Book picks similar to
Once Upon a Promise by Nicola Davidson


historical-romance
romance
marriage-in-trouble
novella

The Nuisance Wife


Camille Oster - 2020
    Returning to English shores involves the task that had driven him to leave in the first place, dealing with the untrue wife he’d discarded. A divorce would not be a pleasant affair, but distractions would no longer serve. To Eliza Hennington, her marriage had been unhappy until devastating accusations had destroyed it. To build a new life for herself, she’d built a business supplying educational material to charity schools, a business now under threat from a protracted and public divorce. Her business would likely not survive the impending storm.

A Perfect Gentleman


Candace Camp - 2017
    Forced to marry an American heiress to save his family, Graeme Parr, Earl of Montclair, vowed their marriage would be in name only. Abigail Price thought handsome, aristocratic Graeme was her knight in shining armor, rescuing her from her overbearing father. But when she was spurned by her husband on their wedding night, Abigail fled home to New York. Now, years later, Abigail has returned. But this sophisticated, alluring woman is not the drab girl Graeme remembers. Appalled by her bold American ways but drawn to her beauty, Graeme follows her on a merry chase through London’s elegant ballrooms to its dockside taverns—why is his wife back? What could she want of him now? Torn between desire and suspicion, Graeme fears that Abby, like her unprincipled father, has a devious plan to ruin him. But is Abigail’s true desire Graeme’s destruction...or winning his love at last?

Passions of a Wicked Earl


Lorraine Heath - 2010
    With Passions of a Wicked Earl, USA Today and New York Times bestseller Lorraine Heath kicks off a new series of delightfully sinful historical romance novels featuring “London’s Greatest Lovers.” The first romantic adventure involving the titled and rakish sons of a scandalous Dowager Duchess and their tales of passion, pleasure, and love, Passions of a Wicked Earl concerns the innocent and unfairly disgraced young wife of the first brother and her brazen attempts to win back the dashing rogue’s heart…by any means necessary!

The Book of Scandal


Julia London - 2008
    But when he hears gossip that his estranged wife, Evelyn, is about to be named in The Book of Scandal, he has no choice but to remove her from London to protect her and himself from charges of treason -- even if it calls for abduction! While Evelyn has no legal recourse against the man who broke her heart years ago but is still considered her lord and master, she is no longer the immature girl Nathan married. Her enforced homecoming quickly turns into a battle of wills that tears down her husband's defenses and lays bare the passion that still burns between them. Before it is too late, Nathan must confront powerful adversaries as he convinces Evelyn that she is not only his wife, but the one woman he will love for all time.

Never Desire a Duke


Lily Dalton - 2013
    Yet a shocking encounter with him in a crowded ballroom—and a single touch—are all it takes to reawaken her furious passion for him. But how can she trust the man who crushed her dreams and took away the one thing she wanted most?A Love Beyond ReasonLord Claxton has never forgiven himself for the youthful mistake that ruined his marriage to Lady Sophia. Now, after nearly a year abroad, the reformed rogue vows to win back the only woman he's ever truly loved. He'll do whatever it takes to prove he can be the honorable husband she deserves—and the passionate lover she desires. As the snowdrifts deepen outside their ancestral home, can they rekindle the flame that burned so bright and find a new path to forever?

Once a Duchess


Elizabeth Boyce - 2012
    Since then she's been a pariah, living in anonymous exile to escape the prying eyes and wagging tongues of the town. More than anything, Isabelle longs for a family of her own, and so has to marry again. But society is ruthlessly unforgiving. To clear her name, Isabelle must face down her past - and the man who broke her heart and ruined her completely.Marshall Lockwood, Duke of Monthwaite, was blindsided by his young bride's infidelity. After the divorce Marshall licked his wounds, throwing himself into his botanical studies to forget his disastrous marriage. Now his former wife is back in Town, as beautiful and enticing as he remembers. As the Season throws them together again, Marshall can't shake the feeling that Isabelle might not be the adulteress he took her for.

The Return of Lady Jane


Jess Michaels - 2019
    But a shocking betrayal crushes his heart. He sends her away, determined to forget her.Viscountess Jane Wharton has no idea what hardened her husband's heart to her, but she is trying to make the best of her banishment. When she returns to London, she hopes to simply avoid Colin. But that is not to be. As the couple reunites in a clash of harsh words and heated passions, both begin to wonder if they could overcome the past.Only a secret lurks that is darker than anything either could have imagined. And they will have to fight to survive, as well as fight for the love they both deserve.

Captain Kempton's Christmas


Jayne Davis - 2019
    When he’s summoned to rejoin his ship, Anna promises to wait for him.While he’s at sea, she marries someone else.Now she's widowed and he's Captain Kempton. When they meet again, can they put aside betrayal and rekindle their love? A sweet second-chance Christmas novella.

