Book picks similar to
Black Crow's Blessing by Sophronia Belle Lyon


adult
classics-retellings
historical
historical-fantasy

Reluctant Regency Brides: Collection


Claudia Stone - 2018
     The Duke of Ruin When Lord Greene wagers his daughter's hand in marriage in a card game, no one is less surprised the woman herself. The only thing that shocks Olive is that the man that he has gambled her away to is none other than The Duke of Ruin. Rumours abound that the Sixth Duke of Everleigh callously murdered his late wife and killed her lover in a duel --and now Olive is to become his bride. Ruan Ashford took one look at Olive Greene and knew that he had to have her in his bed. The beautiful, auburn-haired temptress will make a perfect Duchess; there's only one problem - his new wife despises him. When a chance arises for Olive to disappear she readily grabs hold of it, and soon the Duke of Ruin is hunting the Cornish countryside for his runaway bride. When he finds her can he convince her that he's not the dreadful villain the world thinks him to be and that his love for her is real? The Lord of Heartbreak Miss Jane Deveraux is in a bind; her brother, Viscount Jarvis, has married and his new wife does not want her bookish sister-in-law encroaching on their wedded bliss. The Viscountess makes it very clear that Jane must find a husband, but at five and twenty the confirmed spinster doesn’t have many suitors lining up to claim her hand. What Jane needs is a large sum of money, so that she can buy the local boarding house, and live out her days holding intellectual saloons for the egalitarian set. Though where she’ll find this money is anyone’s guess… James Fairweather, Lord Payne is the heir to the Ducal seat of Hawkfield. Tall, handsome and with a roguish charm that has women falling at his feet, he should be living the easy life of an entitled bachelor. The only problem is that his father has tired of his rakish ways and declares that unless Payne cleans up his act he will be disinherited. What Payne needs is a respectable —dare he say boring— woman whom he can parade around for a season to convince his father that he has changed his ways. The only person who fits the bill is his friend’s sister Jane, who reluctantly agrees to go along with the charade —for a price, of course. The Marquess of Temptation Since her father’s death, Miss Hestia B. Stockbow has been living a lie. Working as a companion, under an assumed name, all she wants to do is keep her head down and forget about the scandalous tragedy that haunts her past. There’s only one problem… After two delicious, stolen kisses, the usually icy and aloof Alexander Delaney, Marquess of Falconbridge, finds himself entranced by Belinda Bowstock, a lowly paid companion. When he discovers that she is, in fact, his missing ward, Alex realises there's only one thing he can do: Marry the chit and help her solve the mystery of her father's suspicious death. The Captain of Betrayal At the age of eight and twenty, Polly Jenkins has happily resigned herself to the life of a spinster. Many years ago, a young man broke her heart, and she has guarded it fiercely ever since. Polly's life, on the coast of Cornwall, is one of peaceful happiness--until, that is, Captain James Black arrives at her door. The young man she once knew is gone, replaced by a dashing Captain--one who is determined to marry her, and who won't take no for an answer...

Dominica


Kate Harper - 2015
    He is stunned to discover than his old friend Peter Mandeville left his only child in his care in the hope that he will teach her something about her heritage, an aspect of life that his strong willed daughter has yet to experience. Felix has spent his entire life avoiding the convoluted world that constitutes Society and is appalled by the burden that has been thrust upon him, especially when his new ward refuses to play by the rules. For Dominica Mandeville there are no rules. Beautiful and independent, she has spent her life following in the wake of battle in the company of her soldier father and her Portuguese mother. After a life of adventure, the knowledge that she has been given into the care of a perfect stranger chaffs unbearably. The loss of her beloved parents hurts but the loss of her freedom is the cruelest cut of all. Will she ever learn to be a demure debutante? Or will her impetuosity lead to scandals that even the capable Felix is unable to save her from?

Legacy at Liberty Lake


Cheryl Devenney - 2017
    The recent death of the father she never knew, prompts his relatives to invite her to a family reunion in central New York. It's the last place she wants to be.While there, she hears about Tina, her nineteen-year-old great grandmother who is forced to suspend her dream of a career in New York City to care for her widowed father and three siblings during the 1930’s depression. Their saga comes alive for Carly when she is drawn into the family struggles of an era so different than her own. Tina’s Italian immigrant family lives on the south side of a small town amid prejudice and political corruption. Their lives take a tragic turn when a boy drowns, and another is injured while swimming in dangerous local waterways. The incidents incite contention within the town, and lead to violence and murder that threaten Tina’s family and friends. With a love story as an anchor, Legacy at Liberty Lake reveals the spirit and passion of a family and a neighborhood’s determination to grab a piece of the American Dream.

