Book picks similar to
The Love of a Rake by Linda Rae Sande


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historial-romance

The Whiskey Sea


Ann Howard Creel - 2016
    The girls are taken in by a kindly fisherman named Silver, and Frieda begins to feel at home on the water. When Silver sells his fishing boat to WWI veteran Sam Hicks, thinking Sam would be a fine husband for Frieda, she’s outraged. But Frieda manages to talk Sam into teaching her to repair boat engines instead, so she has a trade of her own and won’t have to marry.Frieda quickly discovers that a mechanic’s wages won’t support Bea and Silver, and is lured into a money-making team of rumrunners supplying alcohol to New York City speakeasies. Speeding into dangerous waters to transport illegal liquor, Frieda gets swept up in the lucrative, risky work—and swept off her feet by a handsome Ivy Leaguer who’s in it just for fun.As danger mounts and her own feelings threaten to drown her, can Frieda find her way back to solid ground—and to a love that will sustain her?

The Governess 3


Ellise C. Weaver - 2013
    But her biggest challenge will be their father; masterful and strong in everything—especially his kiss. Poor and without dowry—and even worse—now orphaned, Miss Carly Blakemore is thrown into the Victorian world without aid. Carly is forced to seek a position as governess in the house of Lord Huntington, the Earl of Dunfordshire—a man alone in his own right—and under suspicion for the tragic murder of his well-known and adulteress wife. His governess’s honesty and forthrightness quickly offend his noble person, and he finds himself reeling from her constant evaluation of his lack of parenting skills. However, in the midst of his resentments, he finds himself strangely drawn in by her very no-nonsense ways that drive him to madness. Carly stands her ground in head-to-head battles of will that take her to the brink of dismissal. Carly and the earl continually fight the feelings growing between them. Both are oblivious to the clouds of deceit and intrigue that are growing around the manor house, some bent upon removing the beautiful, headstrong governess permanently. A final desperate chase leads to an interception of a ship upon the high seas headed for the Mediterranean and a secret society of white-slave traders, opening the way for this book’s sequel.

When the Marquess Met His Match


Laura Lee Guhrke - 2013
    What happens when the matchmaker doesn’t want to help him? Well, that’s when the fun begins…Nicholas Stirling, Marquess of Trubridge, loves his life just as it is: dissolute, scandalous, and deuced good fun. His father, the Duke of Landsdowne is not amused, and when he cuts off Nicholas’ trust fund, the fun-loving marquess is forced to find an alternate source of income—in other words, he has to marry an heiress.Every new-money American heiress knows Lady Belinda Featherstone is the key to social acceptance. Once a new-money nobody herself, Belinda discovered first-hand how heartbreaking the game of love and matrimony could be after a reprobate British earl married her for her money. Now a respectable widow, Belinda has become England’s most successful matchmaker, guiding young American heiresses through the hazards of the London season and helping them to find husbands worthy of them. To her mind, the Marquess of Trubridge is nothing but a fortune-hunting scoundrel and she has no intention of allowing him to charm his way into any American girl’s heart, including her own.

Venetia


Georgette Heyer - 1958
    Intelligent and independent, her future seems safe and predictable. Lovely Venetia despairs of ever meeting the handsome hero of her romantic dreams but is nearly resigned to spinsterhood, thanks to the enormous amount of responsibility she inherited with a Yorkshire estate and an invalid but precocious brother, Aubrey. She lives in comfortable seclusion in rural Yorkshire, she has never been further than Harrogate, nor enjoyed the lackluster attentions of any but her two wearisomely persistent suitors. She can not accept to marry the respectable but dull Edward Yardley - she will only marry for love.Then her long-absent neighbor, thirty-eight-year-old Lord Jasper Damerel, returns home to Yorkshire. In one extraordinary encounter, she meets the infamous neighbor, who she knows only by reputation - a gamester, a shocking rake, and a man of sadly unsteady character - and before she knows better, she finds friendship with a libertine whose way of life has scandalised the North Riding for years. Lord Damerel finds Venetia to be the most truly engaging and wittily perverse female he has encountered in all his life and determined to woo and win her, he pursues her with a passionate abandon that is soon the talk of the ton. And after her encounter with the dashing, dangerous rake, Venetia's well-ordered life is turned upside down, and she embarks upon a courtship with him that scandalises and horrifies the whole community.But Venetia has no intention of losing her heart to the rakish lord until she is sure that beneath his swashbuckling ways and shocking manners lies a tender heart belonging to her. And Lord Damerel would marry her in a heartbeat if he did not think it would ruin her. Then she discovers a shocking family secret that changes everything ... It was therefore particularly provoking to find that occasion, Lord Damerel could make up his mind to be idiotically noble....

