Book picks similar to
The Court of the Thorn Tree by Jennifer Blake


gothic
historical
historical-romance
jennifer-blake

Hazardous Duty


Christy Barritt - 2006
    Claire dropped out of school and started her own crime scene cleaning business. Now, when a routine cleaning job leads her to a murder weapon the police overlooked, she realizes that the wrong man is in jail. With the help of her new and attractively single neighbor, Riley Thomas, Gabby plays the detective to make sure the right man is put behind bars.

The Edge of Light


Ann Shorey - 2009
    And when Samuel's unscrupulous brother takes over the family business, Molly must head out on her own, leaving her old life behind. It's a dangerous journey, but somehow she must find a way to make a living, keep her family together, and fend off some over-eager suitors.

The Seduction of Madalyn


Cynthia A. Clement - 2013
    A man honor-bound to wed. A passion that cannot be denied. A bride stranded in a new land. Madalyn will do anything to find her kidnapped brother and return to England. She stows away onboard a ship headed for America and when she is found, she is sold to the highest bidder, Nathan. Forced to marry and thrust into Charleston society, she confronts new dangers as she searches for her missing brother. There are hidden perils and threats in the shadows of the city and Nathan is there to protect her. Her admiration and desire for her husband grows until she can no longer deny her feelings. Will she be able to walk away from love? A husband determined never to love again. Nathan’s plan to rescue Madalyn backfires, and he is honor bound to wed her. When he brings her home to Charleston, it is with the understanding that they will annul the marriage. Despite the growing attraction he feels towards his new wife, he has loved and lost. He may want and need her, but he has vowed never to love again. As he helps in the search for Madalyn’s brother, the allure of his bride has him considering the possibility of second chances. Dare he love again? Will Madalyn convince Nathan that love is worth the risk before it is too late?

The Sekhmet Bed


Libbie Hawker - 2011
    But when the Pharaoh dies without an heir, she is given instead as Great Royal Wife to the new king - a soldier of common birth. For Ahmose is god-chosen, gifted with the ability to read dreams, and it is her connection to the gods which ensures the new Pharaoh his right to rule.Ahmose's elder sister Mutnofret has been raised to expect the privileged station of Great Royal Wife; her rage at being displaced cannot be soothed. As Ahmose fights the currents of Egypt's politics and Mutnofret's vengeful anger, her youth and inexperience carry her beyond her depth and into the realm of sacrilege.To right her wrongs and save Egypt from the gods' wrath, Ahmose must face her most visceral fear: bearing an heir. But the gods of Egypt are exacting, and even her sacrifice may not be enough to restore the Two Lands to safety.

She Belongs to Me


Carmen DeSousa - 2011
     Charlotte police officer Jordan Monroe is used to being in control. Ever since his father died, he has provided for his mother and sisters and even hired his two brothers-in-law to help run his successful construction company. On a chance business trip, however, he meets the one person who throws his life into a whirlwind--Jaynee.Jaynee has lived a tragic life and has sworn off all men. That is until a rugged southern gentleman lands in her seating area, refusing to take no for an answer. From the moment they meet, Jordan sweeps her off her feet, assuring her that happiness exists. But can she really escape her past?Five years later, Jordan finds Jaynee on their back porch with a gunshot wound to the head. While Jaynee lies in a coma, Jordan has to go back to their beginning and figure out what went wrong. Did he push his wife to the edge, or has her past come back to haunt them? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "You'll be swept off your feet along with Jaynee as she discovers the man of her dreams. You'll be drawn into the drama. And you'll flip the pages fast as Jordan must desperately figure out the truth in time. I was and did!" -- New York Times bestselling author Jaime Rush⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "SHE BELONGS TO ME is definitely a good suspenseful read. Ms. DeSousa is a talented author and I had no problem in connecting with the characters. The story displayed a realistic relationship between Jordan and Jaynee." -- The Romance Reviews

Lady Gone Bad


Sabine Starr - 2012
    Lady has never met a cowboy she couldn't entice, or a lawman she couldn't outrun. But when Lady tangles with a sexy U.S. Marshall, she's tempted to stick around long enough to watch him lay down the law - in her bed. U. S. Marshall Rafe Morgan wants to lock up Lady Gone Bad for good - and he won't let his attraction to her slow him down. But when his attempt to bring Lady to justice goes awry, Rafe is nearly hanged - and by dawn, his face is plastered next to hers on every "Wanted" poster in Texas. Now on the run together, Rafe and Lady find themselves in very close quarters - and even more compromising positions. As Lady surrenders to Rafe's touch, she slowly begins to reveal all her secrets - including her real name. Maybe "Lady Gone Bad" isn't beyond redemption after all. Either way, Rafe is in for one wild ride...

