Book picks similar to
The Scandalous Diary of Lily Layton by Stacy Reid
historical-romance
romance
historical
steamy
Luck Is No Lady
Amy Sandas - 2016
It does not mean I won't do them again."Gently bred Emma Chadwick always assumed she'd live and die the daughter of a gentleman. But when her father's death reveals a world of staggering debt and dangerous moneylenders, she must risk her good name and put her talent for mathematics to use, taking a position as bookkeeper at London's most notorious gambling hell. Surrounded by vice and corruption on all sides, it is imperative no one discovers Emma's shameful secret or her reputation-and her life-will be ruined.But Roderick Bentley, the hell's sinfully wealthy owner, awakens a hunger Emma cannot deny. Drawn deep into an underworld of high stakes gambling and reckless overindulgence, she soon discovers that in order to win the love of a ruthless scoundrel, she will have to play the game...and give in to the pleasure of falling from grace.
The Duke I Once Knew
Olivia Drake - 2018
For years, Abigail Linton devoted herself to caring for her aging parents and the children of her siblings. Now, eager to make her own life, she takes a position as governess on the neighboring estate. It shouldn’t matter that her absentee employer is Maxwell Bryce, the Duke of Rothwell, the infamous rake who once broke her youthful heart. Surely he’s forgotten her, for he hasn’t set foot on his estate for fifteen years. At least, that is, until he arrives unexpectedly.Max is incensed to meet his sister’s new governess. But why does Abby appear just as displeased to see him when it was she who’d rejected him all those years ago? Why is he so drawn to the independent spinster she has become? And why is there a sparkle in her beautiful blue eyes that suggests they might have a second chance at love?
Her Sudden Groom
Rose Gordon - 2011
With a loophole that allows him to marry another without consequence before the thirtieth anniversary of his birth, he has only four weeks to find another woman and make her his wife. Being the logical scientist he is, Alex decides to take his friend's advice and treat his quest for a bride just like a science experiment... Caroline Sinclair is still trying to scrape her jaw off the floor after hearing her cousin, Lady Olivia's, latest announcement when the object of their conversation, Alex Banks, Olivia's intended, arrives for what Caroline assumes is a bout of drawing room chitchat with his betrothed. But when an experiment is mentioned, Caroline, who cannot resist a science experiment any more than she can deny her lungs air, volunteers to help before she even knows what his latest experiment is!
It Takes Two to Tangle
Theresa Romain - 2013
Wounded and battle weary, he decides that the right wife is all he needs. Selecting the most desirable lady in the ton, Henry turns to her best friend and companion to help him with his suit…Is a Terrible Mistake…Young and beautiful, war widow Frances Whittier is no stranger to social intrigue. She finds Henry Middlebrook courageous and manly, unlike the foppish aristocrats she is used to, and is inspired to exercise her considerable wit on his behalf. But she may be too clever for her own good, and Frances discovers that she has set in motion a complicated train of events that’s only going to break her own heart…
Uncivilized
Sawyer Bennett - 2014
I have lived amidst the untamed wild of the rainforest, in a society that reveres me and where every woman falls before me in subjugation.Now I’ve been discovered. Forced to return to a world that I have forgotten about and to a culture that is only vaguely familiar to my senses.Dr. Moira Reed is an anthropologist who has been hired to help me transition back into modern society. It’s her job to smooth away my rough edges… to teach me how to navigate properly through this new life of mine. She wants to tame me.She’ll never win.I am wild, free and raw, and the only thing I want from the beautiful Moira Reed is her submission.She wants it, I am certain.I will give it to her soon.Yes, very soon, I will become the teacher and she will become my student. And when I am finished showing her body pleasure like no other, she’ll know what it feels like to be claimed by an uncivilized man.
Lady Derring Takes a Lover
Julie Anne Long - 2019
A mountain of debt. A mysterious wreck of a building.
