Book picks similar to
The Passions of Emma by Penelope Williamson


romance
historical-romance
historical
historical-fiction

The Wives of Bowie Stone


Maggie Osborne - 1994
    Knowing that she can save the life of a condemned man by offering to marry him, Rosie Mulvehey opts for a marriage of convenience to ex-cavalry man Bowie Stone, who promises to save her rundown farm as his part of the agreement.

Sunset Embrace


Sandra Brown - 1985
    Two passionate travelers, united by need, threatened by pasts they could not outrun ...Lydia Bryant --- voluptuous and russet-haired, fleeing from a secret shame, vowing that never again would a man, any man, overpower her ...Ross Coleman --- dark, brooding and iron-willed, with the shadow of a lawless past in his piercing eyes, sworn to resist the temptation of his wanton longings ...Fate threw them together on the same wild road, where they fought the breathtaking desire blazing between them, while the shadows of their enemies grew longer. As the wagon train rolled west, the danger to them drew ever closer, until a showdown with their pursuers was inevitable. Before it was over, Lydia and Ross would face death ... the truth about each other ... and the astonishing strength of their love ...

Annie's Song


Catherine Anderson - 1996
    As delicate and beautiful as the tender blossoms of the Oregon spring, she is shunned by a town that misinterprets her affliction. But cruelty cannot destroy the love Annie holds in her heart. Alex Montgomery is horrified to learn his wild younger brother forced himself on a helpless "idiot girl." Tormented by guilt, Alex agrees to marry her and raise the baby she carries as his own. But he never dreams he will grow to cherish his lovely, mute, and misjudged Annie; her childlike innocence, her womanly charms and the wondrous way she views her world. He becomes determined to break through the wall of silence surrounding her; to heal... and to be healed by Annie's sweet song of love.

Courting Miss Hattie


Pamela Morsi - 1991
    She was certainly spirited and delightfully sweet natured, and she'd managed to run her family farm almost single-handedly. But wasn't a twenty-nine-year-old lady farmer too old to catch a husband?An Irresistible Suitor.All his life handsome, black-haired Reed Tyler had worked Miss Hattie's farm--and dreamed of one day settling down on his own piece of land with the pretty young woman he'd sworn to marry. Hattie was someone he could tell his hopes and troubles to--someone he looked on as a sister. So he thought, until the idea of Ancil Drayton calling on her made him seethe. Until the night a brotherly peck became a scorching kiss... and Reed knew nothing would bank the blaze--and that his best friend was the only woman he would ever love.From the Paperback edition.

The Marriage Bed


Stephanie Mittman - 1996
    Set on the Williamson Farm in 1897 Wisconsin, we are introduced to Olivia and Spencer on their wedding night.  Spencer's life has been beset with tragedy; Olivia is his second wife and a poor consolation prize for a man whose family was torn from him by Scarlet Fever.  Olivia has been a friend and neighbor to him throughout his life and she has been in love with Spencer for as long as she can remember.  Now she only wants to make him happy again and to help replace some of what he has lost.  Fighting his growing love for Olivia, Spencer makes terrible and hurtful mistakes, pushing Olivia away before he is finally able to court his wife and to accept the love she offers-- and to give love in return.

Forbidden Love


Karen Robards - 1983
    Forbidden Desires...He was her guardian, absentee landlord of her neglected life--until Megan Kinkead returned to Maam's Cross Court, determined to make Justin Brant notice her.  She finally commanded the attention of the sixth Earl of Weston when she burst into his room and caught him stark naked in the tub.  Suddenly she knew a woman's hunger--and a woman's needs....Forbidden Kisses...When had the scrawny brat from hell become a fiery, raven-haired, violet-eyed temptress?  Justin told himself she was still a child as she offered him a seductive yet innocent kiss.  He tried to remind himself that he was her guardian, her protector.  But the flashfire desire that blazed between them ignited a love neither had ever known before.  Then he told her he was married....Forbidden Secrets...Bestselling, award-winning author Karen Robards sweeps us into Ireland's lush landscape in this spellbinding novel of a headstrong young beauty and her aristocratic guardian, torn between passion, propriety, and...Forbidden Love.

Bound by Your Touch


Meredith Duran - 2009
    Alas, Lydia Boyce has no interest in being charmed. When his latest escapade exposes a plot to ruin her family, she vows to handle it herself, as she always has done. Certainly she requires no help from a too-handsome dilettante whose main achievement is being scandalous. But Sanburne's golden charisma masks a sharper mind and darker history than she realizes. He shocks Lydia by breaking past her prim facade to the woman beneath...and the hidden fire no man has ever recognized. But as she follows him into a world of intrigue, she will learn that the greatest danger lies within—in the shadowy, secret motives of his heart.

To Love a Thief


Julie Anne Long - 2005
    She's proud of providing for herself and her lively young sister, Alice, and she's never been caught. Well, there's always a first time. Enticed!Gideon Cole is a brilliant barrister with an unfortunate weakness for clients who can't pay. His latest charitable misstep: buying the freedom of a daring, beautiful thief. To repay the debt, Lily agrees to his proposition: pose as the object of his desire and help him snare a wealthy bride. All he has to do is transform the impudent Lily into a diamond of the first water. Enthralled!But the education of Lily could cost Gideon his carefully planned future. While she plays cards with his invalid uncle, and Alice charms the servants, the honorable Gideon is harboring less than honorable thoughts. For sweet, stubborn, and sensual Lily has a way of slipping past a gentleman's defenses—especially when she's stealing his heart.

