter, and something darker and more wicked echoes from behind closed doors, and Martha is determined to find out what.

She soon discovers that all is not as it seems in this stately home. The lord and lady have secrets – lustful, carnal, shameful secrets that could spell ruination for all. Martha wants to be appalled, but she finds herself intrigued, and when her long–time friend Mr Jonathan Reeves comes to visit, Martha conceives a daring plan to assuage her curiosity.

Thing are not so simple however, as neither Martha nor Jonathan have the money to marry. Nothing can come from this relationship – nothing but the experience of ecstasy. In such a situation, what is a curious governess to do?

In the world of Regency England, only one thing matters – the begetting of an heir...

There is one fact I cannot hide nor deny. I have borne my husband no sons...

When Lord Jacob Fielding suffers a traumatic injury denying him more children, it devastates both his present and his future. He and his wife Jane have only daughters, and the brother in line to inherit his title and lands is a disgusting reprobate, a man who should never have power over anyone.

In desperation, Lord Fielding formulates a wicked plan. He invites his distant cousin Matthew to come and share their home...and possibly more. Jane is shocked, but cannot deny her curiosity. She loves her husband, and their situation is desperate, and Matthew is a kind, gentle, attractive man. But what can this situation bring, but tension and jealousy?

Emotions and libidos run high as the Fielding men search for a way to satisfy the need for an heir, their own lusts, and, most importantly, the desires of Lady Jane, before time runs out.

 

In the vein of Portia Da Costa and Charlotte Featherstone, Regency England gets just a bit raunchy in this novella about a gently–raised lady who wants to feel like a woman…

“I have never seen fit in my life to divulge my secrets in a diary, yet now, after today's proceedings, I do…”

Lady Catherine Bexley is new to marriage and the marriage bed, but surely there must be more to it than this? Her husband is proper and perfunctory – treating her with careful respect but leaving her aching for more.

When she witnesses a gentleman disciplining a maid at a house party, the ache explodes into ravenous desire. She finds herself no longer willing to wait for her husband's stiff and passionless attentions – and soon develops a naughty plan to finally get what she wants.

When faced with a rakish, lusty husband, what is a proper English wife to do but educate herself in the art of bedplay?

“Marriages are strange things, none stranger perhaps than this betwixt me and my lord husband.”

Lady Cecelia is married to the dashing and philandering Lord William Stanton, a situation that would distress even the most composed and refined gently–born lady. However, Cecelia has a secret balm to her dissatisfaction: her maid, Bess Miller.

Cecelia's inexperience and William's insatiable appetites fuel her desire to learn, and Bess is a willing teacher. Then, when Cecelia blossoms into pregnancy and can no longer accommodate William's needs, he distances himself, and Bess becomes her only solace and comfort – and the channel for her most intimate desires. As Cecelia struggles to understand her own feelings, gossip begins to spread. William starts asking questions, and wicked confessions must be made...