Book picks similar to
An Affair of the Heart by Joan Smith


regency
romance
regency-romance
historical

Quiet Meg


Sherry Lynn Ferguson - 2008
    Wealthy landowners are enthusiastically improving their vast country estates. When Sir Eustace Lawrence, renowned King's Counsel, invites Cabot to visit his Berkshire home, Cabot plans to apply his talents to a modification of the grounds. But he soon discovers that other skills are called for. All is not well with the amiable Lawrence family. One daughter, Margaret, has for years drawn the unwelcome, jealous attentions of the powerful Earl of Sutcliffe. The earl has essentially placed Meg under siege. Meg has had ample proof of Sutcliffe's deadliness. She has not dared to bestow her hand or her heart on any suitor for fear of what may befall him. But she is unaware of the lengths to which their new family friend, Charles Cabot, will go in order to protect her. When her family visits London for the season and a confrontation looms, Meg and her awakened affections must face the ultimate test.

The Viscount and the Vicar's Daughter


Mimi Matthews - 2018
    Ashton has hit proverbial rock bottom. Seeking to escape his melancholy, he takes refuge at one of Victorian society’s most notorious house parties. As the Christmas season approaches, he prepares to settle in for a month of heavy drinking…until an unexpected encounter changes his plans—and threatens his heart.A PRIM VICAR'S DAUGHTERValentine March is not the drab little spinster she appears to be. When her new job as a lady’s companion lands her smack in the middle of Yorkshire with England’s most infamous rake, she resolves to keep her head down and her eyes fixed firmly on her future—a future which most definitely does not include a sinfully handsome viscount.A MATCH MADE IN SCANDALA friendship is impossible. An affair out of the question. But when one reckless act binds them together, will two star-crossed souls discover there’s more to each other than meets the eye? Or will revelations from the past end their fragile romance before it begins?

The Viscount's Valentine


Donna Lea Simpson - 2000
    Forced to flee London and a young woman’s irate father, he escapes to the wilds of Yorkshire hoping to rest, relax, and wait out the scandal. The last thing he expects to find in the country is the stunning beauty he first eyed twelve years ago, the one woman who captivated his heart and made him question his ways.The widow Honey Hockley has given up on romance and settled into the quiet simplicity of her small Yorkshire village. Before marrying her infirmed husband, she had one sparkling night of a London Season, a night she’ll hold on to forever. But Honey’s peaceful days are shattered when a handsome and mysterious stranger comes to town, forcing her to question her decision to accept a life alone.Upon meeting, attraction flares, and it’s only Honey’s fears and the Viscount’s reputation that keep them apart. So while Honey works to accept the possibility that life and love may yet hold some surprises for her, the Viscount works to clear his name and win over the one woman he believes can make him virtuous again."The Viscount’s Valentine" was originally published as "Wild Honey" in the anthology, Valentine Rogues .

Miss Quinn's Quandary


Shirley Marks - 2007
    After the day-long journey, the only place for the weary travelers to sleep is the barn of an over-booked inn with only a single vacancy. Larissa, who has no intention of sleeping on a pile of straw, steps forward, claiming to be newly wed to Sir Randall Trent, baronet and unwitting accomplice in Larissa's scheme for adventure, in order to claim the last empty room. Convinced they will never see one another again and that no one will be the wiser about their little white lie, Larissa and Sir Randall part ways, though not before Sir Randall can bestow upon Larissa a passionate kiss that sends her reeling. Both are surprised to be thrown together again so soon in London for the Season. When their secret is discovered, Larissa and Sir Randall are forced to band together in the face of a crime spree in which Sir Randall is implicated. Life is about to offer Larissa an adventure unlike any she had ever imagined.

The Truth About Lord Stoneville


Sabrina Jeffries - 2009
    Now each faces a daunting ultimatum: marry by year's end—or kiss their inheritance good-bye.In the two decades since a tragic "accident" took the lives of his parents, Oliver Sharpe, the Marquess of Stoneville, has survived the scandal surrounding that fateful night by living as an unrepentant rakehell. And with his grandmother vowing to disinherit him if he doesn't settle down and wed, he plans to fulfill the bargain in true Sharpe style—by bringing home a fake fiancée from a brothel! But his scheme is derailed when he rescues an American beauty in a dire predicament instead. Maria Butterfield came to London to track down her groom-to-be, who's gone missing, but her engagement won't stop Oliver from getting what he wants: her, in his bed. His rebellious masquerade may call his grandmother's bluff, but it's soon made all too real—by a love that tempts him to be a hellion no more.

The Persistent Suitor


Rachel McNeely - 2015
    She’s ramshackle, always says what she thinks and prefers riding and fishing over sewing and social graces. Grayson Lyall, Marquis of Carraway, is Society’s ideal of a perfect gentleman. He’s handsome, wealthy and considered a war hero by everyone but himself. A gentleman, that is, until he sets eyes on the intriguingly different Lady Juliana, emotionally jilted and humiliated and under pressure to change everything about herself. For her, he is quite willing to play the hero to a reluctant damsel in distress. But nothing is ever easy with Lady Juliana. It will take persistence.

