Book picks similar to
When the Splendor Falls by Laurie McBain
historical-romance
romance
historical
civil-war
Stormswept
Deborah Martin - 1995
Albans spent with the dark and daring Rhys Vaughan was intoxicating, the heady culmination of her new husband’s driving hunger and her own awakened sensuality. When he mysteriously disappeared the next morning, she waited for him in hope and desperation. And when he was finally proclaimed dead in a shipwreck, she bitterly mourned the loss of her love.The second wedding night that Juliana spent with Rhys Vaughan was six years later, after he returned to claim her just as she was about to wed another. This Rhys was different—bolder, harder, and convinced that she’d betrayed him. Only their blazing passion remains from their years apart. But is it enough to light their way through the maze of mystery, menace, and mistrust—to the love they once shared and would have to find again?
My Lady Captor
Hannah Howell - 2009
Penniless, the only way she can pay for his freedom is by taking a hostage for ransom herself. Her captive--a wounded knight plucked from the battlefield--is furious to be imprisoned by a woman. But nothing will stop Sorcha from keeping Sir Ruari Kerr enslaved, even as the sight of his bronzed body sets her mind reeling and her senses afire . . . With her dark mane and soft curves, Sorcha is everything Ruari has ever desired in a woman. As she tends to his wounds, Ruari fights the intense attraction that ignites at her very touch. But he can't afford to lose his heart to his tempting captor. For when he's finally rescued by his men, Sorcha will pay dearly for her treachery--and loving her could put both their lives in peril . . .
The Conqueror
Brenda Joyce - 1990
Lauded for his bravery in France, in England he was the hated enemy. Once ensconced in his new domain, Rolfe became determined to tame the Saxon beauty Ceidre, Alice’s illegitimate sister, whose spirit and sensuality made him risk treason to have her—not Lady Alice—in his bed.The PrizeMysterious and seductive, she was no lady but a spy for the rebel cause of her noble half brothers. Refusing to bow to this arrogant warrior who ignited her forbidden passion, Ceidre was swept into a dangerous liaison tied to the fate of England and kings. Yet with his kisses on her lips, his skilful hands on her body, she would have to struggle not to surrender to…The Conqueror.
Captain Jack's Woman
Stephanie Laurens - 1997
He is her dream lover come vividly alive, and his command of the smuggling gang is absolute. His all-knowing gaze penetrates her disguise as the “lad” leader of a rival gang with frightening ease and his “punishment” with kisses leaves her maidenly modesty in tatters.Suddenly Kit finds she’s only too delighted to explore with Jack the pleasures conventionally reserved for married ladies . . . little knowing what dangerous forces she’s unleashing. For even as Kit revels in midnight gallops and cottage rendezvous, Captain Jack is laying a gentle trap that will curtail her freedom . . . and bind her to him with a ring, a promise . . . and ties of devotion and desire.
Summer Moon
Jill Marie Landis - 2001
For Kate Whittington, the modest words of a newspaper ad are the answer to her desperate prayers. Daughter of a dockside harlot and raised in a bleak orphanage, she has no prospects in the unforgiving Maine village of her birth. Correspondence from the lonely Texas widower looking for a mail-order bride sparks tempting dreams of a house, a family, and a future in a land filled with possibilities.Kate arrives at the magnificent Lone Star Ranch eager to meet her new husband. Instead she is greeted by the news that Reed Benton has been wounded during a raid on a Comanche village and has returned with a prisoner--a wild-looking young boy who may be his long lost son. Even more shattering, however, is the fact that Reed has never heard of Kate, never wrote the searing letters that charmed her heart.Reed Benton doesn't want a wife. But he does need someone to look after the boy--a bitter reminder of a past ravaged by lies and betrayal. It will take a miracle to heal these two damaged souls . . . or the faith of one woman with nothing left to lose but her heart.Summer Moon is a deeply moving story of broken promises and new beginnings, crafted by a true master of romantic fiction.
Seven Years to Sin
Sylvia Day - 2011
Shocked, yet strangely titillated, she nevertheless walked down the aisle into a life serene yet unremarkable. But what she kept hidden fueled wildly imaginative and very illicit dreams. . .Alistair Caulfield ran far from the temptation of the prim debutante--all the way to the West Indies. As a successful merchant, he has little in common with the rakehell youth Jessica once knew. But when newly widowed Jessica steps aboard his ship for a transatlantic passage, seven years' worth of denied pleasures are held in check by nothing more than a few layers of silk--and the certainty that surrender will consume them both. . .
Sutherland's Secret
Sharon Cullen - 2016
Terror reigns in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. As British troops obliterate the last traces of the Jacobite cause, Brice Sutherland, the Earl of Dornach, risks everything to arrange a covert escape route to Canada for his fellow Scots. But when he encounters a dying Englishwoman, hauntingly beautiful though scarred by manacles and unable to speak, Brice’s true courage is put to the test. Nothing but ruin could result from helping her, or worse: falling in love. The pampered daughter of a marquess, Eleanor Hirst was the talk of the London season when she wed the Earl of Glendale. Little did she know that his posting as an officer in Scotland would be their undoing. Now her husband is dead and Eleanor is a fugitive in a hostile country. Desperate for help, she throws herself on the mercy of Brice Sutherland, a handsome Scottish warrior who should be her enemy. Instead, he cares for her tenderly, reviving her shattered spirit—and awakening urges unlike any she’s ever known.
