Book picks similar to
Fiery Possesion by Margaret Tanner


historical-romance
australia
historical
bully

Divine Moves


Ellyn Oaksmith - 2013
    Meryl Howe thinks she's outrun her trailer trash past with a prosperous husband, private schools for her children and winning, after much kowtowing to the elite, the chairmanship of Seattle Children's Hospital Guild. But one horrible night her world and her marriage and her life implodes. Just when Meryl thinks things have hit rock bottom, her estranged mother blows in from Vegas with plans to save her daughter's marriage. After four years of sobriety, Faye's brought along Hot Jesus - a saintly apparition who rides shotgun in her life. Faye, a former stripper and veteran of multiple marriages, plans on talking her daughter into opening an exotic dance and fitness studio. But Meryl has other plans. She's falling for a Sheriff who is accusing her of crimes she didn't commit. Mostly. As Faye steamrolls ahead, Meryl must learn a few of her mother's sexy moves in order to shake the sad memories of her past.

Jason and Keanne


Marian Tee - 2014
     Jason is the man who saved me from self-destruction, the man who knows all my secrets, and now the man whose broken heart I ache to heal. Jason does not see me as a woman, does not believe I can truly love him, and does not think he is capable of loving any other woman than the one he lost to his brother. In an all-out bid to win his love, I accept Jason’s challenge. For him to give me a chance to own his heart, he demands that I do everything he wants, and what he wants is for me to realize that someone out there is better for me. Too late I realize that Jason also thinks someone out there is better for him – but it is not me…and it might never be me.

Drive Me To Distraction


Caitlyn Nicholas - 2012
    Alex Radford has a choice – borrow the money to treat her mother’s rare and aggressive cancer from sleazy moneylender Hamish MacCameron. Or do nothing and watch her die.MacCameron has an agenda. He wants Alex in his bed, and he wants her to help him exact revenge on his sworn enemy, Robert Dryden. He is only too happy to lend her what she needs, but the strings attached form a tangled web from which Alex has little hope of escape.It’s not all bad. Since she was a girl Alex has had one dream: to become a Formula 1 driver and show the boys how to drive a race car. MacCameron’s money gives her a shot at fame, and in a move that scandalizes the F1 racing fraternity she becomes the new driver for Rob Dryden’s struggling F1 team, Prometheus.Alex tries to keep her distance from Rob, knowing that one day she will need to betray one of the few people who ever had faith in her. But things begin to unravel when Hamish MacCameron is murdered and she and Rob are the top suspects on the list …

Mr Cavell's Diamond


Kathleen McGurl - 2014
    He is in possession of a large diamond, given to him in India, which he vows he will give to the woman he loves – when he finds her, that is. Jemima Brown, sixteen, good-hearted and hard-working, comes to work for him as a general maidservant. When Mr Cavell stands up for her against the unwanted attentions of some tradesmen working in his house, she sees at once that here is a man of high morals and integrity. But it is Caroline Simpson, daughter of Henry’s house-painter, who catches his eye. She may be socially his inferior, but she is good-looking, flirtatious and knows how to use her charms. She manipulates Henry into marrying her, and only the loyal Jemima knows he’s been tricked. How can Jemima fight her growing feelings for her master, maintain her morals and stay in Mr Cavell’s employment, despite her mistress’s increasingly erratic behaviour?

A Year and A Day


Stephanie Sterling - 2012
    There is just one problem- he needs a wife first.Ewan has never thought to marry and he's hardly a man to be tied down to one woman for the rest of his life. Luckily for him, the old Clan Cameron traditions offer the perfect solution: a handfasting. Ewan can have a year of marriage- long enough to sire his son- and then he and his wife can go their seperate ways.Cait Everleigh is the perfect temporary bride. She is only a servant, but Ewan has known her almost his entire life. He knows everything about her- from her lowly English origins to her bookish hopes and dreams. There's only one thing that Ewan has missed- Cait has been in love with him for years!A half-English castle maid knows better than to dream of a life with the man who is next in line to be Clan Cameron's Laird, or at least she thinks that she does, until she gets a taste of life as Ewan's wife.Can this dream become their reality?NOTE: This book contains scenes of sensuality and is not appropriate for readers under age 18 .

Mellington Hall


Meredith Resce - 2011
    In her parents’ absence, she struggles against a deadly fever and a vicious snow-storm, doing her best to save the life of a stranger.But when her self-righteous neighbours eventually come to see how she fared during the storm, they draw a very different conclusion, and before she knows it, her reputation is in tatters, and she has been cast out of the church and her home.Alone and destitute, Sarah is determined to seek work as a servant from the man whose life she has saved. But all is not well for the master of Mellington Hall. Someone wants Lord Alan Mellington dead, and he doesn’t know who or why. The only person he seems to be able to trust is the gamekeeper’s daughter, Sarah Montgomery, who has intervened to save his life not once but twice. This story blending mystery, scandal, murder and romance comes from one of Australia’s best-loved authors, Meredith Resce.

Emerald Desire


Lynette Vinet - 1985
    But Quint is not one to be tied down by the shackles of love.To spite her faithless lover, Dera impulsively marries the haughty and imperious Lord Avery Fairfax, Quint's notorious enemy. Yet even after Avery is murdered and Quint is suspected of the heinous deed, Dera's heart yearns again for the love and passion she shared with Quint.Can old hurts be forgiven and forgotten in time for Quint and Dera to reclaim their emerald desire?

