Book picks similar to
The Ace of Schemes (The Georgian Gambles Book 2) by Sarah J. Waldock


18th-century
illegitimate-hero-or-heroine
readable-historical-mf-romance
romance-historical

The English Heiress


Roberta Gellis - 1979
    Her mother and brother had died in the prison where she had been raped and starved for no greater crime than her father’s title. And her father had died in the escape engineered by an utter stranger, who claimed he had come to bring her to England where she would inherit the property and wealth of an uncle. After what had happened to her, did Leonie dare to believe in such altruism?Roger St. Eyre’s life had been destroyed by the girl he fell passionately in love with. Solange did not love him; she was selfish and vicious and extravagant. By the time she died, Roger felt dead himself. Perhaps he was hoping for the peace death brings when he set out to wrest his old friend Henry de Conyers from the murderous grip of the French Revolution.Instead Roger and Leonie both found love and reasons to live—if they could escape exposure to the revolutionary fanatics ... and their favorite toy, the guillotine.

Yorkshire


Lynne Connolly - 2008
    Lord Hareton has deliberately run down the once great Hareton Abbey until it's a near ruin. The only other guests at Hareton are the twin Kerre brothers, intimidating and haughty leaders of society, together with the fiance of the older brother. When the Earl of Southwood's son and heir, Richard, Lord Strang is badly injured in the same accident that kills her cousins, Rose is forced into the position of nurse--and detective. The attraction between Richard and Rose is instant and undeniable, but Richard is to marry the frigid Julia Cartwright in a few weeks, and has deliberately closed his heart to love. In order to offer Rose his heart he must extricate himself from an engagement he has long come to regret. When they discover that what at first appeared accidental was in fact a deliberate act of sabotage Richard and Rose set out to solve the mystery. Can Rose trust her instincts, ignoring Richard's reputation as a seducer and give him everything she has to offer? Can they clear Rose's family name by discovering her cousins' murderer?

The Chamomile


Susan F. Craft - 2011
    She'll lie, steal, kill or be killed she promises Nicholas Xanthakos, a scout with Francis Marion's partisans, who leads the mission. In Nicholas' arms she discovers enduring love...a home. But that home is a long time coming. Her journey requires she save the life of one British officer but kill another to protect her Cherokee friend Elizabeth. In escaping bounty hunters, she treks miles of wilderness and very nearly loses everything before finally reuniting with her true love.

An Angel To Tend His Broken Heart


Ember Pierce - 2020
    He’s going to need Josefina’s help.Redden owns an isolated ranch far away from neighbors and the closest town. He was badly hurt in a riding accident and would have died if his friend hadn’t saved him. Now, he needs someone to care for him - probably for many months. But he can’t afford to hire a nurse. What is he to do?Josefina has a terribly dangerous job in a factory, but the worst menace in the factory isn’t a machine - it’s her boss, who has been making advances that she doesn’t appreciate.She receives a letter from her brother asking her to come out west and marry his injured friend, and it seems like the answer to a dozen different problems. But can she really marry a stranger?When an unscrupulous speculator decides he wants their ranch, it will be up to Redden and Josefina to defend the place that they both hold dear.But in a battle against insurmountable odds, they will need luck and teamwork if they are to defeat the man who wants to steal their land and destroy their home.If you like fast-paced clean romance and action-packed stories, you won't be able to put down this addictive Novel by Ember Pierce

Sweet Release


Pamela Clare - 2003
    Though Cassie hated the slave trade, her Virginia plantation demanded the labor, and she knew this fevered man would surely die if she left him. But as his wounds healed and his muscled chest bronzed from the sun, Cassie realized Cole Braden was far more dangerous than his papers had indicated --- for he could steal her breath with a glance or lay siege to her senses with a touch.Abducted, beaten, and given a new name, Alec went from master of an English shipbuilding empire to fourteen years of indentured servitude in the American colonies. There, he was known as Cole Braden, a convicted ravisher and defiler of women. And while he longed to ravish the auburn-haired beauty who owned him, he knew his one hope of earning her love --- and his freedom --- was to prove his true identity. Only then could he turn the tables and attain his ... Sweet Release.

