Book picks similar to
The Black Pearl by Francine Craft


historical-romance
romance
historical-fiction
african-american-historical-romance

One Snowy Night


Rita Bradshaw - 2019
    Or so she thinks. An unimaginable betrayal by those she loves causes her to flee her home and family one snowy night. Crushed and heartbroken, Ruby vows that despite the odds stacked against her she will not only survive, but one day will show the ones she left behind that she’s succeeded in making something of herself. Brave words, but the reality is far from easy. Dangers Ruby could never have foreseen and more tragedy threaten her new life, and love always seems just out of reach. Can a happy ending ever be hers?

Windswept


Fran McNabb - 2012
    Her rescuer, the dashing Captain Slader, is a wrecker who specializes in salvaging cargo from sunken vessels. As a native New Englander, Virginia grew up in wealth but felt most comfortable on the docks, among the ships. This special connection to the sea is one of the few things the privileged heiress and the rugged captain share. But mixed with the captain’s handsome looks, could this passion be enough to drive Virginia’s marriage plans off course?Captain John Slader is no stranger to the winds of change himself. He’d once lost the thing he held most dear: his family. But now that those same winds have sent him the lovely Virginia, will he risk his heart yet again? Virginia’s fiancé, an up-and-coming politician, may be able to offer her a world of wealth and comfort—but could he cherish her as John would, with a love as boundless as the ocean itself?

In Honour Bound


Elizabeth Bailey - 2019
     Can a free-spirited tomboy learn to fit in with respectable society…? 1799, Suffolk When her father dies in battle, seventeen-year-old Isolde Cavanagh is forced to rely on the protection of an old family friend. But when she arrives at the imposing estate of Bawdsey Grange it seems her would-be guardian has died. And his son Richard de Baudresey has never heard of her. To remain at the Grange, Richard insists Isolde learns to fit in with high society. But having grown up in military camps, tomboy Isolde has no interest in becoming a lady. Can Isolde bend her will to please her guardian? Will Richard learn to accept her as she is? Or will the dark secrets bubbling below the surface threaten their growing bond? IN HONOUR BOUND is the first book in the Brides By Chance Regency Adventures series, an enchanting set of Regency romances set in Georgian England. THE BRIDES BY CHANCE REGENCY ADVENTURE SERIES BOOK ONE: In Honour Bound BOOK TWO: A Chance Gone By BOOK THREE: Knight For A Lady

Golden Girls


Elvi Rhodes - 1988
    The day came when she was so hungry, so tired and worried, that she was reduced to going to Akersfield market and asking Dick Fletcher for help - Dick who had loved her years ago, who was now running his own successful market garden - and who was engaged to someone else. It was Dick who took her back home to her village in the dales, gave her a job, helped her to gain her self-respect again. But the time came when she knew she must stand on her own - make a life for herself and her daughters without him, and use all her courage and determination to become successful. It was to take many years, and all the tragedy of the 1914 war before Eleanor was able to repay Dick Fletcher for the great debt she owed him.

An Unconventional Officer


Lynn Bryant - 2017
     An Unconventional Officer’ is the story of Paul van Daan, younger son of the wealthy owner of a shipping line, who joins the 110th Infantry as an ambitious junior officer and travels to India in 1802 to serve under a young and relatively inexperienced general with a reputation to make. The book charts Paul’s early career from a junior lieutenant in India through the wars in Europe to Portugal and Spain. A talented and charismatic leader of men, he needs to learn to curb his temper and adjust to the rigid army hierarchy in order to rise in his chosen profession. On the way he makes enduring friendships forged on the battlefields of India and Europe and builds an unexpected bond with the difficult, unemotional commander of the Peninsular army, Sir Arthur Wellesley. There are many women in Paul’s life but only two who touch his heart. Rowena Summers, a shy young governess straight from a charity school. Serene and gentle, her love and companionship give Paul a stability he had not known he lacked. Anne Howard the extraordinary daughter of a wealthy manufacturer who marries a fellow officer and changes everything Paul thought he knew about women. Amidst the violence and tragedy of the war against Napoleon an unforgettable love story unfolds which affects the lives of everybody it touches and changes the 110th forever. This is the first book in the Peninsular War series which tells the story of the men and women of the 110th infantry, a regiment like no other in Wellington’s army.

