Millionaire Simon Pearce's bride-to-be left him standing at the altar and wedding planner Megan Ashton was dumbfounded when she was asked to fill in. Literally. Be Simon's bride. For a year. For business reasons only. Her shock soon gave way to reason: what better way to escape her father's domination than by marrying a stranger! By day Simon escorted Megan for the benefit of nosy society watchers, but by night she was his willing bedmate. Their...

Edwer Thissell is having trouble adjusting to life on the planet Sirene. The Sirenese all wear masks to indicate their social status. They also communicate by playing instruments that are carefully selected for any social situation. (To make matters worse, errors of musical etiquette often prove fatal.) Shortly after Thissell arrives on Sirene, he finds himself embroiled in an unsolved murder made all the more mysterious by the fact that since everyone...