A Duke's Promise


Joyce Alec - 2018
    Miss Sophia Weston is left destitute after her father dies. Her brother and sister-in-law, Lord and Lady Brookridge, refuse to support her, even though it is their duty.When Sophia is forced to seek employment, she accepts a position as a governess for the widowed Duke of Harrogate. The duke’s only daughter, Sarah, brings an immense amount of joy to Sophia. Soon enough, Sophia learns to accept her new situation and loves her daily interactions with her only pupil. However, Sophia also discovers that her feelings are growing for the duke, even though she knows the duke could never marry her. When Lord and Lady Brookridge learn about Sophia’s whereabouts and her newfound happiness, they once again try to ruin her life with a scandal and take her away from everything she has grown to love. When the Duke of Harrogate learns about the plan, he must choose between the governess and his own reputation. If you love clean and wholesome, Regency romances with a strong woman heroine and an inspirational romantic story, you will love A Duke’s Promise. Authors Note: This is a clean, stand-alone romance with no cliffhangers.

A Man Above Reproach


Evelyn Pryce - 2013
    A hidden bordello, the rumors say, catering to straying nobles eager to shed the trappings of their stations. Josephine Grant knows the rumors are true--she plays piano at the Dove, known only as "The Bawdy Bluestocking" to the pub's faithful. Tales swirl as to her real origin: some patrons claim that she was an orphan prodigy, others go so far as to name her concubine to the King.The society ladies call the reluctant Duke of Lennox "The Uncatchable," not that he cares for them or their nicknames. Elias Addison's estate was thrust upon him when his father died and it has been little else but a burden. He spends his days mired in responsibilities and his nights pursued at endless balls by fortune-hunting debutantes. He is morose, serious, and tense. When a friend brings him to the Sleeping Dove in an attempt to lighten his mood, the consequences of those good intentions are far greater. When the Duke of Lennox finds himself at the Bawdy Bluestocking's piano, they begin to play a dangerous melody. Though Elias cannot resist courting Josie, she has a past to protect, a shaky future, and no time for frivolous nobility with soft hands. When the Duke uncovers the truth, will he wish he had never begun the tune?

Ravishing in Red


Madeline Hunter - 2010
    She does not realize that the handsome man of commanding sensuality who shows up is not the person she expected, but instead Lord Sebastian Summerhays, one of her father’s persecutors, lured to the inn by the same advertisement that brought her there.When the pistol accidentally fires, the situation becomes mortifyingly public, and thoroughly misunderstood. Audrianna is prepared to live with the scandal. Lord Sebastian has other ideas...

Darcy's Ultimatum


Jennifer Joy - 2015
    George Darcy, gives him an ultimatum: Marry by the end of the London Season or risk disinheritance. Can Darcy cast aside society’s frigid attitude toward marriage and find true love? Or will his desire to honor his deceased mother’s memory hold him back?Elizabeth Bennet faces the greatest challenge of her life: Find a husband by the end of the London Season or be forced to marry the heir apparent of her family home, Mr. Collins. A romantic at heart, will Elizabeth find a gentleman to meet her high expectations?After a disastrous meeting, Darcy and Elizabeth determine not to like each other.But, the London Season has only begun…

And Then She Fell


Stephanie Laurens - 2013
    Famously known in London society as "The Matchbreaker," Henrietta Cynster's uncanny skill lies in preventing ill-fated nuptials - not in falling victim to Cupid's spell.But then she disrupts one match too many and feels honor-bound to assist dashing James Glossup in finding a suitable bride for a marriage of convenience.A task infernally complicated by the undeniable, unquenchable attraction that flares between James and Henrietta, who continues to believe she will never fall...