Book picks similar to
The Sword & the Swan by Roberta Gellis
historical-romance
romance
historical-fiction
roberta-gellis
Defy Not the Heart
Johanna Lindsey - 1989
She will never accept such bondage — and Reina offers herself to her kidnapped instead, offering to make Ranulf a great lord...if he agrees to wed her.But the brave knight desires much more than a marriage of convenience from this proud, headstrong lady who treats him with scorn yet makes his blood run hotter than liquid fire. She must come to him of her own free will — or Ranulf will take her. For the passion that consumes them both cannot long be denied — even though gravest peril surely awaits them on the heart's trail to a destines and turbulent love.
Angel in a Red Dress
Judith Ivory - 1988
He was as graceful as a panther, as confident as a lion-and as lusty as a tomcat. But no matter how much the golden-haired innocent told herself he was a rich, abhorrent womanizer, she couldn't resist his sensual, practiced advances. And even as her sweet lips protested each caress, her womanly curves eagerly welcomed his arousing embrace! AT LAST THEY LOVEDWith danger his constant companion, hot-blooded Adrien Hunt lived life to the hilt. His days were fraught with plots, pistols and swords, and his nights were filled with warm and willing wenches. But when he first saw the spirited nymph Christina Bower, even the experienced knave had to admit she was more enticing than any of his previous conquests. Ignoring her modest, prim "no," Adrien began his gentle assault on her senses, liberating her passions, setting free her inhibitions... and guaranteeing that in a moment more they'd share the magic of her Starlit Surrender!
The Fool's Tale
Nicole Galland - 2005
A time of treachery, passion, and uncertainty. King Maelgwyn ap Cadwallon, known as Noble, struggles to protect his small kingdom from foes outside and inside his borders. Pressured into a marriage of political convenience, he takes as his bride the young, headstrong Isabel Mortimer, niece of his powerful English nemesis.Through strength of character, Isabel wins her husband's grudging respect, but finds the Welsh court backward and barbaric, and is soon engaged in a battle of wills against Gwirion, the king's oldest, oddest, and most trusted friend. Before long, however, Gwirion and Isabel's mutual animosity is abruptly transformed, and the king finds himself as threatened by loved ones as by the enemies who menace his crown.A masterful novel by a gifted storyteller, The Fool's Tale combines vivid historical fiction, compelling political intrigue, and passionate romance to create an intimate drama of three individuals bound -- and undone -- by love and loyalty.
Highland Belle
Patricia Grasso - 1991
Wed by proxy to a savage Scot, the willful ward of Queen Elizabeth fled...straight into the arms of a wickedly handsome stranger, his eyes dark as midnight, his soul dark as sin. His scorching kisses, his unhold caresses ignited a blaze of forbidden desire. Only once she had surrendered body and soul would she discover his treacherous betrayal...SWEET-TALKING SCOUNDRELLord Iain MacArthur thought his amorous battle well won-with his bonnie new bride brought home to Dunridge Castel, she would obey his every wish. But the defiant beauty had escaped again! From sparkling blue lochs to Scotland's stormiest battlements...from an ancestral English estate to London's back alleys...as battles raged and thrones toppled...he would pursue the woman who'd besieged his heart and tame her-if it was the last thing he ever did!
Highland Rebel: A Tale of a Rebellious Lady and a Traitorous Lord
Judith James - 2009
Leading a troop in Scotland, he impetuously marries a captured maiden, saving her from a grim fate.A Highlands heiress to title and fortune, Catherine Drummond is not the friendless woman Jamie believed her to be. When her people effect her rescue, and he cannot annul the marriage, Jamie determines to recapture his hellcat of a new wife.In a world where family and creed cannot be trusted, where faith fuels intolerance and war, Catherine and Jamie test the bounds of love, loyalty, friendship, and trust...
Mystique
Amanda Quick - 1995
When the fearsome knight called Hugh the Relentless swept into Lingwood Manor like a storm, everyone cowered-except Lady Alice. Sharp-tongued and unrepentant, the flame haired beauty believed Sir Hugh was not someone to dread but the answer to her dreams. She knew he had come for the dazzling green crystal, knew he would be displeased to find that it was no longer in her possession. Yet Alice had a proposition for the dark and forbidding knight: In return for a dowry that would free Alice and her brother from their uncle's grasp, she would lend her powers of detection to his warrior's skills and together they would recover his treasured stone. But even as Hugh accepted her terms, he added a condition of his own: Lady Alice must agree to a temporary betrothal-one that would soon draw her deep into Hugh's great stone fortress, and into a battle that could threaten their lives...and their only chance at love.
Hidden Honor
Anne Stuart - 2004
Anne's threatens her choice. It's not the escort of holy friars who tempt her, but the man they are taking to do penance for his many sins. Elizabeth has heard whispers about Prince William's treatment of women --- the king's only son is a man well schooled in deception, cruelty and murder --- yet she cannot entirely resist his charms.But when the journey takes a treacherous turn, masks of deception fall and there is no safe place but in the wicked prince's arms. With treachery drawing near, they are soon racing against time, murderous revenge ... and their own sinful desires.
