Book picks similar to
A Husband for Hire by Patricia A. Knight


romance
historical-romance
historical
regency

The Stranger I Married


Sylvia Day - 2007
    . .The Marquess of Grayson never felt a twinge of guilt when he stole the beautiful Lady Pelham right out from under his best friend's nose. After all, they were well matched in all things--their sensual appetites, wicked wits, provocative reputations, and their absolute refusal to ruin their marriage of convenience by falling in love. But then a shocking turn of events sent her roguish husband from her side. Four years later, he has returned a powerful, irresistible man who is determined to seduce his way into her affections. No, this is not at all the man she married. But he is the man who might finally steal her heart. . ."Day plays on sensual themes with a lush grace." --RT Book Reviews

A Lady's Lesson in Scandal


Meredith Duran - 2011
    Pity he's a lunatic. He thinks her a missing heiress, but more to the point, he'll help her escape the slums and right a grave injustice. Not a bad bargain. All she has to do is marry him.A notorious ladies' man could take her from poverty to opulence…but at what price?A rake of the first order, Simon St. Maur spent his restless youth burning every bridge he crossed. When he inherits an earldom without a single penny attached to it, he sees a chance to start over—provided he can find an heiress to fund his efforts. But his wicked reputation means courtship will be difficult—until fate sends him the most notorious missing heiress in history. All he needs now is to make her into a lady and keep himself from making the only mistake that could ruin everything: falling in love…

With this Kiss


Victoria Lynne - 1999
    But Julia's bold gaze lit other fires he had long suppressed. And now this glorious stranger was his bride. But when he tried to claim his husbandly rights, she demanded three months grace--three months to know a stranger's mind, to touch a stranger's soul, to go where no woman had ever gone before. Into his lonely heart . . . With This Kiss.

Flowers from the Storm


Laura Kinsale - 1992
    Considered dissolute, reckless, and extravagant, he was transparently referred to as the "D of J" in scandal sheets. But sometimes the most womanizing rakehell can be irresistible, and even his most causal attentions fascinated the sheltered Maddy Timms. Then one fateful day she receives the shocking news - the duke is lost to the world. And Maddy knows it is her destiny to help him and her only chance to find the true man behind the wicked facade. But she never dreamed her gentle, healing touch would alter his life and her own so completely - and bind them together in need, desire...and love.

The Inconvenient Duchess


Christine Merrill - 2006
    And I'm more tired and hungry than I have ever been in my life. Please let me come home.Compromised and wedded on the same day, Lady Miranda was fast finding married life not to her taste. A decaying manor and a secretive husband were hardly the stuff of girlish dreams. Yet every time she looked at dark, brooding Marcus Radwell, Duke of Haughleigh, she felt inexplicably compelled—and determined—to make their marriage real!

My American Duchess


Eloisa James - 2015
    The last woman he would ever consider marrying is the adventuresome Merry Pelford - an American heiress who has infamously jilted two fiancés. But after one provocative encounter with the captivating Merry, Trent desires her more than any woman he has ever met. He is determined to have her as his wife, no matter what it takes. And Trent is a man who always gets what he wants.The problem is, Merry is already betrothed, and the former runaway bride has vowed to make it all the way to the altar. As honor clashes with irresistible passion, Trent realizes the stakes are higher than anyone could have imagined. In his battle to save Merry and win her heart, one thing becomes clear: All is fair in love and war.

How to Dance with a Duke


Manda Collins - 2012
    But the rules of her father’s exclusive academic society forbid her entrance unless she weds one of its members. To clear her ailing father’s name of a scandalous rumor, Cecily needs to gain admission into the Egyptian Club—and is willing to marry any old dullard to do it.Lucas Dalton, Duke of Winterson, is anything but dull. He’s a dashing and decorated war hero determined to help Cecily—even if that means looking the other way when she claims the dance card of Amelia Snow, this season’s most sought-after beauty. But Lucas has a reason for wanting Cecily to join the Egyptian Club: His brother went missing during one of Lord Hurston’s expeditions to Egypt. An alliance with the explorer’s bluestocking daughter could bring Lucas closer to the truth about what happened…or it could lead him to a more dangerous love than either he or Cecily could have imagined…

Simply Sexual


Kate Pearce - 2008
    Ten years as a sex slave in a Turkish brothel left Lord Valentin Sokorvsky with an insatiable appetite for sex. Now the time has come for him to marry, but finding a woman who can satisfy his lustful desires proves a challenge...until he meets Sara and all he can think about is having her lie under his rock-hard body, begging him to taste and touch her...Sensual Seduction... Sara Harrison knows she should be shocked and scandalized by Lord Sokorvsky's bold advances, but instead she is secretly aroused by this sensual, seductive man. For beneath her calm and composed manner is a wanton woman who longs for a man's intimate caress. She is most willing to be educated in the art of sensuality, to receive and give pleasure and to succumb to the wild desire that knows no limits...

