This lively book collects three well-matched historical romance novellas set in England. In Henley's "Beauty and the Brute," high-born teens Charles and Sarah are wedded to settle Charles's father's gambling debts. Mortal enemies on their wedding day, they part for three years, only to reunite as strangers and experience unexpected passion. In Pearce's "How to Seduce a Wife," prim young Louisa March yearns to feel pleasure in the bedroom. Her husband, Nicholas, wants to help her, but doesn't know how. Could a Mayfair madam help them? In Robinson's delicious "Not Quite a Courtesan," a young heiress gets far more than she bargains for when she marries into a family of swindlers short on cash but long on charm. Readers will float away on the literary flair of these escapist tales, each touched with just the right amount of eroticism. (Dec.)