The Defiant Governess


Andrea Pickens - 1997
    Sparking arguments between herself and the mysterious Saybrook is delightful fun. But both are putting her heart in danger. Now she's caught between desire and her deception, for the most a titled lord can offer to a mere governess is ruin.

The Weaver Takes a Wife


Sheri Cobb South - 1999
    When her father gambles away his fortune, the duke's only chance for recouping his losses lies in marrying off Lady Helen to any man wealthy enough to take a bride with nothing to recommend her but a lovely face and an eight-hundred-year-old pedigree. Enter Mr. Ethan Brundy, once an illegitimate workhouse orphan, now owner of a Lancashire textile mill and one of England's richest men. When he glimpses Lady Helen at Covent Garden Theatre, he is instantly smitten and vows to marry her. But this commonest of commoners will have his work cut out for him if he hopes to win the heart of his aristocratic bride.

The Black Duke's Prize


Suzanne Enoch - 1995
    Not only is she caught up in the mad whirl of ballgowns and galas, she must also make certain that her disreputable uncle doesn’t sell her family estate in herabsence.Katherine Ralston, a country girl at heart, sees the Season in London as something she must endure. Nicholas Varnon, known as the Black Duke for his rakish and irresistible charms, sees the season as a chance to repair his rakish reputation. Yet, he seems to be taking quite an interest in the spirited Katherine. Suspicious of trickery, Katherine is determined to ignore the sinfully sexy charms of…the Black Duke. Little does she know, she may have just met her white knight in shining armor…

To Catch A Spinster


Megan Bryce - 2012
    She has her studies and her duties, what need does she have of a husband? With five sisters married she knows the reality does not live up to the promise, and does not need to personally experiment with the state to know she would be ill-suited to it. However, she finds herself envious of at least one aspect of marriage. But to experience the physical side of marriage, one doesn't need a husband, all one needs is the right man...Nathaniel Jenkins knows his duty. Marry a young girl from a respectable family and father an heir, no matter how cold the endless parade of suitable girls leaves him. But a shocking proposal from a scholarly spinster leaves him wondering if unsuitable is just what he's looking for. Can he convince his spinster that marriage is the greatest experiment of all?

Disrobed and Dishonored


Louise Allen - 2009
    With only one kiss left, victory seems easy...until he encounters Miss Sarah Tatton, who has fled on horseback to escape her vile fiancé.Distraught and desperate, the last thing Sarah needs is to run straight into the arms of a highwayman. But his heart-stopping kiss gives Sarah an idea--to lose her virginity in order to break her engagement. And the surprisingly gentlemanlike thief is just the man to teach her the art of love...at least enough to pretend that she has lost her virtue. But as Jonathan and Sarah's passion grows, all pretense must come to an end...

Bargaining With a Rake


Julie Johnstone - 2012
    Now, faced with an unwelcome marriage that will chain her to London and the secret slowly killing her, she’s desperate to save herself and the sister she adores. Salvation comes in the form of an American shipping tycoon, and all she must do is seduce him into marrying her. But Gillian’s scheme hits a snag when she makes a bargain with a notorious rake, Alexander Trevelle, Lord Lionhurst. He agrees to help her win the hand of his American friend, if she’ll assist him with exacting revenge against her unwanted fiancé. But the price of the pact may just be their hearts.

Lucien's Fall


Barbara Samuel - 1995
    Against her better judgment, however, she is powerfully drawn to the elusive and dangerous Lucien, whose hard-hearted façade hides a tragedy that is slowly devouring him from within.As Lucien and Madeline circle each other in a magnetic play of desire and denial, their passion will rise to a crescendo of longing and sacrifice that will change their fates forever.

The Pirate Next Door


Jennifer Ashley - 2003
    He certainly doesn’t look like the gentlemen on her list—Grayson Finley, Viscount Stoke, is tall and sun-bronzed, muscular and blue-eyed. He wears dress so casual as to be unclothed—long coats, leather breeches, shirts without collar or cravat, and he carries pistols wherever he goes. The men who attend him are just as strange, exotic-looking, even. And the way Grayson smiles at Alexandra whenever they pass in the street—sinful, blood-warming—turns her inside out.In the middle of the night Alexandra hears shouting coming from the house next door, and the viscount’s life being threatened. She rushes over just in time to save Grayson from being hanged by his greatest enemy, his former best friend.Thus is Alexandra pulled into the adventures of Grayson Finley, former pirate and terror of the seas. Grayson has made a bargain with the devil (in the form of the pirate hunter, James Ardmore), in order to ensure the safety of his daughter. He’ll do anything to keep her safe, but when Alexandra saves his life, he looks into her eyes the color of water and starts to drown . . .

Tallie's Knight


Anne Gracie - 2000
    Tallie usually spent her quiet life lost in daydreams, but the arrival of a house party to aid Magnus, Earl of d'Arenville, to find a wife, turned her world upside down.Magnus's cold facade had been pierced by a delightful small girl, and now he'd decided he wanted children of his own. For that, he needed a wife. But things didn't go according to Laetitia's plan, for he ignored all the debutantes that were presented to him, and, taken with Tallie's loving treatment of the children in her charge, decided that she was the one he would marry...