Book picks similar to
Betrothed by Catherine Lloyd


gothic
historical-romance
forced-seduction
revenge

Cassie


Carré White - 2015
     Nathanial Carroll has been a thorn in Cassie Bjorn’s side ever since they were children. He has tormented her by dipping her blonde hair in ink, pouring honey into her school bag, and teasing her relentlessly. Now, grown up and more handsome than a man ought to be, Nathanial is determined to make Cassie his wife, although she loathes him with a passion. The task before him is formidable, and Nate will have to make amends for past behavior and court Cassie properly. Cassie knows Nathanial as a womanizer and drunkard with appalling manners. Any well-bred young lady would give this man a wide berth, as she has done for years. But Cassie’s mother and Nate’s mother are the best of friends, and they see fit to broker an engagement. To compound matters, an accidental kiss during a shootout sends the town’s gossips into a furor, and Cassie finds her reputation in tatters. There’s only one man to blame for this predicament—Nathanial Carroll.

Dark Fancy


Sabrina York - 2013
    Helena concocts the perfect solution to her problem. She asks—begs—James to ruin her. Surely her betrothed will repudiate her if she is no longer pure. And if all her efforts fail and she still ends up married to a horrid man until the end of her days, she will at least once have known true passion. But James is not all he seems. He is, in fact, a wicked lord with a dark fancy. When Helena awakens his desire, he becomes determined to take everything she has to offer and more. No matter the cost.

The Governess: a classic Victorian gothic romance


Camille Oster - 2016
    That she would have to travel all the way to Hungary sent nerves twisting inside her gut, as would meeting the mysterious count who would now be her employer. Unable to speak the language or with much to guide her, she found her new home nestled in remote mountains where hungry wolves prowled outside a dark and drafty castle scared by a long history and recent tragedies.

Indecent


Carole Mortimer - 2018
    There have been no changes or additions from the original novella.INDECENT (Regency Lovers 1) is the 1st book in USA Today Bestselling Author, Carole Mortimer’s, NEW Regency series.Impoverished Miss Emma Harris can hardly believe her good fortune when Adam Stirling, the handsome and imposing Duke of Hawkwood, asks her father for her hand in marriage.However, she feels thoroughly humiliated when she attends a masked ball that very same evening and sees Hawkwood in a compromising position with a married woman. A very compromising position, in fact it is positively INDECENT.Angry and upset, Emma confronts Hawkwood with what she saw, accusing him of only wanting to marry her as a shield to his affairs with other women. Accusations the duke denies.Half in love with the arrogant Hawkwood, Emma is devastated when she learns the real reason he asked her to marry him.But if Emma thinks Adam is the type of gentleman to meekly accept her rejection, she is about to learn exactly how INDECENT he can be when he wants something as deeply as he now wants Emma.

The Concubine


Francette Phal - 2013
    The absurdity of it is a blow right between to my battered heart. A concubine in love with her king."He rescued her from a fate worse than death and claimed her as his own. In the vast Norian palace, she is made concubine, one of many and is taught how to please the mighty Norian king. She knows she must keep her heart guarded, but how can she when his very touch sustains her soul? When a simple kiss from his lips evokes a burning desire that threatens to burn her alive? He is everything to her, but in her shadowed affections, bound as she is to him, she has little choice but to share him the countless women in his life. In her shadowed affections, bound as she is to him, her heart burns every time she must share him with the many women in his life.

The Unusual Story of the Silent Duchess


Emma Linfield - 2018
    On just such a dark night, a mysterious voiceless girl arrives at the doorstep of the powerful Duke of Rutland, Neil Arnold. Thanks to her, his gloomy soul will see its first sunny days after a very long time. Her silence, though, hides secrets, and whatever evil force made her run for her life that dreadful stormy night is coming after her... The Duke, while still trying to find his way back to happiness, will have to find the strength to protect not only the mysterious stranger that stole his heart but also his innocent daughter. He can't afford to lose the ones he loves for the second time. But the danger is resting closer than he thinks as no one can be trusted.

Again the Magic


Lisa Kleypas - 2004
    When their secret is suddenly discovered, their world is shattered. McKenna is forced to leave forever, unaware that the only reason Aline has given him up is to save him.Now McKenna has returned, a powerful man determined to take revenge against the woman who broke his heart. But the magic between them burns as fiercely as ever . . . and as McKenna uncovers Aline's deepest secret, together they discover a love that will defy Fate itself.

Forbidden Love


Karen Robards - 1983
    Forbidden Desires...He was her guardian, absentee landlord of her neglected life--until Megan Kinkead returned to Maam's Cross Court, determined to make Justin Brant notice her.  She finally commanded the attention of the sixth Earl of Weston when she burst into his room and caught him stark naked in the tub.  Suddenly she knew a woman's hunger--and a woman's needs....Forbidden Kisses...When had the scrawny brat from hell become a fiery, raven-haired, violet-eyed temptress?  Justin told himself she was still a child as she offered him a seductive yet innocent kiss.  He tried to remind himself that he was her guardian, her protector.  But the flashfire desire that blazed between them ignited a love neither had ever known before.  Then he told her he was married....Forbidden Secrets...Bestselling, award-winning author Karen Robards sweeps us into Ireland's lush landscape in this spellbinding novel of a headstrong young beauty and her aristocratic guardian, torn between passion, propriety, and...Forbidden Love.

