Book picks similar to
Master of Ransome by Lucy Walker


romance
vintage
marriage-of-convenience
sweet-romance

Rowena: Regency Belle Series Book One


Caroline Ashton - 2016
    She loves Laurence Radley, the brave and cultured eighth Earl of Conniston. Their shared pleasure in watching her half-sister Amabelle dance through her first London Season has deepened her love but his inexplicable offer for Amabelle shatters her dream. When her sister indignantly refuses him, their irate father orders Rowena to make her accept. Fearful the Earl might withdraw his offer he further orders Rowena to maintain the Earl’s interest at her aunt, Lady Tiverton’s summer ball. Burying her sorrow, Rowena determines to obey. She is horrified to find a fellow house guest, the exotic Araminta Neave, daughter of a wealthy East India merchant attracting his attention. Then news arrives that Amabelle has run away. The Earl’s fury alarms Rowena but worse awaits her at home. Endless questions arise. How will she survive another blow? Will Amabelle be found and relent or will the Earl transfer his affections to Araminta? Is there any hope for her own happiness?

Aurora's Pride


AnneMarie Brear - 2012
    A sweeping historical saga of love and loss. Aurora Pettigrew has it all, a loving family, a nice home, a comfortable life. She’s waiting for the right man to offer her marriage, and the man for her is Reid Sinclair, heir to the Sinclair fortune and the love of her life. But, Reid’s mother, Julia, is against the match and her ruthlessness unearths a family secret that will tear Aurora’s world apart. Unwilling to bring shame on her family and needing answers to the allegations brought to light by Reid’s mother, Aurora begins a long journey away from home. She leaves behind all that is familiar and safe to enter a world of mean streets and poor working class. Living in the tenements of York, surrounded by people of a class she’d never mixed with before, Aurora struggles to come to terms with the way her life has changed. By chance, she reconnects with a man from her past and before he leaves with the army to war in South Africa, he offers her security through marriage. Aurora knows she should be happy, but the memory of her love for Reid threatens her future. When tragedy strikes, can Aurora find the strength to accept her life and forget the past?

The Valentine's Curse


Jodi Thomas - 2018
    . .   As a Yankee in Texas two years after the Civil War, cowboy Broderick Monroe is given the jobs no one else wants to do—including keeping company with the cursed Widow Allen at the annual Valentine’s Day dance thrown by his boss’s wife.   After losing two husbands to the war, Valerie Allen has become a local pariah. Rumor has it that if a man touches her, he’ll be dead by morning. But Brody believes in curses about as much as he believes in love.   One secret embrace in the moonlight leads Valerie to think she has found a kindred spirit, but fate—and the curse—aren’t done with her yet . . .     Originally published in Be My Texas Valentine

There is Always Love


Emilie Loring - 1940
    And Greg would hardly be attracted to the girl caught with his sister's stolen diamond bracelet. She might not have Greg but she had to prove her innocence, even at the risk of her life.

One Scandalous Night


Maggi Andersen - 2017
    First, she intends to inveigle a goodly amount of money for her orphans from a man of means and, second, to have one night of passion to help her endure the dreary years ahead. When Derrick, Lord Eaglestone, a wealthy viscount with a scandalous reputation, agrees to donate to Miss Lacey’s charity, he has only seduction in mind. Little does he suspect that Miss Lacey has already chosen him to debauch her before she weds another. The lady has virtually fallen into his lap, but much to his annoyance, he finds himself reluctant to oblige her. First appeared in the Seven Nights of Sin Anthology Sex scene

A Lady's Honor


A.S. Fenichel - 2018
    But if she must be unmarried, far better to be of use than languishing at home, disappointing her parents. As an employee of the Everton Domestic Society of London, Phoebe accepts a position at the country home of an old friend and discovers an estate—and a lord of the manor—in a state of complete chaos. Losing himself in the bottle has done nothing to ease Markus Flammel’s grief over losing his wife. Not even his toddler daughter can bring him back from the brink. Now this fiery, strong-minded redhead has taken over his home, firing and hiring servants at will and arousing unexpected desire. As not one, but two, suitors suddenly vie for Phoebe’s hand, can Markus move past loss and fight for a future with the woman who has transformed his world?

Bargain With The Devil


Jayne Castle - 1981
    He hadn't come to Tucson for his health. Hunter Manning wanted revenge. Stacy Rylan looked into the eyes of the man who meant to ruin her father. She had made a bargain -- agreed to marry him if he would stop his threats. With a coolly possessive air that defied protest, his hands settled on her small waist and moved slowly upward. How could she go through with it? She despised him. His touch made her tremble with outrage -- and desire!