A Sensible Lady: A Traditional Regency Romance


Judith Lown - 2012
    So she leases the Dower House from a kindly baron on a neighboring estate, believing that she has successfully met the greatest challenge of her life.How wrong she is! The kindly baron dies. An orphan arrives, whom Katherine accepts as her nephew. She is determined to provide for him, which means she must forget about love and marry a gentleman with money.There are three possibilities.Her cousin, Sir Clive Brampton, is eager to let bygones be bygones and marry Katherine. She would be able to return to her family home and live a life of financial ease. Her nephew would be provided for and launched into a career deemed suitable by Sir Clive. Can Katherine just accept Sir Clive’s generous offer?The Reverend Mr. Augustus Wharton, the newly arrived vicar, listens attentively to Katherine’s anguished musings over the loss of her brother on a distant battlefield in Spain. There are rumors that Mr. Wharton’s present vocation is a stunning contrast to his past as a hard drinking, gambling rake. Katherine dismisses the rumors and wonders if she could live happily with a man for whom she feels only sisterly affection.Finally, there is the new baron, Lord Henry Dracott. Lord Harry, as he is called, is clearly attracted to Katherine. But in spite of their best efforts to be civil to each other, their disagreements end up in arguments. Although there is mutual attraction, Katherine knows that Lord Harry’s heart is buried with his dead wife.Katherine tries to be a sensible lady and accept a practical marriage. But will her heart let her?

Miranda Warning


Heather Day Gilbert - 2014
    The Glock-wielding, knife-carrying housewife knows how to survive whatever life throws at her. But when an anonymous warning note shows up in her best friend Miranda’s mailbox—a note written in a dead woman’s handwriting—Tess quickly discovers that ghosts are alive and well in Buckneck, West Virginia. Hot on a cold trail, she must use limited clues and her keen insight into human nature to unmask the killer...or the next victim might be Tess herself.Tinged with the supernatural and overshadowed by the mountains' lush, protective presence, this twisting psychological mystery is the first in A Murder in the Mountains series.

The Marquess of Cakes


Heather Hiestand - 2013
    Yet she is unaware that with each morsel—and flash of ankle—she is seducing the handsome marquess frequenting her father’s tea shop. Unmarried at twenty-six, Alys’s first love is the family business. But thoughts of the gentleman’s touch are driving her to distraction…With his weakness for sugar, the Marquess of Hatbrook can imagine no more desirable woman than one scented with cake and spice. Mistaking Alys for a mere waitress, he has no doubt she would make a most delicious mistress. And when he finds himself in need of an heir, he plans to make her his convenient bride. Yet as they satisfy their craving for one another, business and pleasure suddenly collide. Will Hatbrook’s passion for sweets—and for Alys—be his heart’s undoing?85,000 words

Shadowborn


Moira Katson - 2013
    Shadows gather: legacies of the centuries-long rivalries for power, old betrayals, the endless plots of the courtiers, and the murmur of rebellion in the southern provinces…Catwin, plucked from her life at the edge of the Kingdom, is thrust abruptly into the world of the Court when she is chosen by the Duke of Voltur to be a Shadow—spy, shield, and blade—to his niece, the Lady Miriel DeVere. The Duke’s ruthlessness is legendary, and he will stop at nothing to become the power behind the throne, using Miriel as a pawn to catch Garad’s heart.But the Duke's carefully-laid plans are only a piece of the intrigue of the court, and greater forces than Catwin can imagine are massed against her, determined to eliminate Miriel and impose a new order of their own. If Catwin and Miriel are to survive, they must learn quickly who to trust, and when to turn their skills against the very people who have trained them...

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?

The Unremembered Girl


Eliza Maxwell - 2017
    It’s all he can do to keep his compassionate but ailing mother and his stepfather—a fanatical grassroots minister with a bruising rhetoric—from ruin. But they have no idea they’ve become the obsession of the girl in the woods.Abandoned and nearly feral, Eve has been watching them, seduced by the notion of family—something she’s known only in the most brutal sense. Soon she can’t resist the temptation to get close. Where Henry’s mother sees a poor girl in need, his father sees only wickedness. When Henry forges an unexpected bond with Eve, he believes he might be able to save her. He doesn’t know how wrong he is.Eve is about to take charge of her own destiny—and that of Henry’s family. As both their worlds spin violently out of control, Henry must make an impossible choice: protect the broken young woman who’s claimed a piece of his soul, or put everyone he loves at risk in order to do the right thing.