Birching his Bride


Golden Angel - 2013
    Their story continues in the rest of the quartet... HEAs guaranteed.The Quartet1. Birching His Bride2. Dealing With Discipline3. Punishing His Ward4. Claiming His Wife

Passion


Lisa Valdez - 2005
    But amidst the crowds of London's Crystal Palace, Passion finds herself discreetly, yet insistently, pursued by a sensual gentleman who awakens her long-supressed desires. After a loveless marriage of restrained propriety, Passion abandons herself to true bliss for the first time.Intoxicated by his encounter with the beautiful stranger, Mark Randolph Hawkmore, Earl of Langley, cannot wait to see her again. As a series of rapturous rendezvous follows, he and his mystery lover find something rare and wonderful blossoming between them. But a blackmail scheme against the Earl threatens to destroy everything. As a scandal brews, each will have to choose between duty and desire...their love for their families—and their love for each other.

Legacy of Darkness


Jane Godman - 2014
    Orphaned and penniless after her father’s death in India, Lucy Alleyne is forced to accept a post as companion to an elderly lady until a distant relative spirits her away to Castle Athal on the Cornish coast. But Lucy’s initial gratitude at Lady Demelza Jago’s benevolence soon gives way to unease. The ancient Cornish castle, known locally as Tenebris, is a dark monument to the family’s history and secrets. Within its embrace Lucy is drawn into friendship with Tynan Jago. The young Earl of Athal is handsome and poetic yet tortured, like his father before him. Tynan is utterly different from his uncle, Uther, whose seductive, leonine power radiates from his every word and gesture. Between them the two Jago men have innocent Lucy enthralled—mind, body and soul. If she remains within the bloodstained castle walls, with their history of ill-starred passion and madness, a mere broken heart will seem a blessing.

A Breach Of Promise


Victoria Vane - 2011
    Only seduction remains... On the night of her betrothal, Lydia Trent receives just a taste of what awaits her in marriage with her fiance...and then he leaves her wanting. Now, after waiting six years for her exceedingly reluctant bridegroom to honor his troth, Lydia is resolved to break it off. When Marcus, Lord Russell, receives Lydia's letter demanding a release from their marriage contract, he is at first stunned, but certain that he'll have her eating out of his hand with his usual wit and charm. Although confident that he'll repair the damage, he has no clue how determined the headstrong Lydia is to thwart his every effort to win her back. Yet, Marcus discovers, in spite of her conviction to end the engagement, Lydia is more responsive to his touch than he ever imagined. He just needs to get her alone to unleash the promised passion he sees within his virgin fiancee. Armed with this knowledge, he will use any tool in his arsenal to exploit her weakness. In short, he'll just have to ruin her!

The Mad Heiress Meets the Duke


Isabella Thorne - 2016
    Nearly a decade ago, when her fiance jilted her, she threw herself down the stairs in a fit of passion, or maybe it was a parapet or perhaps a cliff. The Ton isn’t too sure, but they certainly won’t forgive nor let her forget. Georgette is sure she will never love again, and she hasn’t. Now she is companion to her young cousin and chaperoning her coming out. She has no prospects herself. She only needs a moment to catch her breath, to push away the unhappy thoughts of her own coming out. Georgette walks alone into the garden. She smells cigar smoke and realizes there is a man out here. He is unfamiliar and since she is not introduced, she turns to leave. Not wanting to disturb him, because she knows he will put out his smoke in deference to her, she hurries away, but it is too late. He has seen her and knows her.Meet Charles, Duke of Eversley, Miss Quinby’s long ago fiancé’s dear friend and erstwhile British spy in the continuing war with France. It was the Duke’s waspish younger sister who caught Miss Quinby’s fiancé and married him. Georgette certainly didn’t want to open that wound. Neither did the duke, but a cipher in a potted plant, an English traitor, a young gambler and star-crossed lovers pull the jaded couple together. From the ballrooms of the English Aristocracy to ices at Vauxhall to gambling hells, and secret meetings at the British Museum, they will dare much for king and country. They find a common friendship, but both swear they will never love again…but will they?

When Seducing a Duke


Kathryn Smith - 2009
    Tempt. Entice. Beguile. Just a few things a woman must do when seducing a duke...Rose Danvers charms her way into the glittering masked ball with only one man on her mind. She would risk certain scandal for a kiss from Greyden Kane, Duke of Ryeton—though she lusts for much, much more.The ravishing woman in burgundy takes Grey's breath away. She reminds him of the sheltered beauty entrusted to his care, the only one who has ever touched his icy heart. But Rose would never allow herself to be so indiscreet, so ruled by passion.Believing their forbidden embrace a terrible mistake, Grey knows he must do the honorable thing and find Rose a husband. But Rose will not be pawned off for propriety's sake. She will not rest until her seduction is complete and she has the duke bedded, wedded, and deeply satisfied. All he has to do is say yes.

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.