Book picks similar to
The Viscount Besieged by Elizabeth Bailey
romance
historical-romance
netgalley
historical-fiction
To Have and to Hoax
Martha Waters - 2020
Four years ago, they had a fight to end all fights, and have barely spoken since.Their once-passionate love match has been reduced to one of cold, detached politeness. But when Violet receives a letter that James has been thrown from his horse and rendered unconscious at their country estate, she races to be by his side—only to discover him alive and well at a tavern, and completely unaware of her concern. She’s outraged. He’s confused. And the distance between them has never been more apparent.Wanting to teach her estranged husband a lesson, Violet decides to feign an illness of her own. James quickly sees through it, but he decides to play along in an ever-escalating game of manipulation, featuring actors masquerading as doctors, threats of Swiss sanitariums, faux mistresses—and a lot of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought. Will the two be able to overcome four years of hurt or will they continue to deny the spark between them?
The Orphan's Secret
Shirley Dickson - 2021
Fans of Before We Were Yours, Wives of War and Diney Costelo will be utterly swept away by this heartbreaking – yet beautifully hopeful – World War Two page-turner.England, 1941: Life has always been cruel to Ethel. Raised in an orphanage by a merciless mistress, she never knew the meaning of love. And now she has fallen for the one man she who is forbidden to her – Karl, a German held captive in the local prisoner of war camp. He might be the enemy, but he has her heart.When Ethel discovers she’s pregnant, she is labelled a traitor and shunned by all. The love of her life is torn away from her, but she vows to protect their precious daughter. She gives birth as bombs rain down, to the sound of ear-splitting shrieks and explosions in the distance. But then the planes fly over the house, and the unthinkable happens…A baby girl lies in the rubble, surrounded by broken glass and crumbled brick. The odds are against her, until a woman, Lily, picks up the child from the wreckage. Will she be saved from her mother’s fate or will she forever be a helpless orphan?
An Angel's Work
Kate Eastham - 2020
Then, a tiny hand poked out through a layer of grit... With tears pouring down her cheeks, she stood rocking and soothing the baby, knowing there was very little chance the child’s mother had survived.England, 1941. After three nights of relentless bombing from German aircraft, trained nurse Jo Brooks is told to report to the basement theatre of Mill Road Hospital. She goes with a heavy heart, not wanting to leave behind her best friend Moira, who is desperately soothing new mothers on the maternity ward. As Jo arrives safely underground, the ward takes a direct hit.Pulling herself from the rubble, Jo’s first priority must be her patients… but she can’t stop herself frantically searching for Moira. When Jo eventually finds her, buried beneath a foot of bricks and stone, Moira is barely clinging to life. Jo makes a solemn vow: she will do whatever it takes to help the allies win the war, even if it means sacrificing her own safety.But when, in the line of duty, Jo makes the acquaintance of a young American soldier with bright blue eyes and a voice like warm caramel, she feels her heart skip a beat and all her promises are put to the test. Because sacrificing everything in war is so much more difficult when suddenly you have so very much to live for…
Never Fall for Your Fiancée
Virginia Heath - 2021
Unfortunately for him, his mother is determined to find him one, even from across the other side of the ocean. So, Hugh invents a fake fiancée to keep his mother’s matchmaking ways at bay. But when Hugh learns his interfering mother is on a ship bound for England, he realizes his complicated, convoluted but convenient ruse is about to implode. Until he collides with a beautiful woman, who might just be the miracle he needs.Minerva Merriwell has had to struggle to support herself and her two younger sisters ever since their feckless father abandoned them. Work as a woodcut engraver is few and far between, and the Merriwell sisters are nearly penniless. So, when Hugh asks Minerva to pose as his fiancée while his mother is visiting, she knows that while the scheme sounds ludicrous, the offer is too good to pass up.Once Minerva and her sisters arrive at Hugh's estate, of course, nothing goes according to his meticulous plan. As hilarity and miscommunication ensue, while everyone tries to keep their tangled stories straight, Hugh and Minerva’s fake engagement starts to turn into a real romance. But can they trust each other, when their relationship started with a lie?
