Book picks similar to
A Race Against the Duke by Charlotte Darcy


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historical-fiction
historical-rom
strong-leading-lady

The Transformation of the Bashful Lady


Fanny Finch - 2020
    Neglected by her mother after her father’s death, she lacks the knowledge of social etiquette and proper appearances. But her life will change when she receives proper tutelage from a strange lady.Andrew Clayton, the Marquess of Somerset, is a sworn bachelor, as he had his heart broken once already. But when he witnesses the transformation of a timid girl into a dazzling woman, his views on marriage will fly out of the window.But Sarah is not the only one trying to win Andrew’s heart and her rival will use everything in her arsenal to eliminate the competition…*If you like engaging characters, heart- wrenching twists and turns, and lots of romance, then you’ll love “The Transformation of the Bashful Lady”!

Once Upon a Dreamy Match


Bridget Barton - 2020
    On the bright side, she is more than lucky to have her childhood friend by her side in this endeavour, as he is willing to help her find a worthy woman for her beloved father. To make matters more complicated, her life will soon take an unexpected turn, when she finds herself inexplicably in love with her best friend. However, as Daphne is a mere merchant's daughter, without any dowry, her union with the charming gentleman looks like an elusive dream. Will Daphne accept her miserable fate, or will she find the courage to reveal what lies deeper in her heart?Lord Benedict Gildon has always been a responsible man, looking after his large estate in Essex and caring about each and every person around him. When his best friend seeks for his guidance, he agrees to help her without a second thought. In the meantime, the new Season is upon them and Benedict travels to London with her, in hope of finding respectable partners. Little did he know though that he would soon realise that the woman he had always been looking for, has been standing right next to him all this time. What sacrifices will Benedict need to make to claim Daphne, the only woman who can bring sunshine into his life? Will he be ready to come in clash even with his own bumptious mother for the sake of true love?As destiny makes Daphne and Benedict grow closer with each passing day, unexpected scandals and major obstacles will threaten to tear them apart forever. However, their love is undeniably powerful, and in the face of a loveless future, they must risk it all and listen to the truth of their hearts. In the end, will Daphne and Benedict manage to see through the threatening fog and reach the clarity of their love? Or will their fairytale ending burst into flames due to their poor decisions?"Once Upon a Dreamy Match" is a historical romance novel of approximately 60,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

These Old Shades / Sprig Muslin / Sylvester / The Corinthian / The Convenient Marriage


Georgette Heyer - 1977
    Hilarious comedy, fast moving drama, romance spiced with wit and charm - Miss Heyer combines all this with the period conversation and manners she knows to perfection.These five books will give hours of entertainment and lasting pleasure.

Hawk's Lady


Sharon Gillenwater - 1992
    Pretending to be mad--in a harmless sort of way--works well. Until she meets Hawk Martin. When her cousin demands that she marry Hawk, she assumes the handsome architect is an accomplice in the plot--not a dashing and charming protector. Despite Lora's resolve to keep her new husband at a distance, his comfort and tender touch make her yearn for a true marriage and lasting love. Hawk Martin... A self-made man, he never dreamed he would marry the daughter of an earl, even one who might or might not be slightly unhinged. But he is determined to keep her safe. If they outwit her nefarious cousin, will this new life--and his heart--be shattered when she learns of his past? Or can an orphan from the slums of London find enduring love with a lady of quality? Author Note: For fans of my Christian romances, please note that this is a general market book. It contains more sensuality than my Christian books, though nothing explicit. Readers' reviews place it in the Clean Read category. Hawk's Lady is a revised version of Secret Splendor published by Berkley in 1992. The Ladies of Quality Collection-- A maid, a governess, and a mad heiress. But are they truly what they seem? Three stand-alone Regency historical romances. Hawk's Lady Ryland's Love Blackthorn's Heart

Highlander's Forbidden Lass


Fiona Faris - 2019
    From hunting in the woods to killing enemies, she was the pride of her father, but the pain of her mother. When she is sent to France to find a suitable match, Madeleine attracts the eye of the most desirable bachelor. James II of Crussol is the ideal man for every woman, but he is not the one that wakes up her passion... Fyn Stewart never imagined that in a court filled with French roses he would find a Scottish thistle. From the first moment, Madeleine steals his heart, haunts his dreams and fuels his desires. But the road to everlasting love is long and there are many secrets that the dashing Fyn must find the courage to reveal. Like his true name...

