Book picks similar to
Second Chances by Tess St. John


regency
historical
romance
historical-fiction

Nothing To Commend Her


Jo Barrett - 2009
    He’s surly, brooding, and according to half the ton, a monster. Except to Agatha Trumwell, she sees so much more than his scars. But with a pitiful dowry, unfavorable looks, and a tendency to speak her mind, she has nothing to commend her, or so she believes. Can these two lonely souls find love amid the gossiping beau monde while someone plots to tear their fragile world apart?

Lady Honor's Debt


Maggi Andersen - 2015
    That’s all Lady Honor Baxendale wants—for her sisters and for herself. Honor has a bold plan to become financially independent, using a skill she learned at her father’s knee. She seeks the help of a solicitor and is pleased with her choice… as long as she can resist the solicitor himself.Lord Edward Winborne has been happy to come to the aid of his four sisters in the past. But when a neighbor’s daughter, Lady Honor Baxendale, requests his help for a dangerous scheme she has in mind, he feels it his duty to dissuade her. When that fails, he wants to protect her, and then somehow finds he wants to do more. Much more.

Deceived


Nicola Cornick - 2006
    Perhaps the Earl of S. is the man she seeks...." -- The Gentleman's Mercury, 1816Princess Isabella never imagined it could come to this. Bad enough she faces imprisonment for debts not her own. Even worse that she must make a hasty marriage of convenience with Marcus, the Earl of Stockhaven--the man she'd loved and lost so long ago. But that he now wants revenge by demanding she be his in more than name only...well, that is simply intolerable!As the London gossips eagerly gather to watch the fun, Isabella struggles to maintain a polite distance in her marriage. But the more Isabella challenges Marcus's iron determination, the hotter their passion burns. This time, will it consume them both--or fuel a love greater than they dare dream?

The Husband Campaign


Regina Scott - 2014
    To prevent scandal - and protect Lady Amelia Jacoby from her parents' ire - he must propose. John's ability to trust vanished when his former love married his twin brother. Yet he offers Amelia everything she could want - except affection. Amelia sees John's true nature shine through when he cares for his horses. But the brooding aristocrat seems determined to keep her at arm's length. Little by little Amelia will turn Hollyoak Farm into a home, but can she turn a marriage of convenience into a joyful union? The Master Matchmakers: Wedding bells will ring when downstairs servants play Cupid for upstairs aristocracy

To Save a Sinner


Adele Clee - 2015
    But when his brother inherits the viscountcy and pleads for his return, the opportunity to show his contempt and loathing for the Society who turned its back on him proves to be far too enticing to resist.When the dishonourable Lucas Dempsey steps into the ballroom after a four-year absence, Helena Ecclestone is quick to label the gentleman a murderous rogue. That is until she stumbles upon a secret conversation and feels a moral obligation to see justice done. But while the ladies swoon over his handsome countenance, Helena is determined to look beyond such superficial features, intrigued to find the true character of the gentleman he hides beneath his arrogant façade.

What a Lady Craves


Ashlyn Macnamara - 2014
      Henrietta Upperton is about to marry Alexander Sanford when he rushes off to India to salvage his family’s fortune. Then comes the devastating news that he has wed another. Eight agonizing years later, a storm washes Alexander ashore—injured, widowed, and hunted—and one glimpse of his ruggedly handsome face reawakens the desire Henrietta thought she had buried deep inside. Her body still yearns for his touch, but she’s determined not let him wound her again . . . not this time.   For Alexander, honor always comes first. But only now does he realize that when given the choice between two virtuous deeds, he picked the wrong one. On the run with his life in tatters and a pair of daughters in tow, Alexander burns for Henrietta. He knows he does not deserve forgiveness. And yet he longs to wrap his arms around her warm body once again. What’s more, he is sure the lady craves the same.

The Convenient Felstone Marriage


Jenni Fletcher - 2017
    She's hesitant to play the perfect Felstone wife, but Robert soon shows Ianthe there's more to him than meets the eye, and more to marriage than vows...

Wedded Bliss


Barbara Metzger - 2004
    But Alissa swore she'd spend the rest of her life scraping pennies together rather than wed the insufferable earl and become a glorified governess. Still, she couldn't very well let her own children starve-and there was no doubt that Rockford would give them all a good life. So she reluctantly accepts his offer...but there's more to a good life than what's in one's pockets. And Alissa intends to find out what's in her new husband's heart.