Persuaded & Rescued: The Heir's Lady in Shining Armour


Bree Wolf - 2020
    A knight in distress.
 And a dark night in London.Maryann Hayes has set her sights on marrying Lord Hefferton, a kind, respectable gentleman, who promises to be the solution to her family’s financial problems. After her drunkard of an uncle gambled away the family’s fortune, debtors are now knocking on their door. The only solution is a respectable marriage to a wealthy man.

Admittedly, once upon a time, Maryann dreamed of love and passion, of the one man who would sweep her off her feet, see with one glance what lived in her heart and was willing to risk everything to win her hand.

Now, as a grown woman, Maryann is determined to face facts: love is nothing but a fairy-tale, and she better ought to forget those girlish dreams.

Leopold Lancaster, the future Marquess of Elmridge, finds himself rather intimidated by the title he is to inherit. Not only does the thought of losing his beloved father break his heart, but he also fears disappointing all those who depend upon him for their livelihood.In a dark moment, Leopold ends up drunk and rather unsteady upon his feet on the streets of London at night. He can barely see straight, let alone remember where he lives, when he stumbles upon an angel in disguise.

Rather heroically, the young lady comes to his rescue, and Leopold is surprised to find a kindred spirit as those bright blue eyes look into his. When they finally part ways, he is determined to seek her out, knowing he has to see her again.

Unfortunately, when he does, Leopold is forced to realize that the lady is already promised to wed another.
If you like regency romances with a touch of mystery, a dash of humour as well as deep, heartfelt emotions, then you’ll love this installment of Bree Wolf’s Love’s Second Chance Series. Grab Persuaded and Rescued, get a cup of tea, settle into your favorite reading spot and start this swoon-worthy romance now!

I'll Be Seeing You


Rosie Archer - 2021
    Three women become friends when working in their local picture house. When life is so tough for everyone, a trip to the pictures is the perfect way to escape, to dream of romance and hope for the good things peace will bring.It is 1943 on England's war-weary south coast where the conflict seems never-ending. After the heartache of the previous year, Connie Baxter now appears to have everything a girl could want. There is Ace, a man who loves her. She enjoys an enviable lifestyle despite the deprivations of war. She has friends and a job she adores as an usherette at the Criterion cinema. But appearances can be deceptive and Connie is struggling in more ways than one.Then, to compound Connie's problem, her nemesis, Cousin Marlene, returns home. Secrets come to light, revealing jealousies that could shatter Connie's world once more, and Connie realizes that Ace isn't the man she thought he was.In the darkest days of war, the glamour of movies and their stars can lift the bleakest of moods, while friends make the good times better and the bad times bearable.

A Bet to Wed the Duke: Historical Regency Romance


Lisa Campell - 2020
    

Here Will I Remain (New Hope, #1)


Gretchen Craig - 2016
    "Take some water," one of them said. Catherine shoved the cup aside, afraid she'd be sick. The floor rocked. The air smelled of the sea. She clambered to her feet, staggering, and fought the panic threatening to overwhelm her. He'd put her aboard a ship. Unlike the other women aboard ship, Catherine de Villeroy had assumed Fate intended her to live an aristocratic life of ease and luxury. Instead she is transported to a fetid jungle to be tied to a secretive stranger who reeks of pigs. Catherine's shipmate Marie Claude has had few expectations in life, and even they have been disappointed. When her only options become prostitution or starvation, Fate decrees she will become the wife of a stranger in a strange land. Even if her new husband is a cruel man, how can life not be better in this rough paradise of alligators and wild orchids? Agnes expected a life spent in her father's bookstore, perhaps married to a gentle, scholarly man. Betrayed and ruined, Agnes retreats into herself and hardly notices when she is transported to Louisiana. Married to a stranger who desires only an amenable bed partner, Agnes strives to stay present in her new life and to explore what more Fate allows a ruined woman.

THE DRIFTER'S CHRISTMAS


Cia Leah - 2014
    He never had a place to call home. While camping out one night, hoping to find the next town, he had a feeling he was being watched. He ignored his instincts and went to sleep to wake up in the morning with a splitting headache from being hit on the head, and his horse, food, and saddlebags stolen. Following the footsteps left behind by the thieves, he found it led to a cabin and to a patchwork family in dire need of help. Sadie Carman lost her pa and took in two boys and a little girl that needed her to care for them. The boys were a trial, but she loved them like her own children. When Stryker Steele showed up at her door and told her that someone stole his horse and belongings, she was worried the boys had something to do with it. She agreed to let him stay until he could figure out what to do, but she never figured that he would give them a Christmas like they never had and forgive the boys for what they did. She worried Stryker would leave and she wished he'd stay forever.

