Book picks similar to
Fires of Destiny by Linda Barlow


historical-romance
romance
bodice-ripper
historical

To Love a Dark Lord


Anne Stuart - 1994
    But, to her amazement, the notorious scoundrel, James Killoran, has agreed to accept responsibility for her desperate act—though the handsome, Irish earl professes no interest whatsoever in the enchanting miss whom he has surely rescued from the gallows.Hurt and confused by his indifference, Emma is nonetheless drawn to this elegant, arrogant rogue who uses people for his own amusement—but is always there when she most needs him. For she believes Killoran hides true goodness behind his decadent façade. And only the power of love can restore hope and tenderness to a dark and damaged heart—and release the passionate lover imprisoned within.

Transcendence


Shay Savage - 2014
    He's strong and intelligent, but completely alone. When he finds a beautiful young woman in his pit trap, it's obvious to him that she is meant to be his mate. He doesn't know where she came from, she's wearing some pretty odd clothing, and she makes a lot of noises with her mouth that give him a headache. Still, he's determined to fulfill his purpose in life - provide for her, protect her, and put a baby in her.Elizabeth doesn't know where she is or exactly how she got there. She's confused and distressed by her predicament, and there's a caveman hauling her back to his cavehome. She's not at all interested in Ehd's primitive advances, and she just can't seem to get him to listen. No matter what she tries, getting her point across to this primitive but beautiful man is a constant - and often hilarious - struggle.With only each other for company, they must rely on one another to fight the dangers of the wild and prepare for the winter months. As they struggle to coexist, theirs becomes a love story that transcends language and time.

Why Dukes Say I Do


Manda Collins - 2013
    But when her godmother asks her to pay a visit to her bachelor grandson in Yorkshire, Isabella can’t refuse. It behooves her to please the old dowager, since she harbors one of Isabella’s most scandalous secrets. So off she goes to see the newly-titled—and notoriously rustic—Duke of Ormond…WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT ITTrevor Carey doesn’t care about what goes on behind ballroom doors. He is content with the simple life—and isn’t ashamed to admit it to a society flirt like Lady Isabella. But the country air brings out a different side of Isabella—one full of longing and passion. Can her sophistication be hiding a desire for love? When a blackmailer from the city arrives to threaten Isabella, Trevor will shield her from harm—even travel to London. Can the duke tackle the ton on Isabella’s behalf …and manage to keep her all to himself?

The Duke Who Didn't


Courtney Milan - 2020
    Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night.Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe. In his defense, it took him years of attempting to be serious to realize that the endeavor was incompatible with his personality.All he has to do is convince Chloe to make room for a mischievous trickster in her life, then disclose that in all the years they’ve known each other, he’s failed to mention his real name, his title… and the minor fact that he owns her entire village.Only one thing can go wrong: Everything.

The Mask of the Enchantress


Victoria Holt - 1980
    But how could the beautiful illegitimate child ever aspire to such a dream? The answer lay in a perilous deception. Her masquerade succeeded -- too well. Caught in a web of her own creation, Suewellyn found herself faced with a final, desperate choice between happiness and life itself . . .

Preunion


Madison Murphy - 2014
    After all, it's not easy to put someone in the past when they are starring in Hollywood films and plastered all over the internet. Making a living as an artist and small business owner with her best friend, Sandy, Bree enjoys her life and is proud of her accomplishments. But when Sandy convinces Bree to attend their 10-year high school reunion, memories and old feelings for her first love throw Bree into an emotional whirlwind. With hopes of keeping those memories in the past, Bree reunites with an old high school crush for a night she won't soon forget.

A Basket of Wishes


Rebecca Paisley - 1995
    She couldn't tell him she was a fairy princess, chosen to conceive his child, but then she and her baby must leave the human world, or die. Unless... Was he mad? Or dead? Suddenly Jourdian Amberville, of the Midas touch and ironbound heart, wed a naked stranger to stop a burgeoning scandal. But instead of an ordinary duchess to bear his heir, his wife was an alabaster-skinned temptress who drank of his kisses and wept diamond teardrops. Splendor was made of magic, but only Jourdian had the power to keep her in his world. It would take only the one emotion he couldn't give....

