Book picks similar to
Secrets of a Duchess by Kaitlin O'Riley
historical-romance
romance
historical
regency
Too Wicked to Wed
Cara Elliott - 2011
But when a chance encounter with London's most notorious rake awakens a secret longing for adventure, she accepts her aunt's invitation for a Season in Town . . . only to find that breaking the rules of the ton has serious consequences.The Earl of Killingworth uses his rakehell reputation to hide the fact that poverty has forced him to work for a living. As the owner of a gambling den and brothel, Connor has no time for glittering ballrooms or innocent young ladies. But after a reckless wager leaves him with a new business partner, he is forced to take a risky gamble . . . Will the cards fall in their favor? Alexa and Connor begin to play a dangerous game of intrigue and deception as they seek to outwit a cunning adversary who wants to put them permanently out of business. But if they are not careful, it is the flames of their own fiery attraction that may destroy them.
A Little Bit Wild
Victoria Dahl - 2010
Nor does he wear the most fashionable coats. But when Marissa York's brother approaches him, desperate to preserve Marissa's tenuous reputation, Jude does prove heroic enough to offer to marry the girl. In fact, the union should more than make up for his lack of social graces --- and his own scandalous past ...BUT MINDS CHANGE ...Marissa knows that betrothal to the son of a duke --- even one as raw and masculine as Jude --- will save her from ruin, but that doesn't mean she's happy about it. Soon, though, she finds that Jude has a surprisingly gentle touch --- and plans to use it to persuade Marissa that their wedding day cannot come soon enough ...
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.
A Most Unlikely Duke
Sophie Barnes - 2017
The bare-knuckle boxer has spent the last fifteen years eking out an existence for himself and his two sisters. But when a stunning reversal of fortune lands Raphe the title of Duke of Huntley, he’s determined to make a go of becoming a proper lord, but he’ll need a little help, and his captivating neighbor might be just the woman for the job…After her sister’s scandalous match, Lady Gabriella knows the ton’s eyes are on her. Agreeing to tutor the brutish new duke can only lead to ruin. Although she tries to control her irresistible attraction to Raphe, every day she spends with him only deepens her realization that this may be the one man she cannot do without. And as scandal threatens to envelop them both, she must decide if she can risk everything for love with a most unlikely duke.
Undone by the Duke
Michelle Willingham - 2013
She designs sensual lingerie for the most exclusive dressmaker in London, although she has never known a man’s touch.A Duke in disguise…Wounded and stranded in Scotland, Jonathan Nottoway, the Duke of Worthingstone, is avoiding the murderous scandal that darkened his family name. As his wounds heal, he spends several sensual nights with the beautiful seamstress who knows nothing of his true identity.A passionate awakeningCan a woman trapped by her emotional scars be able to love a duke, when it means abandoning her safe world to embrace the life of a duchess?
How to Marry a Duke
Vicky Dreiling - 2011
Love is not necessary--nor desired. But how to choose among a dizzying array of wealthy-yet-witless candidates? Hire London's infamously prim and proper matchmaker. Then pretend she's not the most captivating woman he's ever met...Helping a devilish Duke create a contest to pick his perfect mate is the kind of challenge Tessa Mansfield relishes. Her methods may be scandalous, but she's determined to find the notorious bachelor more than a wife--she'll bring him true love. Yet when Tessa watches the women vie for the Duke's affections, she longs to win his heart herself. And after a stolen kiss confirms Tristan's desire, Tessa knows she has broken a matchmaker's number one rule: never fall in love with the groom.
Untamed
Elizabeth Lowell - 1993
But Lady Margaret of Blackthorne cannot yield to the bold Norman invader.The beloved daughter of a sacred tribe of Celtic mystics, she fears an ancient curse that could bring further turmoil to her battle-scarred land...and sorrow to her marriage bed. With a word, the lady could turn her wedding into war.But there awaits in the noble knight's embrace a promise of passion unbound— and a love that neither violence nor treachery can tear asunder, a love both invincible and.
To Love a Dark Lord
Anne Stuart - 1994
But, to her amazement, the notorious scoundrel, James Killoran, has agreed to accept responsibility for her desperate act—though the handsome, Irish earl professes no interest whatsoever in the enchanting miss whom he has surely rescued from the gallows.Hurt and confused by his indifference, Emma is nonetheless drawn to this elegant, arrogant rogue who uses people for his own amusement—but is always there when she most needs him. For she believes Killoran hides true goodness behind his decadent façade. And only the power of love can restore hope and tenderness to a dark and damaged heart—and release the passionate lover imprisoned within.
A Dangerous Beauty
Sophia Nash - 2007
A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by the removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder. —The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose BierceA Courageous Outcast...Rosamunde Baird has lost everything and has no choice but to accept an invitation to spend a season with a dowager duchess and her clandestine ladies club. Determined to stay in the shadows and live quietly, she has sworn never again to come face to face with adventure and temptation, two things that brought her ruin years ago. But then the Duke of Helston dangles before her the very things she craves most.Lord Fire & Ice...Mysterious Luc St. Aubyn has a much-deserved reputation for exuding blistering passion at night and frost the morning after. What demons drive this audacious war hero to hide secrets about the dowager's club and his devilish dictionary? When he's blindsided by his reactions to a virtuous siren, he has no choice but to reveal all during a scandal that will doom them...or save them, if only they dare to believe in love.