The Road to Berry Edge


Elizabeth Gill - 1997
    Perfect for fans of Dilly Court, Maggie Hope and Nadine Dorries. 1903. As Rob Berkeley comes home to Berry Edge, ten years after his brother's terrible death, he brings with him memories that Faith Norman, his dead brother's fiancée, would rather forget. Rob, driven by guilt, is determined to bring the family business, the foundering steelworks, back to full strength. But every time he sees Faith, he is remained of the part he played in her bereavement and the debt he owes her and Berry Edge. The secrets he hides from the community around him could threaten his very future, and jeopardise his growing feelings for Faith . . .

Memories Are Made of This


June Francis - 2013
    Was she killed outright, or did she choose to leave?Determined to find out the truth, Jean embarks on a mission to discover what really happened to her mother, but she is not prepared for the web of family secrets and lies that her investigation uncovers. Will she find any answers? And will they be the ones she was hoping for? An enthralling saga of love and heartache in 1950s Liverpool, perfect for fans of Pam Howes and Kitty Neale.

Blood Feud


S.J.A. Turney - 2021
    Christianity has swept unstoppably across Scandinavia, leaving few enclaves of the old ways clinging on to their fading world as King Olof of Sweden works to convert his people.A young warrior, Halfdan, has witnessed the ‘mercy’ of the Christian lords, watched his people attacked, his village burned and the Odin stone toppled as heretical. Watched his father cut down by an ambitious Christian jarl and his zealous priest. Among the ashes of his world he vowed an oath of vengeance before all the gods.That oath will bring together an unlikely band of allies and carry them to the very edge of the world, fighting giants, dragons and wraiths, in pursuit of his father’s killer: Yngvar. The jarl is powerful, and the weaving of Fate difficult, but the blood price must be paid.

The Pride of Polly Perkins


Joan Jonker - 1997
    As Tommy's stay in hospital turns from weeks into months, Polly's mother, Ada, becomes increasingly anxious as to how she will make ends meet. In an attempt to help out, Polly takes a job as a flowerseller, and when she sells a buttonhole to Charles Denholme, a member of the Liverpool gentry, she sets in motion a chain of events that changes her life forever...

The Tainted Crown (Horstberg Saga #4)


Elizabeth D. Michaels - 2015
    He also grew up observing the powerful and tender love shared by his parents. Determined to find that same kind of love in his own life, he is holding out for a woman who can see more in him than a marriage that will give his future wife prestige and great wealth. After more than a decade of searching for the right woman, Erich may have finally found a love beyond anything he’d imagined. But his happiness and the stability of the country is at risk when a long-dormant evil comes to the surface in Horstberg, threatening his life and that of his young nephew, who is Erich’s heir. While Erich tries to remain confident that he will live long enough to claim his right to serve his country, he is haunted by premonitory dreams that imply his life will come to a tragic end. As a force of extremist revolutionaries force Horstberg to the brink of war, the entire du Woernig family must flee into hiding for the sake of their own survival. Only when everything is on the line does Erich come to fully understand what truly matters. Please note that Book Five, the final book in the Horstberg Saga will be available for preorder on April 6th and will be released May 4th.

Victoria's Walk


Christopher Nicole - 1986
    Having spent six years in Africa with her English missionary husband, she knows that the desert is not as empty of water as most suppose, if one knows where to look. Thus she leads her party on an epic two hundred mile walk to gain the fertile grassland to the south. To achieve this, she must drive them ever onwards, quell two mutinies and watch some of her party die. Their lives are saved when they reach an oasis, but to gain true safety they must now face Arab slaver traders, bloodthirsty Ashanti warriors, and the all-consuming forest. Victoria's walk has hardly begun. Set at the turn of the 20th Century, when the British Empire was approaching its zenith, with a handful of administrators and soldiers endeavoring to rule vast areas and dominate peoples they did not understand, VICTORIA'S WALK is a tale of the human spirit at its highest and lowest, its most courageous and its most bestial, of one woman's unceasing fortitude, of the men who loved her, and the women who hated her.

