Book picks similar to
Falconridge by Jennifer Wilde
gothic
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House of Shadows
Darcy Coates - 2015
She's still reeling from the news when she's offered an unexpected solution: Mr Argenton, a wealthy stranger, asks for her hand in marriage.Marrying Mr Argenton will restore her family's fortunes and save them from scandal, but condemns Sophie to a life in Northwood, a vast and unnaturally dark mansion situated hours from civilisation.Sophie struggles to adjust to her new position as mistress over the desolate house. Mr Argenton's relatives are cold, and Mr Argenton himself is keeping secrets. Even worse, the house is more than it seems.Mr Argenton's young cousin, Elise, draws terrifying images. Doors slam. Inhuman figures slink through the forest surrounding the house. A piano plays in the middle of the night. Blood drips from the ceilings.Sophie is inevitably pulled towards the terrifying truth: Northwood's ancient halls are haunted by the family's long-dead ancestors. The malevolent spirits--produced by grisly deaths--resent her intrusion into their home.Trapped in Northwood and desperate for an escape, Sophie's fate is further complicated as she finds herself irrevocably drawn to the tall, dark-eyed man she married. She suspects her feelings are returned, but Mr Argenton is hiding the truth about the house--and his secrets are so dangerous that they might just be unforgivable.
The Lost Hours
Karen White - 2009
For twelve years, it remained untouched.Now a near fatal riding accident has shattered Piper’s dreams of Olympic glory. After her grandfather’s death, she inherits the house and all its secrets, including a key to a room that doesn’t exist—or does it? And after her grandmother is sent away to a nursing home, she remembers the box buried in the backyard. In it are torn pages from a scrapbook, a charm necklace—and a newspaper article from 1939 about the body of an infant found floating in the Savannah River. The necklace’s charms tell the story of three friends during the 1930s— each charm added during the three months each friend had the necklace and recorded her life in the scrapbook. Piper always dismissed her grandmother as not having had a story to tell. And now, too late, Piper finds she might have been wrong.
Prize of My Heart
Lisa Norato - 2012
Will His Love Endure Once He Learns Her Secret?Three years ago, Captain Brogan Talvis's late wife abandoned their son, leaving no clue as to the boy's whereabouts. After searching relentlessly, Brogan discovers his son was adopted by a New England shipbuilder. And the man's daughter, Lorena Huntley, acts as loving guardian to the child.Lorena, who hides a dark truth, finds herself falling for the handsome captain and ex-privateer who's come to secure ownership of one of her father's ships. She's unaware of Brogan's own secret when another's deceit has her sailing toward Europe against her will.Haunted by thoughts of Lorena in peril, Brogan is compelled to choose between the boy he longs for and the woman who has captured his heart.
Swept Away
Marsha Canham - 1999
Before it is too late." Those were the half-naked stranger's only words as he opened his eyes, looked into her soul, then lost consciousness in the shallow tidal pool. Annaleah Fairchilde, heiress and noblewoman, soon learned the identity of the man she saved: Emory Althorpe, adventurer, accused traitor, and Napoleon's spy. Even as she bound the dangerous scoundrel's wounds, she fell deeper under the spell of a man handsome as the devil, sent to her by fate.He remembered nothing. Only the need to escape. Emory Althorpe was wanted for treason, yet his only hope was a shadowy memory hovering just beyond his grasp, and beautiful Anna, who aroused unexpected passions. He had no choice but to abduct her, needing her to gain access to London's ballrooms, where he could prove his innocence. Together they raced into the face of danger, determined to find the key to his past and live--or die--together, as destiny decreed....
