Book picks similar to
The Theory of Earls by Kathleen Ayers


historical-romance
historical
romance
regency

Wicked Intentions


Elizabeth Hoyt - 2010
    . . Infamous for his wild, sensual needs, Lazarus Huntington, Lord Caire, is searching for a savage killer in St. Giles, London's most notorious slum. Widowed Temperance Dews knows St. Giles like the back of her hand - she's spent a lifetime caring for its inhabitants at the foundling home her family established. Now that home is at risk . . . A woman haunted by her past . . . Caire makes a simple offer - in return for Temperance's help navigating the perilous alleys of St. Giles, he will introduce her to London's high society so that she can find a benefactor for the home. But Temperance may not be the innocent she seems, and what begins as cold calculation soon falls prey to a passion that neither can control - one that may well destroy them both.A bargain neither could refuse.

A Wild Night's Bride


Victoria Vane - 2012
    There Could Be Hell To Pay..She needs a protector… Once seduced by whispered promises of a faithless lover, Phoebe Scott is determined to make a name on the Covent Garden stage, but after three years of bit parts, she realizes she'll never achieve her goals on her own merits. Finally acknowledging her success is dependent on a powerful patron, Phoebe determines to seek out a protector at London's most notorious brothel.He's avowed to celibacy… Sir Edward "Ned" Chambers has been lost and lonely since his wife’s death in childbirth. Burdened with blame, he has sworn to a life of celibacy, but after three years, he is inwardly edgy, irritable, and increasingly discontent. Desperate times call for devilish measures... Viscount Ludovic “The Devil” DeVere, a rake of the first order, is hell-bent to return his best friend Ned to the land of the living. Perceiving the cause behind his best friend’s unhappiness—as well as the obvious cure—DeVere takes matters in hand. DeVere’s meddling machinations result in an outrageous wager that could lead Ned to a new love… or land them all in the Tower.Hijinks and passion abound in this sexy, rollicking Georgian romp. (romantic comedy with mature content) The Devil DeVere Series:A Wild Night's Bride #1The Virgin Huntress #2The Devil You Know #3The Devil's Match #4A Devil's Touch #4.5Jewel Of the East #5 Prequel Vignettes:Devil in the Making #1The Trouble with Sin #2Ned's Folly - coming late 2014

Mastering the Marchioness: A Wickedly Erotic Historical Romance


Em Brown - 2009
    If you like your heat “wickedly hot” with yummy alpha males and headstrong young women, then dare to enter the Cavern of Pleasures… The last person Vale Montressor Aubrey, the Marquess of Dunnesford, expects to see walking into Madam Botreaux's Cavern of Pleasures is his wife. Fortunately, she does not recognize him behind his mask for he has no intention of revealing his secret life as a Dom to his new bride. Harrietta, the new Marchioness of Dunnesford, knows that she, modest in means and countenance, should consider herself lucky to be married to such a desirable man as the Marquess, even if he is rumored to have had more mistresses than one can count. But if he can have his fun, why not her? And the dashingly handsome Lord Elroy seems just the man to make her forget about her loveless marriage. Vale knows that Elroy, also a secret Dom at Madame Botreaux's, can’t be trusted not to hurt a submissive. To protect Harrietta, Vale must claim her as his own, but he soon discovers this feisty wife of his isn't so easy to tame. Especially when things start heating up in the Cavern of Pleasures.

The Duke and the Wallflower


Jessie Clever - 2020
    But when her scorned older sister returns home to see all of her sisters wed in happy matches, it may be Eliza’s only chance to secure a husband and have the children she so desires.Jilted in a publicly humiliating display, Dax Kane, the Duke of Ashbourne, has sworn off love forever and has no wish to wed. But when the title demands it, he selects the most perfect candidate for the position: Lady Eliza Darby, a wallflower so unattractive, he won’t be in danger of falling in love with her. But the Jilted Duke will soon discover looks have nothing to do with love.

