Book picks similar to
To Stop a Scoundrel by Abigail Bridges
historical-romance
romance
spinster
adventure
The Wrong Prince
Veronica Crowe - 2021
Lady Desiree was the picture of grace, beauty and perfection, everything that the naive, unsophisticated, young Cassandra was not.Dejected and brokenhearted, Cassandra asked her family to take her to London for her first season. With the aid of her friend, Jeremiah Devlin Huntington, Marquess of Waterford, she soon found herself touted as the darling of the ton.Cassandra could not be more pleased with her success, newfound popularity, and impressive list of eligible suitors.Will Richard take notice and come charging in on a white horse? Or will she find love where she least expects it—but is too blind with her childhood infatuation to notice all along?
Unmasking the Hero
Mary Lancaster - 2021
Setting aside her bewildered grief, she has become a fashionable socialite living on the edge of scandal, surrounded by male admirers. Now, she awaits her husband’s return with a little revenge in mind.However, a foolish wager has caused her to lose his wedding gift during a masquerade ball at the infamous Maida Pleasure Gardens, and she is worried it could be used against her. And, by the time Wenning comes home, she has befriended a mysterious stranger she met at Maida whom she believes might just serve as her means of revenge.The earl and the countess circle each other in a wary, dangerous dance where either might win—or ruin what’s left of their marriage. Meanwhile, a more deadly enemy stalks them.
Can the couple rise above the past and unite before death parts them forever?
Educated by the Earl
Alexa Aston - 2022
Third sons are promised to the church. Second sons do their duty and serve in the military—unless fate intervenes and turns their lives upside down.Welcome to Second Sons of London, a new Regency Historical Romance series by USA Today Bestselling author Alexa Aston, where seven men who are second sons lay claim to fabulous wealth and lofty titles and fulfill their destinies when they find their soulmates.A dutiful army officer who shuns intimacy. A selfless beauty ready to start living for herself. A chance meeting in the street that leads to love...When Major Spencer Haddock’s father dies, he returns to England as the Earl of Middlefield. He seeks a typical ton marriage, where his wife will provide him with an heir and possibly other children and then they go their separate ways. He intends to find his countess quickly and not waste time at boring social affairs.Lady Tessa Foster delays her come-out for several years in order to care for her ill parents. Now out of mourning, Tessa is eager to be introduced in Polite Society so she can find a husband and start a family of her own.When Spence attempts to save Tessa from a thief brandishing a knife, she turns and attacks Spence. He quickly learns that instead of the pliant woman he thought he wanted as his countess, he desires Tessa—a woman of beauty and valor who stands up for herself and those she cherishes.
Can Spence change Tessa’s poor opinion of him and win the heart of the woman he has come to love?
Find the answer in bestselling author Alexa Aston’s Educated by the Earl, the first book in Second Sons of London.Each book in Second Sons of London is a standalone story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Second Sons of London
Educated by the EarlDebating with the DukeEmpowered by the EarlMade for the MarquessDubious about the DukeValued by the ViscountMeant for the Marquess
The Soul of a Storme
Sandra Sookoo - 2021
Unable to join the fight against Napoleon due to the declining health and subsequent death of his father, his rotten mood worsened when his two brothers survived the war with life-changing injuries. Ashamed, Drew retreats to his country estate in Derbyshire to spare them his ire. Why the devil was he not worth more than his title?Miss Sarah Copeland is a poor relation. In exchange for room and board, she’s become the governess to her great-uncle’s two rambunctious offspring. It was better than being tossed in the street, but only just. Freedom and imagination are found in playing a flute, especially since dreams of her future died long ago. When she meets her handsome, growling neighbor, she believes she’s finally found her purpose. After all, didn’t music soothe the savage beast?While Drew battles with his guilt and anxiety, he finds safety and solace in Sarah’s company. As they enter into a surprising marriage of convenience, the earl’s temper slowly begins to improve, as does her outlook. But while an unexpected romance blooms over the summer weeks, responsibility to the title rears its ugly head, and his temper flares anew, threatening to tear apart everything they’ve built.
Only patience, trust, and love will see them through to a happy ending.
Spinster Sister
Elise Marion - 2021
He never anticipated her.
