Book picks similar to
The Ward's Bride by Cecelia Mecca


historical-romance
romance
novella
historical

A Wish to Build a Dream On


Michelle Willingham - 2011
    But when he meets Mary, he has only three days to save her life . . . or lose her forever.This short story is an extended digital re-release that was originally published in the Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance.

A Kiss for a Rogue


Collette Cameron - 2014
    A future viscount. A second chance at love. Olivia Kingsley didn’t expect to be swept off her feet and receive a marriage proposal two weeks into her first Season. However, one delicious dance with Allen Wimpleton, and her future is sealed. Or so she thinks until her eccentric father suddenly announces he’s moving the family to the Caribbean for a year.Terrified of losing Olivia, Allen begs her to elope, but she refuses. Distraught at her leaving, and unaware of her father’s ill-health, Allen doubts her love and foolishly demands she choose—him or her father. Heartbroken at his callousness, Olivia turns her back on their love. The year becomes three, enough time for her broken heart to heal, and after her father dies, she returns to England. Coming face to face with Allen at a ball, she realizes she never purged him from her heart. But can they overcome their pasts and old wounds to trust love again? Or has Allen found another in her absence?This second chance Regency historical by a USA Today bestselling author will make you want to box Allen’s ears and promise Olivia that she will find true love.If you enjoy reading reunited lovers stories sprinkled with a dab of humor, suspense, and heart-warming emotion, then you’ll adore Collette Cameron’s tantalizing THE HONORABLE ROGUES SERIES®. Buy A KISS FOR A ROGUE and settle into your favorite reading nook for a rousing romantic adventure you can’t put down. Though this book can easily be read as a stand-alone, most readers prefer to read the series in order.

Highland Solution


Ceci Giltenan - 2013
    Lady Katherine Ruthven, a lowland heiress, is rumored to be “unmarriageable” and her uncle hopes to be granted her title and lands when the king sends her to a convent. King David II anxious to strengthen his alliances sees a solution that will give Ruthven the title he wants, and MacIan the money he needs. Laird MacIan will receive Lady Katherine’s hand along with her substantial dowry and her uncle will receive her lands and title.Lady Katherine must forfeit everything in exchange for a husband who does not want to be married and believes all women to be self-centered and deceitful. Can the lovely and gentle Katherine mend his heart and build a life with him or will he allow the treachery of others to destroy them?

A Gift for Lara


S.G. Rogers - 2013
    Now the man to whom she gave her heart will visit Blythe Manor for Christmas. How can she enjoy the holidays knowing Miles Greystoke must despise her for revealing her feelings in such an unguarded fashion?As an awkward youth, Miles fell in love with a kindred spirit…but his love was unrequited. Against his wishes, he’s now obliged to spend the holidays at Blythe Manor. Time has wrought changes in his physique, but his devotion to Lara Robinson has never wavered. He searches for the perfect present to show her how he feels, but nothing seems quite right…until he realizes the best sort of gift will embrace the true meaning of Christmas.A Victorian Christmas short story.

12 Rogues of Christmas


Ebony McKennaAva January - 2020
    His mother was right. He still had deep feelings for her and wanted to make things right between them.Two Tempted Loves - Ebony McKenna writing as Ebony OatenA newly-minted marquis meets an heiress on a missionThree French Men - Ava JanuaryThree ladies need to rid themselves of the men they find living in their house. Or will they find a way to keep them in instead?Four Calling Cards - Susanne BellamyHer fiancé is missing and his best friend takes his place. What can possibly go wrong?Five Gold Flings - Beverley OakleyWicked and lively Fanny and Antoinette Brightwell have made spectacular marriages. Now, it’s their children’s turn to play matchmaker...Six Belles Need Saving - Janis LinfordA reluctant debutante and a viscount on the brink of ruin, tangle at a Christmas school of manners.Seven Lords Proposing - Erin GraceAmateur botanist Charlotte Grey has long declared she should never wed. When six eligible gentlemen offer for Miss Grey’s hand at a party, she sets them impossible tasks.Eight Spinsters Singing - Catherine BilsonAn heiress fleeing an unwanted marriage must place her trust in an American ship captain.Nine Years A'Yearning - Alison StuartA wounded soldier and a lonely girl find love at Christmas time, but the fortunes of war will tear them apart.Ten Shipwrecked Books - Renée DahliaLord Rupert Stanmore was banished to the continent for a grand tour after being caught kissing his best friend, Lord Benburgh. Two years later and life back in England has caught up to him.Eleven Christmas Pipers - Pamela HartA Widow who'll never love a soldier again. Especially one who plays the bagpipes!Twelve Drummers Coming - Heidi Wessman KnealeMaude regarded her teacup. So that was Uncle Nate's eldest son? She'd heard much about him, of his grand career as a soldier. Funny that nobody mentioned he was only a drummer.

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.

A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong


Cecilia Grant - 2014
    As his sister's impending marriage signals the inevitable drifting-apart of the Blackshear family, it's his last chance to give his siblings the sort of memorable, well-planned holiday their parents could never seem to provide.He has no time to dawdle, no time for nonsense, and certainly no time to drive the falconer's vexing, impulsive, lush-lipped, midnight-haired daughter to a house party before heading home. So why the devil did he agree to do just that?It couldn't be more deliciously mixed-up...Lucy Sharp has been waiting all her too-quiet life for an adventure, and she means to make the most of this one. She's going to enjoy the house party as no one has ever enjoyed a house party before, and in the meanwhile she's going to enjoy every minute in the company of amusingly stern, formidably proper, outrageously handsome Mr. Blackshear. Let him disapprove of her all he likes—it's not as though they'll see each other again after today....or will they? When a carriage mishap and a snowstorm strand the pair miles short of their destination, threatening them with scandal and jeopardizing all their Christmas plans, they'll have to work together to save the holiday from disaster. And along the way they just might learn that the best adventures are the ones you never would have thought to plan.

