Book picks similar to
Masterful Trickery by Greenwriter
historical-romance
fantasy
faves
strong-women
She Who is Hidden
Suza Kates - 2012
She is hidden in the words of her lover. This is the first in a string of ancient riddles that will lead archaeologist Erica Conner on the most dangerous expedition of her life. After agreeing to help an esteemed colleague and a no-nonsense FBI agent, she finds herself in a race against a mysterious cult. A faction that was founded in Egypt over two thousand years ago. Erica joins forces with Agent Matt Pierce. The two exasperate each other at every turn, while they battle the intense desire growing between them. He is the one man who knows the evil group's secrets, and she is the one person who can outwit them. As the riddles lead Erica and Matt around the world, the true horror unfolds. They must fight for their own lives and defeat the cultists before an unspeakable plan is unleashed on the world.
The Gargoyle
Andrew Davidson - 2008
As the book opens, he is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and suffers horrible burns over much of his body. As he recovers in a burn ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned, he awaits the day when he can leave the hospital and commit carefully planned suicide—for he is now a monster in appearance as well as in soul. A beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and insists that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly injured mercenary and she was a nun and scribe in the famed monastery of Engelthal who nursed him back to health. As she spins their tale in Scheherazade fashion and relates equally mesmerizing stories of deathless love in Japan, Iceland, Italy, and England, he finds himself drawn back to life—and, finally, in love.He is released into Marianne's care and takes up residence in her huge stone house. But all is not well. For one thing, the pull of his past sins becomes ever more powerful as the morphine he is prescribed becomes ever more addictive. For another, Marianne receives word from God that she has only twenty-seven sculptures left to complete—and her time on earth will be finished.
The Tenth Gift
Jane Johnson - 2008
It appears to be a book of exquisite 17th-century embroidery patterns but on closer examination Julia finds it also contains faint diary entries. In these, Cat Tregenna, an embroideress, tells how she and others were stolen out of a Cornish church in 1625 by Muslim pirates and taken on a brutal voyage to Morocco to be auctioned off as slaves.Captivated by this dramatic discovery, Julia sets off to North Africa to determine the authenticity of the book and to uncover more of Cat’s story. There, in the company of a charismatic Moroccan guide, amid the sultry heat, the spice markets, and exotic ruins, Julia discovers buried secrets. And in Morocco – just as Cat did before her – she loses her heart.Almost 400 years apart, the stories of the two women converge in an extraordinary and haunting manner that will make readers wonder – is history fated to repeat itself?
Blood Alpha (Chosen Mate #1)
Dionne Michaela - 2015
So when the innocent, seemingly young, Gemini Burn turns eighteen she instantly catches the eye of the most infamous Alpha of all - Alpha Layton Vetteriano. Or, as he is better know; the Blood Alpha. The Blood Alpha is cruel, merciless and unforgiving; but can Gemini soften him up with her kind heart and compassionate ways, or will he just ruin her spirit?
The Scottish Highland Series: Beloved Impostor, Beloved Stranger, and Beloved Warrior
Patricia Potter - 2017
The men of the Maclean Clan are fierce warriors. From the battle of Flodden Field to the waters off the Spanish Coast, they fight to protect their homes and those they love. In this spellbinding Scottish Highland series, the Maclean brothers find unexpected romance with women who heal and stir their souls. Beloved Imposter: Felicia Campbell has set a plan in motion to escape her wedding to the lecherous old Earl of Morneith—but she’s interrupted when she’s abducted. Her fury turns to curiosity when she discovers her captor is the handsome Rory Maclean, her clan’s hated enemy. And Rory, who has sworn never to love again, finds himself daring to care for the fiery captive who could save his broken soul . . . Beloved Stranger: Lachlan Maclean rode with King James IV of Scotland to free his country from English tyranny. In the slaughter at Flodden Field, he’s thrown from his horse and awakes to the beautiful visage of Kimbra Carlton, a border woman whose husband was killed by a Scot, leaving her to fend for her daughter alone. Now, she can neither let the wounded Lachlan die nor let anyone know his heritage. But perhaps in healing him, she may heal her own heart . . . Beloved Warrior: Patrick Maclean spent years enslaved aboard a Spanish galleon. But after he leads his fellow oarsmen in an uprising, he finds himself in charge of not only the vessel but also a fetching young passenger: Juliana Mendoza, the ship owner’s niece. Juliana was bound for a wedding and a man she never wanted. But the more she comes to know Patrick and his honorable clan, the more she realizes that only she can decide her fate . . .
Lord John and the Hand of Devils
Diana Gabaldon - 2007
In the heart of the eighteenth century, here are haunted soldiers . . . lusty princesses . . . ghostly apparitions . . . dark family secrets. And here Lord John will face enemies who come in the guise of friends, memories in the shape of a fiery-haired Scot named James Fraser, and allies who have the power to destroy him with a single blow. . . .In Lord John and the Hellfire Club, Lord John glimpses a stranger in the doorway of a gentlemen's club—and is stirred by a desperate entreaty to meet in private. The rendezvous forestalled by a sudden murder, Lord John will wade into a maze of political treachery and a dangerous, debauched underground society. . . . In Lord John and the Succubus, English soldiers fighting in Prussia are rattled by the nocturnal visitations of a deadly woman who sucks life and soul from a man. Called to investigate the night-hag, Lord John finds a murdered soldier and a treacherous Gypsy, and comes to the stark realization that among the spirits that haunt men, none frighten more than the specters conjured by the heart. . . . In Lord John and the Haunted Soldier, Lord John is thrust into the deadly case of an exploding battlefield cannon. Wounded in the same battle, Lord John is called to tesify and soon confronts his own ghost—and the shattering prospect that a traitor is among the ranks of His Majesty's armed forces.Capturing the lonely, tormented, and courageous career of a man who fights for his crown, his honor, and his own secrets, Diana Gabaldon delivers breathtaking human drama. And in tales seething with desire, madness, and political intrigue, Gabaldon once again proves that she can bring history to life in a way few novelists ever have.