Delilah Swanpoole, Countess of Derring, learns the hard way that her husband, “Dear Dull Derring,” is a lot more interesting—and perfidious—dead than alive. It’s a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the one building Derring left her, are the seeds of her liberation. And she vows never again to place herself at the mercy of a man.But battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing if not merciless. When the charismatic naval hero tracks a notorious smuggler to a London boarding house known as the Rogue’s Palace, seducing the beautiful, blue-blooded proprietress to get his man seems like a small sacrifice.They both believe love is a myth. But a desire beyond reason threatens to destroy the armor around their hearts. Now a shattering decision looms: Will Tristan betray his own code of honor...or choose a love that might be the truest thing he’s ever known
Dirty Talk
Lauren Landish - 2017
So right. The moment I heard his velvety voice growl that I’m his ‘Kitty Kat’, I knew I was in trouble. Derrick ‘The Love Whisperer’ King gives out relationship and sex advice on the radio to everyone, but he’s giving me something a bit more personal. Nobody’s ever talked to me the way he does. Daring, Demanding, Sexy… and oh, so Dirty. Maybe we started this whole thing a little backward, sex first and getting to know each other after. But I'm starting to let my guard down, my untrusting heart beginning to think that maybe fairy tales do come true. Even for me. I feel beautiful and hopeful when he worships my body. I feel dirty and naughty when he whispers filthy things in my ear. But is it real? Can something so naughty really be good for me? And more importantly, against all odds, can it last… forever? Dirty Talk is a full-length Romance with a happy ever after, no cheating, and no cliffhanger!
Slip of the Tongue
Jessica Hawkins - 2016
Nathan Hunt has her coffee waiting every morning. He holds her hand until the last second. He worships the Manhattan sidewalk she walks on. Until one day, he just…stops. And Sadie finds herself in the last place she ever expected to be. Lonely in her marriage.When rugged and sexy Finn Cohen moves into the apartment across the hall, he and Sadie share an immediate spark. Finn reveals dreams for a different life. Sadie wants to save her marriage. Their secrets should keep them apart, not ignite a blistering affair. But while Sadie’s marriage runs colder by the day, she and Finn burn hotter.Her husband doesn’t want her anymore.The man next door would give up everything to have her.Slip of the Tongue is a standalone contemporary romance. The second book in the series, The First Taste, is a standalone about a different couple.
Dirty Filthy Rich Men
Laurelin Paige - 2017
I didn’t know he was filthy. Truth be told, I was only trying to get his best friend to notice me.I knew poor scholarship girls like me didn't stand a chance against guys like Weston King and Donovan Kincaid, but I was in love with his world, their world, of parties and sex and power. I knew what I wanted—I knew who I wanted—until one night, their world tried to bite me back and Donovan saved me. He saved me, and then Weston finally noticed me, and I finally learned what it was to be in their world.And then what it was like to lose it.Ten years later, I’ve found my way back. Back to their world. Back to him.This time, I’m ready. I've been down this road before, and I know all the dirty, filthy ways Donovan will try and wreck me. But it’s hard to resist. Especially when I know how much I’ll like it.From NYT Bestselling author Laurelin Paige, discover a whole new world filled with sex, love, power, romance and dirty, filthy rich men.
Untie My Heart
Judith Ivory - 2002
True, the exquisite Yorkshire lady is a mere sheep farmer, but she also guards a most colorful past that makes her only more appealing to the handsome, haunted lord. Emma has come to him seeking justice—and Stuart is determined that she will not leave until she has shared her secrets...and his bed. Her clever revenge scheme must fail in the face of his soft words and tender caress—and then he turns the tables on his bewitching adversary, seducing her into a daring deception of his own...(alternative description)Set against the colorful backdrop of Victorian Britain, Ivory's (The Indiscretion, etc.) sensual tale begins when the handsome and exotic Stuart Aysgarth, Lord Mount Villiars, returns from Russia to claim his inheritance from a dissolute father, only to find that his shady Uncle Leonard is stealing from the estate. While Stuart attempts to untie the resulting financial tangles, his coach accidentally kills a valuable lamb owned by luscious young widow Emma Hotchkiss, a former confidence woman now living a quiet life in Yorkshire. Emma tries to recoup her financial loss by means both fair and, eventually, foul; Stuart turns the discovery that she has cooked his books to his own advantage, threatening her with exposure if she doesn't help him double-cross the oily Leonard. As their schemes mature, the two engage in a series of sexual games. The delightfully complex con that forms the story's liveliest element isn't introduced until halfway through the narrative, and the novel's sparkle is occasionally dimmed by expository and noticeably anachronistic prose. Still, the playful roguishness of both protagonists adds a wickedly welcome twist to the familiar historical romance formula, while Ivory's gift for creating passionate sexual interludes is sure to please readers who prefer their romances warmly spiced.