Cowboys & Kisses


Vanessa Vale - 2015
    For years, she's been content working on the family ranch, but lately she's wanted more. She's determined to strike out on her own and find freedom from her unorthodox family.Chance Goodman has watched Rose grow up from a spitfire little girl into a fiery woman. He's wanted her for years, waiting patiently until he could make her his. When she leaves the Lenox ranch determined to abandon her former life and to say good-bye to him, he knows now is the time he must act. Letting her go isn't an option.This book was previously published as Rose in the Wildflower Brides series.

Highlander's Stolen Wife


Alisa Adams - 2017
    She is a noble English girl, betrothed by her family to a much older Earl. But nothing, not even war can stop this peculiar love.

Emma


Ashley Merrick - 2014
    She and her group of girlfriends, who all met in the orphanage, are barely getting by, working as nannies, cooks, and live-in maids for rich families. When Emma's employer, Gerald, threatens her with losing her job if she doesn't submit to his very unwanted advances, she stumbles onto an opportunity to be a mail-order bride and decides that couldn't possibly be worse. Except that the groom in question had no idea that his brother sent for a wife. When Emma shows up, at the train station in Bozeman, MT, it's her groom's brother, Joshua that is there to greet her. As it turns out, Ethan is furious that his brother went behind his back and sent for a wife. He's still grieving from the unexpected death of his wife Allison only a year earlier, and spends all his time when he's not working, being a good dad to his only child, Emily, who is three. Montana is hugely different from Boston, and Emma is surprised that she immediately falls in love with the area. Though taken aback at first to discover that Ethan wasn't aware that she was coming, she's secretly relieved to have a little time to get to know him and her new home. She is also quite fascinated by his family. Ethan is the oldest of ten, and eight of them are brothers, and except for Joshua, all are single. Emma has an urge to play matchmaker, and in book two, her best friend, Julia comes West to meet the brothers.

To Bewitch A Highlander


Lily Baldwin - 2013
    Who will protect her from herself? Shoney's lightning speed with a bow captures Ronan by surprise, and their chance meeting ends with him lying unconscious at the bottom of a ravine. When he awakens, he cannot rid his mind of her startling beauty, her valor, or the secret fear he glimpsed in her steel eyes. He vows to find her, but as the mysteries of her identity unfold, his courage and heart are tested as never before.

How to Train Your Knight


Stella Marie Alden - 2015
    In the hours just before dawn, blasphemous curses echo throughout the stone manor. A knife clatters to the floor and a feisty young widow is bound, blindfolded, and led to the marriage alter. The king couldn’t possibly have sanctioned this farce of a marriage, could he? After all, she alone transformed a few mud huts and starving serfs into a flourishing town, never once hesitating to pay generous taxes to his royal kingdom. Abandon her beloved people to be ruled by her new husband, an ignorant Templar knight? Never! the Lady Ann vows.A murderous witch for a wife? The Beast of Thornhill finds himself in the middle of either a cruel jest or an evil conspiracy. After returning from the Holy wars, he accepts bestowment of a small parcel of land in return for saving King Edward’s life. But the reward comes with a warning regarding the estate’s mistress. Despite his insatiable attraction to the black-haired beauty, he allows her time to warm to him while observing her strange, forward-thinking ways. But when all is on the line, will he stand by her through the inquisition or will they both hang for her secrets?

To Catch A Spinster


Megan Bryce - 2012
    She has her studies and her duties, what need does she have of a husband? With five sisters married she knows the reality does not live up to the promise, and does not need to personally experiment with the state to know she would be ill-suited to it. However, she finds herself envious of at least one aspect of marriage. But to experience the physical side of marriage, one doesn't need a husband, all one needs is the right man...Nathaniel Jenkins knows his duty. Marry a young girl from a respectable family and father an heir, no matter how cold the endless parade of suitable girls leaves him. But a shocking proposal from a scholarly spinster leaves him wondering if unsuitable is just what he's looking for. Can he convince his spinster that marriage is the greatest experiment of all?

The Devil Meets Lady Veronica Pebblesworth: A Novella


Tanya Wilde - 2016
    After all, he did just inform her to find a husband or be betrothed to the very ambitious—albeit wickedly handsome—hotel owner, Daniel Crane. What the breathtaking devil does not know, however, is that Veronica has already developed an elaborate plan to rid herself of his marriage minded intent. But as Veronica uses her tricks to remove Mr. Crane from her life, it’s hard to remember the reason she wished to do so in the first place. Maybe it’s his devilish smile, or the way his eyes seem to burn every time he looks at her… but somehow Veronica’s thoughts has taken a different direction entirely! The only question is, how far will they both go to ensure their happy ever after.

Highlander Untamed


Monica McCarty - 2007
    He vows revenge against the rival MacDonald clan, though duty demands a handfast marriage to Isabel MacDonald–a bride he does not want and has no intention of keeping. But Rory couldn’t have anticipated the captivating woman who challenges his steely control, and unleashes the untamed passion simmering beneath his fierce exterior.Blessed with incomparable beauty, Isabel MacDonald is prepared to use every means possible–including seduction–to uncover her husband’s most guarded secrets. Instead Rory awakens Isabel’s deepest desires and her sweetest fantasies. Now Isabel has found the happiness she’s always dreamed of with the very man she must betray, and discovers that passion can be far more dangerous than revenge.