Welcome to book 1 in the new and exciting series from bestselling author Elise Marion.Helena Montgomery is left to care for her siblings after the deaths of her parents. Buried under a pile of debt, she has no choice but to join her friends in a dangerous scheme. Moonlighting as a masked highwayman is a sure way to end up facing the hangman, but there is nothing Helena wouldn’t do for those she loves. Besides, she only intends to continue her illegal activities until her sister’s first season yields an advantageous marriage.Lord Sebastian Radcliffe doesn’t want a wife but must select one to secure his family legacy. The young, beautiful Harriett Montgomery seems like the perfect choice—yet Sebastian finds himself drawn, instead, to her elder sister. He never expected to marry for love, yet the vivacious Helena quickly burrows her way past his stony façade and straight into his heart.He thinks her a high-handed shrew; she thinks him a self-righteous bore. Yet, passion kindles between this unlikely pair, leaving them hopeful that the futures they once thought impossible might be within reach. However, the damaging secret of Helena’s crimes hangs over her head, forcing her to keep Sebastian at arm’s length. Despite her best efforts, she is unable to deny the depth of her feelings.
When the truth is exposed, will Helena lose the man she has come to love?
How to Steal a Lyon's Fortune
Alanna Lucas - 2021
unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON'S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives... and loves.When it comes to stealing a Lyon's fortune, it takes two to right a wrong.Visitors to the Lyon’s Den, run by the mysterious Mrs. Dove-Lyon, usually wish to find a spouse, but Audrey has quite another goal in mind. She needs help to secure an invitation to Lyon’s masquerade, the annual event hosted by her once-stepfather, Vincent Lyon, so that she may retrieve the statue he stole from her late mother.Mrs. Dove-Lyon knows just the person to take Audrey to the ball, a shrewd matchmaker that she is, also sees an opportunity to help Lord Peter Dermott, who has been recommended to her as being in urgent need of a wife.When Peter meets Audrey, the attraction is instant, but she presents him with a huge dilemma. Her plan to take the statue is daring, and if it fails, his reputation will be ruined.
However, if he walks away, he will most likely lose her, and the chance to make her his...
The Wayward Son
Caroline Warfield - 2021
How can she make the heir love it as she does?
Welcome to book 1 in the exciting new series by bestselling author Caroline Warfield!Sir Robert Benson’s life is in London. He fled Ashmead the day he discovered the man he thought was his father had lied to him, and the girl he loved was beyond his reach. Only a nameless plea from his sister—his half-sister—brings him back. He will not allow a ludicrous bequest from the earl who sired him turn him into a mockery of landed gentry. When a feisty little termagant with flashing eyes—and a musket—tries to turn Rob off the land—his land—he’s too amused and intrigued to turn away. But the longer he stays, the tighter the bonds that tie him to Ashmead become, strengthened by the powerful draw of the woman rooted on land he’s determined to sell.Lucy Whitaker’s life is Willowbrook, its land, its tenants, its prosperity, but she always knew it wasn’t hers, knew the missing heir would come eventually. When a powerful man with military bearing rides up looking as if he wants to come in and count the silver, she turns him away, but her heart sinks. She can’t deny Rob Benson his property; she can only try to make him love the place as she does, for her peoples’ sake. A traitorous corner of her heart wishes Rob would love it for her sake.
His life is London; hers is Ashmead. How can they forge something lasting when they are torn in two directions?
Kiss of the Lyon
Meara Platt - 2021
unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON'S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives... and loves.He was only supposed to win the high stakes game of chance, not a bride along with it.Lord Matthew Lyon is often called upon by the Crown because of his mathematical brilliance, and participating in a high stakes game of chance at the notorious Lyon’s Den should have been the easy part of his assignment...only it goes terribly wrong. He wins the pot, as expected since his probability calculations never fail. But no one calculated on his winning the hand of Lady Danielle Haverfield, daughter of the Earl of Haverfield, the prime suspect in a treason plot against the Crown and the very man he is assigned to bring down.
She was only trying to stop her brother from gambling his life away.
