Book picks similar to
Kentucky Bride by Norah Hess


romance
historical-romance
historical
western

The Substitute Wife


Dallas Schulze - 2003
    Leggy, flame haired and wise beyond her years, she decided that he should marry her instead.But even though Luke needed a wife by his thirty-sixth birthday or he would lose his inheritance, he had to say "No!" Well, that was what he tried to say, but somehow Cat left with a ring on her finger and a wedding date on her calendar. And Luke could only curse his grandfather's positively medieval blackmailing scheme...and count the seconds till the wedding night.Cat, of course, knows her own mind -- and her own heart -- and she wants Luke. Meanwhile, Luke is wondering how long this will play out, and hoping that it might be a little longer with each passing day. The problem is, he's quite capable of doing something very stupid -- like falling for Cat.Because sometimes love just doesn't take no for an answer.

Portrayal


A.R. Thomas - 2021
    Lily Spencer is finally getting her life back on track.She's making a name for herself in the art community and letting go of the past.That is until Jace Bennett comes into her life,the cocky architect is everything she has promised herself to stay away from.No matter how hard she resists him,he is just as determined to show her what irresponsible feels like.A man like Jace is used to getting his own way.But with Lily, he is out of his depth.She is the only woman who is happy to see the back of him.The further from him she goes the harder he tries to win her over.It's never as simple as winning.Not when their pasts are hanging over them...

The Coming Home Place


Mary Spencer - 1994
    Handsome rancher James Kagan had closed his heart when his childhood sweetheart died, and beautiful Elizabeth Beck had lost everyone on the journey from Tennessee to California, but they discover that the only place they truly belong is in each other's arms.

The Dark Knight's Captive Bride


Natasha Wild - 2016
    and the keeper of his heart.Richard de Claiborne, the dark earl of Dunsmore, serves King Edward Plantagenet well. Sworn to obey his king's every order, he nevertheless chafes at the command he wed the daughter of his enemy — a man who slew his father in cold blood. But King Edward wants peace in his lands, and he will stop at nothing to get it. If he has to order his most powerful Marcher lord to marry a Welsh princess, he considers it a small price to pay.Princess Gwenllian is a political pawn. When she's forced to marry the evil Black Hawk de Claiborne, she quakes at his fierceness and brutality. But she does her duty to her father and her people, knowing she will never surrender to her enemy. In the halls of Black Hawk's great keep, Gwen glimpses a man who can be tender and passionate — and who teaches her about breathtaking sensuality and a desire so great it threatens every vow she ever made to keep her heart locked tight.As war once more looms between Wales and England, Gwen realizes a terrible truth: she's in love with the enemy. When long-buried secrets threaten to destroy her fragile happiness, she must make a terrible choice-or watch the man she loves sacrifice his life to save hers...

Say You're Mine: A Friends to Lovers Romance


Madeleine Labitan - 2021
    He's my best friend, protector, and self-appointed guardian rolled into one.A solid rock I can always rely on. The first person I can count on to show up when needed. The one guy who proudly proclaims he can read me like an open book.And yet...he remains oblivious to my feelings for him.But maybe that's a good thing. Because as much as I want him to know what I feel, I don't want to risk our friendship. I can't risk losing him.So I do the next best thing I can think of: say 'yes' to a date with Foster Allen. He's cute, funny, and seems like a great guy. In short, the perfect candidate to help me move on.Now, if only Weston would stop acting like a possessive boyfriend around him...

The Shrouded Walls


Susan Howatch - 1974
    It was Sir Charles Stowell, a friend of my father's who finally told us the my father's forutnes and estates, including even the town house in London where we had lived all our lives with our mother, had reverted to my father's wife in Manchester. My father had been mcuh too gay and carefree to bother to make a will to provide for his mistress and the tiwns she had borne him...' When her parents die in a road accident, Marianne, illegitimate daughter of a French emigree and an English gentleman, loses her home and all her wordly goods. She faces life as a governess until she meets Axel Branson, a man who must marry within the year in order to inherit his father's wealth. Marianne grabs at the chance of a respectable marriage. A remote house in the Kent Marshes is now her home. But distrust of her husband and fear of the house seem to roll in as steadily as the sea mist...

Zealous


Hazel Grace - 2019
    I paid for all three when I fell in love with Rora. Her betrayal left me in shambles, a hollow man filled with insurmountable regret. I resented her. And then I hurt her. Betrayed her in the selfishness of my retribution. But when I lay eyes on her again, she’s not the same woman I exiled from my past. She’s not the woman I once loved. Her eyes burn brighter, only with the deepest of hatred. A hatred that bears my name Nova Everything has a meaning; your past, your present, the people that you hold true to your heart. But what if all three of those play your trial, jury and judge to a crime you never committed in the first place? The old me died after my conviction, only to come back with contempt and revenge in my veins. The love and trust are gone while I write my list down of every Judas in my midst. And I’m starting with him.

Catch Me Twice


Charmaine Pauls - 2019
    I learned the hard way. I had Jake Basson’s baby. He left to chase his dream. Now he’s back, demanding a second chance, but why should I give him anything after four years of nothing? No correspondence, no news. I finally have my life back on track. Jake has never been uncomplicated. He never follows the rules. I should’ve known he’d play dirty. He caught me once. I’m not going to let him catch me twice.