Beauty and the Bounty Hunter
Lori Austin - 2012
Catching one lowlife after another, she continues her search for the only man she really cares to locate. The one whose voice she will never forget; the man who murdered her husband. She'll stop at nothing to find him. Con artist Alexi Romanov taught Cat every trick she knows. He is a master of deceit, disguise, and desire. He's difficult to trust, and even more difficult to resist, but he has news she can't ignore. The man she's after has placed a bounty on her head. To get him before he gets her, she'll have to team up with Alexi again...and just like before, the two of them together are nothing but trouble.
A Stitch in Time
Kelley Armstrong - 2020
As a young girl, Bronwyn could pass through a time slip in her great-aunt’s house, where she visited William Thorne, a boy her own age, born two centuries earlier. After a family tragedy, the house was shuttered and Bronwyn was convinced that William existed only in her imagination. Now, twenty years later Bronwyn inherits Thorne Manor. And when she returns, William is waiting. William Thorne is no longer the boy she remembers. He’s a difficult and tempestuous man, his own life marred by tragedy and a scandal that had him retreating to self-imposed exile in his beloved moors. He’s also none too pleased with Bronwyn for abandoning him all those years ago. As their friendship rekindles and sparks into something more, Bronwyn must also deal with ghosts in the present version of the house. Soon she realizes they are linked to William and the secret scandal that drove him back to Thorne Manor. To build a future, Bronwyn must confront the past.
Morning Glory
LaVyrle Spencer - 1989
Now she was all alone, with two little boys to raise, and a third child on the way.WILLHe drifted into Whitney, Georgia, one lazy afternoon in the summer of 1941, hoping to put his lonely past behind him. He yearned for the tenderness he had never known, the home he'd never had. All he needed was for someone to give him a chance.Then he saw her classified ad: WANTED--A husband. When he stepped across Elly Dinsmore's cluttered yard, Will Parker knew he had come home at last ...
The Duke Heist
Erica Ridley - 2021
(Eloisa James) Chloe Wynchester is completely forgettable—a curse that gives her the ability to blend into any crowd. When the only father she's ever known makes a dying wish for his adopted family of orphans to recover a missing painting, she's the first one her siblings turn to for stealing it back. No one expects that in doing so, she'll also abduct a handsome duke.Lawrence Gosling, the Duke of Faircliffe, is tortured by his father's mistakes. To repair his estate's ruined reputation, he must wed a highborn heiress. Yet when he finds himself in a carriage being driven hell-for-leather down the cobblestone streets of London by a beautiful woman who refuses to heed his commands, he fears his heart is hers. But how can he sacrifice his family's legacy to follow true love?
Any Rogue Will Do
Bethany Bennett - 2020
Now she's determined to be in charge of her own future. So when an unwanted suitor tries to manipulate her into an engagement, she has a plan. He can't claim to be her fiancé if she's engaged to someone else. Even if it means asking for help from the last man she would ever marry.Ethan, Lord Amesbury, made a lot of mistakes, but the one he regrets the most is ruining Lady Charlotte's reputation. He's older and wiser now, but his attraction to Lottie never wavered. Going along with her charade is the least he can do to clean the slate and perhaps earn her forgiveness. And, if he's lucky, her love.
Upon a Moon-Dark Moor
Rebecca Brandewyne - 1988
Maggie was Sir Nigel Chandler's proud daughter and the mistress of Highclyffe Hall; Draco was the misbegotten son of Sir Nigel's dead brother and a carefree Romany maid. And Maggie knew from the first day she saw her cousin that he was as mysterious and untameable as the moors that stretched endlessly along the sea. She had lived a virtual prisoner in a mansion haunted by dark secrets, a father's cruelty, and a stepmother's cunning. Then, on a black and rainy night, a stagecoach drew up bringing the darkly handsome Draco into her life, and Maggie's fate was sealed. On the starlit moor the seeds of a forbidden desire would grow, spawning a love so strong that no power on this earth could deny its rapture - though its consequences could destroy them both...
Gentle Warrior
Julie Garwood - 1985
Bent on revenge, she rode again through the fortress gates, disguised as a peasant...to seek aid from Geoffrey Berkley, the powerful baron who had routed the murderers. He heard her pleas, resisted her demands, and vowed to seduce his beautiful subject. Yet as Elizabeth fought the warrior's caresses, love flamed for this gallant man who must soon champion her cause...and capture her spirited heart!
The Debutante Is Mine
Vivienne Lorret - 2016
Such an honor ensures the recipient her pick of eligible suitors…”Lilah Appleton’s prospects are looking dim. With one last chance to find a titled husband before she’s forced to wed her wretched cousin, she must make this Season count. Plain, forgettable Lilah must become the Season’s Original. Desperate, she seeks help from the devilishly charming, untitled, and thoroughly unsuitable Jack Marlowe. All she must do now is resist the tempting rogue…Bastard son and self-made man, Jack Marlowe loathes the aristocracy. When he meets Lilah, he expects her to be like all the other greedy husband-hunters. But she’s far more dangerous. Her alluring smiles and sharp tongue intrigue him. Before he knows it, he agrees to help her find a husband, revealing tricks to ensnare any man. The only problem is, his plan works too well—on him.When Lilah becomes the belle of the ball, Jack realizes he may lose her forever—unless he can take a chance on love and claim his debutante...