The Duke I Tempted


Scarlett Peckham - 2018
    Meticulous. Immaculate. No one would expect the proper Duke of Westmead to be a member of London’s most illicit secret club. Least of all: his future wife. Having overcome financial ruin and redeemed his family name to become the most legendary investor in London, the Duke of Westmead needs to secure his holdings by producing an heir. Which means he must find a wife who won’t discover his secret craving to spend his nights on his knees—or make demands on his long scarred-over heart. Poppy Cavendish is not that type of woman. An ambitious self-taught botanist designing the garden ballroom in which Westmead plans to woo a bride, Poppy has struggled against convention all her life to secure her hard-won independence. She wants the capital to expand her exotic nursery business—not a husband. But there is something so compelling about Westmead, with his starchy bearing and impossibly kind eyes—that when an accidental scandal makes marriage to the duke the only means to save her nursery, Poppy worries she wants more than the title he is offering. The arrangement is meant to be just business. A greenhouse for an heir. But Poppy yearns to unravel her husband’s secrets—and to tempt the duke to risk his heart.

The Jilted Earl


Kelly Anne Bruce - 2016
    It wasn't that she didn't want a husband, she just hated the crowds and false joy of the parties. And then when she finally met a man she knew she could love, he was quickly taken by another. She knew she was unremarkable compared to the other young women in society, but she still managed some hope that she would marry for love. Nicholas of Meadcaster was only an earl. This was the second strike against him at the moment. The first was that he had been quite ill - to the point of near death - and he was still recovering. His brother encouraged him to go to London to find a suitable wife. A wife who would care for him should his illness return. Nicholas makes some poor choices and Isabella is forgotten. When his choices haunt him, will Nicholas look for a new path or wallow in misery? Will Isabella find the courage to be bold and claim the man she is falling in love with?

Between Two Shores


Jocelyn Green - 2019
    Content to trade with both the French and the British, Catherine is pulled into the Seven Years' War against her wishes when her British ex-fiancé, Samuel Crane, is taken prisoner by her father. Samuel claims he has information that could help end the war, and he asks Catherine to help him escape.Peace appeals to Catherine, even if helping the man who broke her heart does not. But New France is starving, and she and her loved ones may not survive another winter of conflict-induced famine. When the dangers of war arrive on her doorstep, Cathering and Samuel flee by river toward the epicenter of the battle between England and France. She and Samuel may impact history, but she fears the ultimate cost will be higher than she can bear.

The Journeyman


W.A. Patterson - 2013
    You won’t find any dazzlingly handsome, wealthy action heroes or beyond belief beauties here, but real characters … hard working, Irish country folk who grow to depend upon each other through a dangerous and oppressive time in Ireland’s history … a time of hardship, fear and persecution.Liam Flynn travels across Tipperary, his destination the shores of Lough Derg, his objective to fulfill a lifelong dream. The perils he encounters on the road are only the beginning for this young itinerant carpenter. He finds himself thrust into an impossible situation when, with the help of an old Franciscan priest, he tries to save the tiny Irish village of Gortalocca. If he is discovered by the authorities, he faces almost certain execution for treason and, when the villagers discover what action he has taken in his efforts to help them, he becomes the object of their contempt and hatred.These are dangerous times in Ireland and, as the country struggles to piece itself back together after a hundred years of conflict, the very fabric of society has changed. English Parliament has begun to impose harsh Penal Laws in Ireland which will ban Catholics from voting, from receiving an education, even from practicing their own faith. Catholics can no longer own their own land. More than ninety percent of Ireland’s land will be confiscated and given to English and Irish Protestant landlords, who will charge the rightful owners rent as they try to eke out a living on land which their families have worked for generations. Liam and Father Grogan risk their lives in an effort to save their peaceful Irish village from dissolution.A consummate loner, Liam has led a solitary life so far but he finds romance in Gortalocca, not with a retiring Irish lass, but rather with the feisty daughter of Michael Hogan, the owner of Gortalocca’s only store and bar. Roisin grew up in a man’s environment and has seen enough to know that she will never wed if it means compromising herself by marrying a man she doesn’t love. Now, at the age of nineteen, Roisin Hogan is a spinster.There is plenty of fast-paced action in our story and villains abound, from Gortalocca’s homegrown bully, Sean Reilly, and his gang of thugs, to the menacing dark man who appears from nowhere, posing a threat to Liam’s plan and adding a further complication to his life.You will meet Moira, the ancient and mysterious old hag who lives alone in a tiny cottage, hidden deep inside the forest. Moira is one of the ‘wise ones’, a healer, with her own blend of the spiritual and the ritualistic, the Christian and the Pagan. She is feared by the villagers who think her a witch and do not dare to gaze upon her … unless one of them is ill, and then she is beckoned for help. Moira becomes the source of wisdom for Liam and a strange and shadowy, yet important, part of the plot.Of course, an Irish story would not be complete without humor, and there is plenty of ‘craic’ to be had here. In Hogan’s bar, you will experience, first hand, the humor which epitomises the character of the people of Ireland, and sustains them, especially in times of crisis … an unconscious humor, one of habit. You will sit at the bar with Paddy Shevlin, the pig farmer and Ben Clancy, the shepherd, whose banter provides a welcome respite from the tension, and who never let the truth spoil a perfectly good story.Allow yourself to be stirred into this cauldron of Irish stew.

