Book picks similar to
Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath
historical-romance
romance
western
historical
Westward Winds
Linda Bridey - 2014
Her doting parents want her to make a good match with a worthy gentleman and live a respectable life. She is beautiful and intelligent and she comes with a hefty dowry. There is no reason that she shouldn’t be able to find an eligible man and settle down.Tessa herself is the reason. The men who are attempting to court her are, in her opinion, boring and conceited. Not only that, Tessa craves excitement and adventure, of which there is little in her social circles. By chance, she comes across an advertisement for a bride brokerage company seeking eligible women of good breeding to go west and find husbands.One man on the list catches her eye and she begins corresponding with him, eventually agreeing to go to Montana to meet him. She can’t resist the possibility of finding someone different and even if she doesn’t, the adventure itself would be worth her time. Tessa makes a successful escape and sets out to make a new life in Montana.Dean Samuels is a Montana rancher who is in over his head. His ranch is struggling and his two children are unruly and in need of a caretaker. It’s clear to his younger brother, Marcus, that he needs help. He tells Dean about a mail order bride service and convinces him that he should utilize it to find a wife.After his wife, Sarah, had passed away, Dean never intended to marry again. His ranch and his children became his life. However, it becomes apparent that Sadie, his daughter, and his son, Jack, need stability and love. The demands of raising his children and keeping his head above water financially have taken a toll and Dean grudgingly gives in to Marcus’ idea.Sarah had been the love of his life and Dean doesn’t intend to let any other woman into his heart. He’s locked those kinds of emotions deep inside, not wanting to take the chance of getting hurt like that again. Because Dean has trouble expressing his feelings in writing, his younger brother Marcus agrees to help write the letters to Tessa. Dean is happy to leave that part up to him.When Dean and Tessa meet, sparks fly between the two strong willed people. Tessa is disappointed that Dean isn’t the romantic, sophisticated man she was lead to believe he was in the letters she received. Dean is aggravated that she isn’t a meek woman who is easily managed. Never mind the fact that she has no idea of how to take care of children and keep a home.Dean and Tessa struggle to find common ground and make their marriage work. Will they each take the risk and open their hearts to one another? Can their marriage survive and will they find love and contentment in each other? Their future happiness hangs in the balance under the Montana skies.
Texas Mail Order Bride
Linda Broday - 2015
But when mail-order bride Delta Dandridge steps off the stagecoach and claims he sent for her, he scrambles to set her straight. The tempestuous woman makes him see red and also challenges all his vows to remain a bachelor. It turns out Delta Dandridge is going to set Cooper Thorne straight about a few things...
What a Gentleman Wants
Caroline Linden - 2006
An occasional thank you would suffice; instead, his resentful sibling forges his name to a marriage license and presents him with an unwanted wife. She's a vicar's widow with a mind of her own who may be the first person in Marcus's well-ordered life to make him feel...completely out of control.Hannah can't help but curse her own idiocy. Dire straits have led her to the altar with a gentleman she hardly knows. Played for a fool, she's embarrassed, furious, and worse, married to an equally outraged stranger—an exasperating man who unleashes all manner of emotions in Hannah, not to mention unwanted desire. Reluctantly, she agrees to play the wife until he can sort out the mess. But the nearness of the undeniably attractive Duke and the passion in his black eyes unsettles her well-guarded heart—making her want to do so much more than "act" the role of blissful bride.
The Luckiest Lady in London
Sherry Thomas - 2013
Felix himself almost believes this golden image. But underneath is a damaged soul soothed only by public adulation.Louisa Cantwell needs to marry well to support her sisters. She does not, however, want Lord Wrenworth—though he seems inexplicably interested in her. She mistrusts his outward perfection and the praise he garners everywhere he goes. But when he is the only man to propose at the end of the London season, she reluctantly accepts.Louisa does not understand her husband's mysterious purposes, but she cannot deny the pleasure her body takes in his touch. Nor can she deny the pull this magnetic man exerts upon her. But does she dare to fall in love with a man so full of dark secrets, anyone of which could devastate her, if she were to get any closer?
