Book picks similar to
Sleep In The Woods by Dorothy Eden
romance
gothic
historical-fiction
historical-romance
Mortal Sins
Penelope Williamson - 2000
1927. Creole aristocrat Charles St. Claire is murdered, his throat slashed with a cane knife. Police discover his wife, Hollywood sex goddess Remy Lelourie, next to the body, drenched in blood. Chief investigator Daman Rourke, who loved and lost Remy years before, wants to believe she is innocent, even though he has seen her kill before. As the evidence against Remy mounts, three more murders rock the city, and Rourke is torn between old loyalties and his pursuit of the truth. As he follows the trail of death and betrayal through the back alleys and roaring jazz haunts of the French Quarter, he finds himself led ever deeper into the guarded secrets and sins of none other than New Orleans' oldest and most respected family.
The Duke and I
Julia Quinn - 2000
From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable… but not too amiable.Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule...
A Year and a Day
Virginia Henley - 1998
Desperate for an heir, he proposed a handfasting: a Scottish custom whereby a man can lawfully take a woman into his bed, then, after a year and a day, the couple can either wed or part. Any child of that union is deemed legitimate. Jane had no choice but to surrender to the invader's knowing touch...Fearless on the battlefield, Lynx was afraid to love. But Jane slowly stole into his heart. And as the fires of war raged around them, amid treacherous foes and brilliant intrigues, who would have thought that two such unlikely partners would fall in love--or that their breathless passion for each other would outlast...
The Stationery Shop
Marjan Kamali - 2019
Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?A poignant, heartfelt new novel by the award-nominated author of Together Tea that explores loss, reconciliation, and the quirks of fate.
How to Love a Duke in Ten Days
Kerrigan Byrne - 2019
And there is only one woman who can bring them to their knees...Famed and brilliant, Lady Alexandra Lane has always known how to look out for to herself. But nobody would ever expect that she has darkness in her past—one that she pays a blackmailer to keep buried. Now, with her family nearing bankruptcy, Alexandra strikes upon a solution: Get married to one of the empire’s most wealthy eligible bachelors. Even if he does have the reputation of a devil.LOVE TAKES NO PRISONERSPiers Gedrick Atherton, the Duke of Redmayne, is seeking revenge and the first step is securing a bride. Winning a lady’s hand is not so easy, however, for a man known as the Terror of Torcliff. Then, Alexandra enters his life like a bolt of lightning. When she proposes marriage, Piers knows that, like him, trouble haunts her footsteps. But her gentleness, sharp wit, independent nature, and incredible beauty awakens every fierce desire within him. He will do whatever it takes to keep her safe in his arms.
The Villa in Italy
Elizabeth Edmondson - 2006
Delia, an opera singer robbed of her voice by illness; George, an idealistic scientist who cannot face what his skills have created; Marjorie, desperately poor and unable to dislodge her writer’s block; and Lucius, ostensibly in control but whose personal life is in chaos. All are summoned to the Villa Dante, home of the late Beatrice Malaspina. But who was she?While they wait to find out, the villa begins to work its seductive magic. With its faded frescoes, overgrown garden and magnificent mediaeval tower, it is unlike anywhere they have been before. Slowly, four characters who have gone to great lengths to hide their troubles find that change – and even hope – is possible after all. But the mysterious Beatrice has a devastating secret to reveal that will affect them all…A beautiful evocation of Italy in the aftermath of World War Two, the personal consequences of living through such a time, and a celebration of humankind’s ability to heal and learn to love again, this most absorbing novel will win Elizabeth Edmondson a host of new fans.
Cressida
Clare Darcy - 1977
But though in her late twenties she was still unmarried. Jilted by Captain Deverell she had never since been able to face the prospect of giving her hand to another. And now she had the reputation of a heartless, scheming flirt.The return of Captain Deverell into her life and the further heartbreaks that bar the road to happiness are the theme of Clare Darcy's latest Regency romance, the tenth in the sequence that has won her world-wide acclain as the true successor to Georgette Heyer.
The Three Disgraces Series
Elena Greene - 2014
The Incorrigible Lady Catherine ~ Lady Catherine Harcourt, daughter of a duke, tries to escape her cold, repressive family by eloping with a rake. She is exiled to her aunts’ cottage in the Lake District, where she meets Philip Woodmere, a gentleman farmer as kind as he is ruggedly attractive. She is drawn to Philip’s strength and warms to his lively family, but a secret from her past threatens their chance for happiness. The Redwyck Charm ~ Marcus Redwyck, Earl of Amberley, reluctantly agrees to wed an heiress in order to save his estate. But his equally reluctant bride, Juliana Hutton, runs away and masquerades as an opera dancer. When they meet, passion leads them to the edge of scandal. Even when all is revealed, it will take all of Marcus’s resolution and the fabled Redwyck charm to win the spirited Juliana’s heart. Saving Lord Verwood ~ Penelope Talcott distrusts Lord Verwood, a notorious rake who’s meddled in the lives of her friends. But she accidentally saves his life and becomes entangled in his affairs. Someone is trying to kill Verwood. Despite herself, Pen is impelled to help. Scandal forces them to marry and return to his estate in Cornwall, where Pen must solve the mystery of the tortured man she has come to love. Reviews: The Incorrigible Lady Catherine “The story gives fresh new twists to traditional Regency plotlines and introduces a well-drawn cast of characters, three of whom cry out for their own tales to be told—the notorious Lord Verwood and Catherine’s two school friends . . . Elena Greene is a talented writer to watch for when looking for a pleasurable, meaty Regency romance.” – Jane Bowers, in Romance Reviews Today The Redwyck Charm “I consider The Redwyck Charm one of the best Regencies I’ve read in the past few months. Elena Greene is a reliable author who delivers the kind of story Regency readers love.” – Barbara Hume, for Rakehell Saving Lord Verwood “Elena Greene writes an intriguing tale of hope, love and joy. In this clever story of just who rescues whom, the political intrigue and developing passion between the main characters neatly blend together to make a highly pleasurable read.” – Romantic Times (4 and 1/2 stars)
Bold Angel
Kat Martin - 1994
Even though he had once saved her from a fate worse than death, she could not forget he'd raised the grim battlements of Braxton, keep on her dead father's lands or that his men had dishonored her sister. If she wed him to bring peace to her people, he would have to lay siege to her bed.But their destiny was more powerful than the clash of swords.The darkly handsome warlord's blood coursed with desire for Caryn's burnished crimson lips, and his passion would not be denied. But in the wild ecstasy they shared. Ral feared more than his heart was in danger. Could his rebellious bride be a traitor deadlier than the wolves and brigands prowling deep in English forests?A magnificent tale of intrigue, vengeance and soul-searing love, Kat Martin's newest romance is her most irresistible to date!
Return of the Rogue
Donna Fletcher - 2008
. .Though Honora Tannach came of age amid the misty moors of the Scottish highlands, where warring clans battled to the death for the future of their wild land, nothing frightens her so much as a lifetime trapped in the castle of her cruel stepfather. She is thrilled when a marriage is arranged to the son of a Scottish laird . . . until her betrothed is revealed to be Cavan Sinclare. Though the savage warrior once saved her life, Honora knows no one can tame the heart of such a brute, no matter now finely chiseled his features or how enticing his eyes . . . .After escaping his captors, Cavan's only concern is protecting his clan from the menacing invaders who threaten at every turn—and his beautiful wife is a dangerous distraction. But in the face of fiery passion, their reluctance will fade . . . and Cavan will discover that there is no greater strength than the power of true love.