Paradise
Judith McNaught - 1991
A long way from the country club where, feeling like an outsider, he had dared to fall in love with a beautiful blonde named Meredith Bancroft, and known a once-in-a-lifetime passion and betrayal that still haunted his memory... Now world leaders courted him, the media watched his every move, and he was ready to move in on the Bancroft empire.A cool, poised executive in her family's legendary department store chain, Meredith had once defied her father for the sexually magnetic, intense Matt Farrell -- and their brief, ill-fated marriage was the disastrous outcome. Now, as the Bancroft firm is threatened by a hostile takeover, Meredith is forced to confront Matt. As tensions build between them, bittersweet memories rise to the surface, leaving them suspicious, restless, and uncertain. Will they be able to believe in each other -- and grasp the tender miracle that is before them?
The Girl in the Steel Corset
Kady Cross - 2011
except the "thing" inside her.When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch...Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits: Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret.Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on even if it seems no one believes her.
Sweetly & Scientifically (Sweetly, #1)
EternalZephyr
She is also failing chemistry. Her teacher gives her a second chance in the form of a written test that only one other student has passed so far.Wesley Black, a boy crazy about chemistry, is known at school as The White Coat Freak. He's never seen without a lab coat on and spends most of his time in a mysterious storage room.Reyna needs his help if she has any hope of passing the test. With his cold personality, working with him is more of a challenge than the class she's failing. Then she begins to see another side to Wesley and wants to know more about him. Together they learn about a different kind of chemistry. That is, if Wesley can survive her best friend and over-protective brother...For Reyna and Wesley, chemicals will collide and the attraction will be strong as they form a bond sweeter than candy.
Lexi's Undoing (#1)
Morgan Rider
For years, she has navigated the suffocating constraints of boarding school and chaperoned dances, and she is ready to detour from the perfect path her parents set her on. Luke Carrington is the swoon-worthy stranger who arrives to spice up the party, convincing Lexi that it's okay to ditch her uniform and spread her wings. Despite Luke's charm and intelligence, Lexi's family shrugs him off and refuses to tell her why. In her mind, the man has more to offer than any gel-headed boy she's met. Not only does he share her interest in Greek mythology, but he has devoted his life to helping people cope with death. What could be more admirable than that? When Lexi learns that her life has been a big fat lie, and the people claiming to be her family aren't who they say they are, she turns to Luke for solace. He is the only one who has not betrayed her, and he helps Lexi prove she isn't a little girl anymore. Once Luke's earns her trust and her heart, Lexi is willing to follow him anywhere to keep him close-even into the underworld.
Mail Order Bride : The Gunslinging Bride (Brides of the Western Reach) (A Western Romance Book)
Ashley Walter - 2018
Mail Order Bride And The Gift of Children (A Western Historical Romance Book) (Evergreen Frontier)
Florence Linnington - 2020
Provoked
Joanna Chambers - 2013
But then, into his repressed and orderly life, bursts Lord Murdo Balfour. Cynical, hedonistic and utterly unapologetic, Murdo could not be less like David. And as appalled as David is by Murdo’s unrepentant self-interest, he cannot resist the man’s sway. Murdo tempts and provokes David in equal measure, forcing him to acknowledge his physical desires. But Murdo is not the only man distracting David from his work. Euan MacLennan, the brother of a convicted radical David once represented, approaches David to beg him for help. Euan is searching for the government agent who sent his brother to Australia on a convict ship, and other radicals to the gallows. Despite knowing it may damage his career, David cannot turn Euan away. As their search progresses, it begins to look as though the trail may lead to none other than Lord Murdo Balfour, and David has to wonder whether it’s possible Murdo could be more than he seems. Is he really just a bored aristocrat, amusing himself at David’s expense, or could he be the agent provocateur responsible for the fate of Peter MacLennan and the other radicals?
Champion of the Rose
Andrea K. Höst - 2010
Proclaimed Rathen Champion by the Rathen Rose, intended to support the rule of a Rathen King or Queen. But there are no Rathens. Resigned to symbolising only Darest's faded glories, Soren is not prepared for the sudden appearance of a Rathen. Now she must find and support the heir despite the machinations of the kingdom's regent, sylvan curses, and the strange behaviour of once-dormant protective enchantments. While the odds seem stacked against her, Soren is determined to do her best to live up to the name of Rathen Champion. But what is she to do when it seems that there is something very wrong with her Rathen? Can she trust the person she is meant to protect?
Reapers--Thirteen Brothers
Shim Simplina (Tsubame)
It's just an ordinary town after all-except for the fact that it's located near Centralia, a ghost town filled with bottomless pits that appear from nowhere. Determined to survive being the new girl in school, Aramis develops a strategy for her not to get hurt: don't get too close to anybody. But once she meets Vincent, an arrogant young boy with piercing silver eyes, everything changes. When he seemingly rescues her from a mysterious drowning incident, she is suddenly thrust into the thrilling and terrifying world of the Reapers. Now she is caught between Vincent and his father, Death himself, as they engage in a tug-of-war battle for her soul. Will she survive the experience? Or will Death claim her for his own?