Laird of the Mist
Paula Quinn - 2007
When raiders strike, she rushes into the fray...and is lucky when a mysterious Highlander shields her from a deadly blow. Swept onto his stallion, she soon discovers that her rescuer is her clan's most hated enemy: Callum MacGregor, the man they call The Devil. Yet she cannot ignore his achingly tender touch or the way his fiery gaze leaves her breathless. POSSESSING HER WOULD BE HIS PLEASURE Callum MacGregor has taken many Campbell lives, but he's never saved one--until now. Mesmerized by this spirited lass, he wants her by his side, even if it means holding her for ransom. As his fingers graze her sumptuous curves and tangle in her unruly tresses, Callum realizes Kate Campbell is his most dangerous foe of all. For he can't make love to her without betraying his kinsmen and his honor...and surrendering his heart forever.
Passion
Lisa Valdez - 2005
But amidst the crowds of London's Crystal Palace, Passion finds herself discreetly, yet insistently, pursued by a sensual gentleman who awakens her long-supressed desires. After a loveless marriage of restrained propriety, Passion abandons herself to true bliss for the first time.Intoxicated by his encounter with the beautiful stranger, Mark Randolph Hawkmore, Earl of Langley, cannot wait to see her again. As a series of rapturous rendezvous follows, he and his mystery lover find something rare and wonderful blossoming between them. But a blackmail scheme against the Earl threatens to destroy everything. As a scandal brews, each will have to choose between duty and desire...their love for their families—and their love for each other.
Much Ado About You
Eloisa James - 2004
After all, right now they're under the rather awkward guardianship of the perpetually tipsy Duke of Holbrook. But just when she begins to think that all might end well, one of her sisters bolts with a horse-mad young lord, and her own fiancé just plain runs away.Which leaves Tess contemplating marriage to the sort of man she wishes to avoid -- one of London's most infamous rakes. Lucius Felton is a rogue whose own mother considers him irredeemable! He's delicious, Annabel points out. And he's rich, Josie notes. But although Tess finally consents to marry him, it may be for the worst reason of all. Absurd as she knows it to be, she may have fallen utterly in love . . .
The Husband Trap
Tracy Anne Warren - 2006
. . . Violet Brantford has always longed for the passionate embrace of Adrian Winter, the wealthy Duke of Raeburn. Problem is, he's set to marry Violet's vivacious, more socially polished look-alike twin sister, Jeannette. But when Jeannette refuses to go through with the ceremony mere minutes before it is to begin, soft-spoken Violet finds herself walking down the aisle and taking vows in her sister's place. Soon shy Violet is a high-society wife, trying to keep her real identity a secret while living out the fantasies of her wildest dreams. Adrian thinks he knows exactly what he's gotten himself into: Jeannette may be flighty and, well, a bit self-involved, but she's the picture-perfect wife to carry on the Winter name. Yet this marriage of convenience brings the groom more than he bargained for when he finds his sweet, innocent wife surprising him at every turn. And though he never planned on true love, Adrian is definitely in danger of losing his heart.
My Darling Duke
Stacy Reid - 2019
Her family is on the brink of financial ruin, and it is up her to save her mother and sisters from a life of indignities. So she transforms herself into the incomparable Kitty Danvers, the fiancée of the enigmatic and reclusive Alexander Masters, Duke of Thornton—once dubbed the mad, bad, and dangerous catch of the Season.Ten years ago, society and the woman Alexander Masters loved called him a monster, after a tragic accident left him scarred and confined to a wheelchair. His heart exists in cold, lonely exile, until he learns he has a fiancée—a deceptive, clever, and utterly intriguing woman he's never met. Miss Danvers will now learn the consequences of engaging herself to the beast, for Alexander is determined to make her his. Soon, they are involved in a chase, a clash of wills, and though he once vowed to never love again, he burns for the enchanting Miss Danvers. And denying his heart may cost him an exquisite love that happens only once in a lifetime.
