Book picks similar to
Trouble In Glamour Town by S.R. Mallery


historical-fiction
reviewed
mystery
romance

Now and Forever


Margaret Scutt - 2021
    But if she thinks she’s safe at home, she is wrong.Her scheming brother wants to marry her off to a fortune-hunter, and he won’t take no for an answer. Out on a lonely walk, Catherine is attacked and left for dead.Could this be her brother’s doing?Catherine won’t wait to find out. Her childhood friend, Martin Lacey, lives in the manor house across the woods, and there was a time when he would have done anything for her.But in the turmoil of Restoration England, nothing lasts forever. Will turning up at Martin’s door be the saving of her — or the end?

The House of Closed Doors


Jane Steen - 2012
    Yet Nell is determined to elude the duties and restrictions of matrimony. So when she finds herself pregnant at the age of 17, she refuses to divulge the name of the father and even her childhood friend Martin is kept in the dark.Nell's stepfather Hiram sends Nell to live at the Poor Farm of which he is a governor, to await the day when her baby can be discreetly adopted. Nell is ready to go along with Hiram's plans until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced that the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and the incident prompts her to rethink her decision to abandon her own child to her fate. But the revelations to which her questions lead make her realize that even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby, she may have no safe place to run to.

In the Shadow of Lakecrest


Elizabeth Blackwell - 2017
    Kate Moore is looking for a way out of the poverty and violence of her childhood. When a chance encounter on a transatlantic ocean liner brings her face-to-face with the handsome heir to a Chicago fortune, she thinks she may have found her escape—as long as she can keep her past concealed.After exchanging wedding vows, Kate quickly discovers that something isn’t quite right with her husband—or her new family. As Mrs. Matthew Lemont, she must contend with her husband’s disturbing past, his domineering mother, and his overly close sister. Isolated at Lakecrest, the sprawling, secluded Lemont estate, she searches desperately for clues to Matthew’s terrors, which she suspects stem from the mysterious disappearance of his aunt years before. As Kate stumbles deeper into a maze of family secrets, she begins to question everyone’s sanity—especially her own. But just how far will she go to break free of this family’s twisted past?

Ripper (Ripper Series Book 1)


Amy Cecil - 2018
    Offered more money than she could ever imagine by a handsome stranger, she agrees to his unusual request to be her one and only client. But it’s a dangerous time to be a lady of the night. The Ripper murders are splashed on every paper, and whispered about behind the backs of hands. 
In the arms of her client turned lover, Marie feels an adoration and acceptance she’s never experienced before. Unfortunately, contentment can’t root out the dark questions clawing their way into the light. Is it possible the man who’s stolen her heart also prowls the streets of Whitechapel in search of his next victim?  Consumed by doubt, Marie finds herself questioning the man she thought she had come to know so well. Could he? Would he? Did he?
From Best Selling author Amy Cecil comes, Ripper, a sizzling romance laced with spine-tingling suspense!

More for a Duke


Jessie Bennett - 2016
    Will he inherit smoothly Now he faces a more terrifying prospect—he must marry right away or lose his inheritance. Page Count: Approx 340 pages Shawn William, Duke of Worthington, cousin to the Prince Regent and ruler of Fairbanks, has seen many things during his time in the Army. Death and dismemberment, pain and suffering, but nothing has prepared him for his return to life as a civilian. Haunted by the ghosts of his past and battling the inner demons that keep him from restful sleep, he must still find time to choose a Lady as his bride, as commanded by the Prince Regent. Although there are dozens of eligible maidens in beautiful Fairbanks, he only has eyes for one—the ravishing Lady Elizabeth Dowling. Another man wants to pay court to her, but he’s willing to do whatever it takes, even a fight to the death, if it means that she will be his bride… Will Duke Shawn finally meet his match in the form of the waspish older gentleman who has already asked for Lady Elizabeth’s hand and been denied? Can Lady Elizabeth discover the true reason for her reluctance toward the handsome Duke of Fairfield before he chooses another bride—perhaps even her own sister? This is a clean historical regency romance novel. Download for FREE with Kindle Unlimited.