Wicked Becomes You


Meredith Duran - 2010
    . . Gwen Maudsley is pretty enough to be popular, and plenty wealthy, too. But what she’s best known and loved for is being so very, very nice. When a cad jilts her at the altar—again—the scandal has her outraged friends calling for blood. Only Gwen has a different plan. If nice no longer works for her, then it’s time to learn to be naughty. Happily, she knows the perfect tutor—Alexander Ramsey, her late brother’s best friend and a notorious rogue. So why won’t a confirmed scoundrel let her be as bad as she wants to be? Unbeknownst to Gwen, Alex’s aloof demeanor veils his deepest unspoken desire. He has no wish to see her change, nor to tempt himself with her presence when his own secrets make any future between them impossible. But on a wild romp from Paris to the Riviera, their friendship gives way to something hotter, darker, and altogether more dangerous. With Alex’s past and Gwen’s newly unleashed wildness on a collision course, Gwen must convince Alex that his wickedest intentions are exactly what she needs.

The Mannequin


S.G. Rogers - 2015
    His neighbor Rosamund tries desperately to bring him back from the brink of despair, but the beastly young duke fights her every step of the way. His feelings for her deepen, and when she departs for London, he vows to regain his health and woo her properly. Unfortunately, she disappears before he has the chance.Rosamund is admired and praised as a mannequin for an exclusive London modiste, but her life is empty without the man to whom she gave her heart. Now, just when happiness seems within her grasp, jealous rivals conspire to ruin her dreams.Can a beastly duke and a beautiful mannequin ever achieve a fairytale ending?

White Lion's Lady


Tina St. John - 2001
    Yet even as she discovers his treachery, Isabel cannot deny that Griffin lingers in her dreams, awakening the passion in her steadfast heart.Then a twist of fate puts a price on both their heads, embroiling them in a life-and-death chase that will force Griffin to choose between his own freedom and his fierce desire for the woman who would redeem his noble spirit. But to reclaim his lost honor, the White Lion could lose Isabel forever. . . .

Ridiculous!


D.L. Carter - 2012
    Funny. Sexy. Cross Dressing. Not your mother's Regency Romance.After the death of her miserly cousin, Anthony North, Millicent Boarder is determined her family should never be poor or vulnerable again. To protect them she conceals her cousin's death and assumes his identity. Now she must face the Ton and the world as Mr. North and accept the price she must pay for her family's safety -- she will never be loved.Which means, of course, at this point she will meet the perfect man.

Lions and Lace


Meagan McKinney - 1992
    Born to luxury, she belonged with the Astors and the Vanderbilts at cotillions and soirees. But she shivered with fear and something more as she faced the handsome, ruthless Trevor Sheridan. He had bankrupted her fortune and would expose her family's scandalous secret unless she accepted his outrageous offer, his emotional blackmail ... his heart-stopping kiss.HE BROKE THEM ALLBorn Irish, brought up in the streets, Trevor "the Predator" Sheridan learned early how to get the wealth and the women he wanted. An expert at games of power, he played one that would destroy every famous family who had snubbed him. Tricking the beautiful Alana was his trump card. But he never intended to want her ... until her beauty and her resolve stole his breath away.NOW THEIR DESIRES SWEPT THEM TOWARD RAPTURE ... OR RUIN

The Madness of Viscount Atherbourne


Elisa Braden - 2015
    And it is—perfectly boring. Agree to marry a lord who has yet to inspire a single, solitary tingle? Why, of course. Smile as though this is not the thousandth time he’s mentioned hounds and hunting? It’s all in a day’s work for the oh-so-proper sister of the Duke of Blackmore. Surely no one would suspect her secret longing for heart-racing, head-spinning passion. Except, perhaps, a dark stranger… on a terrace… at a ball where she should definitely not be kissing a man she has only just met.The obsession that leads to ruin…Hatred, not love, drives Lucien Wyatt, Viscount Atherbourne, to tempt the “Flower of Blackmore” into sin. Her brother has done unthinkable damage to Lucien’s family, and he intends to exact revenge in the only way left to him: Ruining his enemy’s sister, then stealing her from Blackmore by making her his own.The woman who will set fire to her husband’s heart…As Lucien carries out his ruthless plan, tutoring his new bride in the finer points of pleasure, her surrender leaves him breathless… and soon a new obsession awakens—a scandalous fascination with his irresistible wife.

