Book picks similar to
Desire and Destiny by Linda Lael Miller


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historical-romance
romance
historical

Hidden Fires


Laura Jordan - 1982
    Instead, the matriarch makes Lauren a scandalous offer to marry her son in name only. Lauren has strong feelings for him but are they strong enough?

The Drifter


Susan Wiggs - 1998
    Being awakened in the dark of night to heal the sick is a common occurrence, but never before has she woke to a threatening gun barrel and a dangerous stranger demanding her services. Outlaw Jackson Underhill is grimly determined that the doctor will save his childhood friend, but nothing about his difficult and dark past has prepared him for the changes the beautiful doctor will bring to his life. When Leah manages to disable his sailboat and force him to bring his "wife" to her boarding home to be cared for, Jackson has no option but to comply, setting forces in motion that will change both of their lives forever.Dr. Leah Mundy is a strong but emotionally vulnerable woman who has struggled her entire life to win the approval of her difficult, indifferent father. Now that he is dead, she is determined to build a life on Puget Sound's beautiful Whidbey Island. Accused of committing a murder he can't deny, outlaw Jackson Underhill is a man on the run, committed to saving his childhood friend while eluding the law. Leah is a woman who cannot leave the island that has become her sanctuary and Jackson Underhill is a man who cannot stay. Reason and logic tell them that they should never have fallen in love, but their hearts ignore all warnings. Inexorably drawn together by circumstance and fate, what possible resolution can bring them happiness and not disaster? Thrown together by chance, they find a love that neither of them had ever dared hope for - but darker forces and old alliances threaten their chance at happiness. With crisp, clean writing, Ms. Wiggs deftly weaves a seamless tale set against the background of the sea and sky of the Pacific Northwest. The beauty of Puget Sound pulses from every page, elevating the land and elements of nature to the level of a living character that is essential to the healing of Jackson and Leah's inner scars. Emotionally intense and well-plotted, The Drifter has all the components of a great summer read and is a jewel of a novel.

Hawk's Pledge


Constance O'Banyon - 2006
    Two missing parents. One man whose hatred had divided a family, whose duplicity ended in murder, inextricably weaving all their lives together in a web of lies that only time could untangle.WHITHe was a gambler by necessity, a loner by choice. Ever since the orphanage had gone up in flames, Whit Hawk had been searching desperately for what remained of his family. Instead he found Jacqueline Douglas, a rancher in need of a good hand, a woman in need of the right man. Wildly beautiful, she was as untamed as the Texas he loved, and Whit knew that no matter what else life held in store for him, the fiery redhead must be his.

Prince Charming


Julie Garwood - 1994
    Now dear Esther -- one of London's richest and most formidable matriarchs -- lies dying. But first she was going to help Taylor pull off the scam of the season.To escape becoming a ward of her unscrupulous uncle, Taylor would wed Lucas Ross, a rugged American rancher. Lady Esther's money would enable Ross to return home to Montana. Taylor had her own urgent reason to go to America...a precious legacy she hadn't revealed to Ross, for they had agreed to part ways once they reached Boston. But as her handsome new husband spoke of life in Montana, Taylor began planning a new future. To Taylor, the wide-open spaces of Montana sounded like paradise....

Teton Sunrise


Peggy L. Henderson - 2013
    For six long years, she’s waited and wondered if he would return. After the shocking murder of her parents, her brother is the only family she has left. Refusing to accept a betrothal to a man she doesn’t love, she decides to take control of her destiny and confront her parents’ killer. Growing up, Alexander Walker has known only violence at the hands of his cruel father. After the death of his mother, he embarks on a journey into the uncharted wilderness to test his resolve as a fur trapper and mountain man. When an impulsive decision leads him back to his childhood home, he finds more than he bargained for.Amid the rugged Teton wilderness, fate suddenly throws Alex and Evelyn together. The quiet protective boy she remembers is now as strange to her as the world she’s been forced into. Wary of the hardened man he has become, Evelyn must put her trust in him in order to survive. Alex’s memories of Evelyn are of a pesky little girl, but he can’t deny his growing feelings for the beautiful and spirited woman she is now. His biggest obstacle in winning her heart may not be her uncertainty of him, but a fear that has haunted him all his life. In a primitive and brutal world, can Alex and Evelyn forge a love as solid as the mountains, or will the past come back to haunt them both?

One Shingle to Hang


Deann Smallwood - 2014
    Her fragile mind couldn’t handle it. That’s what Lil had been told when she went against convention and became an attorney. The 1800’s had fewer women lawyers than women doctors. Her pride knew no bounds when she hung her shingle—L.M. Wentfield, Attorney At Law. Drew was a struggling cattle rancher, building a fledgling Hereford empire. He was working toward that goal when he was accused of rustling and faced possible hanging. He needed a lawyer—a good one—a man. Chesterfield had one lawyer—a new one—L.M. Wentfield. He wasn’t prepared for a beautiful blonde with a sharp tongue and fiercely won independence. Lil had no homemaking abilities. Her love was the law. And if the thoughts of the gray-eyed cowboy, who had the audacity to refuse her legal help, stayed in her mind, she’d push them aside. She had nothing to offer a rancher . Even her wealth wouldn’t be considered an asset to a prideful man. And Drew Jackson was proud. So proud, he knew he couldn’t ask a woman of Lil’s stature to share his life—but he wanted to—from the moment he’d stolen that first kiss.