Death by Dancing: a 1930s Cozy Murder Mystery (A Higgins & Hawke Mystery Book 4)


Lee Strauss - 2021
    Haley Higgins is surprised to discover the deceased is the widow of a man whose body still lay in the cold cabinets of her morgue. She has reasons to believe the man’s death wasn’t natural, and now, with his wife having succumbed to the same symptoms, her convictions of foul play are stronger than ever.With the help of investigative reporter Samantha Hawke, Haley works to determine which contestants in the dancing contest had means, motive, and opportunity. And most of all, how to keep the killer from striking again.

Nowhere Man: Another John Pickett Novella


Sheri Cobb South - 2020
    As weeks go by with no responses to his newspaper advertisement, he has taken to spending his days wandering idly about London rather than admit his failure to his beloved wife Julia, the former Lady Fieldhurst.One day, while loitering amidst the crowds thronging the Covent Garden market, he wonders morosely if it might have been better had he not been born at all. Then he sees one of his former colleagues and, in an attempt to make a discreet exit, contrives instead to knock himself unconscious.He awakens to discover that his Bow Street colleague doesn’t seem to remember him, and after staggering back home to Curzon Street, he finds someone else living in the house where he lived with Julia. But still greater surprises are in store for Pickett as he attempts to navigate his way through a world in which he never existed…With a wink and a nod to Frank Capra’s classic film IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, NOWHERE MAN offers an alternate version of many of the earlier entries in the John Pickett mystery series.

Still Life with Murder


P.B. Ryan - 2003
    Born into dismal poverty, young Nell Sweeney scratches by on her wits and little else until fortune blesses her with a position as nursery governess to the fabulously wealthy Hewitts. But she soon learns that ugly secrets lurk beneath the surface of their gold-plated world.The Hewitts’ eldest son, William, a former Union Army battle surgeon and the black sheep of the family, was reported to have died three years before in a notorious Confederate prison camp. But one snowy February afternoon, his parents learn that he is, in fact, still alive—and in jail for having murdered a man while intoxicated on opium. Infuriated by his son’s deception and convinced of his guilt, August Hewitt forbids his wife from coming to Will’s aid, so she begs Nell to help exonerate him. Nell finds that she must delve into the kind of dark and treacherous underworld she thought she’d left far behind if she is to unearth the truth before the hangman’s noose tightens around William Hewitt’s throat.

Crow Hollow


Michael Wallace - 2015
    She’s convinced her daughter is alive but cannot track her into the wilderness alone. Help arrives in the form of James Bailey, an agent of the crown sent to Boston to investigate the murder of Prudence’s husband and to covertly cause a disturbance that would give the king just cause to install royal governors. After his partner is murdered, James needs help too. He strikes a deal with Prudence, and together they traverse the forbidding New England landscape looking for clues. What they confront in the wilderness—and what they discover about each other—could forever change their allegiances and alter their destinies.

The Girl From the Workhouse


Lynn Johnson - 2020
    Ginnie Jones’s childhood is spent in the shadow of the famous Potteries, living with her mother, father and older sister Mabel. But with Father’s eyesight failing, money is in short supply, and too often the family find their bellies aching with hunger. With no hope in sight, Ginnie is sent to Haddon Workhouse.Separated from everything she has known, Ginnie has to grow up fast, earning her keep by looking after the other children with no families of their own. When she meets Clara and Sam, she hopes that she has made friends for life… until tragedy strikes, snatching away her newfound happiness.Leaving Haddon three years later, Ginnie finds work as a mouldrunner at the Potteries, but never stops thinking about her friends in the workhouse – especially Sam, now a caring, handsome young man. When Sam and Ginnie are reunited, their bond is as strong as ever – until Sam is sent to fight in WW1. Faced with uncertainty, can Ginnie find the joy that she’s never had? Or will her heart be broken once again?An emotional, uplifting and nostalgic family saga that will make you smile, while tugging on your heart-strings. Fans of Sheila Newbury, Kitty Neale and Sheila Riley will love this beautiful read.