The Reluctant Bride


Claire Firth - 2013
    She has been sold to the highest bidder so that she may produce an heir for the devilishly handsome and arrogant Earl and she is outraged. How can she have any respect or feelings for a man whose reputation is that of a complete wastrel and philanderer? She resolves to resist him at all costs yet Sophia is totally unprepared for the exquisite pleasure she experiences from her husband’s wicked hands as he introduces her to a world of sexual delight she had no idea existed. For Ralph, when his cousin had suggested he take a wife to heal the rift in his family, it had seemed the perfect solution to his problems. However, he hadn’t counted on choosing someone as spiritedly passionate as Sophia and something inside of him reacts to her in a way that disconcerts him. What started out as a necessary chore soon becomes an exciting challenge as he determines to do what he does best - seduce his young wife and put an end to the estrangement that exists between them. But why is Sophia’s good opinion becoming increasingly important to him? And why does he feel the compulsive need to convince her that he is not the unsavoury character she believes him to be?

The Potential for Love: A Regency Novel


Catherine Kullmann - 2020
    But it is Major Thomas Ferraunt, the rector’s son, newly returned from occupied Paris who stands in front of her.For over six years, Thomas’s thoughts have been of war. Now he must ask himself what his place is in this new world and what he wants from it. More and more, his thoughts turn to Miss Malvin, but would Lord Malvin agree to such a mismatch for his daughter, especially when she is being courted by Lord Henry Danlow?As Arabella embarks on her fourth Season, she finds herself more in demand than ever before. But she is tired of the life of a debutante, waiting in the wings for her real life to begin. She is ready to marry. But which of her suitors has the potential for love and who will agree to the type of marriage she wants?As she struggles to make her choice, she is faced with danger from an unexpected quarter while Thomas is stunned by a new challenge. Will these events bring them together or drive them apart?

An Infamous Marriage


Susanna Fraser - 2012
    Wed for mutual convenience, their union unconsummated, the couple has exchanged only cold, dutiful letters. With no more wars to fight, Jack is ready to attempt a peace treaty of his own.Elizabeth Armstrong is on the warpath. She never expected fidelity from the husband she knew for only a week, but his scandalous exploits have made her the object of pity for years. Now that he's back, she has no intention of sharing her bed with him—or providing him with an heir—unless he can earn her forgiveness. No matter what feelings he ignites within her…Jack is not expecting a spirited, confident woman in place of the meek girl he left behind. As his desire intensifies, he wants much more than a marriage in name only. But winning his wife's love may be the greatest battle he's faced yet.

The Spy Who Seduced Her


Christi Caldwell - 2017
    The stakes are high and passions flare hot in Regency England!A widow with a past… The last thing Victoria Barrett, the Viscountess Waters, has any interest in is romance. When the only man she’s ever loved was killed she endured an arranged marriage to a cruel man in order to survive. Now widowed, her only focus is on clearing her son’s name from the charge of murder. That is until the love of her life returns from the grave.A leader of a once great agency… Nathaniel Archer, the Earl of Exeter head of the Crown’s elite organization, The Brethren, is back on British soil. Captured and tortured 20 years ago, he clung to memories of his first love until he could escape. Discovering she has married whilst he was captive, Nathaniel sets aside the distractions of love...until an unexpected case is thrust upon him-- to solve the murder of the Viscount Waters. There is just one complication: the prime suspect's mother is none other than Victoria, the woman he once loved with his very soul.Secrets will be uncovered and passions rekindled. Victoria and Nathaniel must trust one another if they hope to start anew—in love and life. But will duty destroy their last chance?

His Majesty, the Prince of Toads


Delle Jacobs - 2006
    But even before he learns the circumstances of his inheritance, he encounters her at a New Year's gala. Shock sets in as he realizes the most beautiful woman in England is the same gangly, calf-eyed chit who tricked him into marriage six years before. That's not how Sophie remembers it. She wishes fervently she'd had the sense not to scream when the drunken scapegrace crawled into her bed at her Uncle Harry's house party. True, she'd had a secret tendre for the handsome wastrel, until his scathing denunciation of her after their forced wedding. Then he went off to war without even consummating their union, and for six years she heard nothing from him. Now the toad offers her forgiveness in exchange for his presence in her bed? Revenge comes more to mind.And so the battle of wits begins. And the harder they fight it, the more they fall in love.

Unlocked


Courtney Milan - 2011
    So when Evan Carlton, the powerful, popular Earl of Westfeld, singles her out upon his return to England, she knows what it means. Her former tormenter is up to his old tricks, and she’s his intended victim. This time, though, the earl is going to discover that wallflowers can fight back.Evan has come to regret his cruel, callow past. At first, he only wants to make up for past wrongs. But when Elaine throws his initial apology in his face, he finds himself wanting more. And this time, what torments him might be love…

A Duchess in Name


Amanda Weaver - 2016
    An American heiress and graduate of Lady Grantham's finishing school, she's been groomed since birth to marry an English title—the grander the better. So when the man chosen for her, the forbidding Earl of Dunnley, seems to hate her on sight, she understands that it can't matter. Love can have no place in this arrangement.Andrew Hargrave has little use for his title and even less for his cold, disinterested parents. Determined to make his own way, he's devoted to his life in Italy working as an archaeologist. Until the collapse of his family's fortune drags him back to England to a marriage he never wanted and a woman he doesn't care to know.Wild attraction is an unwanted complication for them both, though it forms the most fragile of bonds. Their marriage of convenience isn't so intolerable after all—but it may not be enough when the deception that bound them is finally revealed.