Book picks similar to
The Cost of Hope by G.S. Carr


historical-romance
historical
romance
historical-fiction

Nearly a Lady


Alissa Johnson - 2011
    So when he promises young Winnefred Blythe the money that his stepmother had cheated her out of over the years, he expects to be greeted as a hero. But the situation is much more complicated than Gideon had expected-and the task of taming the untrusting Winnefred much more alluring.

Sinful Surrender


Beverley Kendall - 2010
    Since her debut three years ago, Missy has received twenty marriage proposals. But she is interested in only one man—her brother’s best friend, James Rutherford. As a child, Missy looked up to James. As a grown up, her admiration has blossomed into the longings of a beautiful, sensuous woman—and she won’t rest until James admits his love—and desire—for her…James Rutherford rues the day he let his physical weaknesses get the better of him by kissing Missy. His best friend has made it clear that Missy is off limits, and though he’s avoided her for three years, he hasn’t forgotten the feel of her soft lips pressed against his—and it seems neither has she. For no matter how much James tries to discourage Missy, he keeps winding up in her arms, sharing heated caresses that promise the most delirious pleasure...

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.

Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold


Ellen O'Connell - 2010
    Anne Wells has embarrassed her rigidly proper family since she was a child with occasional but grievous lapses from ladylike behavior. They blame those lapses for the disgraceful fact that she is a spinster at 28. Cord Bennett, the son of his father's second marriage to a Cheyenne woman, is more than an embarrassment to his well-to-do family of ranchers and lawyers - they are ashamed and afraid of their black sheep. When Anne and Cord are found alone together, her father's fury leads to violence. Cord's family is more than willing to believe that the fault is his. Can Anne and Cord use the freedom of being condemned for sins they didn't commit to make a life together? Or will their disapproving, interfering families tear them apart?

More Than Passion


JoMarie DeGioia - 2012
    Four years ago, his fiancée betrayed him and he has no desire to experience that again so when he meets the beautiful Rebecca Kingsley, it’s passion at first sight. And only passion.Rebecca has led a very quiet life working for her father at a small country inn. When she meets Geoffrey she falls in love with him right away. But she’s only the daughter of a baronet and men like Geoffrey never marry country girls like her. Do they?When Rebecca’s father tries to marry her off to a wealthy old man, Geoffrey intervenes and marries her himself. He wants her very much but he couldn’t possibly love her. Love is for fools. At least that’s what he tells himself. But a sinister enemy soon threatens to destroy all that Geoffrey holds dear, forcing him to face the truth. His marriage depends on it... And maybe even Rebecca’s very life.

The Blind Date


Delaney Diamond - 2013
    . . again. Years ago, when Ryan Stewart saw Shawna Ferguson, it was love at first sight. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a free man, and his deception caused him to lose her after a weekend that changed his life.When Shawna’s sister and brother-in-law set her up on a blind date, she has no idea it’s with Ryan, with whom she’d spent a weekend she wishes she could forget. She reluctantly agrees to finish the date with him, but doing so leaves her vulnerable to his charms and the heat he ignited in her that very first night.

Simply Sexual


Kate Pearce - 2008
    Ten years as a sex slave in a Turkish brothel left Lord Valentin Sokorvsky with an insatiable appetite for sex. Now the time has come for him to marry, but finding a woman who can satisfy his lustful desires proves a challenge...until he meets Sara and all he can think about is having her lie under his rock-hard body, begging him to taste and touch her...Sensual Seduction... Sara Harrison knows she should be shocked and scandalized by Lord Sokorvsky's bold advances, but instead she is secretly aroused by this sensual, seductive man. For beneath her calm and composed manner is a wanton woman who longs for a man's intimate caress. She is most willing to be educated in the art of sensuality, to receive and give pleasure and to succumb to the wild desire that knows no limits...

The Beauty Bride


Claire Delacroix - 2005
    And he has no choice but to see them all wed in haste.Lady Madeline’s heart is not for sale…especially not to a notorious outlaw like Rhys FitzHenry. Yet Madeline’s hand has been sold, to none other than this battle-weary warrior with a price on his head. A more dutiful maiden might cede to the Laird’s command and meekly accept her fate, but Madeline has never been obedient. She decides to run away, though she never dreams that Rhys will pursue her.She does not expect this taciturn man to woo her with fanciful stories, much less that each of his enthralling tales will reveal a scar upon his shielded soul. She never imagines that a man like Rhys could imperil her own heart while revealing so little of his own feelings. When Rhys’ past threatens his future, Madeline takes a leap of faith. She dares to believe him innocent—and risks her own life to pursue a passion more priceless than the rarest gem.

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. . . .

Forgive Me Father for I Have Loved


Tiana Laveen - 2013
    He was the person everyone called on during a crisis or emotional devastation — Dane was everyone’s rock. However, all that came into question after the death of a dear friend. Dane begins to look at his life and do some soul searching, revisiting situations and monsters from the past that continue to rear their heads in his time of need and spiritual upheaval. He seeks relief in unconventional things, his flesh forcing him to make choices that he knows are not healthy. Trying to get back on track, he goes to a local park, one of his all-time favorites, and sits and simply thinks, day after day, trying to heal a broken heart.As he continues to visit the park for peace of mind and solace, he can’t help but notice a beautiful Bohemian woman. She more than catches his eye, arousing feelings in him he’d suppressed since he entered the priesthood. He can’t get her out of his mind, and though he can’t put his finger on it, she appears familiar to him. She is practically his polar opposite, yet the two forge a friendship built on humor, respect and admiration. However, the struggle soon ensues once Dane realizes he likes her to be more than just a friend, and he has to make serious choices that could affect so many people who love and depend on him.He is at a crossroads — does he give up the priesthood to be with her, or forge ahead, forgetting about Lotus, the angelic songbird that floated right into his heart...______________________Please Note: Though this book is not classified as erotica, it does involve the following subject matters/topics/ideals, which may be offensive to some audiences: religion – particularly the Catholic faith as it pertains to priesthood. It also includes detailed sexual and intimate depictions of a consenting couple and a host of situations that are adult in nature. This book is not intended to encourage or discourage those in the Catholic faith. It is a love story that deals with the human experience in its totality.