That's a Promise


Victoria Klahr - 2013
    I’ve been to hell only to find it never really leaves when you get back. It haunts me through nightmares, unrequited love, lies, broken hearts, and now death. A monster almost took my life.My best friend carries half my soul a world away. My boyfriend broke my heart but refuses to let me go. And my father is dead.I don’t believe in fate and I don’t believe in happily-ever-afters, but for some reason, I still hope. Live, even with a tainted spirit.Long for my other half to come back to me. Risk another broken heart, just to feel loved again. And refuse to let another horror break me. In the face of my most recent tragedy, I have to decide whether forgiveness is something I can give. But even if that’s an option, can I be forgiven?(That's a Promise is book 1 in a 3 part series, and the new/ updated version will be available 10-10-2014)

Fearless


Nicola Claire - 2015
    Brilliant. A Liability?Doctor Anna Cassidy has been trained by the best; the former Chief Surgeon for the Auckland Police Force. She knows how to dissect a body. She knows how to treat any ailment. And she knows how to find a cause of death. But society is not ready for a female surgeon.Fighting for what she believes in has been ingrained in Anna since she was a young child. But the battles she faces now are not all based on equality. A murderer stalks her fellow Suffragettes and the police inspector in charge of the case could be Anna's downfall.Experienced. Dedicated. Something to hide?Inspector Andrew Kelly holds duty and honour in the highest regard. His role as a detective proves just that; he never stops until justice is served. Love is something he has forsaken, for reasons he'd rather you didn't know.But Anna is not a woman a man can ignore.Fighting his instincts with cold determination is something Kelly has become accustomed to. But a murderer is loose in his adopted city, bringing memories to the fore of a killer who walked in the shadows of Whitechapel, and shining light on a dark past the Inspector is trying hard to forget.A gritty, twisted, and authentic Victorian romantic suspense, sure to rip you apart... just like old Jack.

Undertow


Elizabeth O'Roark - 2013
    It almost seems like enough until Nate Sullivan comes home. Nate – her childhood best friend, her first love. The boy who left without a trace one night and broke her heart. When their attraction threatens the future she and her parents have so carefully crafted, loyalties will be tested and secrets will be uncovered. Giving in may cost her everything. But how do you resist the only thing you’ve ever really wanted?

Loving From Afar


Mona Ingram - 2013
    Ten years later, he returns home, telling himself he will avoid the woman who broke his heart.But nothing goes as planned. Can Allison and Cole forget the past and come to terms with the events that tore them apart?

Coming Home


Gwen Kirkwood - 2014
    Victory over Japan has been announced and everyone in Megan Oliphant’s home town in Scotland is celebrating the end of the war. The boys are 'Coming Home'. Megan has been waiting desperately for the day when Steven Caraford, the best friend of her older brother, finally returns. After long correspondence during Steven's time away - and after supporting each other through her brother's death - Megan can only hope her feelings for him are mutual. Steven has longed for the day when he can return home to Scotland, and – although it will mean long days, little money and no security – his heart’s desire is to have a farm of his own. While Megan heads off for college, Steven struggles to build up his new home - and both must try to work out what the other is feeling about their future together. Coming Home is a moving romantic drama about building a new life after the Second World War - and about searching for love, stability and happiness. Praise for Gwen Kirkwood: 'A gripping read' - Robert Foster, best-selling author of The Lunar Code Gwen Kirkwood is the author of sixteen Scottish novels and six shorter romantic novellas, including A Question of Love. She won the Elizabeth Goudge Trophy, judged by Richard Lee, when it was re-introduced to mark the millennium in 2000. She lives in Scotland.

A Touch of Silver


Lynne Connolly - 2019
    He was happier living in seclusion with his sisters. About to become betrothed to the icy daughter of a duke, he meets the vibrant, alluring Annie, who captivates his heart. But if he gives in to his desires, he risks a happy ending for his sisters, and they deserve their chances.Annie Cathcart is a widow from the City of London. Finally, she has the chance to achieve her dream of creating silverware for the table. But she needs Gerald's old Shoreditch home to do it. Expecting a stuffy, pompous aristocrat, she meets a man who sees right through her practical exterior to the passionate woman beneath. She wants him more than the house, her respectability, and her independence.Annie and Gerald are faced with stark choices when her landlord tries to blackmail her into marriage. Either they give in to the pressures forcing them into unhappy respectability apart... or they boldly defy convention in the name of love.

Mine to Tell


Colleen L. Donnelly - 2013
    Many years earlier, after an unexplained absence, Julianne was relegated to a separate home by a rigidly unforgiving husband, and the Crouse women have suffered the disgrace of her assumed guilt ever since. Despite her family's strong disapproval, Annabelle is driven to pursue her mission through cobwebs and dust, finding the clues and the coded story left behind by her great-grandmother -- Why did she go? And why did she return? Annabelle has to know. Only one person, a man she grew up with but never noticed, stands with Annabelle as she discovers the parallels between her story and her great-grandmother's--two women, generations apart, experiencing what love truly is.

The Scandalous Miss Howard


Nan Ryan - 2002
    He had trusted the girl who promised to wait for him. He had trusted the friend who betrayed him. Now, he has come home to Alabama to avenge what they stole from him: his heart, his soul, his world.Laurette Howard, too, lost her innocence in the cruelest of ways—with news that the boy she loved had died in the war. After a loveless marriage, she contented herself with caring for the sick, knowing her own heart could not be healed.Then, Sutton Vane arrived in Mobile, shattering her composure, releasing the wanton, passionate woman that had been locked away. She surrendered totally to a passion so scandalous, it could only be destiny. But was it a passion calculated to destroy her or deliver the sweet promise of a love that refused to die?