The School Mistress
Tess Thompson - 2020
Her widowed mother and baby sister are depending upon her for their survival back home in Boston. And the self-appointed mayor of the rugged mountain community is counting on Miss Cooper to prove herself a fitful teacher for the young and old alike. Lord Alexander Barnes is determined to bring a bit of English civility to the wild terrain of Emerson Pass. Using his own resources, the widower and father of five builds a schoolhouse and recruits a young teacher from the east to provide an education for both the adults and the children in his rapidly growing mining town. But when the lovely, and much younger than anticipated, Miss Cooper arrives to town, Lord Barnes finds himself providing more than just employment when the boarding house proves to be an unsafe accommodation for the school mistress. As Miss Cooper takes a room in the Barnes' home, the five Barnes children are delighted. They are sure Miss Cooper is the perfect woman for their lonely father. But when a friend of the Englishman turns up dead, the hope for progress in the untamed town seems immediately lost. Can Miss Cooper and Lord Barnes bring change to the closed-minded locals? And will their endeavor open their hearts to something more? The first installment of USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson's historical romance series brings a touch of whimsy and an extra dash of mystery to Edwardian romance. Readers will fall in love with the courageous Miss Cooper and swoon for the magnanimous English Lord as they struggle to save their exciting new world at the turn of the 20th Century.
Mist of Midnight
Sandra Byrd - 2015
Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionaries, spent most of her life in India. Following the death of her family in the Indian Mutiny, Rebecca returns to claim her family estate in Hampshire, England. Upon her return, people are surprised to see her… and highly suspicious. Less than a year earlier, an imposter had arrived with an Indian servant and assumed not only Rebecca’s name, but her home and incomes.That pretender died within months of her arrival; the servant fled to London as the young woman was hastily buried at midnight. The locals believe that perhaps she, Rebecca, is the real imposter. Her home and her father’s investments reverted to a distant relative, the darkly charming Captain Luke Whitfield, who quickly took over. Against her best intentions, Rebecca begins to fall in love with Luke, but she is forced to question his motives–does he love her or does he just want Headbourne House? If Luke is simply after the property, as everyone suspects, would she suffer a similar fate as the first “Rebecca”?A captivating Gothic love story set against a backdrop of intrigue and danger, Mist of Midnight will leave you breathless.
Thornyhold
Mary Stewart - 1988
When the child becomes a young woman, she inherits her dead cousin's house, as well as her reputation among the local community as a witch. However, as she finds out, this is no normal community, and worries quickly present themselves.Alternate cover edition for this ISBN 9780773672611 is here
The Phantom of Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Murder Mystery
Regina Jeffers - 2010
Then an intense snowstorm strands a group of travelers at Pemberley, and terrifying accidents and mysterious deaths begin to plague the manor. Everyone seems convinced that it is the work of a phantom—a Shadow Man who is haunting the Darcy family’s grand estate.Darcy and Elizabeth believe the truth is much more menacing and that someone is trying to murder them. But Pemberley is filled with family guests as well as the unexpected travelers—any one of whom could be the culprit—so unraveling the mystery of the murderer’s identity forces the newlyweds to trust each other’s strengths and work together.Written in the style of the era and including Austen’s romantic playfulness and sardonic humor, this suspense-packed sequel to Pride and Prejudice recasts Darcy and Elizabeth as a husband-and-wife detective team who must solve the mystery at Pemberley and catch the murderer—before it’s too late.**Not a part of the "Murder Mystery" series, this is a stand-alone book**
Mrs England: The captivating new Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Familiars and The Foundling
Stacey Halls - 2021
But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear there's something not quite right about the beautiful, mysterious Mrs England. Ostracised by the servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, Ruby is forced to confront her own demons in order to prevent history from repeating itself. After all, there's no such thing as the perfect family - and she should know.Simmering with slow-burning menace, Mrs England is a portrait of an Edwardian marriage, weaving an enthralling story of men and women, power and control, courage, truth and the very darkest deception. Set against the atmospheric landscape of West Yorkshire, Stacey Halls' third novel proves her one of the most exciting and compelling new storytellers of our times.