Lady Vivian (Almack's Assembly Rooms Book 1)


Agnes Forest - 2018
    Could she pick her destiny, Vivian would choose adventure in the rolling hills, endless afternoons in the dusty garden, and a husband who speaks to her heart; no matter what his income might be. One magical evening at Almack’s - London’s most exclusive club - Lady Vivian runs into the dashing Lieutenant Sawyer Cook and discovers that her future is not so set in stone. Romance ensues, scandals are wrought, and real identities are revealed. Trapped between duty and longing, Lady Vivian must come to grips with the very notion of fate. Lady Vivian is a 70.000 word clean and wholesome Regency-era romance novel. It makes the first volume of Almack's Assembly Rooms. Each book of the series can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, or read as a collective. Garuenteed to make you chuckle!

Straight and True: A Regency Novella


Justice Joy - 2014
    Unfortunately, he does not return her affections. When she is invited to a house party at his family's estate, she makes plans to win his heart. Alexander Brent, her childhood nemesis, has been in love with her for most of his life, but he could never hold a candle to his cousin, Nathan. Now, fresh from a tour of the continent and changed from the ungainly youth he once was, Alex is determined to foil Isabella's plans. He offers to help her so he could secretly thwart her...but in doing so, he just might end up ensuring her success. This sweet Regency novella is approximately 34,000 words.

Nightingale (Crimson Romance)


Sharon Ervin - 2013
    Two years younger than Queen Victoria, Jessica is the well-educated daughter of a deceased professor. Sole support of her widowed mother and avoiding an unacceptable marriage prospect, Jessica has secretly collected a flock of cast-off hens, and is supplementing her income hoping to improve her future.Jessica is alarmed when horsemen race headlong through the twilight on the footpath she has inadvertently cut to the henhouse. She stops the charge short of disaster to find the threat is not many horses, but one magnificent, riderless runaway. Ignorant of the dangers in handling an overwrought stallion, Jessica calms the animal. She calls him “Sweetness.”Backtracking, Jessica finds the missing rider, twenty-eight-year-old Devlin Miracle, the arrogant Twelfth Duke of Fornay, badly injured, and waiting for daylight. But, for this aristocrat, there will be no daylight. His injuries have left him blind.Struggling against their disparities, Devlin and Jessica resist, but sometimes love will not be ignored.Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors

Dismissing Debbie


Hannah Miller - 2019
    Debbie Shelter loves Jonas Peachey. But when they picnic in an abandoned barn, everything crashes down around them. Now critically injured, Debbie struggles to adjust to life with a disability. She is forced to lean on those closest to her. But Jonas isn't there. He's backed away, and it's as though she never knew him at all. Instead, Debbie depends on her twin sister, Dawn. Dawn, and Jacob Peachey, Jonas's older brother. Jacob has loved Debbie since she and her family moved into their district from Wisconsin. But his brother was courting her, so that was that. When Jacob sees how Jonas treats Debbie after the accident, he's mortified and steps in, hoping Debbie will see his love for her. Slowly, Debbie heals physically, but her heart remains broken—until she realizes that God might have something more for her… Something she never dreamed could be true. Grab this sweet and tender inspirational Amish Romance today.