The Viscount and the Vixen


Ava Devlin - 2019
    Though she has resigned herself to a spinster's life in service of her family, she has agreed to return for one final Season, to ensure her beloved cousin has the perfect debut. When it is revealed that there will be no debut at all, but rather a hasty marriage to a wealthy viscount, Rose is tasked with managing the explosive fallout within her family, and rescuing her cousin from a life she does not want. A Venerable Viscount Lord Gideon Somers has dedicated his life to rebuilding his family's honor, often at the expense of his own happiness. When his wild little sister finds herself compromised out of wedlock, he must find a way to mitigate the damage. An old marriage contract, engineered by his drunken wastrel of a father, might be the only way to save House Somers from ruin. What he didn't foresee was the involvement of Rose d’Aubrey, a favorite of the gossip sheets and the only woman he's ever truly wanted. Scandals Upon Scandals An unwilling bride, an explosive secret, and an unresolved infatuation drive Gideon to his breaking point. No longer able to deny his desires, he strikes a devil’s bargain with Rose, a proposition that will change both of their lives forever. A mad flight under the cover of darkness sends them racing toward elopement and the unknown. Thrown together, away from the demands of their families and the judgmental eyes of Society, Rose and Gideon find themselves with no one's wants to consider but their own. Years of restraint are tested, secrets unravel, and temptation burns hot in this steamy adventure of duty and desire. The Viscount and the Vixen is Ava Devlin’s debut novel, and the first installment in The Somerton Scandals series.

Seven Nights in a Rogue's Bed


Anna Campbell - 2012
    Yet instead of a monster, she encounters a man like no other. And during this week, she comes to care for Jonas Merrick in ways that defy all logic—even as a dark secret she carries threatens them both....Spark a lifetime of passionate surrender?Ruthless loner Jonas knows exactly who he is. Should he forget, even for a moment, the curse he bears, a mere glance in the mirror serves as an agonizing reminder. So when the lovely Sidonie turns up on his doorstep, her seduction is an even more delicious prospect than he originally planned. But the hardened outcast is soon moved by her innocent beauty, sharp wit, and surprising courage. Now as dangerous enemies gather at the gate to destroy them, can their new, fragile love survive?

Three Weeks With Lady X


Eloisa James - 2014
    But to marry a lady, Thorn must acquire a gleaming, civilized façade, the specialty of Lady Xenobia India.Exquisite, head-strong, and independent, India vows to make Thorn marriageable in just three weeks.But neither Thorn nor India anticipate the forbidden passion that explodes between them.Thorn will stop at nothing to make India his. Failure is not an option. But there is only one thing that will make India his—the one thing Thorn can't afford to lose...His fierce and lawless heart.

The Earl's Dilemma


Emily May - 2008
    He’s resigned himself to a marriage of convenience and has even chosen a bride: Kate Honeycourt, his best friend’s sister.Kate has been on the shelf for years. Why, then, does she so firmly turn him down? Surely she can’t be holding out for a love match?But Kate has a proposal of her own: she’ll find James a bride he can fall in love with.Armed with a list of requirements, Kate sets out to find James the perfect wife. But things don’t progress as either of them expect…A Regency romance featuring an earl who needs to marry in a hurry, the spinster he turns to for help, and a list that grows…and grows…and grows.

Dark Desires


Eve Silver - 2005
    Damien Cole. Ignoring the whispered warnings and rumours that he's a man to fear, she takes her position at his eerie estate, where she quickly discovers that nothing is at it seems, least of all her handsome and brooding employer. As Darcie struggles with her fierce attraction to Damien, she must also deal with the blood, the disappearances ... and the murders.With her options dwindling and time running out, Darcie must rely on her instincts as she confronts the man she falling in love with. Is he an innocent and misunderstood man ... or a remorseless killer who prowls the East End streets?Note: All books in the Dark Gothic series can be read as stand-alone novels.