Ladies and their Secrets: Regency Romance Collection


Joyce Alec - 2019
     Diamonds of the Marquess Lady Emily Dove doesn’t know whom to trust. Her true identity must never be known. The Viscount’s Promise A mystery that surrounds Julianna’s family could lead her to the man that steals her heart. If you love clean and wholesome, Regency romances with strong heroines, mystery, and love, then the Ladies and their Secrets Regency Romance Collection will warm your heart.

How Much It May Storm


A.N. Willis - 2020
    When she falls for a doomed soldier named Edward Gainsbury, she vows to save his life. But Millie soon finds the greatest danger is the one she cannot see.Colorado, 1943: With a brother gone to war, Dinah must learn how to fend for herself. She spends her days scouring the old mine for ore and her nights longing to escape her dying town. When Dinah sees a young soldier who looks just like Edward Gainsbury out in the snow—though he supposedly died in 1918—she follows him into the woods.Dinah is quickly drawn into the mysteries surrounding the Gainsbury family. Unexplained events begin to follow her wherever she goes—strange footsteps appearing in the snow, hands pressed to windows of buildings long abandoned. But what she discovers will force Dinah to confront the true history of her town and the darkness hiding inside those she least suspects.For fans of Wendy Webb, Simone St. James, and Jennifer McMahon—a chilling ghost story that spans two world wars, two brave young women, and the terrible secret that binds them.

First Night


Jane Aiken Hodge - 1990
    It is a world where the hazards of Napoleonic power politics mix with the glamour of early 19th century opera and culture.

City of Lies


Victoria Thompson - 2017
    Living on the edge of society, Elizabeth uses her guile to relieve so-called respectable men of their ill-gotten gains. But brutal and greedy entrepreneur Oscar Thornton is out for blood. He’s lost a great deal of money and is not going to forgive a woman for outwitting him.With his thugs hot on her trail, Elizabeth seizes the moment to blend in with a group of women who have an agenda of their own. She never expects to like or understand these privileged women, but she soon comes to respect their intentions, forming an unlikely bond with the wealthy matriarch of the group whose son, Gideon, is the rarest of species—an honest man in a dishonest world.Elizabeth knows she’s playing a risky game, and her deception could be revealed at any moment, possibly even by sharp-eyed Gideon. Nor has she been forgotten by Thornton, who’s biding his time, waiting to strike. Elizabeth must draw on her wits and every last ounce of courage she possesses to keep her new life from being cut short by this vicious shadow from her past.

Guilty Pleasures of a Bluestocking


Olivia Bennet - 2019
    She is his new beginning. After her sister’s untimely passing, Deborah Wilds is ready to marry the Duke of Tarsington in her place. Despite the circumstances, she can't help the flare of excitement in her belly at the thought of marrying the man she's been secretly in love with for years. Though plagued by his intended's sudden death, Leonard Fletcher, Duke of Tarsington, resolves to do his duty and honor his parents' agreement by marrying Edith's younger sister. He never imagined that the younger Miss Wilds would be so easy to fall in love with. Deborah's world shifts on its axis when she discovers her sister’s diary. But there's only one problem: important pages with events leading up to her death appear to have been violently torn and taken… Determined to discover what really happened to Edith, Leonard and Deborah unwittingly put themselves in grave danger. First, come the letters, then comes the handkerchief. And then Deborah walks in an old house, never to walk out again... *If you like a realistic yet steamy depiction of the Regency and Victorian era, then Guilty Pleasures of a Bluestocking is the novel for you. This is Olivia's 11th novel, a historical Regency romance novel of 80,000 words (around 400 pages). No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a strong happily ever after.