Book picks similar to
Marrying Stone by Pamela Morsi
historical-romance
romance
historical
western
Westward Winds
Linda Bridey - 2014
Her doting parents want her to make a good match with a worthy gentleman and live a respectable life. She is beautiful and intelligent and she comes with a hefty dowry. There is no reason that she shouldn’t be able to find an eligible man and settle down.Tessa herself is the reason. The men who are attempting to court her are, in her opinion, boring and conceited. Not only that, Tessa craves excitement and adventure, of which there is little in her social circles. By chance, she comes across an advertisement for a bride brokerage company seeking eligible women of good breeding to go west and find husbands.One man on the list catches her eye and she begins corresponding with him, eventually agreeing to go to Montana to meet him. She can’t resist the possibility of finding someone different and even if she doesn’t, the adventure itself would be worth her time. Tessa makes a successful escape and sets out to make a new life in Montana.Dean Samuels is a Montana rancher who is in over his head. His ranch is struggling and his two children are unruly and in need of a caretaker. It’s clear to his younger brother, Marcus, that he needs help. He tells Dean about a mail order bride service and convinces him that he should utilize it to find a wife.After his wife, Sarah, had passed away, Dean never intended to marry again. His ranch and his children became his life. However, it becomes apparent that Sadie, his daughter, and his son, Jack, need stability and love. The demands of raising his children and keeping his head above water financially have taken a toll and Dean grudgingly gives in to Marcus’ idea.Sarah had been the love of his life and Dean doesn’t intend to let any other woman into his heart. He’s locked those kinds of emotions deep inside, not wanting to take the chance of getting hurt like that again. Because Dean has trouble expressing his feelings in writing, his younger brother Marcus agrees to help write the letters to Tessa. Dean is happy to leave that part up to him.When Dean and Tessa meet, sparks fly between the two strong willed people. Tessa is disappointed that Dean isn’t the romantic, sophisticated man she was lead to believe he was in the letters she received. Dean is aggravated that she isn’t a meek woman who is easily managed. Never mind the fact that she has no idea of how to take care of children and keep a home.Dean and Tessa struggle to find common ground and make their marriage work. Will they each take the risk and open their hearts to one another? Can their marriage survive and will they find love and contentment in each other? Their future happiness hangs in the balance under the Montana skies.
Fairchild
Jaima Fixsen - 2013
They should have a son and if it can be managed, he should be handsome. Cleverness isn’t important. Daughters in limited quantities are fine so long as they are pretty. Bastards are inconvenient and best ignored. It's not a big problem, unless you are one. Unfortunately, Sophy is. Sick of her outcast role, she escapes her father’s house, only to fall from her horse during a spring storm. Injured, soaked, and shivering, she stumbles to a stranger’s door—Tom, a blunt edged merchant from a family of vulgar upstarts. Mistaking Sophy for the genuine article, he takes her in. Sophy can’t resist twisting the truth. Soon she’s caught in her own snare—and it might just be a noose.
The Charmer
C.J. Archer - 2013
Charming. Devastating. He was the last man she needed, but the only one she wanted. Orlando Holt has never assassinated a woman before. The lovely, feisty Lady Lynden will be his first. She's supposed to be a vicious murderess, but when Orlando begins to have doubts, he sets out to discover the identity of the person who hired him. What he learns will turn his world upside down, and propel him headlong into love with a woman who's immune to his charms. Twice widowed by the age of twenty-four, Lady Susanna Lynden has had enough of charming men. Her last husband knew all the right things to say to get her to the marriage bed…then made her life miserable. Money may be scarce and her house falling down around her, but the exotic fruit from her orange trees will keep poverty away. Except someone is thwarting her at every turn. Someone who may even want her dead. The books in the Assassins Guild series are: #1 The Charmer #2 The Rebel #3 The Saint #4 The Sinner
Never Fall for Your Fiancée
Virginia Heath - 2021
Unfortunately for him, his mother is determined to find him one, even from across the other side of the ocean. So, Hugh invents a fake fiancée to keep his mother’s matchmaking ways at bay. But when Hugh learns his interfering mother is on a ship bound for England, he realizes his complicated, convoluted but convenient ruse is about to implode. Until he collides with a beautiful woman, who might just be the miracle he needs.Minerva Merriwell has had to struggle to support herself and her two younger sisters ever since their feckless father abandoned them. Work as a woodcut engraver is few and far between, and the Merriwell sisters are nearly penniless. So, when Hugh asks Minerva to pose as his fiancée while his mother is visiting, she knows that while the scheme sounds ludicrous, the offer is too good to pass up.Once Minerva and her sisters arrive at Hugh's estate, of course, nothing goes according to his meticulous plan. As hilarity and miscommunication ensue, while everyone tries to keep their tangled stories straight, Hugh and Minerva’s fake engagement starts to turn into a real romance. But can they trust each other, when their relationship started with a lie?