The Six-Month Marriage


Amanda Grange - 2002
    Tenth Anniversary EditionUnless Philip, Lord Pemberton, could arrange a six-month marriage he would lose his inheritance. Madeline Delaware was desperate to escape from her dissolute uncle and Philip's offer saved her from the fate her uncle had in store for her.But the six-month marriage turned out to be far from the peaceful interlude that Madeline had envisaged. And although it was simply a convenient arrangement, she found it increasingly difficult to think of its end . . .Amanda Grange: Humour, adventure and romance, with a guaranteed happy ending.

Stone Devil Duke


K.J. Jackson - 2014
    To protect her family, to protect herself, she is determined to find the men before they find her. The last thing she wanted was an entanglement with a duke that threatens her very survival... Hardened long ago, the last thing the Duke of Dunway wanted was an entanglement with a chit of the ton. But in the flash of a pistol, his fate is altered as he finds himself honor-bound to protect Lady Augustine from, of all things, herself.

Dukes Are Forever


Anna Harrington - 2015
    When he takes possession of his enemy's estate, everything that villain held dear—including his daughter—belongs to Edward. Hire a governess, arrange a dowry, give a few reassurances, and be off on his way—that's Edward's plan. But he's in for the shock of his life. For his new ward is a beautiful, impetuous, and utterly irresistible woman......AND WARKate Benton is stunned. Who is this arrogant, infuriating man who's invited himself into her home and taken over her life? Her vow: to do everything in her power to convince him to leave her—and Brambly House—alone. Yet as chilly days melt into sultry nights, Kate sees glimpses of kindness underneath Edward's cool façade . . . and a passionate nature that takes her breath away. There's so much she doesn't know about this man. But does she dare trust this devilish duke with her heart?

Wildfire Kiss


Claudette Williams - 1984
    It was under a pseudonym, of course, but the story she’d thought would sell only a few copies to help stave off her father’s creditors was becoming a sensation. Passion’s Seed had the beau monde in a panic, because it was all about ‘them’! If it were ever revealed that she, one of the aristocracy’s own, was the author, she would be ruined.Now she was contemplating doing something equally scandalous. The ‘rules’ dictated that, as a woman, she had to wait until marriage to enjoy pleasures men were allowed when single. Lady Babs, however, had other ideas, for she had fallen in love with the man known as Lord Wildfire, a dashing duke with a penchant for the ladies but not for marriage.But while she yearned for Lord Wildfire, another man lusted after her. And Sir Edward was willing to go to any lengths to make her his—including following his hunch that Lady Babs was somehow involved in the publication of Passion’s Seed …**Note: This is an updated version of an earlier title written as Claudette Williams. The updated versions of Claudy's Claudette Williams titles are more sexually explicit.

A Traitorous Heart


Tammy Jo Burns - 2013
    Then upon returning to England she loses even more…He lost his new wife in a brutal attack six months ago during one of the first battle surges by Le Grande Armée. Left with an injury to remind him of that time he reluctantly takes up his mantle as a Peer of the Realm and uses his skills with numbers and letters to help the War Office as a code specialist.Nothing could surprise him more than walking into a government safe house to question a suspected traitor and find his supposedly dead wife lying injured with no memory of their time together. Is she a traitor? Where has she been all this time? And is their love strong enough to survive or will the truth tear them apart forever?

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.

Curricle & Chaise


Lizzie Church - 2012
    Even this might have proved tolerable. After all, Lydia was an independent sort of a girl, more than capable of holding her own against importunate tradesmen, and more than happy to bring her younger sister up on her own.It would not do, however. The state in which Lydia discovered the family affairs made independent existence quite out of the question. In spite of all her best efforts, within a few months of her mama’s death, and scarcely out of full mourning, it became apparent to her that there was nothing to be done but to acknowledge the inevitable and appeal to her relations for help….It is 1810. Lydia, now penniless, is forced to seek a home with an aunt and uncle who have no interest in her whatsoever. But there are plenty of others with an interest in her – including the handsome but selfish son of the family – her cousin Charles - and two elegant brothers who live nearby.Each, in his own way, poses an intriguing challenge to her. Luckily Lydia is well able to look after herself but she gets into a number of scrapes which almost cost her any chance of happiness before finally managing to sort things out in the end.