Lady Danielle Haverfield knew she did not belong in the Lyon’s Den, but she had to stop her brother before he gambled away his entire inheritance. Not only did she fail to stop him, but she’s ruined her life as well. Lady Dove-Lyon will not allow her brother to go unpunished, even though the handsome Scottish lord who’s wiped him out is willing to forgive the debt. But the Black Widow of Whitehall has a fearsome reputation to maintain. Someone is going to have to pay for her brother’s inability to pay up, and she’s decided it is to be Danielle. Well, the handsome Scot could have asked for her only for the one night, but he’s proposed marriage instead.
Can their love survive his secrets and her father’s betrayal?
The Lyon's Den in Winter
Whitney Blake - 2020
unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON'S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives... and loves.Viola Black is not conventional — she dresses as a man to sell her sought-after plays to London companies. She's lucky. Her father, wily solicitor Malcolm Black, turns a benevolent blind eye to her habits. That is, until one frigid night, when she’s cornered by ruffians. While Viola tries to dismiss the incident as a hazard of London life, Papa is more alarmed. She senses there is far more he's not telling her.But she's keeping something to herself, too. Though she was shaken by her attack, she also had the good fortune of running into Dr. Duncan Neilson — whom she can't banish from her head. When Papa insists the Black Widow of Whitehall find her a husband, Viola balks. None of the eligible bachelors will be the magnetic Dr. Neilson, for a start.Then he walks into the Black Widow’s parlor, charming and enigmatic as ever.But before the two can benefit from fate or providence, Viola is abducted and becomes entangled in an old feud she knew nothing about. Papa has been concealing his past from her, and it involves the same underworld as the Black Widow’s.As Viola keeps a level head and contemplates escape, her unexpected fiancée is working with her father to bring her home. Does love wait for her on the other side of intrigue and deception?
She dearly wants to find out, and she’s certain that even her plays are less dramatic than all this...
One Night with an Earl
Tina Gabrielle - 2021
She’s no stranger to fake identities, having posed as a chaperone since the scandal that destroyed her titled family. So she dons a mask, changes into a low-cut red gown, and attends the city’s most elite brothel, the Silver Chalice.Oliver Bedford, the imposing Earl of Drake, is only at the Silver Chalice to appease his debauched friends—until he spots Lady Scarlet. She’s refreshing...and a complete mystery. Certain she’s a lady in disguise, Oliver is determined to learn her identity, but she eludes him at every turn.The night with Oliver was unforgettable. But when he arrives at her employer’s home, she’s horrified to discover her lover is the Earl of Drake, the son of the man responsible for her father’s death and subsequent family ruin. And that he’s there to court her young charge.Oliver never had any interest in the debutante, but he is drawn to her chaperone—a woman he soon realizes is his Lady Scarlet. Now that he’s found her, she claims she wants nothing to do with him, even though her kisses say otherwise. Fortunately, Oliver is not one to give up when he finds something he wants...and he wants Ana. In his bed, and in his life. Forever. But first, he must persuade her to trust him—and to believe that one wild, passionate night can turn into forever.
The Earl of Excess
Anna St. Claire - 2021
Claire!Colonel Matthew Romney, a favored son with the British military, is gravely wounded during the Battle of New Orleans. With most available British forces dead and his weak pleas for help muffled beneath the dead soldier he lies below, the British report him missing in the aftermath.Bethany Phillips and her dog visit the Villeré Plantation’s gardens searching for herbs and food and unexpectedly become caught in the crossfire of grapeshot and cannon fire and forced to take cover until the battle ends. When the smoke clears, Bethany follows the sound of a man’s moans and pulls him from beneath a pile of dead soldiers being readied for a mass grave. Bethany saves Matthew’s life but, in doing so, threatens her heart and her own life.Against all odds, sparks fly between Matthew and Bethany. A hired investigator for his father finds Matthew and encourages him to journey home. Matthew and Bethany leave the safety of her home and travel a dangerous path through the wilderness of America and across a ravaged, war-torn ocean to reach his family.
Can their romance survive the dangers and uncertainty that follow them?
Hyacinth
Chasity Bowlin - 2019
"You are simply mine. And I am yours... always."