The Haunting of a Duke
Chasity Bowlin - 2012
Now it's made her a killer's target. Emme knows why the Dowager Duchess of Briarleigh invited her to a house party--to investigate whether the duke, Rhys Brammel, murdered his wife years ago. But Emme never imagined she would fall in love with the brooding duke. Branded by society as a possible killer, Rhys is suspicious of Emme and her alleged "gift." Then a late night encounter creates awareness of her other, more attractive, aspects. When Emme's life is threatened, Rhys becomes her protector. Emme and Rhys find passion and peril as they join forces to solve the mysteries at Briarleigh. She made him believe in spirits, but can she make him believe in love?
The Daughter of Siena
Marina Fiorato - 2011
But the beauty and pageantry masks the deadly rivalry that exists among the city's districts. Each ward, represented by an animal symbol, puts forth a rider to claim the winner's banner, but the contest turns citizens into tribes and men into beasts—and beautiful, headstrong, young Pia Tolomei is in love with a rider of an opposing ward, an outsider who threatens the shaky balance of intrigue and influence that rules the land.
Susanna and the Spy
Anna Elliott - 2011
She certainly has no intention of contacting her family, who cast off her father and scorned her mother years ago. But a chance encounter with a figure from her past suggests that her estranged grandfather was murdered, and that his death was connected to a local ring of smugglers, led by a mysterious figure who calls himself Captain Clark.When Captain Clark himself appears at her door, wounded and in need of her help, Susanna must decide where her true loyalties lie. And she must also discover the truth of her grandfather's death. Otherwise the man she is rapidly falling in love with may be hanged for treason and murder.
The Widow of Pale Harbor
Hester Fox - 2019
Gabriel Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife's death, so he moves to Pale Harbor, Maine, where there is a vacancy for a new minister. Gideon and his late wife had always dreamed of building their own church, and Pale Harbor is the perfect opportunity.But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town of Pale Harbor. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople know that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a widow who lives with a spinster maid in the decaying Castle Carver on the edge of town. Sophronia is a recluse, rumored to be a witch who killed her husband.When Gabriel meets her, he knows the charming, beautiful woman cannot be guilty of anything. Together, Gabriel and Sophronia realize that the mysterious events have one thing in common: they all contain an element from the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And when the events escalate to murder, Gabriel and Sophronia must find the real killer, before it's too late for them both.
The Marquess of Gorsewall Manor
Adella J. Harris - 2018
Collapsing from exhaustion on the moors of Yorkshire, he's rescued by the handsome Lord Elmsby and taken to Gorsewall Manor. As he recovers, Lord Elmsby offers him a position cataloging the library. It would be an ideal situation, isolated, with a handsome, solitary lord and servants who don't ask many questions, except for the strange sounds in the corners of the library and the feeling he's being watched. And then a body is found on the moors, a body that could be the long missing fiancee of Lord Elmsby, and Thomas must find out the truth of what happened at Gorsewall Manor. A gay - m/m Regency romance, 82,000 words, print version 315 pages
Blind Tiger
Sandra BrownSandra Brown - 2021
Prohibition is the new law of the land, but murder, mayhem, lust, and greed are already institutions in the Moonshine Capitol of Texas.Thatcher Hutton, a war-weary soldier on the way back to his cowboy life, jumps from a moving freight train to avoid trouble . . . and lands in more than he bargained for. On the day he arrives in Foley, Texas, a local woman goes missing. Thatcher, the only stranger in town, is suspected of her abduction, and worse. Standing between him and exoneration are a corrupt mayor, a crooked sheriff, a notorious cathouse madam, a sly bootlegger, feuding moonshiners . . . and a young widow whose soft features conceal an iron will. What was supposed to be a fresh start for Laurel Plummer turns to tragedy. Left destitute but determined to dictate her own future, Laurel plunges into the lucrative regional industry, much to the dislike of the good ol’ boys, who have ruled supreme. Her success quickly makes her a target for cutthroat competitors, whose only code of law is reprisal. As violence erupts, Laurel and—now deputy—Thatcher find themselves on opposite sides of a moonshine war, where blood flows as freely as whiskey.