Before the Crown
Flora Harding - 2020
Instability. Audacity. Adventure.But when the king learns of their relationship, the suitability of the foreign prince is questioned by all at court.He is the risk she has never been allowed to take. The risk not even the shadow of the crown will stop her from taking…Step through the palace gates and discover a captivating historical novel of royal secrets and forbidden love exploring the tempestuous courtship between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in the wake of WWII.Readers are LOVING Before the Crown:‘Magnificent. It carries so much depth and warmness, and closeness to the characters that you do not want to part from them…a page-turner’ Best Historical Fiction Reviews‘To say that I adored this book is an absolute understatement. Beautifully written, well crafted and researched. A must read for fans of The Crown’ Kim‘Any fans of The Crown will adore this read…the story is well researched and written so beautifully I didn't want it to end’ Lucy‘What a pleasure it was to read this charming and heartfelt historical romance… never have I felt so romantically moved’ Jena‘Magnificent… It carries so much depth and warmness, and closeness to the characters that you do not want to part from them’ Annette‘I really enjoyed this book… Anyone who loved The Crown series will love this book!’ Pat‘Perfect for fans of Netflix’s The Crown’ Elizabeth‘This is the story that we ALL want to read…I loved every single page’ Vicki
Immigrant Bride
Jean Dunstan - 2021
Devastated, Sophia, a naïve farm girl, is forced to marry a young man named Domenic and leave for the United States. As part of a large Italian exodus heading to the United States looking for a better life, Sophia must adjust to being in a strange country and build a life as a young immigrant bride in New York City. Can Sophia overcome her fears and learn to build a life for herself and the ones she loves when fate steps in and steals her happiness away once more? And will she be strong enough to move forward when destiny hands her a new adventure?
Earls Just Want to Have Fun
Shana Galen - 2015
She runs with the Covent Garden Cubs, a gang of thieves living in the slums of London's Seven Dials. It's a fierce life, and Marlowe has a hard outer shell. But when she's alone, she allows herself to think of a time before-a dimly remembered life when she was called Elizabeth.Maxwell, Lord Dane, is intrigued when his brother, a hired investigator, ropes him into his investigation of the fiercely beautiful hellion. He teaches her to navigate the social morass of the ton, but Marlowe will not escape so easily. Instead, Dane is drawn into her dangerous world, where the student becomes the teacher and love is the greatest risk of all.
Lizzie Tempest Ruins A Viscount (The Felmont Brides Series, Book 1)
Maggie Jagger - 2012
The noble Felmont family is infamous for both. Unfortunately, Lizzie has accidentally ruined Lord Felmont and her banker uncles are forcing her to marry him. No one ever said that Felmont males are handsome. They are famous for their long noses and their passionate natures. The only thing they all agree on is the need for one of them to marry Lizzie to keep her fortune in the family. Lord Felmont had wanted to marry for love but Lizzie has ruined his chance for happiness, and now she fears he is going to take his revenge. Lizzie shudders at the thought!
The Earl's Bitter Secret (Regency Romantic Dreams #3)
Charlotte Darcy - 2016
Now that her father had inherited a fortune she could stay at home until she is married. Yet she misses her little Dame school, misses the children and so she agrees to take a post as governess to the children of the cold and austere Earl of Pennington. His children seem so sad to her but it is not long before Mary’s tongue gets her into trouble. Has she lost the job and her chance to improve on the children’s lives? The Duke had never seen what Mary saw but now he thinks he may have been a little hasty. Are his children sad or the naughty beasts their nanny would have him believe? Mary hears rumors about his wife and why she is not there, but she knows it is not her place to interfere. That is until she inadvertently reads the Duke’s secret. It is one he has only recently discovered and it threatens to destroy his life and that of his children. Has he found an ally in Mary? Will she track down the truth and if she does will it save him or bring his Earldom crashing down around his feet? Find out for just $0.99 for a limited time only and for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. This is the third book in the Regency Romantic Dreams Series. Each book is completely standalone and they can be read in any order. The first two books are: The Broken Duke - Mended by Love The Bluestocking, the Earl, and the Author
The Beautiful Ones
Silvia Moreno-Garcia - 2017
But the Grand Season has just begun, and already Nina’s debut has gone disastrously awry. She has always struggled to control her telekinesis—neighbors call her the Witch of Oldhouse—and the haphazard manifestations of her powers make her the subject of malicious gossip.When entertainer Hector Auvray arrives to town, Nina is dazzled. A telekinetic like her, he has traveled the world performing his talents for admiring audiences. He sees Nina not as a witch, but ripe with potential to master her power under his tutelage. With Hector’s help, Nina’s talent blossoms, as does her love for him.But great romances are for fairytales, and Hector is hiding a truth from Nina—and himself—that threatens to end their courtship before it truly begins. The Beautiful Ones is a charming tale of love and betrayal, and the struggle between conformity and passion, set in a world where scandal is a razor-sharp weapon.