Nightingale (Crimson Romance)


Sharon Ervin - 2013
    Two years younger than Queen Victoria, Jessica is the well-educated daughter of a deceased professor. Sole support of her widowed mother and avoiding an unacceptable marriage prospect, Jessica has secretly collected a flock of cast-off hens, and is supplementing her income hoping to improve her future.Jessica is alarmed when horsemen race headlong through the twilight on the footpath she has inadvertently cut to the henhouse. She stops the charge short of disaster to find the threat is not many horses, but one magnificent, riderless runaway. Ignorant of the dangers in handling an overwrought stallion, Jessica calms the animal. She calls him “Sweetness.”Backtracking, Jessica finds the missing rider, twenty-eight-year-old Devlin Miracle, the arrogant Twelfth Duke of Fornay, badly injured, and waiting for daylight. But, for this aristocrat, there will be no daylight. His injuries have left him blind.Struggling against their disparities, Devlin and Jessica resist, but sometimes love will not be ignored.Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors

Finding Allie


Delaney Cameron - 2015
    A gently-bred female doesn’t offer herself to a stranger. If she does, she must be willing to accept the consequences. But what if among those consequences is one she hadn’t expected? Nicholas Ashton knows all too well what awaits him at Waverton: marriage and the inevitable heir. He is only too happy to delay his arrival by accepting an invitation from an old friend to spend a few weeks at Groome Hall. When he is thrown (literally) into Allie’s path, he begins to suspect his hitherto calm, orderly life may never be the same. Allie and Nicholas might be determined to forget their very unorthodox first meeting, but fate has other ideas. And when has fighting fate ever been easy?

Mountain Storms


Janice Cole Hopkins - 2019
    A friendly dog leads her to safety, but his master just might pose the most danger of all, especially to her heart. Wounded in the Civil War and deserted by his betrothed, Ian MacGregor becomes a recluse in a remote cabin in Wyoming Territory. He thinks Aileas might be an angel when she appears beside his sickbed, but even later, he’s drawn to her in ways he doesn’t understand. However, no woman would ever be interested in him now, and he needs to protect himself from another heartbreak, but is this even possible where Aileas is concerned? This book can be read as a standalone or part of the trilogy. It does have a definite ending, although the family's story continues.

Rory (The Rakehells of Rochester Book 3)


J.A. Templeton - 2017
    When he awakens, he’s delighted to discovery Shannon O’Connor, a stunning maid, caring for him. Aroused and intrigued by the mysterious woman, Rory is determined to find out her secrets. But first, he plans to thoroughly seduce her with the most scorching, irresistible passion. Shannon O’Connor is on the run after her parents perish in a fire meant to wipe out her entire family. The only way Shannon can survive is to work as a servant in the home of wealthy English aristocrats. When her employer’s brother, a notorious rakehell is brought to the home with a bullet wound, it is Shannon’s responsibility to care for him. Just as she becomes comfortable in her position as nursemaid to the charming rogue, the person who killed her parents arrives ready to finish the job he started. NOTE: THE RAKEHELLS OF ROCHESTER is a steamy historical romance series intended for mature readers over the age of 18.

The Governess 3


Ellise C. Weaver - 2013
    But her biggest challenge will be their father; masterful and strong in everything—especially his kiss. Poor and without dowry—and even worse—now orphaned, Miss Carly Blakemore is thrown into the Victorian world without aid. Carly is forced to seek a position as governess in the house of Lord Huntington, the Earl of Dunfordshire—a man alone in his own right—and under suspicion for the tragic murder of his well-known and adulteress wife. His governess’s honesty and forthrightness quickly offend his noble person, and he finds himself reeling from her constant evaluation of his lack of parenting skills. However, in the midst of his resentments, he finds himself strangely drawn in by her very no-nonsense ways that drive him to madness. Carly stands her ground in head-to-head battles of will that take her to the brink of dismissal. Carly and the earl continually fight the feelings growing between them. Both are oblivious to the clouds of deceit and intrigue that are growing around the manor house, some bent upon removing the beautiful, headstrong governess permanently. A final desperate chase leads to an interception of a ship upon the high seas headed for the Mediterranean and a secret society of white-slave traders, opening the way for this book’s sequel.