The Pirate Next Door


Jennifer Ashley - 2003
    He certainly doesn’t look like the gentlemen on her list—Grayson Finley, Viscount Stoke, is tall and sun-bronzed, muscular and blue-eyed. He wears dress so casual as to be unclothed—long coats, leather breeches, shirts without collar or cravat, and he carries pistols wherever he goes. The men who attend him are just as strange, exotic-looking, even. And the way Grayson smiles at Alexandra whenever they pass in the street—sinful, blood-warming—turns her inside out.In the middle of the night Alexandra hears shouting coming from the house next door, and the viscount’s life being threatened. She rushes over just in time to save Grayson from being hanged by his greatest enemy, his former best friend.Thus is Alexandra pulled into the adventures of Grayson Finley, former pirate and terror of the seas. Grayson has made a bargain with the devil (in the form of the pirate hunter, James Ardmore), in order to ensure the safety of his daughter. He’ll do anything to keep her safe, but when Alexandra saves his life, he looks into her eyes the color of water and starts to drown . . .

Bound to the Highlander


Kate Robbins - 2013
    Despite him and his traitorous clan, Aileana will do her duty, but she doesn't have to like it or him. But when the MacIntosh awakens something inside her so absolute and consuming, she is forced to question everything.James MacIntosh is a nobleman torn between tradition and progress. He must make a sacrifice if he is to help Scotland move forward as a unified country. Forced to sign a marriage contract years earlier binding Lady Aileana to him, James must find a way to break it, or risk losing all -- including his heart.From the wild and rugged Highlands near Inverness to the dungeons of Edinburgh Castle, James and Aileana’s preconceptions of honor, duty and love are challenged at every adventurous turn.

Intimate Deception


Laura Landon - 2012
    In Victorian England, a woman possesses only one item of value: her virtue. Without it, Fentington will not want her—nor will any other man. But at least she will be free. Now she must find a man with whom to pass the fateful night, a man who will ask no questions, make no other demands. Because for a woman preparing to risk everything, no ordinary man will do…After losing two wives in childbirth, Vincent Germaine, Duke of Raeburn, vows never to marry again. Racked with guilt over the lives lost in his quest for an heir, he is careful now to take his pleasure only with London’s most discreet courtesans. Yet when he learns that a passionate encounter with a bewitching stranger may have put yet another life at risk, Vincent sets out to find the unsuspecting girl—and discovers a woman of incomparable courage, beauty, and strength. But can two strangers brought together by desperation find true love against all odds?

Black Falcon's Lady


Kimberly Cates - 1988
     When shy Maryssa Wylder refuses an arranged marriage, her father exiles her to his isolated holdings in Ireland, a hell he claims is populated by savages eager to slit English throats. On her journey, she is robbed by the Black Falcon, an Irish highwayman who curses all with the Wylder name. A brigand he may be, yet she can’t forget the way he looks at her—his dangerous passion piercing her lonely heart. A dispossessed Irish prince... Tade Kilcannon has every right to hate the Wylders. Though his ancestors were Irish kings, the English have stolen his birthright, giving it to Bainbridge Wylder, a ruthless English overlord who drives the Irish crofters from their homes. Though the people of the glen think Tade Kilcannon is a rakehell, in truth, he is the Black Falcon, a masked patriot who bedevils the English. But this rogue’s heart is untouched until Maryssa Wylder saves his family from marauding soldiers. A love worth defying two worlds... Maryssa blossoms because of Tade’s tenderness, but he knows that to love the English daughter of his family’s great enemy is impossible. Then disaster strikes the glen, throwing Tade’s fate and the future of those he protects into Maryssa’s hands. Maryssa faces a heart-wrenching choice, one which may cost her the very life of the man she loves. THE CELTIC ROGUES SERIES ~ 1. THE BLACK FALCON'S LADY 2. HER MAGIC TOUCH 3. BRIAR ROSE 4. STEALING HEAVEN 5. LILY FAIR CULLODEN'S FIRE SERIES~ 1. GATHER THE STARS 2. ANGEL'S FALL 3. CROWN OF DREAMS 4. CROWN OF MIST (prequel)

Kissing the Enemy


Leighann Dobbs - 2016
    As the plain looking older sister, she's practically invisible at social events. Never mind that she has no experience as a spy or that the codebook rests in the possession of one of the most powerful men in England. Freddie has no choice-she's desperate to save her young sister from the lecherous intentions of their guardian and recovering the book is her only option. Tristan Graylocke has never been able to measure up to his brother, the Duke of Tenwick.  But being second best has its advantages. No one pressures him to get married and produce an heir, leaving him to carouse at will-an activity that lends itself perfectly to the brothers’ secret lives as spies. When an alluring enemy spy shows up at the house party planned specifically for the purposes of passing along a code book, Tristan finds himself drawn under her spell. Freddie seems innocent and inexperienced.  Is her innocence is a clever guise, or is she being coerced by someone? Tristan and Freddie soon find themselves engaged in a seductive game of cat and mouse where each will do what they must for their country, especially if it involves kissing the enemy.