The Last Rose of Shanghai
Weina Dai Randel - 2021
Aiyi Shao is a young heiress and the owner of a formerly popular and glamorous Shanghai nightclub. Ernest Reismann is a penniless Jewish refugee driven out of Germany, an outsider searching for shelter in a city wary of strangers. He loses nearly all hope until he crosses paths with Aiyi. When she hires Ernest to play piano at her club, her defiance of custom causes a sensation. His instant fame makes Aiyi's club once again the hottest spot in Shanghai. Soon they realize they share more than a passion for jazz—but their differences seem insurmountable, and Aiyi is engaged to another man.As the war escalates, Aiyi and Ernest find themselves torn apart, and their choices between love and survival grow more desperate. In the face of overwhelming odds, a chain of events is set in motion that will change both their lives forever.From the electrifying jazz clubs to the impoverished streets of a city under siege, The Last Rose of Shanghai is a timeless, sweeping story of love and redemption.
Helen of Sparta
Amalia Carosella - 2015
These dreams foretold impending war—a war that only Helen has the power to avert. To do so, she must defy her family and betray her betrothed by fleeing the palace in the dead of night. In need of protection, she finds shelter and comfort in the arms of Theseus, son of Poseidon. With Theseus at her side, she believes she can escape her destiny. But at every turn, new dangers—violence, betrayal, extortion, threat of war—thwart Helen’s plans and bar her path. Still, she refuses to bend to the will of the gods.A new take on an ancient myth, Helen of Sparta is the story of one woman determined to decide her own fate.The sequel to Helen of Sparta will be published by Lake Union Publishing in June 2016.
Missing in Action
Denise Deems - 2012
Evelyn Blake's Army nursing career is that she has to tell her parents that she's accepted a dashing English pilot's hand in marriage. But when Evelyn's transport plane crashes just hours before one of the biggest operations of World War Two, Evelyn Blake finds herself Missing In Action. Evelyn Blake's adventure finds her forced into Operation Market Garden, where she teams up with a rag tag band of American paratroopers and their brave but infuriating Lieutenant to escape the Germans. But, when Evelyn returns back to her own unit, she is ordered to forget the men who saved her life. Missing in Action is a wartime romance that spans the war in Europe. Lt. Evelyn Blake is a plucky flight nurse, who's experienced in war, but naive in love. Her fiancé, Victor Wellington, is her ideal prince charming, both a Lord and a dashing RAF pilot. But, is he any match for Lt. Patrick Mitchell, All-American officer and sometimes gentleman, who finds Evelyn hiding from the Germans in a cafe in Holland. Rumors swirl. Did Lt. Evelyn Blake really kill five Germans? How about those two marriage certificates? Only Lt. Mitchell and his men know for sure.
The Lady Flees Her Lord
Ann Lethbridge - 2017
With no one to turn to, she flees London to take quiet refuge in the countryside, determined to build a new life of her own. Posing as a widow, she finds a small cottage to lease on the far reaches of a vast estate, relieved that she might finally find peace and safety—until her new landlord, the strikingly handsome and taciturn Lord Hugo Wanstead, presents an entirely different kind of threat to her composure.Just back from the wars, Hugo is tormented by the physical and emotional scars that mark him. With his estate near financial ruin and his sleep torn by nightmares, he wishes only to be left in solitude. But when he meets the new widowed tenant on his estate, he finds her hauntingly beautiful in body and soul—and finds himself overcome by powerful sensual longing.While the gentle Lucinda conjures up ways to draw the handsome and hurting Hugo out of his loneliness, he’s intrigued by her courage and her lively mind. But just as an inevitable passion stirs between these two damaged souls, a damning secret about Lucinda’s troubled past will be laid bare, and they will be forced to confront each other and a cruel foe to save their only chance at love.This book was originally published under the author name Michele Ann Young.
A Girl Called Hope (Hope Series Book 1)
Kay Seeley - 2019
In Victorian London’s East End, life for Hope Daniels in the public house run by her parents is not as it seems. Pa drinks and gambles, brother John longs for a place of his own, sister Violet dreams of a life on stage and little Alfie is being bullied at school. Silas Quirk, the charismatic owner of a local gentlemen’s club and disreputable gambling den her father frequents, has his own plans for Hope. When disaster strikes the family lose everything and the future they planned is snatched away from them. Secrets are revealed that make Hope question all she’s ever believed in. Can Hope keep them together when fate is pulling them apart? What will she sacrifice to save her family? A captivating story of tragedy and triumph you won’t want to put down.