His Wayward Duchess (The Lady Adventuress, #1)


Daphne du Bois - 2014
    Who better to help him set the crumbling estate to rights? But Miss Millforte is much more than Sylvester, or even she herself, could ever imagine! When Holly turns the tables on him, charming London society and stealing his heart into the bargain, can their marriage take a most inconvenient turn towards love instead? An old-fashioned comedy of manners in which adventure, blackmail, rakish cousins and true love abound…

The Governess: a classic Victorian gothic romance


Camille Oster - 2016
    That she would have to travel all the way to Hungary sent nerves twisting inside her gut, as would meeting the mysterious count who would now be her employer. Unable to speak the language or with much to guide her, she found her new home nestled in remote mountains where hungry wolves prowled outside a dark and drafty castle scared by a long history and recent tragedies.

Lady Hathaway's House Party


Joan Smith - 1980
    Lady Hathaway knew that, but her cousin the duke had changed his mind about coming, and she’d already invited the duchess, who was on her way. There was nothing to be done except wait to see what happened when the estranged couple met again. Regency Romance by Joan Smith; originally published by Fawcett under Jennie Gallant.

The Wedding Gamble


Julia Justiss - 1999
    Sarah Wellingford would Do Her Duty -- even if that meant putting herself on the Marriage Mart during a London season she could ill afford.Now ironic circumstance had wed her to the compelling Marquess of Englemere, a fabled gamester, who had awakened passions she was honor-bound not to express.A marriage of convenience could be deucedly inconvenient -- even for a marquess -- when one was perilously close to loving his own wife! But that was impossible, Nicholas Stanhope knew, for hadn't his tragic past proven that women -- especially wives -- were not to be trusted?

Master of Maramba


Margaret Way - 2001
    Royce McQuillan never would have chosen Carrie for that work if it had not been for the immediate affection that had arisen between his daughter and she. What was more difficult to understand was what he himself felt for Carrie. After his wife left him to return to the animated life of the city, how long could he hope that this beautiful housekeeper would share the tranquillity and isolation of his farm?

A Very Stylish Affair


Emma Darcy - 1993
    He also seems unable to even look past Sophie's hair, which is a bit. . . well . . . flamboyant at the moment. She suspects her days as his new assistant are numbered.But when Sophie discovers the cad only hired her as a distraction for a case he's working on, Mr. Snob finds himself on the receiving end of a temper as hot as her hair. A truce reached, now they're headed for Bora Bora, where things are bound to get even hotter!

A Conformable Wife: A Regency Romance with a spirited heroine


Alice Chetwynd Ley - 1975
     Two young people compete in the game of love… 1814, Bath “I promise you, she’s the most delightful creature, with a quirky sense of humour very like your own. As for the other qualities you mention – birth, breeding, experience of managing a household of consequence – she has them all, with amiability and common sense besides!” So Henrietta Melville is described to the Honourable Julian Aldwyn, who is on the look-out for a wife who will prove restful after an earlier, disastrous love-affair. But there’s much more to Miss Melville than meets the eye. Although she is a spirited and intelligent heiress, at twenty-six and still unmarried, she’s considered to be on the shelf. Julian is certain his offer will not be refused. But then comes a whirlwind month in Bath, a dastardly rake, secrets from the past ... all calculated to turn any woman’s head. Could Henrietta become the conformable wife Julian is looking for? Or will someone else catch her eye…? A CONFORMABLE WIFE is a classic historical novel by Alice Chetwynd Ley: a traditional British, post Regency romance novel set in nineteenth century England. ‘Alice Chetwynd Ley's books were my favourite regency romances. I still have every one of her books on my keeper shelf with The Beau and the Bluestocking and The Jewelled Snuffbox in pride of place’ – Historical and Regency Romance UK ‘These vintage Regency romances hover somewhere between Jane Austen and the genre as we know it today. I really enjoy them.’ - Sonya’s Stuff

Small Mercies


Richard Anderson - 2020
    Ruthie receives the news every woman dreads. Meanwhile, a wealthy landowner, Wally Oliver, appears on the local radio station, warning small farmers like Dimple and Ruthie that they are doomed, that the sooner they leave the land to large operators like him, the better. Bracing for a fight on all fronts, the couple decide to take a road trip to confront Oliver. Along the way, not only is their resolve tested, but their relationship as well.Desperate not to dwell on the past but to face up to the future, Dimple and Ruthie make a crucial decision they soon regret. And when the storm clouds finally roll in across the land they love, there’s more than the rain to contend with.Told with enormous heart, Small Mercies is a tender love story. It is a story of a couple who feel they must change to endure, and of the land that is as important as their presence on it.