Book picks similar to
The Petticoat Letters by Kelly Lyman


historical-romance
historical-fiction
american-revolution
romance

Benjamin Franklin's Bastard


Sally Cabot - 2013
    A steadfast loyalist, he and his father cannot reconcile their wildly disparate views, causing a rift in the bond both thought unbreakable.Fascinating and heartbreaking, Benjamin Franklin's Bastard,/i> is a gripping tale of family, love, and war, set against one of America's most fascinating periods of history.

Lady of Devices


Shelley Adina - 2011
    Victoria is Queen. Charles Darwin’s son is Prime Minister. And steam is the power that runs the world. At 17, Claire Trevelyan, daughter of Viscount St. Ives, was expected to do nothing more than pour an elegant cup of tea, sew a fine seam, and catch a rich husband. Unfortunately, Claire’s talents lie not in the ballroom, but in the chemistry lab, where things have a regrettable habit of blowing up. When her father gambles the estate on the combustion engine and loses, Claire finds herself down and out on the mean streets of London. But being a young woman of resources and intellect, she turns fortune on its head. It’s not long before a new leader rises in the underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices . . . When she meets Andrew Malvern, a member of the Royal Society of Engineers, she realizes her talents may encompass more than the invention of explosive devices. They may help her realize her dreams and his . . . if they can both stay alive long enough to see that sometimes the closest friendships can trigger the greatest betrayals . . .

The Five Sisters


Leen Elle - 2013
    Having lost both their parents and being left practically destitute, the girls have no money to secure passage on a cruise ship. Fortunately, an old school friend of their father's, Charlie, owns a small ship and offers the sisters free passage on his ship, in exchange for light cooking and housekeeping duties. The girls gloomily embark on the small ship for a 3-month voyage along with Charlie, 16 sailors, and an invalid, changing their lives forever.

An Untamed Governess for the Rogue


Olivia Bennet - 2019
    She is his ultimate risk... After losing both her parents, Teresa Dowels' future seems uncertain. Forced to leave the house she grew up in, she finds employment as a governess at the Duke of Rowfex’s mysterious manor. Luke Morton, second son of the Duke of Rowfex, is trying to preserve a well-hidden family secret. But life as he knows it changes the day he saves his younger sibling’s ravishing governess from rape. However, it is only a matter of time before the attacker, a notorious criminal with an ulterior motive, strikes again... When Luke disappears, all pieces seem to connect. With Teresa discovering the ugly truth about his family, time is against her. And only a miracle can keep them both alive... *If you like a realistic yet steamy depiction of the Regency and Victorian era, then An Untamed Governess for the Rogue is the novel for you. This is Olivia's 5th novel, a historical Regency romance novel of 80,000 words (around 400 pages). No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a strong happily ever after. Pick up "An Untamed Governess for the Rogue" today to discover Olivia's amazing new story!

The Irish Flapper


Catherine Stack - 2012
    Once in America she awakens to the stark difference between her dreams and the disillusioning reality of an immigrant’s life. It is her new friends, flamboyant cousin and her new found love that make life in the big city an unforgettable adventure. In America she encounters her wildly flamboyant cousin Isabelle who just happens to be the “IT” actress of the moment and the girlfriend of a notorious dangerous gangster. Isabelle introduces her to the enticing, glamorous but ultimately empty and deceptive world of fame and fortune. Annie falls deeply in love with Jack an extremely successful stockbroker haunted by the ghost of his past which threatens their future. In the end it is the knot that ties family and friends together that helps her through great adversity and devastating loss.

The House of Closed Doors


Jane Steen - 2012
    Yet Nell is determined to elude the duties and restrictions of matrimony. So when she finds herself pregnant at the age of 17, she refuses to divulge the name of the father and even her childhood friend Martin is kept in the dark.Nell's stepfather Hiram sends Nell to live at the Poor Farm of which he is a governor, to await the day when her baby can be discreetly adopted. Nell is ready to go along with Hiram's plans until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced that the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and the incident prompts her to rethink her decision to abandon her own child to her fate. But the revelations to which her questions lead make her realize that even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby, she may have no safe place to run to.

If You Were Mine


Rebecca King - 2012
    With nothing more than a few coins in her pouch and the clothes on her back, she disappears into the night wholly unprepared for the stark reality of life on the streets.He was too late to save her. Vowing vengeance upon the uncle responsible for her brutal murder, Dominic Cavendish, Lord Havistock returns home to grieve for the woman he thought he had lost. The hauntingly familiar figure he finds there changes his life forever. Suddenly Dominic is faced with an entirely new battle.Will he and Isobel discover the truth behind the complex web of lies and deceit that tore them apart? Can he persuade Isobel to place her trust in him once more and take a chance on their future happiness, despite the threat to their very lives?Book One of new the Cavendish Mysteries series begins the journey of four very special couples living in Regency England, whose courtship is anything but conventional!Cinders and Ashes, book two of this intriguing new series is available from 15th January 2013. s

