Book picks similar to
The Study of a Rake by Kathleen Ayers


historical-romance
historical
novella
novellas

Seducing the Sinful Duke: Historical Regency Romance


Lisa Campell - 2020
    

Mail-Order Revenge


Angela K. Couch - 2016
    Now, she will stop at nothing to take her revenge and recover their wealth. Even travel across the country to marry the man’s son. With his focus on his sprawling Arizona ranch, Axel Forsberg has little time for wooing a woman, so when his father finds him a bride from the east, he trusts he won’t regret the convenience. Until horses go missing, barns burn to the ground, a range war begins…and he loses his heart.

Pleasures of Somerville Park


Ava March - 2010
    A visit from his youngest brother does nothing to change his mind. All he wants is to remain at his country estate with Henry Shaw. After days of going over documents, Arsen is more than ready for his brother to depart for London in the morning. He’s missed having Henry in his bed. Now if he can just convince his frustratingly cautious lover to join him in his bed for the night… Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable.

Once Upon a Christmas Kiss


Manda Collins - 2014
    Employed by his neighbor back in Yorkshire, the governess with the lovely eyes has always seemed off limits, but she’s visiting here as a guest—and there’s nothing like a little mistletoe to make the spirits bright…Miss Winifred Nightingale never dreamed a holiday visit with her sister would lead to both ladies spending Christmas as the local lord’s guests. But the big surprise is when she finds the handsome Sir Lucien Blakemore staying there too. Their attraction between is undeniable, but will an old nemesis and a party guest bent on mischief make their first kiss under the mistletoe their last?

The School for Heiresses Series: Never Seduce a Scoundrel, Only a Duke Will Do, Beware a Scot's Revenge and an excerpt from To Wed a Wild Lord


Sabrina Jeffries - 2011
    These passionate tales feature young women who learn that there’s nothing textbook about love…NEVER SEDUCE A SCOUNDREL The ballrooms of Mayfair have become much more appealing to Lady Amelia Plume since the arrival of Major Lucas Winter, an American with a dark past and a dangerous air. Lucas is brash, arrogant--and scandalously tempting. Yet Amelia suspects that Lucas has a hidden motive in wooing her. And she intends to discover it, by any means necessary. ONLY A DUKE WILL DO Louisa North likes her independence very much. So when Simon Tremaine, the dashing Duke of Foxwood, whom she once loved, returns bent on marrying her, she's skeptical. The fire between them burns as hot as ever, but when Simon's ulterior motive for marriage is exposed, along with the deeply buried secrets of her past, Louisa vows to make him pay...and the price will be his heart. BEWARE A SCOT'S REVENGE When Lady Venetia Campbell is kidnapped at pistol point by her father's sworn enemy, Sir Lachlan Ross, she discovers the wickedly sexy Scot is even more intoxicating than she remembers...and much more dangerous. Lachlan plans to use her as a weapon against her father, but Venetia is determined that his lust for revenge will be trumped by an even more powerful desire.

First Impressions


Elizabeth Johns - 2015
     The widower Earl of Rutherford, still in need of an heir, reluctantly sets off for London in search of a wife. He infinitely prefers the role of recluse to that of dashing beau. The Season’s Incomparable, Helena Foster, prefers books to balls. She agrees to hide her bookish tendencies in exchange for her mother agreeing to limit her to one Season. Their initial prejudices prevent their feeling they would suit, but an unlikely source may give them another chance…

Mine, All Mine


Ella J. Quince - 2013
    Rose. It has been revised and given a beautiful new cover.A steamy historical romance novel. Fated for Love Series. Lillian St. James is a privileged and beautiful duke’s daughter whose world is turned upside down when her widowed mother marries a seedy merchant.After her mother suddenly dies as well, Lilly has no one to turn to when scandal erupts over her stepfather’s treason. As her world falls apart Lilly is forced to go into hiding with the help of her loyal staff. She finds work as a cook’s assistant in the kitchen of a wealthy but mysterious aristocrat.Dominic Coel, Earl of Redwick, is a spy on the cusp of retirement. He is ordered to complete one last mission. He must track down a young girl who disappeared with stolen royal jewels. Dominic is desperate to complete his task and begin a normal life without murder and lies. While he must focus on his duties he can’t help but be distracted by the mysterious beauty who has just joined his kitchen staff. The girl is innocent to say the least, but her elusive nature and cultured speech drives him to wonder who the real Miss Millie James is.

