Book picks similar to
A Match for Elizabeth by Mira Stables
historical-romance
historical
guardian-ward
19th-century
The Northern Lady
Anna Jacobs - 2010
Brought up in the Northern town of Bardsley, she wants nothing to do with polite society.But Cassandra forms a close relationship with her gentle cousin Susannah, a victim of her mother's pushy, ambitious nature. Susannah, petrified of marrying the charming, wealthy Simeon Giffard, enlists Cassie's help. It is, after all, Cassie for whom Simeon holds a torch, and he appears set on winning the heart of this strong-willed Northern lady…
From bestseller Anna Jacobs, this emotional historical saga is perfect for fans of Kitty Neale, Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin.
The Intrepid Miss Haydon
Alice Chetwynd Ley - 1983
Lovely Corinna haydon, suspected of mooning over the notorious Fabian Greenville, is taken by her family to Paris, where it is hoped she will meet an eligible suitor.
Cecilia or Too Tall To Love
G.L. Robinson - 2020
But she can’t touch her small inheritance until she is twenty-five, so she has to live temporarily with her aunt and uncle. But they don’t want her. To get her married off, they invent a fortune she doesn’t have and she is besieged by fortune hunters. Enter Lord Thomas Allenby, a handsome, fashionable fribble, who has his own reasons for wanting to escape the marriage mart. He persuades her to announce a faux betrothal, but it doesn’t work out quite how Cecilia expects. Against the background of early nineteenth century London, with its fashionable Mayfair mansions, East End slums and the development of public education, this Regency Romance is the story of how one woman seeks to improve the lives of impoverished girls by opening a school for them. The effect on her own life is beyond her wildest imaginings.
The Promise of Miss Spencer
Sarah L. McConkie - 2020
Yet when her father suddenly becomes ill, she agrees to his dying wish—to marry Mr. Lacy and secure her future. Cast suddenly into a mourning period, Suzanna and Mr. Lacy agree to keep their engagement a secret until the proper six months have passed. But when Suzanna and Mr. Lacy find themselves thrown together with Miss Grysham and her handsome uncle Lord Haversley, everything becomes complicated. If only Lord Haversley didn’t expose his true bravery. If only there wasn’t so much more to him than a gaudy Lord in Parliament. If only he would leave Suzanna alone. As the threat of smallpox looms close, all four friends must work together—and apart—to save the lives of those they love. Forced into keeping a promise, or securing the promise of her future, Suzanna must reconcile her obligations with her heart as she searches for a love she never had.
Country Flirt
Joan Smith - 1987
STILL PLAYING THE COUNTRY BUMPKIN TO MAKE ME APPEAR A FOP." So said Lord Monteith during the usual repartee to which he treated Samantha when he stopped with his mama in the country. For her part, Sam had lived for Monty's visits between Seasons as long as she could remember, knowing that she could expect little else from that jaded gentleman. But their innocent flirtation was about to be dashed from a quite unexpected quarter: Monty's middle-aged--and debauched--uncle Howard was returned from India, laden with riches and ready to spend them on a pretty young wife. And when Howard set his cap for Sam, Monty suddenly found that he must protest too much--that is, for just an old and trusted friend....
A Pirate at Pembroke
Danielle Thorne - 2018
Her father is a gossip, her mother has her nose in a book, and little Jack has shamefully been dismissed from boarding school. Worst of all, a pirate moves next door into Pembroke Hall.When Sophie's sent to a matchmaking party at a neighboring estate, the pirate from Pembroke arrives and distracts everyone from the summer festivities. Unguarded, her feelings about the mysterious Captain Murdock bloom into a trusted friendship that Sophie fears may come to mean more than anyone would ever suspect.
Crossed Quills
Carola Dunn - 1998
When Wynn Selworth implores Prometheus, a supposed male literary essayist who is actually Phillippa Lisle, to help him, Phillippa poses as Prometheus' liaison since she is determined never to reveal her secret, and together they embark on a madcap adventure of love.
The Unexpected Wife
Emily Hendrickson - 1998
So she ran away - to a charming home on the country estate of Alexander Barr, Viscount Hawkswood, the most notorious rake in London. Juliet would simply pretend to be his wife while he was away.
This Wicked Man
Kate Harper - 2012
A failed governess, she knows nothing about children and even less about those that are grieving. Thrust into the wilds of Surrey - and the dubious charms of a rundown cottage - she predicts that life will be singularly dull. But that is before she meets her neighbor, a sinfully wicked viscount whose reputation for seduction is legendary. Her well meaning neighbors warn her to stay away and even the man himself seems inclined to think she is a fool to dally with him, but she is convinced that she and Chetwyn have more than just sexual tension in common. What is it about this wicked man that urges her to break the rules? And how can she convince someone who believes himself to be beyond redemption that the heart is always capable of resurrection?
