Book picks similar to
Second Chances by Tess St. John


regency
historical
romance
historical-romance

Racing with the Wind


Regan Walker - 2012
    Returning to England after years in France, he knows he must choose a wife from among the ingénues who appear each year at the ton, but he hopes to avoid what will be an arranged marriage for as long as he can. He prefers his work for the Crown.When young Lady Mary Campbell rides across his path on a magnificent black stallion, he is enthralled. Independent, intelligent and rebellious, Lady Mary is bored by the prospect of her first Season. A bluestocking hoyden, she craves adventure and loves the world of her statesman uncle, who is often called upon by the Crown for difficult tasks. When her uncle leaves for Paris, she goes with him. But, once there, who should appear in King Louis’ court but the mysterious Lord Ormond?Lady Mary fears her growing fascination with the rake and resents his interference with her plan to uncover the truth behind a treacherous plot to take down the newly restored Bourbon king.

With this Kiss


Victoria Lynne - 1999
    But Julia's bold gaze lit other fires he had long suppressed. And now this glorious stranger was his bride. But when he tried to claim his husbandly rights, she demanded three months grace--three months to know a stranger's mind, to touch a stranger's soul, to go where no woman had ever gone before. Into his lonely heart . . . With This Kiss.

His Majesty, the Prince of Toads


Delle Jacobs - 2006
    But even before he learns the circumstances of his inheritance, he encounters her at a New Year's gala. Shock sets in as he realizes the most beautiful woman in England is the same gangly, calf-eyed chit who tricked him into marriage six years before. That's not how Sophie remembers it. She wishes fervently she'd had the sense not to scream when the drunken scapegrace crawled into her bed at her Uncle Harry's house party. True, she'd had a secret tendre for the handsome wastrel, until his scathing denunciation of her after their forced wedding. Then he went off to war without even consummating their union, and for six years she heard nothing from him. Now the toad offers her forgiveness in exchange for his presence in her bed? Revenge comes more to mind.And so the battle of wits begins. And the harder they fight it, the more they fall in love.

A Sensible Lady: A Traditional Regency Romance


Judith Lown - 2012
    So she leases the Dower House from a kindly baron on a neighboring estate, believing that she has successfully met the greatest challenge of her life.How wrong she is! The kindly baron dies. An orphan arrives, whom Katherine accepts as her nephew. She is determined to provide for him, which means she must forget about love and marry a gentleman with money.There are three possibilities.Her cousin, Sir Clive Brampton, is eager to let bygones be bygones and marry Katherine. She would be able to return to her family home and live a life of financial ease. Her nephew would be provided for and launched into a career deemed suitable by Sir Clive. Can Katherine just accept Sir Clive’s generous offer?The Reverend Mr. Augustus Wharton, the newly arrived vicar, listens attentively to Katherine’s anguished musings over the loss of her brother on a distant battlefield in Spain. There are rumors that Mr. Wharton’s present vocation is a stunning contrast to his past as a hard drinking, gambling rake. Katherine dismisses the rumors and wonders if she could live happily with a man for whom she feels only sisterly affection.Finally, there is the new baron, Lord Henry Dracott. Lord Harry, as he is called, is clearly attracted to Katherine. But in spite of their best efforts to be civil to each other, their disagreements end up in arguments. Although there is mutual attraction, Katherine knows that Lord Harry’s heart is buried with his dead wife.Katherine tries to be a sensible lady and accept a practical marriage. But will her heart let her?

My Fair Lily


Meara Platt - 2014
    Nothing can tempt him to remain, not even Lily, the beautiful bluestocking determined not only to restore relations between him and his grandfather, but to turn Ewan into a proper gentleman. Ewan, proud of his Scottish heritage, refuses to admit that Lily, a blue-eyed, English girl, has claimed his heart. It doesn’t matter that his big lump of a sheepdog is madly in love with her. Nor is it significant that Ewan can always tell Lily apart from her identical twin sister. Always. Lily Farthingale, the scholarly twin, dreams of becoming the first female member of the Royal Society. She grabs at the chance when the elderly Duke of Lotheil approaches her with a proposition - he’ll admit her into the Royal Society, if she helps him to establish a relation with his estranged grandson, Ewan Cameron, a very rough-around-the-edges Scotsman who hates everything English. Between shootings, explosions, and Lily’s abduction, Ewan ends up falling in love with Lily in this Pygmalion-inspired story.

Once Upon A Wallflower


Wendy Lyn Watson - 2013
    After all, the man has left a trio of dead young women in his wake, including his first fiancée. A Gothic Villain…Expecting to scare the chit away within five minutes of meeting him, scarred and brooding Nicholas, the Viscount Ashfield, is intrigued by the unfashionably lovely Mira, but his family’s dark secret means he must fight his attractions. No matter what his heart wants.As the wedding approaches, Nicholas and Mira grow ever closer, yet so does the very real danger. Will the truth bring Nicholas and Mira together or tear their love apart?

