Book picks similar to
Lady Reluctant by Maggie Osborne
historical-romance
historical
pirates
romance
Ever Yours, Annabelle
Elisa Braden - 2019
and how the boy she loved became the man she couldn't resist.
She’s not one for half measures
Lady Annabelle Huxley believes anything worth doing is worth doing boldly, and that includes adoring Robert Conrad. As a girl, she chased him with reckless abandon, and he always rescued her when she pushed too far … until the day rescuing her cost him everything—and lost her the boy she loved as no other.
He’s not the boy she remembers
The accident that shattered his body and his future left Robert Conrad fighting a battle only the hardest men win. After seven hellish years, even his tough soldier of a grandfather thinks he needs a wife to “civilize” him. But the season’s sole temptation is Annabelle, no longer a worshipful girl, now a siren with a womanly laugh, sarcastic mouth, and curves to make an uncivilized man sweat.
Love this powerful is not so easily broken
Her habit of chasing trouble hasn’t changed. Neither has his driving need to protect her. So, when a scandalous secret draws danger too close, he’ll wield his weapons ruthlessly—blackmail, betrothal, seduction—to keep her safe once more. And when his strength is all that stands between her and a perilous abyss, she’s reminded why loving Robert Conrad has always been the hardest habit to break.
Sins of a Wicked Duke
Sophie Jordan - 2009
Yet Fallon—who's endured nothing but lecherous advances since her father's tragic death—is perfectly safe there...disguised as a footman! Beneath the notice of the dark-haired devil with his smoldering blue eyes and sinful smile, Fallon never imagines her secret will be discovered. But how long can her deception last when she begins to wish she is one of the many women traipsing in and out of the sinful rogue's bedchamber? He lives to sin...Most men envy the duke, never suspecting his pleasure-loving ways are a desperate attempt to escape, however briefly, the pain of a past that's left him with a heart of stone. Only one woman can break down his defenses. Only one woman can win his love...if she reveals her secret and succumbs to the sins of the wicked duke.
Bringing Down the Duke
Evie Dunmore - 2019
Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women's suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain's politics at the Queen's command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can't deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for. Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn't be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn't claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring... or could he? Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke....A stunning debut for author Evie Dunmore and her Oxford suffragists in which a fiercely independent vicar's daughter takes on a powerful duke in a fiery love story that threatens to upend the British social order.
Lucien's Fall
Barbara Samuel - 1995
Against her better judgment, however, she is powerfully drawn to the elusive and dangerous Lucien, whose hard-hearted façade hides a tragedy that is slowly devouring him from within.As Lucien and Madeline circle each other in a magnetic play of desire and denial, their passion will rise to a crescendo of longing and sacrifice that will change their fates forever.
The Courtesan Duchess
Joanna Shupe - 2015
1. Learn the most intimate secrets of London’s leading courtesan.2. Pretend to be a courtesan yourself, using the name Juliet Leighton.3. Travel to Venice and locate said husband.4. Seduce husband, conceive an heir, and voilà, your future is secure!For Julia, the Duchess of Colton, such a ruse promises to be foolproof. After all, her husband has not bothered to lay eyes on her in eight years, since their hasty wedding day when she was only sixteen. But what begins as a tempestuous flirtation escalates into full-blown passion—and the feeling is mutual. Could the man the Courtesan Duchess married actually turn out to be the love of her life?
How to Dance with a Duke
Manda Collins - 2012
But the rules of her father’s exclusive academic society forbid her entrance unless she weds one of its members. To clear her ailing father’s name of a scandalous rumor, Cecily needs to gain admission into the Egyptian Club—and is willing to marry any old dullard to do it.Lucas Dalton, Duke of Winterson, is anything but dull. He’s a dashing and decorated war hero determined to help Cecily—even if that means looking the other way when she claims the dance card of Amelia Snow, this season’s most sought-after beauty. But Lucas has a reason for wanting Cecily to join the Egyptian Club: His brother went missing during one of Lord Hurston’s expeditions to Egypt. An alliance with the explorer’s bluestocking daughter could bring Lucas closer to the truth about what happened…or it could lead him to a more dangerous love than either he or Cecily could have imagined…
Stone Devil Duke
K.J. Jackson - 2014
To protect her family, to protect herself, she is determined to find the men before they find her.
The last thing she wanted was an entanglement with a duke that threatens her very survival...
Hardened long ago, the last thing the Duke of Dunway wanted was an entanglement with a chit of the ton. But in the flash of a pistol, his fate is altered as he finds himself honor-bound to protect Lady Augustine from, of all things, herself.
Devil's Desire
Laurie McBain - 1975
SEARING PASSION ... ENDURING LOVEIn a rousing, unforgettable saga that sweeps across the valleys and peaks of human destiny, the stormy alliance of beautiful young Lady Elysia Demarice and Lord Alex Trevegne plumbs the depths of raw human emotion -- lust, jealousy and hate -- for though Lord Alex has married Elysia, he cannot possess her in flesh or spirit. Out of the turbulence of their clashing wills comes one of the greatest love stories ever written, as their twin passions mingle at last, in a rippling tide of liquid fire!
Tempted by His Kiss
Tracy Anne Warren - 2009
This tempestuous family is famous for scandal and legendary at love…Orphaned beauty Meg Amberley is caught in a snowstorm, and takes refuge at the estate of Lord Cade Byron. Haunted by his past, Cade has buried himself in the country. Then Meg—with her lush curves and soft, blonde hair—invades his house and his life. With her reputation compromised, he proposes a pretend engagement and a London Season where she can find a husband. But as their charade deepens, Cade can’t let her go . . . vowing to tempt her with a kiss that just may lead to forever.
The Hidden Heart
Laura Kinsale - 1986
But Tess, who had accompanied her father on his expeditions since childhood, is as unconventional as she is beautiful.