Texas Rain


Jodi Thomas - 2006
    The first in the powerful new Whispering Mountain trilogy...Honest, straightforward, and ruggedly handsome, Travis McMurray is also more than a little bit busted, the result of an ambush during his service as a Texas Ranger. Beautiful Rainey Adams is in a fix of her own: On the run from an arranged marriage, she'll do just about anything to keep her freedom. The first time they meet, she steals a kiss—and his horse. The second time, she's an angel of mercy who eases him through a terrible fever...and then disappears.When Travis recovers, he's determined to track down this intriguing woman and bring her back to the Whispering Mountain Ranch as his bride. But this renegade may be too much for even the toughest Ranger to handle.

The Rose Legacy


Kristen Heitzmann - 2000
    Though the town has a rough element, Carina is determined that it is the place her dreams will come true. Early on, two men vie for her trust, but neither is what he seems. Will Carina discern the truth in time to prevent tragedy?

Sweet Savage Eden


Heather Graham - 1989
    The illegitimate daughter of an actress and a duke, Jassy had dreams no man could wench from her in a moment of desire. She's resist this bold nobleman with all the strength of her soul. But her golden hair, fiery temperament, and indomitable spirit obsessed Lord Cameron... and he wanted her with him when he sailed for the new wilderness called Virginia. So he had a bargain for the spit-fire Jassy, one that only a very special woman would dare to make...

Mail Order Marshal: A Brides of Beckham Novel


George H. McVey - 2018
    To add insult to injury, his killer takes over every part of Ike's life, the job of marshal, his house, and he even wants Betsy. What's a girl to do? The men of the town won't stand up to the outlaw and self-appointed marshal. When he gives her two months to grieve, Betsy comes up with a desperate plan: contact Elizabeth Tandy and order up a husband who has experience as a lawman. Alexzander Sewell feels like he's in the wrong place in Beckham, Massachusetts. Born and raised on Ryder Mountain in Harlan, Kentucky, he longs for the mountains of his youth. When his mother moved the whole family to remarry, he became stuck in the town of Beckham. Now his friends, the Tandy's, offer him a chance to go west, all the way to the Rocky Mountains. The only catch: he must marry a woman in desperate need of a husband and a lawman. Can he find a way to be what Betsy needs and spend time in the mountains? Can Betsy let go of her love for Ike and learn to love her mail order husband? Can Alexzander compromise on his dream of disappearing into the mountains to be the man his wife needs? Can they bring the killer to justice or will a series of natural disasters not only spell the end of Silverpines but of their marriage, too? What's a woman to do when she orders up a Mail Order Marshall? *This book is a Brides of Beckham book and the first book in a new Mail Order Husband series called Silverpines.

Stages of the Heart


Jo Goodman - 2020
    She's been running the lucrative operation that connects Colorado's small frontier town of Falls Hollow with the stagecoach line since she inherited it from her father, and she's not about to let some wandering cowboy take over the reins. But newcomer McCall Landry isn't just any gunslinger. He seems to genuinely care for Laurel, and with his rugged good looks and mysterious past, he could be the one man to finally tempt her off track...Call Landry doesn't expect much from Falls Hollow. He doesn't expect much from anything anymore. But Laurel Morrison took him by surprise when she put in a good word for him, a virtual stranger, after the stagecoach was robbed--and she keeps taking him by surprise. Charmed by her clever wit and fierce loyalty, Call finds himself falling hard. Now all he has to do is convince her he means to stay--in her bed, in her life, and in her heart.

Lawless


Nora Roberts - 1989
    Sarah Conway was something else again. She was every inch an Eastern lady, yet she was determined to make Lone Bluff her home.Jake was annoyed to find himself playing guardian angel to this tantalizing innocent--even more disgusted to find he liked it. Little did he suspect that beneath Sarah's ladylike demeanor beat the heart of a frontier woman ant that her body yearned for his hard embrace, her heart for his words of love .. . .

Dakota Born


Debbie Macomber - 1999
    Returning to the struggling town of Buffalo Valley, North Dakota, Lindsay Snyder seeks to discover family secrets while reevaluating her life, an effort that offers unexpected hope to the town of her childhood vacations.

A Lady of the West


Linda Howard - 1990
     Victoria Waverly, noble daughter of the war-ruined South, is sold in marriage to a ruthless rancher. Honor and pride help her endure life as a wife in name only but nothing can quench her forbidden desire for hired gunman Jake Roper. His gaze is hard, but tenderness he can't hide promises to unveil to Victoria the mysteries of love. Only true love can destroy.... Jake curses his burning need for Victoria, for he wants nothing to stand in the way of his drive to reclaim Sarratt's Kingdom -- the ranch that is his legacy and obsession. But ancient wrongs and blazing passions will bind together the aristocratic beauty and the powerful cowboy. In a bloody land war, they will fight for Jake's birthright...and seize at all costs the love that is their destiny.

If You Believe


Kristin Hannah - 1993
    Mad Dog Stone was a drifter looking for a few days' work. He walked into her life, threatening Mariah's peace of mind and stirring emotions she tried to hide. Their love was born against all odds, difficult to count on, impossible to hold. Together they would learn the bittersweet truth--that love exists only if you believe. . . .