By Possession
Madeline Hunter - 2000
Yet when Addis de Valence strode into Moira Falkner's cottage, there was no mistaking the sharp planes of his face, and the scar she herself had helped to heal. The young squire who had once been her hero was now her lord, a hardened man who returned to claim the son she had raised as her own. But Moira couldn't deny that Addis roused a passion she never thought to feel - and a perilous hope for a future that could never be...An Uncommon LoveAddis returned from the Crusades to find his lands usurped by his stepbrother, and his country on the brink of rebellion. Determined to reclaim his birthright, Addis could not afford to be distracted by a woman - even one as tempting as Moira. Yet the only living part of his contented past lay in Moira - and his desire for her was more dangerous than his deadly battles with the king's men. By law, Moira belonged to him... but possessing her heart might be far more difficult.
The House at Tyneford
Natasha Solomons - 2011
Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When the master of Tyneford's young son, Kit, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford—and Elise—forever.
Simon the Coldheart
Georgette Heyer - 1925
It was a time of hand-to-hand combat, the invention of the longbow, and real knights in armor. Simon was born in 1386, the illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Malvallet. After his mother's death in 1400, he and his half-brother, the legitimate son and heir of his father, became great friends of the Prince, fighting against France. Simon of Beauvallet is what he called himself. But as the tales of his chivalrous exploits spread throughout the realm -- even to the king's chambers -- the people who loved him would call him Simon the Lynx-Eyed... the Soft-Footed... even Simon the Lion. Indeed, Simon was all of these things. Valiant and strong, with a keen mind and fair visage, he had defied his ignoble birth to become a page, then a squire, and at last a lord of the land.Friend of kings and princes, gentle and just with his people, and known for his silence Simon seemed to lack only one emotion -- the ability to love. In truth, not even the most lovely and charming ladies of his time could stir the sleeping passion within him. For this they called him Simon the Coldheart. Until he came upon Margaret, a French Lady. The Amazon. The Tigress. After the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, he was sent to besiege Belremy, where he met the heartless beauty whose courage and strength of will were more than a match for this knight in gilded armor. Margaret, who eventually surrendered to the English and became his bride. Although he had captured her kingdom, Simon would never capture her heart....
An Undeniable Rogue
Annette Blair - 2002
What she needs is a husband, and she knows well enough that romance and matrimony aren't always compatible. While providing for her twins and the child she now carries is paramount, wedding a virtual stranger—even a wealthy one, like Gideon St. Goddard, Duke of Stanthorpe—is no light matter.Sabrina knows the friend who arranged the union would not promise her to a true scoundrel, but one look at her future husband convinces her that he is a shameless rogue. A shockingly handsome and desirable one, at that. Why has he agreed to marry her? When Gideon flashes that wicked, seductive smile, the reason hardly matters, but the chance that he'll steal her heart becomes all too real...
Betrothal
Jenna Jaxon - 2013
Fate, however, has decreed her betrothal to his best friend, Sir Geoffrey Longford - a handsome and imposing knight, yet hardly the man she wants to wed.
When Sir Geoffrey is bound in betrothal by his father, he could not have expected the beautiful stranger to win his heart the moment they meet. Nevertheless, the fascinating Lady Alyse has done exactly that, and his feelings for her only grow as he learns more of her gentle yet spirited nature. But Alyse’s infatuation with his friend casts doubt on whether she can ever return his regard and their wedding day is fast approaching…
Will he have time enough to win her love?
A Vision of Light
Judith Merkle Riley - 1988
However, like most women in fourteenth-century England, she is illiterate. Three clerics contemptuously decline to be Margaret’s scribe, and only the threat of starvation persuades Brother Gregory, a Carthusian friar with a mysterious past, to take on the task. As she narrates her life, we discover a woman of startling resourcefulness. Married off at the age of fourteen to a merchant reputed to be the Devil himself, Margaret was left for dead during the Black Plague. Incredibly, she survived, was apprenticed to an herbalist, and became a midwife. But most astonishing of all, Margaret has experienced a Mystic Union—a Vision of Light that endows her with the miraculous gift of healing. Because of this ability, Margaret has become suddenly different—to her tradition-bound parents, to the bishop’s court that tries her for heresy, and ultimately to the man who falls in love with her.
Forbidden Jewel of India
Louise Allen - 2012
The daughter of an Indian princess and an English peer, she's the perfect pawn in the opulent courts of Rajasthan. Even so, she will not return to the father who rejected her.Arrogant angrezi Major Nicholas Herriard is charged with bringing the alluring princess safely to her new life in Calcutta. Nick's mission is to protect, to serve—but under the searing Indian sun an initial attraction unfurls into a forbidden temptation.This beautiful, impossible princess tests the very limits of his honor—especially when Nick is left with only one option to keep Anusha safe: marriage. But the fast-flowing waters of the Ganges determine a different fate, and duty may separate them forever.
The Kommandant's Girl
Pam Jenoff - 2007
Within days Emma's husband, Jacob, is forced to disappear underground, leaving her imprisoned within the city's decrepit, moldering Jewish ghetto. But then, in the dead of night, the resistance smuggles her out. Taken to Krakow to live with Jacob's Catholic aunt, Krysia, Emma takes on a new identity as Anna Lipowski, a gentile. Emma's already precarious situation is complicated by her introduction to Kommandant Richwalder, a high-ranking Nazi official who hires her to work as his assistant. Urged by the resistance to use her position to access details of the Nazi occupation, Emma must compromise her safety—and her marriage vows—in order to help Jacob's cause. As the atrocities of war intensify, so does Emma's relationship with the Kommandant, building to a climax that will risk not only her double life, but also the lives of those she loves.