Book picks similar to
A Heart For The Taking by Shirlee Busbee


historical-romance
historical
romance
romance-historical

Straight for the Heart


Marsha Canham - 1995
    Quick and vicious...just the way I like it sometimes."She risked everything to play a man's game in a man's world. As the elusive, mysterious Montana Rose, she was known as the queen of the Mississippi riverboats, a sensual and dangerous Southern beauty who was willing to gamble everything, even her life, on each cut of the cards.Intent on calling her bluff, the equally devious and dangerous Michael Tarrington is determined to teach the fiery lady gambler a lesson in seduction. But instead, the rakishly handsome Yankee finds himself swept into her world of illusions, treachery, and smoldering passions that threaten to cut Straight for the Heart.

Paradise Wild


Johanna Lindsey - 1981
    She was the scandalous darling of Boston's gilded age.SWORN TO REVENGENow she had sailed half round the world to Hawaii, to ruin the man who had ruined her ... who had taken her, despoiled her, and left her humiliated by her own awakened longings.RAVISHED BY PASSIONCorinne hated Jared Burkett as deeply as she wanted his manly, sensuous passion. And Jared ached to possess Corinne, though she would force him to hurt her again. Their love, so violent, so reckless, would either destroy them, or give them completely to the wild abandon of tropical nights in paradise.

Love's New Beginning


Dorothy Wiley - 2016
     It's 1800 Philadelphia, and the city cowers before a mysterious killer—Yellow Fever. Daniel Armitage and his family are respected members of Philadelphia society. But their status cannot save Daniel’s loved ones. His entire family succumbs to the horrifying disease. His mother’s startling deathbed confession, shakes Daniel to his soul. Another man is really his father. His search for his real father takes him to Kentucky—the edge of the frontier. Seeking a father with a different last name, he is now considered an illegitimate bastard and is scorned by everyone, even himself. Except for the people who matter the most—his true father Daniel "Bear" MacKay and Ann Byrd. Captivated by her beauty and fierce independence, Daniel seeks to court Ann but her father won't allow her near a man born out of wedlock. The humiliation of illegitimacy subjects Daniel to social and legal discrimination. And ruthless, back-stabbing Charles Snyder is obsessed with having Ann for himself. Snyder terrorizes Daniel’s new family and the entire town. Bear’s act of unequivocal love grants Daniel a chance for happiness. But only Ann’s courage can save it. "Dorothy Wiley takes you on an action-packed adventure on the Kentucky Frontier in this enthralling tale of self-discovery, finding true love, and the meaning of family." – Peggy L. Henderson, Bestselling Historical Romance Author "Wiley's writing has such realism that I am transported to Kentucky and that time period as I read and feel I know the characters well!" – JoAnne Weiss, Romancing the Book Reviewer

Scandal


Carolyn Jewel - 2009
    But when he meets Sophie Evans, the young wife of a fellow libertine, even he is shocked by his reaction. This unconventional and intelligent woman proves to be far more than an amusing distraction - she threatens to drive him to distraction. Unlike the women who usually fall at Banallt's feet, and into his bed, Sophie refuses to be seduced. And soon Banallt desires her more than ever - and for more than an illicit affair.Years later, the widowed Sophie is free, and Banallt is determined to win the woman he still loves. Unfortunately, she doesn't believe his declaration of love and chivalrous offer of marriage - her heart has already been broken by her scoundrel of a husband. And yet, Sophie is tempted to indulge in the torrid affair she's always fantasized about. Caught between her logical mind and her long-denied desire, Sophie must thwart Banallt's seduction - or risk being consumed by the one man she should avoid at all costs...* Booklist

Silver-Tongued Devil


Jennifer Blake - 1995
    Forcing Angelica into a hellish marriage for the sake of her dowry - the plantation stolen from his family. His bride would pay the price of her father's greed. But what began as an act of vengence, becomes a heedless, burning love.

Married in Haste


Cathy Maxwell - 2006
    A sexy war hero, he has his pick of the season’s debutantes, and once he spies beautiful Tess Hamilton no other will do. But Tess has a dark secret she’s desperate to hide—she has no choice but to marry quickly before her family’s ruin becomes grist for the gossip mill. She accepts Brenn’s sudden proposal without telling him the truth, but can she really marry him without feeling she’s betrayed him—especially when he offers ecstasy beyond her wildest dreams? And will he see her subterfuge as a lie? Cathy Maxwell’s Married in Haste is a historical romance to fall in love with.

Her Master and Commander


Karen Hawkins - 2006
    Reeves must seek out the first of the earl's arrogant sons, Captain Tristan Llevanth, a one-time pirate, and teach him to be a gentleman.A will of steel...Tristan Llevanth gave up his free-wheeling life as a pirate to fight at Admiral Nelson's side. Wounded, Tristan will never again sail the seas he loves. Life has no more challenges. Or so he thinks, until Reeves brings a certain outspoken lady into the captain's uncultured household...An iron-clad spirit...Reeves believes Tristan needs a spark to relight the fires of his soul. And who better than lovely Prudence Thistlewaite, the bane of the captain's existence? Prudence wants nothing to do with her wickedly handsome, ill-tempered neighbor. Still, she cannot refuse the outlandish sum Reeves offers to smooth Tristan's rough edges.