Quiver


Laura Avery - 2018
    Humiliating me in front of our peers was his sport and knowing he owned every part of me even if I wouldn’t admit it… well, owning me was his obsession. But that was before. Before I witnessed just how twisted his family really was. Before I went to the cops and turned on one of the most powerful names in the country. Before I ran away from the darkness and tried to find the light without him. A light that never came. Because as twisted as it was; Jackson was my light. Even if I was his darkness. Two years of absence and his grasp on me is stronger than ever… But this time he’s out for revenge And his dream is my nightmare. Jackson I’m going to make her regret the day she ever crossed me. I waited twenty-four long months for the chance to remind her just how lost her poor existence was without me. And this time I’m going to break her. I’m going to break everything good inside of her until there’s nothing left. Everything pure and innocent will be mine. Emery is mine. And she just upgraded to my evil version of paradise.

Adam's Promise


Julianne MacLean - 2003
    When a gentleman from her past requests that she set sail for the New World to become his wife, she jumps at the chance to become a mail order bride and marry the man she has loved since she was a girl.Adam Coates was a mere tenant farmer when he left England for the British Colony of Nova Scotia, but now he is a prosperous and influential landowner. What Madeline doesn’t know is that her father has hoodwinked them both—for the bride Adam truly wanted was her beautiful, older sister, Diana—his first love. When Madeline steps off the ship with romantic dreams of her long-awaited happily-ever-after, she is shocked and dismayed to discover the truth. Madeline is furious with her father for his treachery, but she has sailed across an ocean to an unfamiliar land and must remain, at least temporarily, under the protection of the man she still loves—the man who still intends to wed her sister.Over the coming weeks, as their friendship deepens and grows, will Adam come to realize that he’d set his heart on the wrong sister all along? Or will it be too late to find the happiness they both desire?

Against the Ropes


Carly Fall - 2013
    . . if he can’t win back the heart of the woman he loves. . .Five years ago Dylan Gomez had it all. He was an up-and-coming boxer with a loving girlfriend, and his sights were set on the big league. Then he let the hype of the fans inflate his ego—he thought he was invincible. That all changed when an alcohol-fueled decision altered the course of his life. He lost his girlfriend and then bit-by-bit his life crumbled around him.Physical therapist, Regan Holloway, has coasted through life for the last five years. She’s been in the same place all that time and most of her things are still in boxes. Agreeing to a “friendly” date with a co-worker, she ends up ringside and face-to-face with the man she’d fled to forget—Dylan.Dylan’s turning his life around and working his way back up the ranks; he’s got a big fight lined up in thirty days that will be his ticket back into the pros—if he can win. The only thing holding him back is an old shoulder injury and Regan not being by his side.When Max, Dylan’s manager, convinces Regan to come with them and work on his shoulder for the fight, she knows she needs to keep things professional so that she won’t be hurt again.In the thirty-day countdown to the big fight, secrets are revealed, their passion is reignited, and the past threatens to haunt their future. On fight day, Dylan and Regan are truly against the ropes

His Dirty Little Secret


Terri Anne Browning - 2017
    So, I kept quiet. Blinded by love and bound by my own desires, I allowed it all.I didn’t tell a single soul about my time with Sawyer, not my brother, not my closest friends.Not then, and especially not now.How can I? My best friend is his ex-wife.The past is the past.I’m over him.I refuse to still love him.He will never own me again.I repeat the lies over and over again to myself every single day.Only, deep down, no matter how hard I try to deny it, I’ve always been his.I want more between us than a dirty little secret.**Standalone***

Specter's Wake


Quinn Ryder - 2020
    . .SpecterThe man they once knew is dead, buried in a shallow grave outside of town with a bullet hole through his back. Their assassination failed, underestimating me, my thirst for life, and my love for Faith.I never meant for my absence to destroy her, yet staying gone was the only way I could keep her protected. For the last seven years, I’ve laid low, traveling through life and riding the streets like a ghost, never being more than a shadow of what I used to be. I've kept my distance, but now that I know her life’s in danger, I think it’s time for Specter to claw his way out of the grave they buried him in and seek out his revenge.I know infiltrating the Devil’s Armada again won’t be easy, especially since everyone thinks I’m dead, but I’ll do anything I can to protect Faith—even if it means putting myself in danger and confronting my murderer once and for all.

Aristides' Convenient Wife


Jacqueline Baird - 2007
    AND POSSESS!Leon Aristides believes in money, power and family. So when his sister dies, leaving a son, he acts quickly and ruthlessly. He finds the woman who has guardianship of his nephew and insists she marry him!Helen knows that Leon believes her to be a money-hungry, experienced woman of the world --- until their wedding night reveals otherwise! But Helen wants more than an incredible lover ... she wants a loving husband!

Whatever It Takes


L. Maretta - 2013
    His wife, Emma, was always able to brag to her friends about how caring, loving, helpful, and successful he was. Having been married five years, they have just put the finishing touches on their dream home and are ready to start a family. Everything seems ideal until one day Gavin confesses to Emma that he was unfaithful, turning their entire relationship from perfect to a total disaster. Suddenly Emma's carefully controlled world is chaotic and her future uncertain as she struggles to determine if she is able to forgive Gavin or have the strength to move on.