Book picks similar to
Desert Ecstasy by Connie Mason


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Pride and Pleasure


Sylvia Day - 2011
    . .There are disadvantages to being an heiress, as Eliza Martin knows well. Fortune hunters corner her, friends become opportunistic, and lately, someone is engineering "accidents" to propel her into marriage. Not one to be bullied, Eliza needs the right man to infiltrate the nest of suitors. . . . . .So Do Certain MenBy all measures, Jasper Bond is the wrong man for the job. He can't dance, isn't known for his restraint, and his blood heats whenever he's near his latest employer. Eliza Martin insists no one will believe an intellectual like her could be seduced by a man of action like Jasper, but the combination of his desire and her mystery makes the case one he can't resist. Client satisfaction is a point of pride and it's his pleasure to prove he's just the man she needs after all. . . "Everything romance readers expect and more." --RT Book Reviews

Bella's Band


Alina K. Field - 2014
    His brother’s murder has forced Steven into a new and completely unwanted role, and worse, he has no idea how to salvage his family’s depleted estate. A rumor that his brother had a son by a woman who may be a) the murderer, and b) his brother’s secret wife, sets Steven on a mission to find her, the boy, and—Steven ardently hopes—the proof of a marriage that will set him free. Confirmed spinster Annabelle Harris is a country heiress with a penchant for taking in orphans and helping the downtrodden. Her philanthropy hides her desperate search for her disgraced sister, the mistress to the Earl of Hackwell. When the Earl is murdered, her sister thrusts her child into Annabelle’s care and disappears. Now, with suspicion pointing at the sister, Annabelle has begun a new quest, to find the woman, and clear her name. When their paths converge, the reluctant Earl and the independent spinster find themselves rethinking their goals, and battling the real murderer together.

The Falcon & the Dove


Bonnie Vanak - 2002
    And while the warrior's duty to combat the infidel was strict, and though his beloved was the wife of Pharaoh, the two would be separated only by death. But then only for a time.THE LOVERSElizabeth Summers came to the dig at Akhetaten in 1892. Great things were being discovered! English archaeologists had made huge advances, and Egypt's fantastic history was being laid bare. But Elizabeth had not come to simply study history--she was to be a part of it. Swept away by desert raiders, the pale beauty found herself in the arms of a great sheikh. And while Elizabeth didn't know whether she was the reincarnation of an ancient queen, she realized that in this man's arms she had found her destiny.

The Devil's Love


Julia London - 1998
    She believes her betrothed is a generous and noble man who has been longing for her. But the handsome man waiting for her at the altar is a dark, brooding stranger who rushes her into marriage, then abandons her at his country estate. Only the passion of Michael's kiss gives her hope that theirs can be more than a marriage of convenience. A man's need... With scandal shadowing his past, Michael, the Devil of Darfield, had no need for a wife. Remembering only the little hellion who made life miserable for him aboard her father's ship, he resents the agreement he made to marry her so he could save his ancestral home. Though determined to ignore her, he cannot stop thinking about his lovely violet-eyed bride. Her beauty tempts him. Her charm bedevils him. He tries to drive her away until he almost loses her. Then he vows to regain her love—before it is too late....

The Season


Sarah MacLean - 2009
    Not the best makings for an aristocratic lady in Regency London. Yet her mother still dreams of marrying Alex off to someone safe, respectable, and wealthy. But between ball gown fittings, dances, and dinner parties, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get herself into what may be her biggest scrape yet. When the Earl of Blackmoor is mysteriously killed, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. But will Alex's heart be stolen in the process? In an adventure brimming with espionage, murder, and other clandestine affairs, who could possibly have time to worry about finding a husband? Romance abounds as this year's season begins!

How to Catch a Wild Viscount


Tessa Dare - 2009
    Battle stripped away his civility and brought out his inner beast. There is no charm or tenderness in him now; only dark passions and a hardened soul. He has nothing to offer the starry-eyed, innocent girl who pledged her heart to him four years ago.But Cecily Hale isn't a girl any longer. She's grown into a woman--one who won't be pushed away. She and Luke are guests at a house party when a local legend captures their friends' imaginations. While the others plunge into the forest on a wild goose...er, stag chase, Cecily's on the hunt for a man. She has only a few moonlit nights to reach the real Luke...the wounded heart she knows still beats inside the war-ravaged body...or she could lose him to the darkness forever.This is a novella of approximately 20,000 words, or 80 pages. It was originally published under the title The Legend of the Werestag.

A Lady Awakened


Cecilia Grant - 2011
    . . A Lady Awakened.Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate and beloved servants from her malevolent brother-in-law, Martha Russell conceives a daring plan. Or rather, a daring plan to conceive. After all, if she has an heir on the way, her future will be secured. Forsaking all she knows of propriety, Martha approaches her neighbor, a London exile with a wicked reputation, and offers a strictly business proposition: a month of illicit interludes . . . for a fee.Theophilus Mirkwood ought to be insulted. Should be appalled. But how can he resist this siren in widow’s weeds, whose offer is simply too outrageously tempting to decline? Determined she’ll get her money’s worth, Theo endeavors to awaken this shamefully neglected beauty to the pleasures of the flesh—only to find her dead set against taking any enjoyment in the scandalous bargain. Surely she can’t resist him forever. But could a lady’s sweet surrender open their hearts to the most unexpected arrival of all . . . love?

