Book picks similar to
Thorns of Eden by Diana Ballew


historical-romance
historical-fiction
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Until We Meet Again


Renee Collins - 2015
    But when a dreamy stranger shows up on their private beach claiming it's his own—and that the year is 1925—she is swept into a mystery a hundred years in the making.As she searches for answers in the present, Cassandra discovers a truth that puts their growing love—and Lawrence's life—into jeopardy. Desperate to save him, Cassandra must find a way to change history…or risk losing Lawrence forever.

Altdorf


J.K. Swift - 2011
    A Duke of the Holy Roman Empire, his cunning overshadowed only by his ambition. A young Priestess of the Old Religion, together with a charismatic outlaw, sparking a rebellion from deep within the forests... and an ex-Hospitaller caught between them all.At the end of the thirteenth century, five hundred orphans and second sons are rounded up from villages in the Alpine countryside and sold to the Hospitaller Knights of St John. Trained to serve as Soldiers of Christ, they fight in eastern lands they know nothing about, for a cause they do not understand.Thomas Schwyzer, released from his vows by the Grandmaster of the Hospitallers, returns to the land of his birth a stranger. Once a leader of men, and captain of the Order's most famous war galley, he now settles into the simple life of a ferryman. He believes this new role to be God's reward for years of faithful service fighting the Infidel in Outremer.Seraina, considered a witch by most, a healer by some, is a young woman with a purpose. A Priestess of the Old Religion, and the last Druid disciple of the Helvetii Celts, she has been gifted by the Great Weave to see what others cannot. Her people need her guidance and protection now more than ever. For Duke Leopold of Habsburg, in his efforts to control the St. Gotthard Pass, builds a great Austrian fortress in Altdorf. Once finished, the Habsburg occupation will be complete, but the atrocities visited upon her people will have just begun.

Black Dog and Rebel Rose


Dani Smith - 2010
    An insatiable seducer and lover of women. Son of a human lady of the night and a True Native of Hell, he is a killer of the evils that dwell in darkness. Fifty miles of bad road will lead him and his rumbling Harley to an abandoned town and the vampyre hunt of his dreams. It is in the rot and the ruin that Skriker will discover his destiny. Rose. A fierce and beautiful huntress haunted by a tragic past. The most amazing woman that Skriker has ever met. A sizzling tryst will lead him to discover that Rose is his soul mate, the girl who will make him abandon his lustful ways and make him hunger for her alone. But Skriker's new beloved harbors an ironic secret. A secret that may lead to a half-demon's gruesome undoing...*Publisher's warning: this sordid tale contains sizzling explicit sex (including oral sex), foul language, bloody violence, and a half-demon bad boy who will utterly rock your world.*

Wishing For a Highlander


Jessi Gage - 2014
    The last thing she expects is for her wish to be granted. Magically transported to the middle of a clan skirmish in the sixteenth-century Highlands, she comes face to face with her kilted fantasy man.Tall, handsome, and heir to his uncle’s lairdship, Darcy Keith should be the most eligible bachelor in Ackergill. Instead, thanks to a prank played on him in his teenage years, he is known for being too large under his kilt to ever make a proper husband. “Big Darcy” runs his deceased father’s windmills and lives alone at his family manor, believing he will never marry.But a strangely dressed woman he rescues from a clan skirmish makes him long for more. When the woman’s claims of coming to Ackergill by magic reach the laird’s ears, she is accused of witchcraft. Darcy determines to protect her any way he can, even if it means binding her to him forever.ISBN: 978-1-941239-00-1 (alternate cover edition)