The Reluctant Bride


Claire Firth - 2013
    She has been sold to the highest bidder so that she may produce an heir for the devilishly handsome and arrogant Earl and she is outraged. How can she have any respect or feelings for a man whose reputation is that of a complete wastrel and philanderer? She resolves to resist him at all costs yet Sophia is totally unprepared for the exquisite pleasure she experiences from her husband’s wicked hands as he introduces her to a world of sexual delight she had no idea existed. For Ralph, when his cousin had suggested he take a wife to heal the rift in his family, it had seemed the perfect solution to his problems. However, he hadn’t counted on choosing someone as spiritedly passionate as Sophia and something inside of him reacts to her in a way that disconcerts him. What started out as a necessary chore soon becomes an exciting challenge as he determines to do what he does best - seduce his young wife and put an end to the estrangement that exists between them. But why is Sophia’s good opinion becoming increasingly important to him? And why does he feel the compulsive need to convince her that he is not the unsavoury character she believes him to be?

Ella's Choice


Ruby Merritt - 2014
    Ten years later the white man returns. Their soldiers storm her tribe’s village and bring reminders of a world she’d almost forgotten. Suddenly, she is confronted by the question: To which world does she now belong? Her only hope in discovering who she really is lies with the enigmatic army scout, Beech Richoux. Son of a French trapper and Lakota mother, Beech Richoux was raised in a white man’s world after his mother’s death. Acting as an army scout to raise money for his horse ranch, he’s unaware of the Army’s true intent to annihilate his mother’s people until it’s too late. And the white woman he finds living among the Lakota only adds to his desperation to save his people. Now the narrow path he has created to balance himself between these two worlds is tipped by the mysterious white woman known to the Lakota as Little Brave. Can two people robbed of their own childhood learn to live together in such differing worlds? Can Little Brave and Beech forge a new path into a life where they both are finally set free?

Love, Come to Me


Lisa Kleypas - 1988
    His mouth was blazing and hungry. She was shaking, this time not from cold but from a heat that burgeoned deep inside her…When strong and handsome Heath Rayne pulled lovely young Lucinda Caldwell from a winter river, he rescued her from an icy death. But soon he was plunging her into a torrid torrent of passion that this New England beauty had never suspected could claim her. Heath was unlike any other man Lucy had ever known—a dashing, mocking, sensuous man who came as a stranger to Lucy's Massachusetts town…and stayed as he stripped away Lucy's last shreds of resistance to the demands of desire and the flaming fulfillment of love…

A New Life


Merry Farmer - 2017
    Saved from a life of prostitution in the Old West, she is determined to make a new life for herself across the ocean in Cornwall, England. But life below-stairs at Starcross Castle is filled with its own problems, specifically, the problem of making sure that none of her new friends discover the life she came from. That challenge becomes even harder when she falls for handsome and ambitious footman, Owen Llewellyn. Owen has his sights set on winning a job as foreman of one of the mines on the property owned by Starcross Castle’s lord, Peter deVere, the Earl of Dunsford. Those plans take on a new urgency as love blooms between him and Millie. But Lord Dunsford’s wicked nephew, Lord William is determined to undermine Owen and bend Millie to his own lascivious designs. Can the power of love overcome all obstacles, or will Millie’s past stop her from living a new life? PLEASE BE ADVISED – Steam Level: Hot West Meets East is a follow-up series to The Brides of Paradise Ranch series and a prequel series to The Silver Foxes of Westminster.

What a Duke Wants


Lavinia Kent - 2011
    . . though her passionate heart begs her to. He cannot wed her . . . but he must not lose her.Only one possibility remains— one too scandalous to consider . . . yet too tempting to resist.

A Kiss in the Dark


Kimberly Logan - 2005
    And now every hope she harbors of repairing her reputation is at risk when a desperate, dashing gentleman comes to her for aid.He has heard the rumors ... but fearing for his sister, vanished somewhere in London's disreputable corners, Lord Tristan Knight must seek help from the mysterious beauty. Although her intentions are cloaked, Deirdre's warm heart and enchanting face are more befitting an angel than a sinner. And soon, Tristan realizes he can never relinquish this bold and remarkable woman.Yet Deirdre must guard a secret –– a shocking truth that, once revealed, could destroy the passionate love he has brought into her life.

My Lady Vixen


Connie Mason - 1987
    Abducted by his men, held prisoner aboard a notorious privateering ship, she succumbed to Adam's masterful seduction--only to learn she had been nothing but a pawn in his game of revenge.Driven by despair, Alexa made a new name for herself as the boldly seductive mistress of a rival ship, and dared to challenge her lover at his own game...Stroke by stroke, kiss by kiss, she would teach Adam just how sweet revenge could be!

The Truelove Bride


Shana Abe - 1999
    To rid them of this evil, the legend says, Marcus must wed a fabled warrior maiden with hair like an angel's halo, eyes the color of the rarest heather, and an extraordinary gift that makes her more formidable than any army. But first he must win the most desperate battle of his life...the one for her mind, her body, and her heart.Lady Avalon d'Farouche can't deny she bears the telltale marks of the Kincardine legend, nor can she disown the strange, mystical intuition that allows her to see things others cannot. Yet Avalon believes she alone holds the key to her destiny—a future in which no man will own her. So when Marcus Kincardine seizes her for his own purposes, she never expects him to ignite a fiery passion within her. Still, she refuses to sacrifice her soul and fulfill the legend by surrendering to desire. But how long can she deny him...and how long will he let her?