Book picks similar to
Charity Begins at Home by Alicia Rasley


historical-romance
regency
romance
historical

Her Wicked Ways


Darcy Burke - 2012
    By offering him a kiss in lieu of the jewels she had to leave behind, she commits the very type of act that caused her exile. When her dour guardians extend her punishment to performing charitable work at the local orphanage, she's further tempted by the home's owner, a provincial gentleman who stirs her passion in a most wicked way.HE WAS HER DOWNFALLDesperate to save his orphanage from financial catastrophe, Montgomery "Fox" Foxcroft leads a double life as a highwayman. The arrival of wealthy, well-connected Miranda, whose kiss he can't forget, presents a lawful opportunity to increase his coffers. His problems seem solved-until she rejects his suit. Out of options and falling for the heiress, Fox must risk what principles he has left and take advantage of her wicked ways-even if it ruins them both.

The Reluctant Duke


Christine Donovan - 2012
    Society is pulling them apart. She can't become his wife and won't become his mistress.The last thing wounded veteran Major Thomas Marshal wanted was a title. It wasn’t supposed to happen. But duty has a way of pulling a man into things he doesn’t want and away from the things he needs.The only thing Miss Guinevere Harding needs is a safe place to hide. A job as the downstairs maid at Brookshire is the perfect refuge from a frightening past. Or at least it was until the arrival of the new Duke.

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 Rake Enraptured


Amelia Hart - 2014
    Yet Julia will have nothing to do with him. A stern governess, morally upright but with a heart of fire, she craves him beyond anything yet will fight him, and battle her own nature, until passion makes her weak.

The Dowager's Daughter


Mona Prevel - 2002
    As she sneaks away for illicit meetings with a mysterious stranger, Althea is determined to unveil his identity—and his intentions.Desperate to escape from beneath the shadow of his older brother, John Ridley takes part in a daring game of espionage against the French. Posing as a smuggler, he engages with the charming Celeste Markham. But despite her winsome allure, it is her daughter, Althea, who seizes John's attention.As affairs of the state give way to affairs of heart, John must convince Althea that she can trust him with her future, and her love.

Rescuing Lord Inglewood


Sally Britton - 2019
    All she wants is to belong. But when compromising circumstances force them together, do they have a chance at finding love? Silas Riley, Earl of Inglewood, is known among his peers in Parliament as the man made of stone. As a wealthy peer, there are few he trusts with his friendship. He guards his heart and his honor with vigilance, and when an accident nearly takes his life, he’s faced with a situation which threatens his standing in society.Growing up in the shadow of her older brother, Esther Fox’s acceptance in his circle has been indifferent at best. So when she ends up in a compromising situation as she saves the life of her brother’s dearest friend, the Earl of Inglewood, she is forced to marry him to save her own reputation. Once again, she finds herself accepted only because of the situation, and not because she is truly wanted.Neither are prepared for a loss which further complicates their new relationship. With such a difficult beginning, can they ever hope to understand one another, let alone find love?

A Fallen Lady


Elizabeth Kingston - 2015
    Even more shockingly, her refusal came on the heels of her scandalous behavior: she and her betrothed were caught in a most compromising position. Leaving her reputation in tatters and her motivations a mystery, Helen withdrew to a simple life in a little village among friends, where her secrets remained hers alone. For reasons of his own, Stephen Hampton, Lord Summerdale, is determined to learn the truth behind the tangled tale of Helen's ruin. There is nothing he abhors so much as scandal - nothing he prizes so well as discretion - and so he is shocked to find, when he tracks Helen down, that he cannot but admire her. Against all expectations, he finds himself forgiving her scandalous history in favor of only being near her. But the bitter past will not relinquish Helen's heart so easily. How can she trust a man so steeped in the culture of high society, who conceals so much? And how can he, so devoted to the appearance of propriety, ever love a fallen lady?

The Rake and The Recluse: A Tale of Two Brothers


Jenn LeBlanc - 2011
    but there's something not quite right and though he wishes to be done with the entire situation, he just can't keep her from his thoughts...Francine Larrabee was on a path bound for certain glory, until she lands in Victorian England and is nearly killed by a team of terrifying black horses led by a Duke, Gideon, who matches them in spirit and demeanor and always seems to be cross. Though she is drawn to her rescuer, he wants nothing to do with her.Brother to The Duke of Roxleigh, the Lord Peregrine Trumbull, is Viscount of Roxleigh in name, but a rake of the worst order by action.... until he meets his match in a girl who requires his complete submission, something he has never been familiar with.Lilly Steele was a simple country miss until she was kidnapped, brutally attacked and left for dead in the far reaches of Great Britain, now she has escaped the aftermath and has asked Perry to do the untenable.She managed to recover her physical injuries... but the emotional scars run deep and will require absolute trust and healing from an altogether unlikely source.What is love? Where does it come from? What makes two people crash, and two other people burn. In this six part serial novel we learn what it means to love, what it means to care, and what it feels like to give up everything you know, to save the one person you can't live without.VOTED BEST HISTORICAL ROMANCE BY READERS for the 2012 Bookie Award!THIS IS THE COMPLETE NOVEL.All six parts of the serial are included in this edition:FREEDOMFOUNDTAKENRUINATIONSUBMISSIONRETRIBUTIONTHIS EDITION IS NOT ILLUSTRATED

The Runaway Debutante


Elizabeth Chater - 1985
    As their love grows for each other, Matilda's past comes back to haunt her.

Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid


Maureen Driscoll - 2011
    After a night of passion, the two are separated. With nothing but the alias Jane used to protect her family, Lord Edward is unable to find the woman he cannot forget.Seven years later, Jane courts scandal by serving as the unofficial surgeon in the village of Marston Vale. When Edward arrives to formalize his betrothal to a viscount's daughter in accordance with his late father's wishes, Jane has no choice but to watch the match proceed. When a threat from the past emerges, Jane must join forces with Edward to safeguard her loved ones. But at what risk to her heart?

The Widow of Larkspur Inn


Lawana Blackwell - 1998
    Worse, she is told by his bankers that he gambled away their fortune. Now, the family's hope rests on The Larkspur, an old abandoned coaching inn in the quaint village of Gresham.Driven by dread and her desire to provide for her children, Julia decides to turn the dilapidated inn into a lodging house. But can she--who was accustomed to servants attending to every need--do what needs to be done and cope when boarders begin arriving? And then an eligible new vicar moves into town...

To Walk in the Sun


Jane Charles - 2011
    Or it would be if the local villagers weren’t on edge because of the vampire in their midst, at least they think he’s a vampire. The fascination with the reclusive viscount disrupts the girls’ studies and Tess fights an unending battle to convince her students that monsters do not exist.Vincent Latimer, Viscount Atwood, is not a vampire, no matter what the villagers believe. He wishes the book, Wake Not the Dead, had never been written. There is a very good reason he visits his wife’s grave at night, and it has nothing to do with trying to raise her from the dead.When a storm thrusts Tess into Vincent’s path and destroys the school, both of their pasts collide.

The Daughters of Allamont Hall Collection


Mary Kingswood - 2017
     Amy is a shy, timid soul, browbeaten by her domineering father until she’s terrified to do or say anything without his approval. When he dies suddenly, his will leaves large dowries for his six daughters, but only if they marry in the proper order, the eldest first. Amy must now find herself a husband, and soon, so her younger sisters can marry in their turn. There are several possible suitors, but will any of them come up to scratch? And how will Amy choose without her father to guide her? Belle is the plain one of the six Allamont sisters, happy with her books. With Amy betrothed, now Belle must find a husband. Reluctant to parade herself at balls and card parties, she intends to accept the offer of her cousin, James, a pragmatic but loveless choice on both sides. But fate and poetry and the gentle tendrils of friendship combine to overturn her careful plans. Connie’s older sisters have managed to find husbands, but now it’s her turn and she’s not sure she wants to marry at all. Having only just escaped her late father’s restrictive regime, she’s reluctant to surrender her freedom to another man just yet. If only she could find one who would fall so adoringly in love that he would do anything for her. Books 1-3 of the 6-book series The Daughters of Allamont Hall. Each book is a complete story with a HEA, but read them all to find out all the secrets of Allamont Hall!

Flowers from the Storm


Laura Kinsale - 1992
    Considered dissolute, reckless, and extravagant, he was transparently referred to as the "D of J" in scandal sheets. But sometimes the most womanizing rakehell can be irresistible, and even his most causal attentions fascinated the sheltered Maddy Timms. Then one fateful day she receives the shocking news - the duke is lost to the world. And Maddy knows it is her destiny to help him and her only chance to find the true man behind the wicked facade. But she never dreamed her gentle, healing touch would alter his life and her own so completely - and bind them together in need, desire...and love.

The Harlow Hoyden


Lynn Messina - 2014
    It is Emma who is amazed. She has naturally concluded that the man reading in the conservatory must be the country cousin (who else in London would actually read?) and is quite vexed to discover that he is the Duke of Trent himself—imagine, stealing the duke’s prize Rhyncholaelia digbyana under his very nose! But her vexation doesn’t last long. For Emma is a practical young lady with a mission: to end her dear sister Lavinia’s engagement to the villainous (and dreadfully dull!) Sir Waldo Windbourne, and she thinks that the famous libertine is just the man for the job. If he would only seduce her sister away from Sir Waldo…. Well, not seduce exactly, but flirt mercilessly and engage her interest. Perhaps then Lavinia would jilt the baron. The Duke of Trent is resistant, of course. Despite his reputation, he does not toy with the affections of innocents. And besides, it’s not her sister he longs to seduce.