Ian Blake, Lord Dumbarton, is either being haunted or going mad. But when his aged, spinster cousin arrives at his ancestral home, Dubhmara, with a young and achingly beautiful companion in tow, he knows what she's about—matchmaking. No matter how tempting he finds the lovely and seemingly delicate Hyacinth Collier, the strange circumstances surrounding the disappearance and presumed death of his first wife have left him in a state of limbo. He is not free to marry, and she is not the sort to be a mistress. But then the darkness that surrounds him, that torments him nightly, sets its sights on Hyacinth, and Ian realizes he will face any foe, no matter how terrifying, to save the woman he loves.(Note: This story was first published as part of the USA Today Bestselling Boxed set, The Midnight Hour: All Hallows' Brides, October 2019)
Lady Mary's Dangerous Encounter
Cheryl Bolen - 2021
Lady Mary Beresford has impetuously set off on her own for Vienna. Vexed with the headstrong woman he’s yet to meet, Stephen despairs of ever catching up with the maddening lady. They eventually meet at an inn in the Alps, where the guests’ progress has been impeded by two matters: a blizzard—and Lady Mary’s refusal to leave until she’s found an elderly fellow traveler who has disappeared.Mary’s infuriated that everyone at the inn is in a conspiracy to deny the woman ever existed and to imply Mary invented her. Just when every person at the inn is against her, the handsome Lord Stephen arrives and becomes her champion.
Stephen doesn’t tell her he’s been sent by her brother, nor does he actually believe her preposterous story. Until there’s an attempt on her life...
Lyon Eyes
Lynne Connolly - 2021
unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON'S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives... and loves.Heiress to a fortune, Jenny Hambling needs a husband, before she is made to marry a man she despises. The Lyon’s Den is her only option to buy a husband fast.But she runs into the last man she wants to meet, Miles, The Duke of Goldthorpe. He ruined Jenny’s debut by calling her a Mill Girl. Now he will ruin her bargain with his friend.Three years ago, Miles saw Jenny and tumbled head over heels in love. Doubting his feelings, he called her a name he later regretted, but he arrived at her house too late to apologize. Jenny had gone home. Philosophically, Miles put the whole incident down to a brief infatuation and went on with his life. But infuriatingly, he could never forget her.Now, he can do no less than make amends for her disastrous first season.Thrown together, Jenny and Miles find their attraction as strong as ever. But their lives have moved on, and they find themselves in a new place. Miles is a duke with all the pomp and responsibility that entails. Jenny has an industrial empire to manage in the north. The obstacles seem too great.
But are they really?
The Scandalous Lyon
Maggi Andersen - 2020
unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON'S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives... and loves.
A match made in heaven. If he was sure of anything, it was this!
Love can be found in the strangest of places… Lord Jason Glazebrook has no plans to settle down. He will not inherit for several years, and worse, he is at odds with his brother, Charles, Duke of Shewsbury, who believes him capable of a dangerous, dishonorable act. To escape the tension at home, Jason spends many hours at his club, the Lyon’s Den in Whitehall. When the unscrupulous matchmaker, Mrs. Bessie Dove-Lyon introduces him to a debutante, Miss Beverly Crabtree, Jason considers the beautiful young lady perfect for a dalliance, and invites her to ride with him in Hyde Park. When he discovers Beverly is a gently reared girl, he is determined not to see her again. But he cannot forget her and allows Dove-Lyon to draw him back into her net. Despite his brother’s warning, Jason refuses to relinquish the lovely Miss Crabtree’s company. He senses she is in trouble and wants to help. And much more. He has never met a woman he wanted for his own…until he met Beverly. But so much stands in their way. It is only a matter of time before shame and disgrace befall the Crabtree family. While her worried mother seeks a wealthy suitor for her, Beverly tries to deny her feelings for Jason. The noble Shewsburys will never accept her as his wife. Jason’s plan may be a possible way out of her troubles. With few options left to her, and the lure of spending days in his company, Beverly is determined to take the chance.
Their journey into the countryside to mend a family rift might bring closure, or it could go horribly wrong.
(Note: This is an introductory novella to the Never Series - Never Doubt a Duke, Book One, coming soon!) The Lyon's Den Connected World Into The Lyon's Den The Scandalous Lyon