The Fall of Lord Drayson
Rachael Anderson - 2016
They have no money, no relations they can turn to for help, and nowhere to go. How dare the earl break the promise his father had made to the Beresfords without so much as a twinge of conscience? Fate plays her hand when Lucy discovers the earl unconscious and injured in the middle of the road. When he awakens with no recollection of who he is, Lucy seizes the opportunity to teach the earl a much-needed lesson in humility and tells him that he is nothing more than a mere servant. Her servant, in fact. And thus begins the charming tale of a pompous lord and an impetuous young woman, caught together in a web so tangled that it begs the question: Will they ever get out?
Seductive Secrets
Carrie James Haynes - 2012
Shunned from London society for being the daughter of England’s most notorious spy, Alyce Hythe desires only to clear her father’s name. For years, she has been hidden away from all prying eyes, given a new identity and told to forget who she was. But strange things have been happening causing old rumors to once more be whispered.Long has Lord Julian Casvelyn lived with guilt brought on when his brother was murdered by England’s most infamous traitor. But one eventful night has changed everything Lord Julian believed about his brother’s death. Never did he suspect the woman he has just saved from certain harm is the daughter of that man. Now Julian is caught in midst of a conspiracy and desire for that woman.Thrown together by fate, the two search for answers long denied them and along the way discover a love that can free them both.Previously published as Daughter of Deceit under Carrie James Haynes
The Wren
Kristy McCaffrey - 2003
Now, at nineteen, she’s finally returning home to North Texas after spending the remainder of her childhood with a tribe of Kwahadi Comanche. What she finds is a deserted home coated with dust and the passage of time, the chilling discovery of her own gravesite, and the presence of a man she thought never to see again.Matt Ryan is pushed by a restless wind to the broken-down remains of the Hart ranch. Recently recovered from an imprisonment that nearly ended his life, the drive for truth and fairness has all but abandoned him. For ten years he faithfully served the U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers, seeking justice for the brutal murder of a little girl, only to find closure and healing beyond his grasp. Returning to the place where it all began, he’s stunned to encounter a woman with the same blue eyes as the child he can’t put out of his mind.A sensuous historical western romance set in 1877 Texas.2003 CAPA WINNER The Romance Studio ~ Best New Author Traditional2004 Holt Medallion FINALIST ~ Best First Book2004 Texas Gold FINALIST ~ Historical Category“…McCaffrey’s mastery of setting and historic details gives this western gritty realism.” ~ RT Book Reviews“…a heart wrenchingly emotional story…” ~ Coffeetime Romance“The main characters were well matched and the secondary characters were just as good. Don’t miss this incredible read in what is sure to be a great series to follow.” ~ The Romance Studio“Handsome, rugged heroes, strong heroines and a super storyline make The Wren a keeper.” ~ The Best Reviews“…well written…captivated me from the first line to the poignant last.” ~ NovelspotDon’t miss all the books in the series~The Wren: Book 1The Dove: Book 2The Sparrow: Book 3The Blackbird: Book 4The Shiny Penny: Short Story 4.1 (available free exclusively to Kristy’s newsletter subscribers)Song Of The Wren: Novella 4.2 (available free exclusively to Kristy’s newsletter subscribers)The Bluebird: Book 5Echo of the Plains: Novella 5.5
Nearly a Lady
Alissa Johnson - 2011
So when he promises young Winnefred Blythe the money that his stepmother had cheated her out of over the years, he expects to be greeted as a hero. But the situation is much more complicated than Gideon had expected-and the task of taming the untrusting Winnefred much more alluring.
Amethyst
Lauren Royal - 2000
Though custom dictates she wed her father’s apprentice, her heart rebels against the match. In mere days Amy will be condemned to a stifling, loveless marriage, and she sees no way out—until the devastating fire of 1666 sweeps through London, and tragedy lands her in the arms of a dashing nobleman who knows a diamond in the rough when he sees it…Colin Chase, the Earl of Greystone, has his future all figured out. He’s restoring his crumbling castle and estate to its former glory, and the key to its completion is his rich bride-to-be. But the Great Fire lays waste to his plans, saddling him with trouble—in the form of a lowly shopkeeper’s daughter with whom he’s most inconveniently falling in love...