Indiscreet


Candace Camp - 1997
    Is he a kidnapper? A thief? Or worse? What has Camilla so innocently become part of? Though his name belies the fact, Benedict Wincross, Lord Rawdon, is obviously no gentleman. But Camilla realizes he may be just what she needs—a temporary fiancé to satisfy her family's worries. Benedict also needs something—an entrée into Chevington Park, Camilla's family estate, to conduct an undercover investigation into corruption—without Camilla's knowledge. They both have their own agendas, but nothing prepares them for the rash, reckless and dangerous tumble into love.

The Bronze Horseman


Paullina Simons - 2000
    As the German armies advance their future looks bleak. For Tatiana, love arrives in the guise of Alexander, who harbours a deadly and extraordinary secret.

Upon a Wicked Time


Karen Ranney - 1998
    A breathtaking beauty with a reputation that is positively above reproach, she desires nothing more than the love of her husband, the man she's long pined for.Only Jered Mandeville doesn't want a soulmate, just a proper duchess hidden away on his country estate to beget heirs. He certainly doesn't see a place for his sheltered bride in his decadent life in London.Tessa won't let her fairy tale slip through her fingers. She'd do anything to win Jered's heart. So Tessa starts a campaign to win her husband's heart by invading his home, his reckless adventures, and his bed—all to prove to her cynical duke that even a happy ending can be delightfully wicked.

Bride for a Night


Rosemary Rogers - 2011
    Shy Talia has long held a secret attraction for Gabriel Richardson, the handsome Earl of Ashcombe. But when she's wedded, bedded and dispatched alone to his country estate, the timid beauty discovers one night of passion has ignited a bold inner fire.While his lovely green-eyed bride is out of sight, she is not far from Gabriel's mind and when Talia is abducted by French spies, the earl fears he may lose what he's only just found. Yet the wife he races to rescue is a far cry from the gentle bride he abandoned. She's a woman who dares to demand forever after from her husband.

When Harry Met Molly


Kieran Kramer - 2010
    But when he's named by the Prince Regent as one of society's "Impossible Bachelors," Harry is drafted into a ribald romantic wager. The rules of engagement are scandalously simple: The bachelor whose mistress wins the title of "Most Delectable Companion" gets to remain unmarried. Harry is utterly unconcerned about his status...until his latest lightskirt abandons him. Who will win this game of love?Enter Lady Molly Fairbanks. Harry's childhood friend—actually, "foe" is more like it—is the most unlikely companion of all. She's attractive but hot-headed, and in no mood for games. Besides, what could the self-indulgent Harry possibly know about what makes a woman delectable? It's time for Molly to teach him a lesson once and for all...but will it lead to "happily ever after"?

Scandalous


Jenna Petersen - 2005
    So she is devastated to discover the nobleman she's engaged to has a secret he's kept from her: a wife! Suddenly Katherine's enmeshed in a scandal that has the ton buzzing—and forced to accept a most unconventional proposal from the notorious seducer Dominic Mallory, her faithless fiancé's brother… and precisely the sort of rake she has sworn to avoid!Charming and dangerously sensual, Dominic has desired the stunning beauty from the first moment he spied her. Now, with Katherine's reputation in tatters, it's the ideal opportunity to bed her—though it will take wedding vows to do so. But can a rogue be reformed by the unleashed passion of a normally reserved lady? And can a marriage made for all the wrong reasons flame into the love match of the season?

Dreaming of You


Jennifer McNare - 2013
    However, the innocent young beauty has no idea what her new husband will demand of her, once they are legally wed. It isn’t long however, before Melody discovers that the widowed earl had a purpose in choosing her for his bride, the daughter of an impoverished country baron. Impotent and childless, Charles is in desperate need of an heir, in addition to someone he can force into going along with the heinous scheme he has concocted.Gavin Montrose, son of the wealthy Duke of Rutherford, is as charming as he is handsome. However, unbeknownst to him, he is also the man Charles Cavendish has selected to father his heir. Abducted from the grounds of his family’s country estate, he awakens to find himself in the midst of a nightmare. Assuming that he has been abducted for ransom, Gavin is stunned to learn of his mysterious abductor’s true purpose. To gain his freedom and protect his family from harm, he must father a child he will never meet, with a woman whose name he will never know and whose face he will never see. Desperate to safeguard the people they love, both Melody and Gavin have no choice but to go along with the insanity that has been forced upon them or suffer the unbearable consequences. Compelled to meet in absolute darkness in the bedchamber of an isolated cottage, their identities a fiercely guarded secret, they will develop a bond neither of them had anticipated and discover a passion more powerful than either of them could have possibly imagined. But dare they call it love?Years later, when fate intervenes and Gavin and Melody’s paths inadvertently cross…