Married for His Convenience


Eleanor Webster - 2016
    So when the Earl of Langford makes her a proposal that will take her one step closer to finding her half sister, she can't refuse! Sebastian's dreams of romance died with his late wife's affair, so now he needs a convenient wife to act as governess for his silent daughter. Yet Sarah continues to surprise and challenge him, and soon Sebastian can't deny the joy his new bride could bring to his life—and into his bed!

Forget Me Not


Sarah M. Eden - 2020
    But the loss that pushed her grief to the limit as a young girl was that of her best friend, Lucas Jonquil, who abandoned her without looking back. Now, eight years later, Lucas has returned to Lampton Park, and Julia has steeled herself—she will never forgive the man who broke her heart. After losing too many of his friends and family to early deaths, Lucas vowed to live life to the fullest. And after traversing the world, he has returned from his adventures to find his family and home as he left them—except for Julia. The little girl he left behind has blossomed into a captivating lady, a lady who makes it clear she despises him. With little hope of reconciliation, the former friends are blindsided when their parents make a shocking announcement. Lucas and Julia have been betrothed without their knowledge and are to marry immediately. Now Lucas must rely on the help of his closest friends to win the heart of a lady who loathes him—a lady he’s coming to love more deeply every day.

Her Celtic Captor


Ashe Barker - 2017
    When Brynhild refuses to do as she is told, he wastes no time in baring her bottom for a thorough switching, and he makes it quite clear that she can expect even more painful and humiliating punishments if she continues to defy him.Though her hatred of the Celts runs deep, Taranc's stern dominance awakens desires in Brynhild that she thought she would never feel again, and when he takes her in his arms and claims her properly it is more pleasurable than she would have thought possible. But though her passion for him grows by the day, can she ever truly love a man whose people are enemies of her own?Publisher's Note: Her Celtic Captor is a stand-alone sequel to Her Rogue Viking and Her Dark Viking. It includes spankings and sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don't buy this book.

Rebellious Heart


Jody Hedlund - 2013
    But her quick mind and quicker tongue never back down from a challenge. And she's determined to marry well, so she'll be able to continue her work with the less fortunate. Growing up with little to his name, poor country lawyer Benjamin Ross dreams of impacting the world for the better. When introduced to the Smiths he's taken by Susanna's intelligence and independent spirit, but her parents refuse to see him as a suitor for their daughter.When the life of a runaway indentured servant is threatened, Susanna is forced to choose between justice and mercy, and Ben becomes her unlikely advisor. But drawing closer to this man of principle and intellect lands her in a dangerous, secret world of rebellion and revolution against everything she once held dear.

The Highest Stakes


Emery Lee - 2010
    Determined to have her at any cost, he will risk everything. A story of star-crossed lovers and horseracing, THE HIGHEST STAKES transports the reader to 18th century England, an era infamous for corruption, arranged marriages, and high stakes gambling; when racing and breeding became the obsession of the uppermost elite, and a match race might replace a duel in settling a point of honor. Through the fictional love story of Robert Devington and Charlottte Wallace, a tale of drama, danger, thwarted love, and retribution unfurls...

The Pride of Lions


Marsha Canham - 1988
    How was the spoiled and pampered Catherine Augustine Ashbrooke to know the handsome stranger with the brooding, midnight eyes would see through her plot and make her the pawn in a dangerous game of his own?Alexander Cameron may have won the highborn English beauty in a duel, but not even the lure of long-forgotten desires could keep him from his meeting with destiny. He had no choice but to carry his reluctant bride off to the Highlands, to a world of ancient blood feuds and a brewing rebellion--a world where fiery passion and breathtaking courage would prove that even legendary warriors could lose their hearts.