Book picks similar to
An Absent Wife by Camille Oster


historical-romance
historical
cheating
arranged-marriage

Against All Odds


Angie McKeon - 2014
    Our hearts broken... Our souls torn to pieces...He was my world, my whole life. My reason for breathing. I had a perfect marriage, a baby on the way, and I felt fulfilled—almost invincible. Until the day life hit, leaving me broken, vulnerable, and alone.She was my life. My ray of hope on the cloudiest day. With her, I thought I had the ultimate safety. A love that would never hurt or betray me. I gave her my heart, my body, and my soul. Until she broke me, destroying every dream and illusion I had about life, love, and marriage.In our grief, we made a mistake. A mistake I'm not sure we can come back from.

The Greek's Forgotten Wife


Elizabeth Lennox - 2015
    She had tried desperately to turn herself into the perfect wife for his infrequent visits, but no more! She was through trying to become someone she wasn’t. And she was finished reading about his mistresses in the tabloids. She’d had enough! So why did her heart race when he walked through the door? And how did she end up in his bed? Damon Galanos had been forced to marry Sasha to retain ownership of his ancestral home, but he never intending to stay married to the innocent girl. However, after destroying her grandfather for his blackmail, Damon found that he couldn’t get Sasha out of his mind. So he returned to his “wife”, realizing she had become a beautiful woman – one he planned to explore further. Imagine his surprise when his docile wife demanded a divorce!

Beneath the Stars


Emily McIntire - 2020
    I loved him before I knew what lovin' was. I pulled, he pushed. I gave, he took. I loved... I lost. Now he's back. All grown up and sexy as sin. But things changed while he was gone. So, he can show those dimples and flex those muscles all he wants. It won't change a thing. Chase Adams is nothin' but a lost memory. I'll do everything I can to keep him that way. Chase Growing up, there were only two women I ever loved. Neither one of them ever really loved me back. Until her. Alina. My Goldi. She was everything that's good. I was the bad. She was the brightest goddamn star. I was the black hole shredding her to pieces.I loved her wrong, losing her to my demons. But now I'm back. A better man. I'll do everything I can to make her remember us, even if all she wants is to forget.***Beneath the Stars is a full-length, interconnected standalone featuring strong language, explicit sexual scenes and mature situations which may be considered triggers for some. Reader discretion is advised. Please note that while there is a HEA for the main characters at the end of this book, since it is an interconnected standalone, there are themes and side stories that run through the series and may not be resolved immediately.

Stormfire


Christine Monson - 1984
    But even as Sean vowed to have his revenge on Catherine, with each encounter he became more attracted to her. Her fiery innocence was a seduction that lured the passions of long smoldering hostility into a blazing inferno of desire.Locked in a love-hate duel, he did not suspect that the captivating beauty who fought him with such tenacity was struggling desperately against her own awakened desires, and that his touch had become the burning reminder that the fierce hatred she felt for him had become an all-consuming love.

The Earl's Dilemma


Emily May - 2008
    He’s resigned himself to a marriage of convenience and has even chosen a bride: Kate Honeycourt, his best friend’s sister.Kate has been on the shelf for years. Why, then, does she so firmly turn him down? Surely she can’t be holding out for a love match?But Kate has a proposal of her own: she’ll find James a bride he can fall in love with.Armed with a list of requirements, Kate sets out to find James the perfect wife. But things don’t progress as either of them expect…A Regency romance featuring an earl who needs to marry in a hurry, the spinster he turns to for help, and a list that grows…and grows…and grows.

Room 212


Kate Stewart - 2014
    Her only plans for life are to make no plans. She revels in her fascination of the unexpected as she navigates her way through mid -1990’s Dallas nightlife. One very bad night brings her face to face with the one man likely to change her mind about…well...everything.Twenty-three year old Seth Whitaker has every intention of seeing through with his well mapped out life. He is a hard working over-achiever that has no intentions of slowing his pace for anyone. With a fierce determination to not let life pass him by without taking a huge bite, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to the one distraction that could keep him from his best laid plans. Little did he know his determination to keep his life on track would be the very thing to trigger the events that change the course of both their lives.In this life she had only done one thing right...and she was his only chance at salvation.*Explicit sex, strong language, some drug use. Can be read as a stand-alone.