Dead Is the New Black


Christine DeMaio-Rice - 2011
    He's fashion designer Jeremy St. James, and not only is he her boss, everyone knows he's gay.-When he's arrested for murder, secrets come to light and nothing is what it seems. If Laura can just solve this crime, keep the cops off her tail, break up a counterfeiting ring, and get the show on the runway by Friday, she might stop being Seventh Avenue's perpetual loser.-Edited by Lynn O'Dell of Red Adept.----------

Tuesday's Child


Dale Mayer - 2011
     Shunned and ridiculed all her life for something she can’t control, Samantha Blair hides her psychic abilities and lives on the fringes of society. Against her will, however, she’s tapped into a killer—or rather, his victims. Each woman’s murder, blow-by-blow, ravages her mind until their death releases her back to her body. Sam knows she must go to the authorities, but will the rugged, no-nonsense detective in charge of tracking down the killer believe her? Detective Brandt Sutherland only trusts hard evidence, yet Sam’s visions offer clues he needs to catch a killer. The more he learns about her incredible abilities, however, the clearer it becomes that Sam’s visions have put her in the killer’s line of fire. Now Brandt must save her from something he cannot see or understand…and risk losing his heart in the process. As danger and desire collide, passion raises the stakes in a game Sam and Brandt don’t dare lose. Length - 90,000 words. Excerpt Agony. Pain. Terror. A voice whispered through the blackness of her mind, so odd, so different it caught her attention. She strained to hear the words. “Let go. It’s time to let go.” Sam stared through the flames, stunned. Let go of what? She couldn’t hear over the roaring fire and could barely see, but knowing that someone was there stirred her survival instinct, and she fought with the seatbelt buckle jammed at her side. She was saved. Just another minute and they’d open the door and pull her free. She’d be fine. “Please hurry,” she cried out. “Let go. You don’t need to be in there. Let it all go, and come with me.” She peered through the golden orange windshield to see a strange male face peering at her through the flames. He smiled. “Come with me.” “I want to, damn it. Can’t you see I’m trapped?” she screamed, her vocals crisping in the heat. “Release yourself. Come with me. Say yes.” The pain hit a crescendo. She twisted against it, hearing her spine splinter. The car seat melted into her skin. So much pain, she couldn’t breathe. Blackness crowded into her mind, blessed quiet, soothing darkness. She reached for it. “Let it go. You don’t need to go through this. Hurry.” She started. Why wasn’t he opening the door or getting others to help? He should be trying to save her. Shouldn’t he? Sam, so confused and so tired, she could barely feel the pain overtaking her body. Where had he gone? She tried to concentrate. His face was now only a vague outline that rippled with the heat waves. A soft smile played at the corner of his mouth. The flames burned around him, weird as they centered him in the warm glow. She wanted to be with him. To live. “Here, take my hand.” Dazed and on the brink of death, Sam focused on the hand reaching for her. She struggled to raise the charred piece of flesh that had been her arm and reached out to grasp his. She was free. Overwhelmed, she turned to hug her savior, her head just reaching his shoulder. He stood beside her, the same radiant beaming look on his face. His blond hair glowed, and he had the brightest teeth. She sighed. This beautiful man pointed to her right arm. Confused, Sam glanced down at her burned arm, realizing she could feel none of her injuries. Just like her other one, her broken arm had miraculously healed – whole, smooth and soft. Her skin hadn’t looked this good in ten years. She spun around to find a massive fireball below. What the hell? She had to be dead.

Only More So


Dixie Burns - 2016
    Leigh Blackburn, the main character of Deliberate, finally has the life she’s dreamed of and fought for. Happily divorced and living on a shabby chic farm with her sixteen-year-old son, she owns an upscale consignment store and has been building a new life free of tension. Free that is until her mother gets herself thrown out of her assisted living facility and moves in with Leigh. Abba Gee, Leigh's mother, will be familiar to those who have read, Spit of a Minute. Last seen at age fifteen, Abba Gee is seventy-years-old and still herself... Only More So!