Loving a Noble Gentleman


Abigail Agar - 2017
    Her father, through his will, dictates that she marries a man that she has never met. Otherwise, she risks losing her estate and her beloved house.Mary is even more discouraged by the potential of a forced marriage since her sister, Charlotte, is married to a despicable man that abuses her.Duke Edmund Smith, a respectable young businessman, and business partner of Mary's father, is his chosen one. When Mary and Edmund meet, there is an instant dislike. He seems arrogant, she seems troublesome.But is a marriage to the Duke something to dismiss? Will Mary be able to look behind the aloof behaviour of the Duke and see the real man? And will the Duke be able to leave everything behind him in search for a true love?"Loving a Noble Gentleman" is a historical romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

A Lord's Bet of Desire


Meghan Sloan - 2020
    While working at the house of Norman Pembroke, the Duke of Bancroft, she has always dreamt of advancing her life from a humble maid to that of a governess. Despite knowing that this opportunity may never appear, her love for reading is enough to keep the dream alive. But little did she know that fate would bring an unforeseen twist that would make this dream a tangible reality... When Edward, the endearingly attractive brother of the Duke, comes to visit, the last thing she expected was to end up under his roof and away from the only place she's ever known. Laura will inevitably find herself seduced by his ravishing beauty, but will she allow herself to finally surrender to her burning desire for him?Edward Pembroke has always been the opposite of his brother. Being warm and dutiful himself, he was against his brother's love for gambling that was dwindling the Pembroke fortune every day. When he finally decides to confront him about his wayward habit, they both end up engaging in a fateful night of gambling, and Edward wins the prize of taking anything he wants with him. Without a second thought, he chooses Laura, as her fiery nature lightens a spark inside him. Once they move to his house, he can't help but be mesmerised by her every move, willing to do whatever it takes to possess her. Will he manage to turn this promising desire into an everlasting love?Laura and Edward's attraction is impossible to deny, but their evident class differences are threatening their undeniable lust. The more time they spend together, the more they lose their hearts and bodies to one another. Will their passionate connection prove strong enough to shatter the insurmountable obstacles? Or will their heated affair go down in flames before it even sets them on fire?"A Lord's Bet of Desire" is a historical romance novel of approximately 60,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

An Unmarried Lady


Anna Willman - 2011
    “You don’t want a fortune and you don’t want to be married, while I should enjoy both excessively. If Great Aunt Agatha had wished to promote the marriage of a great niece, why didn’t she leave her fortune to me?” At the age of 24, the bookish and beautiful Miss Elaine Howard of Lynnfield Manor has long accepted her status as a spinster. Her life is focused on taking care of her roguish invalid father and his dilapidated estate and on preparing her younger sister Anne for her first Season. An unexpected inheritance which promises her a large fortune if she marries before her 25th birthday soon sets off a train of dramatic and comic events, which include a spate of unwelcome fortune hunters, an exchange of identities, an abduction, and a mystery around a missing family heirloom. An Unmarried Lady is a regency romance written in the style of Georgette Heyer. Its lively characters become embroiled in a plot that makes use of the thick black fog that descended upon London and the surrounding countryside in December of 1813, and also touches on events in the lives of Henry VIII, Catherine Howard and Mary Wollstonecraft.

Daughter of Defiance: A Christian Historical Western Romance (Thanksgiving Books & Blessings Book 6)