The Hidden Duchess


Bree Verity - 2021
    Set in 1789 in the years leading up to the French Revolution, it is full of intrigue, romance and adventure.────Celeste, Duchesse de Saint Tours, is forced into hiding when she is falsely accused of the murder of her husband. She flees to the south of France, where her distant cousin, Marcel Daunou reluctantly agrees to hide her in plain sight on his farm. However, she must learn to live as a peasant farmer to complete the deception, a feat which appears next to impossible to the haughty Duchess. Especially knowing that the unsettling Marcel is watching over her at every turn. She can’t wait to return to her beloved Paris, and the exquisite, hedonistic lifestyle she has left behind.Marcel knows that he places his loved ones in danger when he agrees to hide Celeste. However, his committee has agreed to hide her in exchange for a large sum of money that will assist their gravely poor community, and since she is his family, he takes responsibility for her. But Republican fervor is running high and Marcel knows if the Duchess is found out, she will be marched back to Paris, and to the guillotine. And his family will face harsh retribution from the agitating revolutionaries for hiding a member of the despised nobility.Forced to work together, Celeste and Marcel discover a passion that they cannot resist. And Celeste discovers a feeling of belonging and acceptance from the people of the village that she has never felt before. She begins to dream about a future with Marcel.When her well-meaning lawyer appears in the village and gives her identity away, it isn’t only Marcel that Celeste stands to lose – it’s her life as well.How can a noble Duchess and a peasant farmer find their happily ever after?

A Love by Any Measure


Killian McRae - 2011
    An English lord. A love that overcomes all boundaries, but at what cost?Lord August Grayson, English landlord, has secretly, and much to the dismay of his father, held in reverence the object of his first fancy: poor Irish tenant Maeve O'Connor. Returning to the Ireland for the first time since his youth, August discovers that Maeve has grown into a woman of beauty and tenacity. August understands, however, that he could offer Maeve nothing but shame if her pursued her. But when circumstances allow him an opportunity to indulge his fancy, even if only in a limited scope, August finds himself unable to resist the temptation. Maeve,for her part, knows the danger falling for August holds, but finds her heart and her good senses becoming confused the longer she spends in his company. As two hearts become hopelessly entangled, both Maeve and August are forced to question the costs of their love. As consequences of their romance manifest, both struggle with the pain and difficulties their love causes, both for them and for their loved ones.Killian McRae's delve into historical romance will challenge reader's presumptions of the genre. A title garnering controversy due to McRae's preference towards historical truth versus genre-standard "love despite the realities of the day" perspectives, it asks at what cost winning love is justified. "A Love by Any Measure" is an exploration of a romance that strives to overcome divisions of cultural, socio-economic, and religious differences in an era where options for lovers in such situations were limited.

The Earl of Windermere Takes a Wife


Jen Yates - 2016
    At her 16th birthday Rogan slayed Jassie’s dreams of becoming his wife and had maintained a strictly platonic friendship between them ever since. At twenty-five she’d waited long enough. Desperation on her part, and a small push from fate, forces Rogan to a point of honor. To save Jassie’s reputation they must marry, but who will save Jassie from the monster unleashed within him when the woman in his arms begins to beg?

A Reluctant Melody


Sandra Ardoin - 2016
    Now sober, he wants to make amends by opening a mission for drunkards. The most suitable location belongs to Joanna Cranston Stewart, a love from his sordid past and the one person he hurt the most.A pariah among her peers, Joanna is all too eager to sell her property and flee the rumors that she sent her late husband to an early grave. But she will let the gossips talk and the walls of her rundown property crumble around her before she’ll allow Kit back into her life.When a blackmailer threatens to reveal her long-held secret, she must choose between trusting Kit or seeing her best friend trapped in an abusive marriage.Will Joanna risk another betrayal? Or will she find a way through the pain of the past to love and trust again?

The Lady's Slipper


Deborah Swift - 2010
    King Charles II has returned from exile, but memories of the English Civil War still rankle. There are old scores to settle, and religious differences threaten to overturn a fragile peace. When Alice Ibbetson discovers a rare orchid, the Lady’s Slipper, growing in a wood belonging to Richard Wheeler, she is captivated by its beauty— though Wheeler, a Quaker, is determined to keep the flower where God intended it to grow.

Stealing Mercy


Kristy Tate - 2011
    A girl disguised as a boy.A villain with a brothel to fill.A hero wondering why he’s in love with a lad in breeches.Serving murder, mayhem and pies, Stealing Mercy is a romantic adventure set in 1889 on the eve of the Great Seattle Fire when more than the city is set on fire.

The Lioness of Morocco


Julia Drosten - 2017
    Still single at twenty-three, she is treated like a child and feels stifled in her controlling father’s house.When Benjamin Hopkins, an ambitious employee of her father’s trading company, shows an interest in her, she realizes marriage is her only chance to escape. As Benjamin’s rising career whisks them both away to exotic Morocco, Sibylla is at last a citizen of the world, reveling in her newfound freedom by striking her first business deals, befriending locals…and falling in love for the first time with a charismatic and handsome Frenchman.But Benjamin’s lust for money and influence draws him into dark dealings, pulling him ever further from Sibylla and their two young sons. When he’s arrested on horrible charges, the fate of Sibylla’s family rests on her shoulders, as she must decide whether she’ll leave him to his fate or help him fight for his life.

The Cry For Freedom


Jerri Hines - 2010
    Tension against the crown is mounting daily. In Williamsburg, the rebellion burns strong in the hearts of two siblings, Jonathan and Hannah Corbett. Spirited and headstrong, Hannah finds herself thrust in the middle of a conspiracy when her father receives a strange package from Philadelphia. Jonathan, a physician for the Continental Army, is torn between duty and family. With war looming on the horizon, the siblings soon discover there is a high price to be paid for the cry for freedom.