Changing His Game


JE - 2014
    This book is for mature readers ages 18 and up. It contains sex, sex, and more sex with a porn star. It briefly touches on M/F/M and M/F/F. Adult Films. XXX Movies. Porn.These are the kind of movies I've never planned to watch. It was a taboo topic where I grew up. As a kid I had only heard of it in passing. In middle school my parents would talk about my creepy uncle Frank and how he should look for a job instead of watching "those movies" all day. In High School boys thought it was funny to ask my friends and me to star in the amateur adult films they were making. In college most of my guy friends watched them, but I never had. When I moved to California that changed.After surprising my fiancé at home and catching him screwing another woman, I hopped in my car and started driving. I was running away from my old life and I needed a change. I remembered my friend Tawny inviting me to visit her in Los Angeles, so that's where I went.I didn’t find Tawny when I got there, but I did find her gorgeous roommate, Jared. Our friendship started out rough, but he gave me a place to stay and helped me get back on my feet. He became my best friend. My best friend who millions of women happened to lust over.Jared plays by a different set of rules, where anything goes. His lifestyle is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before and it scares me. When you live your life on the edge, eventually you'll fall over. I didn't want to see that happen to him.At night he’s just Jared, my Jared, and I’ll deny it to anyone who asks, but I’m completely in love with him. During the day he’s Brandon Boner, and the world is in love with him.Oh yeah, did I mention he’s a porn star?

Until You


Jennifer McNare - 2012
    Having grown coldhearted and cynical, as well as older and wiser, he has vowed to never again allow another woman to affect him emotionally, for he has learned his lessons and learned them well. So, when the breathtakingly lovely Ashleigh St. John suddenly and unexpectedly enters his life, as well as his home, he is determined to keep the alluring interloper at an emotional and physical distance. Unfortunately, he quickly discovers that some things are easier said than done.Reckless and daring, Ashleigh St. John is an unconventional young lady with the heart of a hopeless romantic. When she meets Nicholas Leighton she knows she has met the man of her dreams, but unfortunately, the man of her dreams seems bound and determined to keep her at a distance, hiding behind a self-erected wall of cool detachment and calculated indifference. Willing to do almost anything to break through the intractable barriers that guard his heart, she will willingly surrender her innocence, and time and again risk her ravaged heart to ultimately win his trust, and more importantly, his love.Original Publication Date: 6/1/2012Please note that the previous title of this novel was Forever and Always.**

Sixteen Brides


Stephanie Grace Whitson - 2010
    Louis respond to a series of meetings conducted by a land speculator who lures them west by promising "prime homesteads" in a "booming community." Unbeknownst to them, the speculator's true motive is to find an excuse to bring women to the fledging community of Plum Grove, Nebraska, in hopes they will accept marriage proposals shortly after their arrival!Sparks fly when these unsuspecting widows meet the men who are waiting for them. These women are going to need all the courage and faith they can muster to survive these unwanted circumstances--especially when they begin to discover that none of them is exactly who she appears to be.

In the Garden of Temptation


Cynthia Wicklund - 2010
    She had come upon it not long after her marriage to Edgar, and it had offered her the only peace she was to know for a long time. It was dangerous to share the only thing that belonged to one. Yet the thought of spending an afternoon with the earl in her most treasured place, sharing a leisurely meal, beckoned her. She glanced shyly over her shoulder to see if he still followed.Lord Ashworth rode only a few yards behind her horse, and he grinned when their eyes met. He had a lazy, sensual smile and, when he looked at her like that, she felt an odd breathless catch in her throat. She wondered how it would feel if he were to place those warm lips to hers instead of the back of her hand. Oh dear! There went that catch again.Within moments they entered a clearing. Catherine dismounted without waiting for the earl’s assistance and swung her arms wide as she turned in a circle about the shaded copse.“What do you think?” she asked.The earl, still astride, cast his gaze slowly around the tiny glen as he studied the scenery. He then turned his attention to Catherine but did not speak. A suggestive grin broke the calm of his expression as he continued to watch her.“More beautiful than I could have imagined,” he murmured.Simple statement that, but it held a wealth of meaning. Catherine dropped her arms while staring back in fascination. Her mouth fell open and her breathing quickened. The air vibrated with unspoken words as they shared a moment of absolute understanding. The specter of desire had been brought into the open and was acknowledged.Experience IN THE GARDEN OF TEMPTATION today. Meet characters you'll visit again in the other books in this series.Now Available on Amazon:IN THE GARDEN OF SEDUCTION, Book 2 of The Garden Series.IN THE GARDEN OF DISGRACE, Book 3 of The Garden Series.IN THE GARDEN OF DECEIT, Book 4 of The Garden Series.Just Released: THIEF OF SOULSDark and sensual, Thief of Souls is one man's battle with evil for the fate of his humanity. It is a modern vampire-esque romance, gothic in tone, with a twist on the "Beauty and the Beast" theme, for the beast's ugliness resides on the inside rather than the outside, and his hope for redemption comes not from being loved by another but from discovering his own ability to love.

