Book picks similar to
Holt's Gamble by Barbara Ankrum


western
historical
romance
historical-romance

The Seduction of Lord Stone


Anna Campbell - 2015
     Caroline, Lady Beaumont, arrives in London seeking excitement after ten dreary years of marriage and an even drearier year of mourning. That means conquering society, dancing like there’s no tomorrow, and taking a lover to provide passion without promises. Promises, in this dashing widow’s dictionary, equal prison. So what is an adventurous lady to do when she loses her heart to a notorious rake who, for the first time in his life, wants forever? Devilish Silas Nash, Viscount Stone is in love at last with a beautiful, headstrong widow bent on playing the field. Worse, she’s enlisted his help to set her up with his disreputable best friend. No red-blooded man takes such a challenge lying down, and Silas schemes to seduce his darling into his arms, warm, willing and besotted. But will his passionate plots come undone against a woman determined to act the mistress, but never the wife?

To Catch A Spinster


Megan Bryce - 2012
    She has her studies and her duties, what need does she have of a husband? With five sisters married she knows the reality does not live up to the promise, and does not need to personally experiment with the state to know she would be ill-suited to it. However, she finds herself envious of at least one aspect of marriage. But to experience the physical side of marriage, one doesn't need a husband, all one needs is the right man...Nathaniel Jenkins knows his duty. Marry a young girl from a respectable family and father an heir, no matter how cold the endless parade of suitable girls leaves him. But a shocking proposal from a scholarly spinster leaves him wondering if unsuitable is just what he's looking for. Can he convince his spinster that marriage is the greatest experiment of all?

Once Upon a Duke


Erica Ridley - 2018
    As soon as he rights his family legacy, he'll return to London where he belongs. He definitely won't rekindle the forbidden spark crackling between him and the irresistible spitfire he'd left behind...Noelle Pratchett is immune to charming rakehells like the arrogant duke. He stole her heart, stole her first kiss, and then stole away one night never to return. Now he's back—and so are all the old feelings. Noelle knows he won't stay. But how can she maintain her icy shields when every heated glance melts her to her core?

Once a Mistress


Rebecca Hagan Lee - 2001
    Determined to honor the outrageous request, Drew returns home to bury his father and is stunned to find living on the grounds of Swanslea Park the one woman whose charms he could never resist. Kathryn Stafford abandoned Drew at the altar six years before and vanished in a cloud of mystery. She had hoped her feelings for him would fade, but when she comes face-to-face with the gorgeous new marquess, she discovers they have only deepened. Drew is determined to keep his distance from the woman he believes to have been one of his father’s mistress. But every yearning glance and sizzling touch draws him closer to Kathryn…and to the scandalous secret that drove them apart. Book 1 of the “Mistresses of the Marquess” Series, which includes ONCE A MISTRESS, ALWAYS A LADY and EVER A PRINCESS. “An emotional, sensual tale!”—Romance Reviews Today “Once a Mistress is filled with passion and tenderness. Will bring a smile and a few tears to its readers.”—Romantic Times “Tender, enthralling romance straight from the heart!”—Eloisa James, New York Times bestselling author “Rebecca Hagan Lee warms my heart and touches my soul. She’s a star in the making!”—Sabrina Jeffries, New York Times bestselling author “Rebecca Hagan Lee taps into every woman’s fantasy!”—Christina Dodd, New York Times bestseller “Rebecca Hagan Lee is a writer on the rise!”—Romantic Times

Nobody's Darling


Teresa Medeiros - 1998
    Lucky for him, she's a mighty poor shot. Instead of killing him, she hires him to find her runaway brother. He should turn down her offer. He should resist her charms. But he doesn't. Because there comes a time in every man's life when he's got nothing left to lose...but his heart.

Texas Bride


Joan Johnston - 2012
    Now marriage to a stranger is her only hope of finding a home where she and her two younger brothers can escape the brutality of the Chicago orphanage where they live. With any luck, she can even start a family of her own, once the three of them are settled at Jacob Creed’s Texas ranch. But Miranda has one gigantic concern: Her husband-to-be knows nothing about the brothers she’s bringing along. What if he calls off the deal when he discovers the trick she’s played on him?Jake Creed is hanging on to his Texas ranch by his fingernails. His nemesis, Alexander Blackthorne, is determined to ruin him. Jake will never give up, but he’s in desperate trouble. His wife died six months ago in childbirth, along with their stillborn son, and his two-year-old daughter needs a mother. The advertisement Jake wrote never mentioned his daughter—or the fact that he has no intention of consummating his marriage. He’s determined never to subject another wife to the burden of pregnancy. But Jake doesn't count on finding his bride so desirable. He doesn't count on aching with need when she joins him in bed. And he never suspected his bride would have plans of her own to seduce him.

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.