The Black Lyon
Jude Deveraux - 1980
He had no match among enemies, or women ... until he met Lyonene, the green-eyed beauty whose fiery spirit matched his own. Through a whirlwind romance and stormy marriage, she endured every peril to be by his side... until jealousy and vicious lies drove her across the Irish Sea and into grave danger. One man could save her -- only the fierce Black Lyon had the courage to destroy the ruthless plot that had driven them apart and threatened the bond of love they had vowed could never be broken.
Forever Betrothed, Never the Bride
Christi Caldwell - 2013
When Emmaline reads one too many reports of his scandalous liaisons in the gossip rags, she takes matters into her own hands. War-torn veteran, Lord Drake devotes himself to forgetting his days on the Peninsula through an endless round of meaningless associations. He no longer wants to feel anything, but Lady Emmaline is making it hard to maintain a state of numbness. With her zest for life, she awakens his passion and desire for love. The one woman Drake has spent the better part of his life avoiding is now the only woman he needs, but he is no longer a man worthy of his Emmaline. It is up to her to show him the healing power of love.
Noble Intentions
Katie MacAlister - 2002
This time he intended to marry a quiet, biddable woman who would not draw attention to herself or cause scandal. Gillian Leigh's honest manner and spontaneous laughter attracted him immediately. It mattered little that she was accident-prone; he could provide the structure necessary to guide her.But unconventional to the tips of her half-American toes―toes that one of them was constantly tripping over―his new bride turned the tables on him, wreaking havoc on his orderly life. And worse, demanding he surrender his heart. Perpetually one step behind his beguiling spouse, Noble suffered a banged-up head, a black eye, and a broken nose before he realized Gillian had healed his soul and proved that their union was no heedless tumble, but the swoon of true love.
The Charm School
Susan Wiggs - 1999
But he'd purposely walked away from everything it afforded him. Driven by his quest to right an old wrong, the fiery, temperamental sea captain barely registers the meek, young woman who comes aboard his ship.To the Swan's motley crew, the tides of attraction clearly flow between the two. Teaching her the charms of a lady, they hope to build the confidence she needs to attract not only their lonely captain's attention, but his heart, as well. For everyone knows the greatest charms are not those of the formal lady, but rather the possibilities of a new world built on love.
Miss Wonderful
Loretta Chase - 2004
To prove he is not an idle fop only concerned with sartorial pleasures, Alistair agrees to help his old friend, Lord Gordmor, by traveling to the wilds of Derbyshire to convince Gordmor's neighbors to support the nobleman's proposal to build a canal. Upon arriving, Alistair, a famous war hero and eligible bachelor, finds everyone couldn't be nicer, everyone except for respectable, practical, spinsterish Mirabel Oldridge. The last thing Mirabel wants is for her tranquil little corner of England to be destroyed by a noisy, nasty canal, and she is prepared to use every weapon at her disposal--including her disheveled coiffure and unstylish wardrobe--to stop Alistair.
Ravished
Amanda Quick - 1992
Moving from the cozy confines of a tiny seaside village named Upper Biddleton to the glittering crush of a fashionable London soiree, Quick offers an enthralling tale of a mismatched couple poised to discover the rapture of love.There was no doubt about it. What Miss Harriet Pomeroy needed was a man. Someone powerful and clever who could help her rout the unscrupulous thieves who were using her beloved caves to hide their loot. But when Harriet summoned Gideon Westbrook, Viscount St. Justin, to her aid, she could not know that she was summoning the devil himself. . . . Dubbed the Beast of Blackthorne Hall for his scarred face and lecherous past, Gideon was strong and fierce and notoriously menacing. Yet Harriet could not find it in her heart to fear him. For in his tawny gaze she sensed a savage pain she longed to soothe . . . and a searing passion she yearned to answer. Now, caught up in the Beast’s clutches, Harriet must find a way to win his heart–and evade the deadly trap of a scheming villain who would see them parted for all time.RAVISHED is a retelling of the classic tale, Beauty and the Beast.