The Bridal Season
Connie Brockway - 2001
A petty schemer by necessity, the struggling music hall performer has decided to go straight. But after narrowly escaping the wrath of her partner in crime, she finds herself at Paddington Station with nothing but the gown she's wearing ... and another woman's train ticket clutched in her hand. Now masquerading as the redoubtable "Lady Agatha," of Whyte Wedding Celebrations, Letty arrives in the backwater burg of Little Bidewell, where she is to arrange the nuptials of a young society bride.Amid the dizzying whirl of pre-wedding festivities, nobody suspects Letty's secret ... except the sensual and aristocratic Sir Elliot March. A war hero who has forsworn love, Elliot senses something decidedly amiss about this outspoken young woman. Yet she awakens a passionate yearning he'd thought was lost to him forever. And soon a desperate masquerade embroils them both in a web of scandal and danger as Letty's past catches up with her --- threatening their lives ... and a love without peer.
At Your Pleasure
Meredith Duran - 2012
Rivenham will let nothing—not the deepening shadow of war, nor the growing darkness within him—interfere with his ambition to restore his family to its former glory. But when tasked by the king to uncover a traitor, he discovers instead a conspiracy—and a woman whose courage awakens terrible temptations. To save her is to risk everything. To love her might cost his life.At swordpoint she defies him...Lady Leonora knows that Rivenham is the devil in beautiful disguise— and that the irresistible tension between them is as unpredictable as the dilemma in which Nora finds herself: held hostage on her own estate by Rivenham and the king's men. But when war breaks out, Nora has no choice but to place her trust in her dearest enemy—and pray that love does not become the weapon that destroys them both.
The Rogue Not Taken
Sarah MacLean - 2015
And we thought Sophie was the quiet one…When she finds herself the target of very public aristocratic scorn, Sophie Talbot does what she must to escape the city and its judgment—she flees on the back of a carriage, vowing never to return to London…or to society. But the carriage isn’t saving her from ruin. It’s filled with it.ROYAL ROGUE'S REIGN OF RAVISHMENT!The Marquess of Eversley was espied descending a rose trellis—escaping an irate Earl and his once-future countess. No lady is safe from Eversley’s Engagement Ending Escapades!Kingscote, the Marquess of Eversley, has never met a woman he couldn’t charm, a quality that results in a reputation far worse than the truth, a furious summons home, and a long, boring trip to the Scottish border. When King discovers stowaway Sophie, however, the trip becomes anything but boring.WAR? OR MORE?He thinks she’s trying to trick him into marriage. She wouldn’t have him if he were the last man on earth. But carriages bring close quarters, dark secrets, and unbearable temptation, and suddenly opposites are altogether too attractive…
A Woman Made for Pleasure
Michele Sinclair - 2012
But if Lady Millie Aldon has her way, no man will win her hand in marriage - not even the one she loves.A Passion For AdventureDrawn to a life of excitement and risk, Lady Millie Aldon made a pact to forsake marriage. But her plans are thrown into chaos when Chase Wentworth returns to town. The lanky lad she remembers from childhood is now the Marquess of Chaselton, possessing an air of mystery Millie can't resist. As Chase moves through London’s elite circles, his stealth manner has Millie convinced he harbors a secret -
one she is determined to reveal.A Dangerous Seduction
As Millie makes a game of observing Chase’s every move, she finds her attraction to him unsettling. When a stolen kiss threatens to turn their flirtation into something more powerful, she questions her vow of freedom. But Millie has no idea of the danger she’s facing. Chase has a complicated past - and his clandestine efforts to expose a traitor will soon provide a more perilous - and passionate -
adventure than Millie could ever have planned.
The Naked Duke
Sally MacKenzie - 2005
Scandalous. In fact, Miss Sarah Hamilton, a proper Philadelphian, finds London society altogether shocking. How can it be that she has awakened from her innocent slumber to find herself in bed next to a handsome--and exceedingly naked--man? The laughing onlookers standing in the doorway are no help whatsoever and surely this amorous lunatic cannot be a duke, as he claims. She is compromised--though she most certainly will not marry him!
The Sweetest Moment Of His
James, the Duke of Alford, is enchanted by his unexpected bedmate--and not at all afraid of her pink-cheeked fury. True, the circumstances and place of their meeting are most unusual, but the spirited American who's pummeling him with a pillow is an incomparable beauty. If Sarah will only listen to his perfectly reasonable explanation, James is sure that he can capture her heart. . .forever.
The Devil Wears Plaid
Teresa Medeiros - 2010
Emmaline Marlowe is about to wed the extremely powerful laird of the Hepburn clan to save her father from debtor's prison when ruffian Jamie Sinclair bursts into the abbey on a magnificent black horse and abducts her in one strong swoop. Though he is Hepburn's sworn enemy, Emma's mysterious captor is everything her bridegroom is not: handsome, virile, dangerous . . . and a perilous temptation for her yearning heart.Jamie expects Emma to be some milksop English miss, not a fiery, defiant beauty whose irresistible charms will tempt him at every turn. But he cannot allow either one of them to forget he is her enemy and she his pawn in the deadly Highland feud between the clans. So why does he still want her so badly for himself? Stealing his enemy's bride was simple, but can he claim her innocence without losing his heart.