A Wedding in Springtime


Amanda Forester - 2013
    Now Eugenia is ruined and had better marry—someone, anyone—at once...And His Couldn't Be Better...Roguish William Grant has never taken anything seriously in his life. Until he meets Eugenia Talbot, who makes him feel and do thing he never thought he would.Now Eugenia's great sense of humor and kindheartedness may be her undoing, unless William can help her find a husband. To his surprise, that's the last thing he wants to do...

The Officer and the Bostoner


Rose Gordon - 2013
    Allison Pearson is a well-to-do young lady traveling by stagecoach from her home in Boston to meet her intended in Santa Fe, but instead finds herself stranded in a military fort in the middle of Indian Territory when her stagecoach leaves without her.Given the choice to either temporarily marry an officer until her intended can come rescue her or take her chances with the indians, she marries the glib Captain Wes Tucker, who unbeknownst to her, grew up in a wealthy Charleston family and despises everything she represents.But when it's time for her beau to reclaim her and for Allison and Wes to annul their marriage, will she want to go with him, and more importantly, will Wes let her?

The Warrior's Wife


Denise Hampton - 2001
    His kisses awaken her heart and her body in ways she never dreamed possible.Rafe Godsol is determined to take Kate to avenge his father's death and reclaim property stolen by Kate's family. When he discovers the daughter of his foe could be the wife of his heart when he never expected to marry, he'll defy anyone who tries to take her from him, be that her father, his king...or even the lady herself.

Heart of a Knight


Barbara Samuel - 1997
    After an arduous exile to flee the darkness and danger sweeping her lands, Lady Elizabeth D'Auvers returns home to Woodell Castle, yearning only for her looms and her quiet life. To her astonishment, she finds the castle and farmlands thriving, thanks to Lord Thomas of Roxburgh, a knight errant whose size and strength offer protection to Elizabeth's castle and its people. Yet chilling thoughts trouble her mind--for there is something mysterious about this man.

Cold Night, Warm Stranger


Jill Gregory - 1999
    It was cold, quiet, and lonely--until a rugged gunslinger blew in from the storm demanding shelter. Just for this night--this wild, stormy night--Maura wanted someone, something. Recklessly, she abandoned herself in his arms, knowing he would be gone by morning. The last thing she ever expected was the need that drove her into the wilderness . . . to find the stranger who haunted her dreams. . . . A hot, dangerous devil...He was the fastest gun in the West, a man who feared nothing until he met the woman who touched his heart. Quinn Lassiter didn't even recognize Maura when she cornered him in a distant saloon months later. Never in his wildest dreams did he see himself married--until he said the words that made her his wife. He was determined to do the right thing by the woman he'd wronged, but he'd never reckoned on falling in love with her. . . .

Her Dakota Man


Lisa Mondello - 2013
    She'd left South Dakota years ago because she couldn't bear to watch the man she loved loving another woman. But now she knows the truth. She'll keep the promise she made to a friend, but will Logan understand when he learns the truth? More important, can they again recapture the passion that had been between them all those years ago? He needed to face the past to get the love of a woman he thought he'd lost... Everyone knows that the Dakotas didn't get the name Badlands for nothing. Harsh weather and rough living are a way of life. But single dad, Logan McKinnon, had seen more than his share of bad times after the death of his wife a year ago. The last thing he needs is Poppy Ericksen, an old flame and his late wife's best friend, showing up unannounced to help after devastating floods nearly washed away their hometown. With no place to stay in town, he has no choice but to offer her a bed at his house. But can he live under the same roof with a woman he'd once loved passionately without feeling he's betraying his late wife?

The Measure of Katie Calloway


Serena B. Miller - 2011
    To protect herself and her young brother from her violent and unstable husband, she flees north, finding anonymity and sanctuary as the cook in a Northwoods lumber camp. The camp owner, Robert Foster, wonders if the lovely woman he's hired has the grit to survive the never-ending work and harsh conditions of a remote pine forest in winter. Katie wonders if she can keep her past a secret from a man she is slowly growing to love.With grace and skill, Serena Miller brings to life a bygone era. From the ethereal, snowy forest and the warm cook-stove to the rowdy shanty boys and the jagged edges of the saw, every detail is perfectly rendered, transporting the reader back to the time when pine was king, men were made of iron, and rivers were choked with logs on the way to the sawmills. Readers will have a hard time leaving the Northwoods when they turn the last page.

From a Distance


Tamera Alexander - 2008
    and the secret you've spent a lifetime guarding is finally laid bare? Determined to become one of the country's premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life.Daniel Ranslett is a man shackled by his Confederate past, and he'll do anything to protect his land, and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures an image that appears key to solving a murder, putting herself in danger, Daniel is called upon to repay a debt. He's a man of his word, but repaying that debt could reveal secrets from his past he would prefer remain buried.Forced on a perilous journey together, Daniel and Elizabeth's lives intertwine in ways neither could have imagined when first they met from a distance.