Khon'Tor's Wrath


Leigh Roberts - 2019
     What if... The community repopulated, and lived in peace and harmony with all creation for generation after generation — until the compassionate act of their Healer set it all on end.Coming across an abandoned infant, the Healer Adia rescues a forbidden Outsider child and brings it back to their underground community, Kthama. When the Leader returns from a council meeting and finds what she has done, he takes her compassionate act as an affront to his authority and a threat to the People's welfare.She was prepared for him to be angry.  She was prepared for him to punish her. But she was not prepared for Khon'Tor's Wrath.

The Dressmaker


Benita Brown - 2007
    When her mother dies, Melissa is offered a home by wealthy Lilian Winterton, but she soon realises Lilian wants an unpaid seamstress. Treated as a servant by the Wintertons, Melissa is befriended by Reenie, a kitchen maid, and they enjoy dressing up in Lilian’s cast-off clothes. Wearing finery, Melissa meets handsome young artist James Pennington, but she runs away, frightened he will guess her true status. Scandal follows and Melissa is unfairly thrown out on to the streets. Can the rags of her life be sewn into riches...?

A Last Goodbye


Dee Yates - 2018
    In time they're joined by rugged farmhand Tom, come to lend some muscle to Ellen's ageing father, who has begun to find sheep farming hard to manage alone. Almost inevitably romance grows between Ellen and the new arrival but once married however, Ellen discovers that Tom has a brutish side to his character. As war in Europe spreads, she begins to dream of him leaving for the trenches as a way for her to escape.Even with Tom fighting abroad however, the family can not hide from the realities of war as a group of POWs are brought to their valley to build a reservoir. And amongst the men, sworn enemies and shunned by all the locals, Ellen finds a gentler heart that she finds difficult to resist...

A Family Secret


Libby Ashworth - 2021
    Meanwhile, her older sister Peggy works as an apprentice at the Girls' School, hoping for a more prosperous future as a schoolteacher.Jennet and Titus Eastwood have always made decisions for their daughters' futures. But as the sisters near adulthood they are determined to make their own choices. And with temptation in the way, will the girls find love - or infatuation - leads them astray?Then an unexpected but familiar face arrives in town, and the family's future is threatened. For Bessie and Jennet, a difficult choice must be made - love or family . . .

The Chimneysweep's Daughter


Jean L. Kuhnke - 2020
    Her father was a chimneysweep and she loved him. He was all she had after her mother took off with a man Maggie stumbled upon when she was sent home from school because she came without a lunch…again. From five years old, her life centered on herself and her father. His many years working in soot filled chimneys took a toll on his health until Maggie was fifteen. Their hope of one day buying a little cottage in the country where they would enjoy the fresh clean air and home grown food was close to becoming a reality when his body could not recover from the years of abuse, leaving Maggie on her own. Traveling west with nothing but their few household possessions, ‘Old Mule’, and a wagon, Maggie began her new life alone but determined to find a place that the money they saved over the years would buy. Occasionally, she would supplement her supplies by cleaning a chimney, picking up information along the way.

The Seeds of Power


Jilly Wood - 2019
    Until her greatest strength becomes her fatal weakness. Princess Christal of Larrochar learned long ago that to marry was to risk her life. At twenty-eight she’s resolutely unwed, trusted assistant to the King’s Cultivator and an expert in rare plants. Then, to her horror, she receives a marriage proposal she can’t refuse. All Prince Daire of Caldermor cares about is elan—the mysterious golden beans that bring his family untold wealth and power. If Daire wants Christal, elan must be at the root of his interest. Christal’s father would sacrifice her to discover elan’s secrets. The Calderrans would kill to keep them secure. To save herself Christal will need every kernel of knowledge she’s ever gleaned. And the support of Kiran Randsen, elite soldier turned Calderran bodyguard, who may be something even rarer than elan—a man she’d trust with her life. The Seeds of Power is the first book in the Elan Intrigues fantasy romance series. If you like strong heroines, chivalrous heroes, natural magic, and life-or-death stakes, then you’ll love this powerful historical fantasy by award-winning author Jilly Wood. Dig in to The Seeds of Power and share Christal’s adventure today!