In for a Penny


Rose Lerner - 2010
     Young Lord Nevinstoke enjoys every moment of his deep-gaming, hard-drinking, womanizing life. Then his father is killed in a drunken duel, and Nev inherits a mountain of debts and responsibilities. He vows to leave his wild friends and his mistress behind, start acting respectable—and marry a rich girl. Penelope Brown, a manufacturing heiress, seems the perfect choice. She’s pretty, ladylike, good at accounting, and looking for a marriage based on companionship and mutual esteem, not love. In fact, the only rash thing she’s ever done in her life is accept Nev’s proposal. When the newlyweds arrive at Nev’s family estate, they discover that all the respectability and reason in the world won't be enough to handle a hostile next-door neighbor, mutinous tenants, and Nev’s family's propensity for scandal. In way over their heads, Nev and Penelope have no one to turn to but each other—but to their surprise, that just might be enough.

Penelope


Anya Wylde - 2013
    The dowager, no less, has invited her for a season in London, where she will attempt to catch a husband.Thus begins our heroine’s tale as she attempts to tackle the London season with all her rustic finesse. Unfortunately, her rustic finesse turns out to be as delicate as a fat bear trying to rip apart a honeycomb infested with buzzing bees.What follows is a series of misadventures, love affairs, moonlit balls, fancy clothes, fake moustaches, highwaymen, sneering beauties, pickpockets, and the wrath of a devilishly handsome duke.

Some Like It Wicked


Teresa Medeiros - 2008
    . .Highland beauty Catriona Kincaid cares nothing for propriety—or even her own safety—when she storms the grounds of Newgate Prison. Determined to return to Scotland and restore her clan's honor, she seeks the help of Sir Simon Wescott, a disgraced nobleman and notorious rogue. She is prepared to offer him both wealth and freedom, but she never dreams the wicked rake will be bold enough to demand a far more sensual prize.Some like it seductive . . .Simon is shocked to discover the tomboy he met long ago has blossomed into a headstrong temptress. Although he's sworn off his dreams of becoming a hero, he can't resist playing knight errant to Catriona's damsel in distress. Both adventure and peril await them at her Highland home, where they will risk their lives to vanquish her enemies . . . and risk their hearts to discover a passion beyond their wildest dreams.

Her Sudden Groom


Rose Gordon - 2011
    With a loophole that allows him to marry another without consequence before the thirtieth anniversary of his birth, he has only four weeks to find another woman and make her his wife. Being the logical scientist he is, Alex decides to take his friend's advice and treat his quest for a bride just like a science experiment... Caroline Sinclair is still trying to scrape her jaw off the floor after hearing her cousin, Lady Olivia's, latest announcement when the object of their conversation, Alex Banks, Olivia's intended, arrives for what Caroline assumes is a bout of drawing room chitchat with his betrothed. But when an experiment is mentioned, Caroline, who cannot resist a science experiment any more than she can deny her lungs air, volunteers to help before she even knows what his latest experiment is!

Duchess by Chance


Wendy Vella - 2013
    So to save his family’s honor Daniel agrees to the marriage. But society’s favorite bachelor is no longer a charming easygoing man. His father’s betrayal has left him angry and with a thirst for revenge and the last thing he needs are his growing feelings for his shy new wife.Eva learns she is to wed the Duke of Stratton on way to the church. Despite the shock, this is an unexpected opportunity to escape her horrid family – one she grasps at with both hands. However, her courage falters when she faces the devilishly handsome but unyielding Duke who is now her husband.Can they make their marriage real despite coming from two completely different worlds?

April Lady


Georgette Heyer - 1957
    When newlywed begins to fill her days with fashion and frivolity, her husband has to wonder whether she really did marry him for his money, as his family so helpfully suggests. He thought they were marrying for love, but as the bills and extravagant debts begin to mount up, Giles begins to suspect that perhaps his adored wife isn't as innocent as he supposed. Especially since, as of late, she's been unable to look him in the eye...Impetuous Lady Helen Cardross had collected quite a basket of little white lies in her efforts to help those less fortunate than herself. There were, for example; her own dashing, debt-ridden brother, and her husband's love-sick, youthful sister. But to her adored (and adoring) lord and master, there could be no dissembling of integrity, honor, or truth. One faced up to grim reality -- unless one were Lady Helen.When his family's priceless jewels disappear, Lord Cardross is aghast at the idea that his lovely new wife might be the culprit, but he soon discovers the truth about Lady Nell's situation. And between his concern over his wife's spending sprees, rescuing her impulsive brother from one scrape after another, and attempting to prevent his own half--it's no wonder the much-tried earl can't see where he's gone wrong. And now owing a shocking amount of money, Nell doesn't dare tell him the truth--that she's loved him from the first, and thought he'd married her for convenience.

To Wed a Scandalous Spy


Celeste Bradley - 2005
    So when she drags the unconscious man she accidentally hit with a slingshot home, they arrange a hasty marriage and pack the couple off with best wishes. Armed with a groggy husband and a new future, Willa's pie-eyed optimism has no limits...until she discovers the secret, dangerous world of Nathaniel Stonewell, Earl of Reardon, a.k.a. "Lord Treason."Though Nathaniel is reviled by most of England for his devious plot against the Crown, he is, in reality, a member of an elite cadre of secret royal defenders on a daring undercover mission. He must keep his secrets at all cost, especially from Willa. And yet, he is enchanted...though he stubbornly refuses to surrender to his passion. Far better, he tells himself, to turn his back on love than risk everything for it. Luckily, his bride has other plans...