Whispers in the Sand


Barbara Erskine - 1995
    Cruising down the Nile from Luxor to the Valley of the Kings, Anna carries with her two mementos: an ancient Egyptian scent bottle, and the diary of that original Nile voyage, which has lain unread for a hundred years. As she follows Louisa's footsteps, Anna discovers both the chilling secret of the bottle and the terrifying specters that pursued her great grandmother.

Dead Rules


Randy Russell - 2011
    They were destined to be together forever.DoBut Jana's destiny was fatally flawed. And now she's in Dead School, where Mars Dreamcote lurks in the back of the classroom, with his beguiling blue eyes, mysterious smile, and irresistibly warm touch.UsMichael and Jana were incomplete without each other. There was no room for Mars in Jana's life—or death—story. Jana was sure Michael would rush to her side soon.PartBut things aren't going according to Jana's plan. So Jana decides to do whatever it takes to make her dreams come true—no matter what rules she has to break.

Beautiful Wreck


Larissa Brown - 2014
    She designs environments for people who play at being Vikings. But when her project goes awry, she’s stranded in the actual 10th century, on a storybook farm in Viking Iceland.Heirik is the young leader of his family, honored by the men and women who live on his land. But he is feared and isolated because of a terrible curse. Ginn and Heirik are two people who never thought they would find a home in someone else’s heart.When forces rise against them to keep them apart, Ginn is called on to decide—will she give up the brutal and beautiful reality of the past? Or will she have the courage to traverse time and become more of a Viking than she ever imagined?

Avoiding Commitment


K.A. Linde - 2012
    Linde…Jack and Lexi never had a typical relationship.After two years without speaking, Lexi receives a phone call that changes everything. Jack wants her to convince his new girlfriend that he's ready to commit.He's calling now, after everything they had been through, because there's another woman. She can't believe it.And yet she goes.For closure.Not to try to win him back. Definitely not.

The Soul Mate


Madeline Sheehan - 2012
    That is, until she barely escaped a worldwide apocalyptic plague that took her loved ones from her and transformed most of humanity into flesh-eating monsters.Gerik, her savior, a six-foot-four-inch Scandinavian Gypsy, takes her back to his magically protected Gypsy camp where she discovers a whole new way of life that she never knew existed – as well as a whole new set of problems.Gerik has power over her that she cannot begin to understand, and she is convinced he is using his magic on her. Through her journey of trying to understand her feelings and this new magic-filled life she’s been brought into, she begins an unlikely friendship that grows into having potential to be something more.While the remaining humans are fighting for their survival, Trinity is fighting a battle of her very own – the right to choose her own destiny.Is Gerik’s hold on her too strong? Or can new love set her free?

Undeniable


Jenna Petersen - 2011
    Including enter into a wicked affair that lasts the length of the storm which traps them in her estate. But with every touch, both Cecilia and Julian want more than mere passion, but ghosts of the past may not allow it.Novella

Passion


Lisa Valdez - 2005
    But amidst the crowds of London's Crystal Palace, Passion finds herself discreetly, yet insistently, pursued by a sensual gentleman who awakens her long-supressed desires. After a loveless marriage of restrained propriety, Passion abandons herself to true bliss for the first time.Intoxicated by his encounter with the beautiful stranger, Mark Randolph Hawkmore, Earl of Langley, cannot wait to see her again. As a series of rapturous rendezvous follows, he and his mystery lover find something rare and wonderful blossoming between them. But a blackmail scheme against the Earl threatens to destroy everything. As a scandal brews, each will have to choose between duty and desire...their love for their families—and their love for each other.