Bone Deep
Bonnie Dee - 2005
Later she discovers him hiding in her hayloft, escaped from virtual imprisonment since childhood by the carnival's evil owner. She shelters him on her farm, fighting a powerful sexual attraction while learning about his mysterious past and gentle nature. When a local child goes missing, Tom uses his psychic gifts to locate her, but his assistance in the case doesn't allay the town's mistrust of such an exotic stranger in their midst. Small-town prejudice tears the lovers apart and a very real threat from carnival owner Art Reed endangers them. Can they rise above obstacles of fear and hate to create the family both have always craved?
The Truth About Love and Dukes
Laura Lee Guhrke - 2017
. . I have fallen in love, truly and completely in love, for the first time. The man whom I hold in such passionate regard, however, is not of my station. He is a painter, a brilliant artist. Needless to say, my family would not approve . . .Henry, Duke of Torquil, wouldn’t be caught reading the wildly popular “Dear Lady Truelove” column, but when its advice causes his mother to embark on a scandalous elopement, an outraged Henry decides the author of this tripe must be stopped before she can ruin any more lives. Though Lady Truelove’s identity is a closely guarded secret, Henry has reason to suspect the publisher of the notorious column, beautiful and provoking Irene Deverill, is also its author.For Irene, it’s easy to advise others to surrender to passion, but when she meets the Duke of Torquil, she soon learns that passion comes at a price. When one impulsive, spur-of-the-moment kiss pulls her into a scorching affair with Henry, it could destroy her beloved newspaper, her career, and her independence. But in the duke’s arms, surrender is so, so sweet . . .
Beyond Innocence
Emma Holly - 2001
All she wants is a man who will treat her kindly and support her financially—and she's come to London to find him.Edward Burbrooke thinks marriage is the only way to save his brother, Freddie—and their family—from scandalous ruin. As head of the family, Edward has vowed to find Freddie a bride—and fast.Thrown together by Edward, Florence and Freddie make a perfect pair—until Edward realizes he has feelings for his brother's betrothed. The sight of her nubile young body makes his blood burn with lust. The sound of her voice makes his heart warm with love. And the sweet taste of her kiss makes him wonder if he isn't making a terrible mistake.
Mystique
Amanda Quick - 1995
When the fearsome knight called Hugh the Relentless swept into Lingwood Manor like a storm, everyone cowered-except Lady Alice. Sharp-tongued and unrepentant, the flame haired beauty believed Sir Hugh was not someone to dread but the answer to her dreams. She knew he had come for the dazzling green crystal, knew he would be displeased to find that it was no longer in her possession. Yet Alice had a proposition for the dark and forbidding knight: In return for a dowry that would free Alice and her brother from their uncle's grasp, she would lend her powers of detection to his warrior's skills and together they would recover his treasured stone. But even as Hugh accepted her terms, he added a condition of his own: Lady Alice must agree to a temporary betrothal-one that would soon draw her deep into Hugh's great stone fortress, and into a battle that could threaten their lives...and their only chance at love.
Dangerous
Minerva Spencer - 2018
Lady Euphemia Marlington hasn’t been free in seventeen years—since she was captured by Corsairs and sold into a harem. Now the sultan is dead and Mia is back in London facing relentless newspapermen, an insatiably curious public, and her first Season. Worst of all is her ashamed father’s ultimatum: marry a man of his choosing or live out her life in seclusion. No doubt her potential groom is a demented octogenarian. Fortunately, Mia is no longer a girl, but a clever woman with a secret—and a plan of her own. Adam de Courtney’s first two wives died under mysterious circumstances. Now there isn’t a peer in England willing to let his daughter marry the dangerously handsome man the ton calls The Murderous Marquess. Nobody except Mia’s father, the desperate Duke of Carlisle. Clearly Mia must resemble an aging matron, or worse. However, in need of an heir, Adam will use the arrangement to his advantage. But when the two outcasts finally meet, assumptions will be replaced by surprises, deceit by desire—and a meeting of minds between two schemers may lead to a meeting of hearts—if the secrets of their pasts don’t tear them apart.