This Other Eden


Marilyn Harris - 1977
    — He was the last Lord of Eden Castle, Thomas Eden, a man of brooding desire and sudden passion ... — She was his servant girl, Marianne Locke, the fiery young beauty who would rather submit to the cruel kiss of the whip than suffer the lust of a man she did not love...From the wild Devonshire coast to the glittering literary salons of London, the tumultuous union of these two proud people hazed a raging tempest of enduring love.

The Debutante Is Mine


Vivienne Lorret - 2016
    Such an honor ensures the recipient her pick of eligible suitors…”Lilah Appleton’s prospects are looking dim. With one last chance to find a titled husband before she’s forced to wed her wretched cousin, she must make this Season count. Plain, forgettable Lilah must become the Season’s Original. Desperate, she seeks help from the devilishly charming, untitled, and thoroughly unsuitable Jack Marlowe. All she must do now is resist the tempting rogue…Bastard son and self-made man, Jack Marlowe loathes the aristocracy. When he meets Lilah, he expects her to be like all the other greedy husband-hunters. But she’s far more dangerous. Her alluring smiles and sharp tongue intrigue him. Before he knows it, he agrees to help her find a husband, revealing tricks to ensnare any man. The only problem is, his plan works too well—on him.When Lilah becomes the belle of the ball, Jack realizes he may lose her forever—unless he can take a chance on love and claim his debutante...

Midnight Hunter


Brianna Hale - 2018
    I thought I understood the consequences of trying to flee to the West. Death. Imprisonment without trial. Instead I’m being hunted by the most dangerous man in the city, secret police officer Reinhardt Volker.Now I’m his prize, no longer a traitorous factory girl but his elegant and pampered secretary. He wants to possess me, body, soul – and heart. I’ll do anything to get away from him, but first that means getting closer.I want to feel only hatred for my captor but beneath his uniform I discover a man with a past as scarred as Berlin’s.And if I don’t escape him soon it will be too late.**A full-length dark romance by Brianna Hale

Dream of Me


Josie Litton - 2001
    What better way to ensure this alliance than to forge marriages between the two? This is the foundation of Litton's trio of engaging novels. Dream of Me begins the saga with the tale of the infamous Viking, Wolf Hakonson. Wolf wants peace for his people and offers marriage to Cymbra, sister of the powerful Lord Hawke of Essex.

The Rogue of Fifth Avenue


Joanna Shupe - 2019
    There’s no issue he cannot fix…except for one: the beautiful and reckless daughter of an important client who doesn’t seem to understand the word danger.She’s not looking for a hero…Excitement lay just below Forty-Second Street and Mamie Greene is determined to explore all of it—while playing a modern-day Robin Hood along the way. What she doesn’t need is her father’s lawyer dogging her every step and threatening her efforts to help struggling families in the tenements.However, she doesn’t count on Frank’s persistence…or the sparks that fly between them. When fate upends all her plans, Mamie must decide if she’s willing to risk it all on a rogue…

Diary of an Accidental Wallflower


Jennifer McQuiston - 2015
    But when she twists her ankle on the eve of the Season’s most touted event, Clare is left standing in the wallflower line watching her best friend dance away with her duke.Dr. Daniel Merial is tempted to deliver more than a diagnosis to London's most unlikely wallflower, but he doesn’t have time for distractions, even one so delectable. Besides, she's clearly got her sights on more promising prey. So why can’t he stop thinking about her?All Clare wants to do is return to the dance floor. But as her former friends try to knock her permanently out of place, she realizes with horror she is falling for her doctor instead of her duke. When her ankle finally heals and she faces her old life again, will she throw herself back into the game?Or will her time in the wallflower line have given her a glimpse of who she was really meant to be?

The Dark Knight's Captive Bride


Natasha Wild - 2016
    and the keeper of his heart.Richard de Claiborne, the dark earl of Dunsmore, serves King Edward Plantagenet well. Sworn to obey his king's every order, he nevertheless chafes at the command he wed the daughter of his enemy — a man who slew his father in cold blood. But King Edward wants peace in his lands, and he will stop at nothing to get it. If he has to order his most powerful Marcher lord to marry a Welsh princess, he considers it a small price to pay.Princess Gwenllian is a political pawn. When she's forced to marry the evil Black Hawk de Claiborne, she quakes at his fierceness and brutality. But she does her duty to her father and her people, knowing she will never surrender to her enemy. In the halls of Black Hawk's great keep, Gwen glimpses a man who can be tender and passionate — and who teaches her about breathtaking sensuality and a desire so great it threatens every vow she ever made to keep her heart locked tight.As war once more looms between Wales and England, Gwen realizes a terrible truth: she's in love with the enemy. When long-buried secrets threaten to destroy her fragile happiness, she must make a terrible choice-or watch the man she loves sacrifice his life to save hers...

A Lady's Lesson in Scandal


Meredith Duran - 2011
    Pity he's a lunatic. He thinks her a missing heiress, but more to the point, he'll help her escape the slums and right a grave injustice. Not a bad bargain. All she has to do is marry him.A notorious ladies' man could take her from poverty to opulence…but at what price?A rake of the first order, Simon St. Maur spent his restless youth burning every bridge he crossed. When he inherits an earldom without a single penny attached to it, he sees a chance to start over—provided he can find an heiress to fund his efforts. But his wicked reputation means courtship will be difficult—until fate sends him the most notorious missing heiress in history. All he needs now is to make her into a lady and keep himself from making the only mistake that could ruin everything: falling in love…