Saved from Sin


Lindsay Armstrong - 1985
    He'd made her feel special—witty and rather daring—a person who existed only for him, when all along she'd existed only as his instrument of revenge!Melly's last words the night she'd confronted her father had been, "It's not true! Clay loves me. He does!" And yet she ran away.For three long years Melly had managed to evade the past—until the day she ran right into her husband and a situation she had

December Heart


Merry Farmer - 2018
    But her fortunes change when her father announces that he has promised her hand in marriage to an old friend and colleague in the House of Lords. Lord Peter deVere, Earl of Dunsford, is not at all who Mariah imagined marrying, but she is willing to take a chance on the older man in order to gain the freedom that only married women are allowed. After a tragic marriage that stretched on for two decades, Peter is hesitant to marry again. But he needs an heir, or else his dastardly nephew, Lord William, will inherit everything he’s worked his entire life to build. But when he meets Mariah, sparks fly that neither of them expected. Their unlikely match stands a chance of giving each of them all the things they never realized they needed. But trouble abounds when the mine that has provided Peter with his fortune is exhausted and the search for new veins of copper begins. On top of that, Lord William isn’t about to stand by and watch his inheritance disappear. His efforts to drive a wedge between Peter and Mariah cause havoc and heartbreak at Starcross Castle, which will take an act of heroic devotion to overcome as Peter sets out to prove that true love is ageless. PLEASE BE ADVISED – Steam Level – Very Hot!

A Love So Tragic


Stevie J. Cole - 2016
    We all make them. Sometimes we break them. But what happens when the promise you break haunts your dreams, when that moment of betrayal echoes within every last beat of your heart? Love. Love is passionate, painful, and all consuming in the most brutal yet beautiful way. How many people have you said 'I love you' to? Five, ten, maybe no one? I've said that word to two men, but only one where I felt it. Tragic. This word sums up my relationship with Nicolas: devastating, painful, depressing. A first love that should have lasted a lifetime, but I ruined with a stupid decision. Nicolas is my star crossed lover, and even though Shakespeare has taught me that stories such as ours always end in tragedy, I can't not love him, even if I'm married to someone else.

Bent


H.B. Heinzer - 2013
    Newly divorced, Julia returns to the small hometown she swore she?d left forever. She plans on enjoying the cheap rental a friend offers and staying there just long enough to figure out her next steps in life. But before long, Julia realizes she's made a big mistake. A decade ago, Micah Anderson promised Julia forever but broke her heart right before she left for college. Now, Julia's back in town, and he's going to have to tell her the truth about why he left her ? it's impossible to hide a twelve-year-old child when you live in such a small town. Can Julia forgive Micah and start anew? Should she try to make a relationship work if Micah's past becomes a threat to her safety? Should she follow her dreams if it means giving up on a second chance with her first love?

Bride of the Wind


Shannon Drake - 1992
    Now banished from his beloved England, he lives the life of a pirate -- seeking vengeance on those who betrayed him... including the beautiful temptress whom he once held dear. On a storm-tossed sea they are united once more -- he, no longer a noble, but the notorious brigand called Dragonslayer. And she, one his bride, is now his helpless prisoner -- forced to submit to his fury, his will...and the blistering, sensuous need that chains her captive heart.

Where We Belong


K.L. Grayson - 2014
    . . she's a snarky little bitch.I’ve tried several times to regret the events that took place on June 5, 2008, but for the life of me, I can’t. I'd never regret the pain, the suffering, or the heartache because it ultimately led me to the place I am now. And I can’t regret the place I am now. What I still can't figure out is this: how is it possible that the single worst day of my life inadvertently became the very best day?Five years ago my life was irrevocably changed.Seventeen minutes was all it took—to lose my best friend…to lose the love of my life…Seventeen minutes was all it took for the seeds of hope—the seeds of my future—to be planted in the worst possible way.My name is Harley Thompson, and this is my story.