Christmas at Malton Manor
Pam Lecky - 2017
Kate Hamilton is companion to the dullest and meanest woman in England, but she is looking forward to going home for Christmas and her sister Mary’s wedding. When her employer refuses to release her, Colonel Robert Woodgate comes to the rescue. Robert now owns Malton Manor, Kate’s old home in the village of Malton. Recently returned from the Boer War and recovering from his injuries, Robert has been reclusive and morose. Clashing several times over his plans and sweeping changes in the village, their relationship has always been tempestuous. But when Kate returns to Malton, she discovers her sister’s wedding is to take place at Malton Manor and everyone is convinced the Colonel has an ulterior motive. Can Kate resist the lure of her old home and the memories it holds? And does she have the courage to break down Robert’s defences to find happiness at last?
The Unromantic Lady
Lucy Gordon - 1996
With her vast wealth, her demure face and her beautiful figure, she should be a very eligible young lady. But there is one problem – Diantha doesn’t believe in love, and she ensures that any love-struck bachelor knows it. Suitors may try their luck, but Diantha is not one to hold her tongue – something which makes her aunt, Lady Greenbourne, despair of her and her unladylike talk. Meanwhile, Rexford Lytham has inherited his uncle’s title of Earl of Chartridge and with it, the old man’s gargantuan debts. It seems that the only way to save Chartridge Abbey and its surrounding tenants is for Rex to marry a wealthy Lady. But Rex is as wary of love as Diantha is. His friends and brother, Major George Lytham, all conspire to match him with Diantha, while Lady Greenbourne believes that a sensible young man like Rex is perfect for the unromantic Diantha. Yet the two young singletons soon guessed their relations’ plot and conspired to foil it. However, Diantha is impressed by Rex’s honesty, and in turn, he is impressed by her reasoning. So they agree to marry in a union of convenience – Rex for her fortune and Diantha for his title and her freedom. But it seems Rex is hiding a dark secret, and Diantha is determined to find out what it is. While they set about fixing Rex’s estate and debts, and helping their friends and relations along the way, Diantha tries her best to get the truth out of Rex. Diantha knows it shouldn’t worry her – after all, neither of them are so unreasonable to fall in love with one another – surely? Or are they not as immune to love as either of them thought? As war looms once more over Europe, perhaps reason no longer matters… Lucy Gordon began working life on a British women's magazine, where she interviewed famous men like Sir Roger Moore, Sir Alec Guinness, Warren Beatty, Richard Chamberlain and Charlton Heston. But since 1984, she has been publishing her romance novels – twice winning the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for the Best Traditional Romance. She is now married to a Venetian artist and together, they have lived in different parts of Italy, though currently reside in her native England.
Poetic Justice
Alicia Rasley - 1994
She must wed, with her pompous uncle's approval, before her next birthday or lose her legacy--the most valuable book collection in all England! Worse, she will forfeit the secret contents of the trunk locked in the family vault. So Jessica concocts an audacious plan. It may be scandalous. It may be ruinous. Or it might work.There isn't a more eligible suitor in all the land than John Dryden. Passing himself off as an importer of rare books, the ex-privateer and dashing rogue is all too happy to accept Jessica's unconventional proposal. It's a plot worthy of Will Shakespeare himself.. and just as likely to go awry. For Dryden hasn't been called a bastard simply because of his birth. The wickedly seductive Jessica has something he wants, and it isn't merely a dusty old chest. It's the key to her heart!
The Complicated Earl
Audrey Harrison - 2013
His mother prefers entertaining men in her bedroom, while her husband sits downstairs, unable or unwilling to respond to his wife’s inappropriate behaviour. From that day on Tom vows that no woman will hurt him the way his mother hurt his father. For the next seventeen years Tom works hard to become one of the most notorious rakes London society has ever seen, successfully keeping all the women of his acquaintance at a distance. In 1810 twenty-four year old Isabelle Crawford had been brought up hearing stories of how much in love her dead parents were and had expected to find similar happiness when she came out in society. Reality was different to what she had imagined though, instead of love, she found fortune hunters and as a result left London to set up home in Bath. Her two elder brothers had supported her decision, although they would have rather seen their sister married instead of choosing what was seen by the ton as an eccentric decision, a young woman living a single life in Bath with a cousin as chaperone. A potential marriage between Tom's sister and Isabelle’s brother throws the couple together and sets in motion a chain of events that will see Tom fighting for his life and Isabelle being kidnapped by the very man that Tom had found in his mother’s bedchamber all those years ago.
A Season for the Heart
Elizabeth Chater - 1982
The fantastic notions and romantic heroes contained in those books are the only thing that distracts her from the abuse of her adopted family. But then a mysterious stranger, the Earl of Austell, finds they have a mutual malady of boredom, and he endeavors to rescue them both.