Almost a Bride
Patricia McLinn - 2001
Right up until he broke her heart six years ago. Now that she's returned to Wyoming for good, what she wants more than anything is to save her family's ranch. Even if that means swallowing her pride and asking Dave to marry her.Matty's up to something - Dave knows that much. Just as he knows that Matty needs help, so of course he'll provide it, just as he has all her life. Doing what's best for Matty is second nature. Even when it comes to marrying her in name only. Although he can't resist one hot-blooded kiss after the I-dos.Maybe - just maybe - his Matty will become more to him than Almost a Bride.
Goddess of the Hunt
Tessa Dare - 2009
But first she needs some target practice. So she turns to her brother’s best friend, Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall, to hone her seductive wiles on him before setting her sights on another man. But her practice kisses spark a smoldering passion–one that could send all her plans up in smoke.Jeremy has an influential title, a vast fortune, and a painful past full of long-buried secrets. He keeps a safe distance from his own emotions, but to distract Lucy from her reckless scheming, he must give his passions free rein. Their sensual battle of wills is as maddening as it is delicious, but the longer he succeeds in managing the headstrong temptress, the closer Jeremy comes to losing control. When scandal breaks, can he bring himself to abandon Lucy to her ruin? Or will he risk his heart and claim her for his own?
No Place for a Lady
Maggie Brendan - 2009
After the death of her father, Crystal is relieved to be leaving the troubles of her Georgia life behind to visit her aunt's cattle ranch. Despite being raised as a proper Southern belle, Crystal is determined to hold her own in this wild land—even if a certain handsome foreman named Luke doubts her abilities.Just when she thinks she's getting a handle on the constant male attention from the cowhands and the catty barbs from some of the local young women, tragedy strikes. And saving the ranch from a greedy neighboring landowner means Crystal must take charge of a cattle drive, ready or not. Can she rise to the challenge? Or will she head back to Georgia defeated?
Unlaced
Kristina Cook - 2004
Instead, she’s caught up in a whirlwind of balls, marriage proposals, and ton intrigues. Worse, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to her sponsors’ maddening neighbor, Henry Ashton, the Marquess of Mandeville. The handsome, arrogant, sometimes infuriating Mandeville stokes a passionate fire within her that won’t be denied, no matter the consequence.Deep, emotional scars secretly plague Henry, Lord Mandeville. As a result, he’s avoided romantic entanglements at all costs. Only, now he needs a wife—someone from a wealthy, powerful family to further his political aspirations. Instead, he finds himself all but obsessed with the beautiful but unconventional Lucy Abbington—a woman whose passions and wit stir desires he’d rather ignore. And yet…she might just be the one woman who can heal his wounded heart.Lucy and Henry’s heads say no, but their hearts say yes. Will they find themselves undone by love?
For Love of the Duke
Christi Caldwell - 2014
When he’s coaxed out of his self-imposed exile to attend the amusements of the Frost Fair, his life is irrevocably changed by his fateful meeting with Lady Katherine Adamson.With her tight brown ringlets and silly white-ruffled gowns, Lady Katherine Adamson has found her dance card empty for two Seasons. After her father’s passing, Katherine learned the unreliability of men, and is determined to depend on no one, except herself. Until she meets Jasper…In a desperate bid to avoid a match arranged by her family, Katherine makes the Duke of Bainbridge a shocking proposition—one that he accepts.Only, as Katherine begins to love Jasper, she finds the arrangement agreed upon is not enough. And Jasper is left to decide if protecting his heart is more important than fighting for Katherine’s love.
Just Imagine
Susan Elizabeth Phillips - 1984
Disguised as a boy, she's come to New York City to kill Baron Cain, the man who stands between her and Risen Glory, the South Carolina home she loves. But unknown to Kit, the Yankee war hero is more than her bitterest enemy—he's also her guardian. And he'll be a lot harder to kill than she's figured on . . .Believing that Kit's a boy, Cain offers the grubby rapscallion a job in his stable. But he has no idea what he's in for, and it's not long before the hero of Missionary Ridge discovers the truth. His scamp of a stable boy is a strong-willed, violet-eyed beauty who's hell-bent on driving him crazy.Two hard-headed, passionate people . . . Two stubborn opponents with tender souls . . . Sometimes wars of the heart can only be won through the sweetest of surrenders.This book is an updated version of the original title,
Risen Glory.