To Sir Phillip, With Love: The 2nd Epilogue


Julia Quinn - 2009
    Now she's grown up, remarkably well-adjusted, and ready to fall in love. All she needs is the right gentleman...

The Spymaster's Lady


Joanna Bourne - 2008
    But Annique Villiers, elusive spy Fox Cub, is thrown in prison with British spymaster Robert Grey, ordered to enter France and bring her back. Their uneasy alliance holds, but passion builds as they flee.

Left Drowning


Jessica Park - 2013
    Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning. *This book is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.Note: due to mature content recommended for Ages 17+

Summer Moon


Jill Marie Landis - 2001
    For Kate Whittington, the modest words of a newspaper ad are the answer to her desperate prayers. Daughter of a dockside harlot and raised in a bleak orphanage, she has no prospects in the unforgiving Maine village of her birth. Correspondence from the lonely Texas widower looking for a mail-order bride sparks tempting dreams of a house, a family, and a future in a land filled with possibilities.Kate arrives at the magnificent Lone Star Ranch eager to meet her new husband. Instead she is greeted by the news that Reed Benton has been wounded during a raid on a Comanche village and has returned with a prisoner--a wild-looking young boy who may be his long lost son. Even more shattering, however, is the fact that Reed has never heard of Kate, never wrote the searing letters that charmed her heart.Reed Benton doesn't want a wife. But he does need someone to look after the boy--a bitter reminder of a past ravaged by lies and betrayal. It will take a miracle to heal these two damaged souls . . . or the faith of one woman with nothing left to lose but her heart.Summer Moon is a deeply moving story of broken promises and new beginnings, crafted by a true master of romantic fiction.

Claiming the Courtesan


Anna Campbell - 2007
    Men fight duels to spend an hour in her company. And only he comes close to taming her. Flying in the face of society, he decides to make her his bride; then, she vanishes, seemingly into thin air.Dire circumstances have forced Verity Ashton to barter her innocence and change her name for the sake of her family. But Kylemore destroys her plans for a respectable life when he discovers her safe haven. He kidnaps her, sweeping her away to his hunting lodge in Scotland, where he vows to bend her to his will.There he seduces her anew. Verity spends night after night with him in his bed ... and though she still dreams of escape and independence, she knows she can never flee the unexpected, unwelcome love for the proud, powerful lover who claims her both body and soul.

Silk Is for Seduction


Loretta Chase - 2011
    . .and gentlemen would kill to remove it!Brilliant and ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirot is London's rising star. And who better to benefit from her talent than the worst-dressed lady in the ton, the Duke of Clevedon's intended bride? Winning the future duchess's patronage means prestige and fortune for Marcelline and her sisters. To get to the lady, though, Marcelline must win over Clevedon, whose standards are as high as his morals are . . . not.The prize seems well worth the risk—but this time Marcelline's met her match. Clevedon can design a seduction as irresistible as her dresses;and what begins as a flicker of desire between two of the most passionately stubborn charmers in London soon ignites into a delicious inferno . . . and a blazing scandal.And now both their futures hang by an exquisite thread of silk . . .

The Edge of Never


J.A. Redmerski - 2012
    And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart? Due to sexual content and language, this book is recommended for 17+ – Adult Contemporary Women’s – New Adult Fiction

Lev


Belle Aurora - 2015
    Having been told his entire life that he can't process or understand emotion, he considers it a big deal.When Mina Harris gets caught red-handed with a wallet that isn't hers, she falls apart. She's tired, lonely and hasn't eaten in days.Lev offers her an ultimatum... A nice warm bed, a hot meal and a job, or the cops.Mina takes her chances with Lev. After all, a person with nothing has nothing left to lose.***This book enters the world of the extended Leokov family which are introduced in Friend-Zoned, however, is unrelated...