Heather Blanton - 2018
    The proverbial prodigal child, she is desperate for peace whether it be through a second chance at life…or giving up the fight altogether. A cowboy healing an abused horse may be the only one who can convince Victoria true peace is found in surrender to the Savior. But she may be out of time to choose, now that old enemies are hunting for her. Grab your copy today! Other books by Author Heather Blanton: Romance in the Rockies Series A Lady in Defiance, book 1 His town. Her God. Let the battle begin. Hearts in Defiance, book 2 Men make mistakes. God will forgive them. Will their women? A Promise in Defiance, book 3 Choices have consequences...even for the redeemed Standalone books Grace be a Lady Act like a man. Think like a lady. In Time for Christmas Charlene needs a miracle. God had one waiting...a hundred years in the past. Love, Lies, & Typewriters A soldier with a purple heart. A reporter with a broken heart. Which one is her Mr. Right? Brides of Evergreen Series (standalone books) Hang Your Heart on Christmas, book 1 He wants justice--some say revenge. She wants peace. A deep betrayal may deny them everything. Ask Me to Marry You, book 2 Here comes the bride, and he's not happy. Mail-Order Deception, book 3 Secret identities lead to stolen hearts.  Can love survive the truth?  A Proposal So Magical, book 4 Sometimes, it takes a really strong man to surrender to love... To Love and to Honor, book 5 Faith. Honor. Love. Which one will they sacrifice? Books in Collections (All standalone books): Locket Full of Love Locket and Lace Book 5 Was her husband a sinner or a saint? A spy or a traitor? Hell-Bent on Blessings Brides of Blessings Book 3 Though she be but little, she is fierce For the Love of Liberty A Time Travel Novel Timeless Love Book 4Give me Liberty. Or give me death. A Good Man Comes Around Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs Book 8 She has a list of qualifications for her groom.

Temptations of a Mysterious Lady


Henrietta Harding - 2020
    However, things turn dangerously complicated when she meets the lavish Philip, and she soon finds herself unable to resist him, and the fierce desire that burns between them. How long can she hide herself from her fiancé and her father, who are both desperately looking for her? When her secret is revealed, will this growing romance be doomed forever?Philip Hoskins, the Duke of Bambury, is a man with a tarnished past. No apologies, no excuses. Philip knows that he must marry soon and he must marry well, but fate may have other plans for him. Even though he believes marriage is nothing but a business arrangement, when he meets the gorgeous Emma, his world instantly turns upside down. But he quickly realises that, even though they might be a match made in heaven, her public outbursts, her wild temper and the rumours that she's run away from her fiancé, are enough to destroy every possibility of having a happily ever after. Will he take all of his courage to face a peril that could destroy everything he has ever achieved in the name of all- consuming love?In the midst of their passionate love affair, Emma struggles with telling the truth of who she is. As her life of deception grows ever more tangled, and her feelings for Philip ever deeper, Charles Gregory, her fiancé, the most dangerous man she's ever known, is coming for her. He'll do whatever it takes to possess her and make her pay, for what she has done to him... Will she manage to run away from him once again, and find happiness in a dashing Duke's arms? After all, with such a difficult beginning, can Emma and Philip ever hope to trust one another, let alone find everlasting love?"Temptations of a Mysterious Lady" is a historical romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

An Unconventional Officer


Lynn Bryant - 2017
     An Unconventional Officer’ is the story of Paul van Daan, younger son of the wealthy owner of a shipping line, who joins the 110th Infantry as an ambitious junior officer and travels to India in 1802 to serve under a young and relatively inexperienced general with a reputation to make. The book charts Paul’s early career from a junior lieutenant in India through the wars in Europe to Portugal and Spain. A talented and charismatic leader of men, he needs to learn to curb his temper and adjust to the rigid army hierarchy in order to rise in his chosen profession. On the way he makes enduring friendships forged on the battlefields of India and Europe and builds an unexpected bond with the difficult, unemotional commander of the Peninsular army, Sir Arthur Wellesley. There are many women in Paul’s life but only two who touch his heart. Rowena Summers, a shy young governess straight from a charity school. Serene and gentle, her love and companionship give Paul a stability he had not known he lacked. Anne Howard the extraordinary daughter of a wealthy manufacturer who marries a fellow officer and changes everything Paul thought he knew about women. Amidst the violence and tragedy of the war against Napoleon an unforgettable love story unfolds which affects the lives of everybody it touches and changes the 110th forever. This is the first book in the Peninsular War series which tells the story of the men and women of the 110th infantry, a regiment like no other in Wellington’s army.