The Mudlark


Delle Jacobs - 2002
    The first time she straggles home sopping wet after wading into a freezing stream to save a drowning kitten, she walks right into the handsomest man she has ever seen.  He's also the most arrogant man she's ever met. And worse, her father has been conspiring with his father on their marriage since they were babes. Never mind that she had planned to marry Donald. Likewise, Tristan has no intention of marrying a loose screw like Izzy, who when she is not driving him crazy might expose the secret injury that could cost him his Guards commission. The only thing they have in common is their grim determination not to marry each other, and their only escape is the plot they concoct, a double elopement with a switch at the end, each of them marrying their original betrotheds. But she intrigues him, makes him laugh, makes him feel alive. And somewhere along the way, Tristan learns to let go of his deep immense sorrow and loss from the war, and replace it with love and joy.

Grace Like Rain


Julie Lessman - 2017
    She’s nobody’s fool who hopes to steer clear. Until a thunderstorm sinks them both into a sea of love. Blake “The Rake” McClare has a notorious reputation as a womanizer, which is why soft-spoken Patience Peabody carefully avoids the lovable rogue attorney at the law firm in which they both work. Until a rare thunderstorm brings them together in a love soaked with the grace of God ... and sparked with a little lightning of its own.

Lady Susan


Jane Austen - 1871
    A magnificently crafted novel of Regency manners and mores that will delight Austen enthusiasts with its wit and elegant expression.

The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright


Tessa Dare - 2012
    And waiting.Because of a foolish mistake in her youth, she's not allowed "out" in Society until her three older sisters are wed. But while she's trying to be good, she keeps bumping elbows—and, more distressingly, lips—with notorious rake Harry Wright. Every moment she spends with him, she risks complete ruin.The sensual passions he stirs in her are so wrong . . . but Eliza just can't resist Mr. Wright.

Once in a Blue Moon


Penelope Williamson - 1993
    But to flame-haired Jessalyn Letty, wild, captivating child of the storm-tossed Cornish moors, McCady Trelawny was the most fascinating man she had ever met. Few knew of the dream that burned in McCady's secret soul - a dream destined to change the world. But Jessalyn knew and shared his passion. Only she believed in his miraculous vision...and in the love he awoke in her hungry, yearning heart...

Silver Bells and Secrets


Laura Rollins - 2021
    Through a series of events he prefers not to consider too closely, he has begun a written correspondence with Miss Grace Stewart under the guise of being his own sister. She’s witty, considerate, and as much in need of a friend as he is. So, why not continue? That is, until Grace writes and says she’s set her cap at someone. In only a few words, Ezra realizes he hasn’t only made a friend these past many months, he’s fallen in love.As an earl, Ezra can get himself invited to the Christmas house party hosted by Grace's would-be husband. But once there, how does he plead his case? Either he loses Grace’s trust and friendship, or he loses his one chance at happiness. But that seems only fitting, seeing as he’s already lost his heart.The beginning of a new series by sweet historical romance author Laura Rollins, Silver Bells and Secrets will have you cuddling up by the fireplace and humming carols. This short and sweet Christmas story is packed with charming characters, hilarious capers, and a clean and wholesome romance, sure to light the Christmas spirit inside you all year round.

The Villain


Victoria Vale - 2018
     A heartless villain… Lady Daphne Fairchild braves the journey from London to the wilds of Scotland alone with one purpose in mind: confront the man who purposely and methodically set out to ruin the men of her family. But what he demands in exchange for answers will thrust Daphne into a world of mystery, hatred, and lust. An indecent proposal… Thirty days and nights in the bed of the Earl of Hartmoor … this is the price she must pay to learn the truth of the dark lord’s vendetta against her family. Yet, when she accepts the offer, Daphne never expects to find that nothing is what she thought it was, and the truth proves far harder to stomach than she ever imagined. A cruel desire that holds her captive… Even as he uses her to exact his final revenge against her family, Daphne cannot deny the way her body reacts to his touch, the way her soul seems to become more intertwined with his by the day. Despite the ruin he has made of her life, she cannot escape that the threads of deceit, desire, and pain have tied them together irrevocably. With her fate now in his hands, she is uncertain whether he will turn out to be the hero who steals her heart, or the villain who destroys her soul. ***WARNING: This is not your average love story ... containing elements of dubious consent and an antihero so twisted and wicked you can't help but fall in love with the dark side.***

Love's a Stage


Laura London - 1980
    Frances Atherton, a country parson's daughter, had a lot to learn about London's wicked city ways. But nothing, not even David's sinful charms, could sway her from her mission—to trap the Blue Specter, the infamous smuggler for whose crimes her own father was imprisoned.The Blue Specter was none other than Edward Kennan, England's most famous actor, so Frances became an actress, the better to stalk her dangerous prey. It was a shocking profession for a lady...but more shocking still was the discovery that David—Lord Landry—was the most renowned and scandalous playwright of the day...the one man who could truly help the parson's daughter—if she would only let him have his way!