Indiscreet


Kasey Michaels - 1998
    Now with the London season just beginning, Sophie is determined to become a Lady--even if it means forgoing love to marry for wealth alone. If only her straight-laced sponsor would give her his approval-and stop weakening her resolve with his startlingly blue eyes. Bramwell Seaton: The picture of propriety, he swore he could control the passionate appetites that were his late father's downfall. But from the moment Bramwell takes charge of the incorrigible yet irresistible Sophie Winstead, he is driven to mad distraction. Suddenly he and his lovely ward are waltzing ever closer toward scandal, and Bramwell must resist her charms to preserve their reputations--and his heart.

Upon a Midnight Dream


Rachel Van Dyken - 2012
    Stefan, the future duke of Montmouth, no doubt thought his words were welcomed but he couldn't have been more wrong. Oh, he was handsome as a pagan Norse god, but that was unimportant when her life as well as those of her family hung in the balance. With less than six weeks left, Rosalind has stopped believing in the fairy tale, the prince on the white horse, and the stolen kiss that would awaken her from her worst nightmares. Resigned to her fate, she waits for the inevitable curse to run it’s course. "We must marry at once!" Stefan declared, fully expecting Rosalind to be delighted that he had come to save her, but he was sorely mistaken. Rosalind was no simpering docile female; she was a fiery temptress with a stubborn streak only matched by his horse, Samson. Insulting, infuriating, intoxicating and alluring enough to drive a man mad. Stefan found himself thankful for the curse that required him marry her, thankful for the betrothal contract he had so recently tried to release her from...With the fortitude of a sailor shipwrecked, abandoned, and a solider warring for his life Stefan decides to lay siege to the greatest prize, Rosalind's heart.

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!

Lord Glenraven's Return (Signet Regency Romance)


Anne Barbour - 1994
    This romantic Regency won the RWA's 1991 Golden Heart Award.

A June Bride


Teresa DesJardien - 1991
    Her groom comes to her with the puzzling proposal that, despite the terrible scandal it would be, she may ask that they go their separate ways if she finds that they simply do not suit. What is a bride-even one forced to wed-to think of such an offer? Particularly when her new husband had been meant to marry another woman, a beauty who seems to be constantly in the company of Alessandra’s bridegroom... IF GEOFFREY NEEDED an example of a poor marriage, he had only to look to his estranged parents. So he listened to his mama when she pleaded with him not to forever trap Alessandra in marriage if theirs proves to be loveless. But now that his word is given, how to carry on with his new wife? It will take a scrupulous consideration of Alessandra’s sensibilities, a modicum of self control, and pillows dividing the bed her father insists they share. But the sight of his bride, adorably attired in modest night clothes, is distinctly unsettling. And he’s increasingly hoping he sees not rejection but warmth in his unintended bride’s eyes...

The Border Bride


Elizabeth English - 2001
    The marriage of Maude Darnley to Jemmy Kirallen promises to end an age-old conflict - but Darnley has no intention of keeping his sworn word. Instead, he blackmails his baseborn daughter, Alyson, forcing her to masquerade as Maude while he prepares for a devastating surprise attack.Alyson is determined to survive and rescue her young brother from Darnley's clutches, but she never counted on falling in love. Now Alyson is faced with a terrible choice: Reveal the truth, and her brother's life is forfeit - stay silent, and condemn Jemmy and his clan to certain death.

Secrets of Midnight


Miriam Minger - 1995
    Instead, he finds himself banished to the English countryside of Cornwall, forced by the decrees of his father's will to run his family's tin mines and find a country bride. The very last thing the handsome lord needs is a local lass sticking her nose into his affairs, but that seems to be exactly what the parson's daughter, Corisande Easton, had in mind.

Romancing the Emotional Duke: A Historical Regency Romance Book


Sally Forbes - 2020
    She has had two failed London Seasons and is nearing spinster age. When she hears of her father’s plans for her to marry the Viscount of Halsbrook she fears that she will spend the rest of her days consigned to a loveless marriage. A chance encounter with two unruly children causes Anne to cross paths with their handsome father. Will, she finally find love, or will the dark figure lurking in the shadows threaten her last chance of happiness?Duncan Wentworth, The Duke of Brondesbury, tragically lost his wife three years ago. He lives a reclusive life in the countryside with his twins Chloe and Marcus. When his mother asks him to spend Christmastide in London with his family, an unexpected run-in with Anne and their blossoming romance that follows leave him wondering if it’s time to finally let go of his past.Will they be able to overcome the forces pulling them apart and find love during this Christmas season?

The Substitute Bride


Dorothy Mack - 1977
     Can a spirited governess find happiness with an enigmatic viscount? Regency London Having spent a childhood summer with Viscount Giles Weston, Angelica Wayne has never forgotten his kindness. But when he employs her as his daughter’s governess, she finds him cold and formidable. A widower, Giles is engaged to the beautiful but indifferent Lady Barbara Darlington. Darkly cynical, he avoids emotional commitment and wishes to be married in name only. Despite Giles’ attitude, Angelica comes to enjoy his company, and her feelings for him start to rekindle. When Barbara calls off the engagement, Giles asks Angelica to take her place as his bride. And Angelica must decide whether she can marry a man seemingly incapable of returning her affection… What is the reason for Giles’ haughtiness? Can Angelica thaw his frosty exterior? Or are both condemned to a life without love? THE SUBSTITUTE BRIDE is classic Regency romance full of suspense and intrigue.