Book picks similar to
The Blackmailed Bridegroom by Dorothy Mack
regency
historical
cheating-hero
cheating
The Unofficial Suitor
Charlotte Louise Dolan - 1992
Lady Cassiopeia is on the auction block in the marriage mart. And her only escape is into the greedy hands of scandalous Richard Hawke, a handsome rake who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Original Regency Romance.
Dukes Are Forever
Anna Harrington - 2015
When he takes possession of his enemy's estate, everything that villain held dear—including his daughter—belongs to Edward. Hire a governess, arrange a dowry, give a few reassurances, and be off on his way—that's Edward's plan. But he's in for the shock of his life. For his new ward is a beautiful, impetuous, and utterly irresistible woman......AND WARKate Benton is stunned. Who is this arrogant, infuriating man who's invited himself into her home and taken over her life? Her vow: to do everything in her power to convince him to leave her—and Brambly House—alone. Yet as chilly days melt into sultry nights, Kate sees glimpses of kindness underneath Edward's cool façade . . . and a passionate nature that takes her breath away. There's so much she doesn't know about this man. But does she dare trust this devilish duke with her heart?
Once Upon A Scandal
Barbara Dawson Smith - 1997
But on their wedding night, when he learned the truth about his not-so-innocent bride, he abandoned her.Seven years later, Emma lives in disgrace with her beloved daughter, Jenny. Penniless, Emma provides for her child in the one way she knows how: in the dark of night, she creeps across the rooftops of London and steals jewels from the wealthy nobles who have wronged her.Then Lucas catches her in a daring act of burglary. And he proposes a devil's bargain-- give him an heir...or be exposed. Vowing to hide the devastating secret in her past, Emma agrees to share her husband's bed, never dreaming this cold stranger has become a skilled seducer who will sweep her into a world of peril and passion...
Devil's Desire
Laurie McBain - 1975
SEARING PASSION ... ENDURING LOVEIn a rousing, unforgettable saga that sweeps across the valleys and peaks of human destiny, the stormy alliance of beautiful young Lady Elysia Demarice and Lord Alex Trevegne plumbs the depths of raw human emotion -- lust, jealousy and hate -- for though Lord Alex has married Elysia, he cannot possess her in flesh or spirit. Out of the turbulence of their clashing wills comes one of the greatest love stories ever written, as their twin passions mingle at last, in a rippling tide of liquid fire!
Artemisia - a Humorous Regency Novel
D.G. Rampton - 2013
You have no rights to allow or disallow anything I may choose to do. You have, in fact, no claim over me whatsoever – a circumstance for which I thank the Lord on a daily basis! I am neither your ward nor your dependent, and I will not allow you to talk to me in that odiously overbearing fashion!'High-spirited Artemisia Grantley, niece of the Duke of Wentworth, has never made any attempt to conform to the feminine ideal expected of a lady of quality, nor has she ever had the benefit of an unfavourable opinion formed against her. But when the Marquess of Chysm enters her life, it seems to her that his lordship is always at hand to witness her shortcomings and bring them to her attention, inciting her temper and leaving her flustered. As she reluctantly embarks upon her first London Season, a scandalous family secret and a conspiracy that stretches all the way to Napoleonic France threaten to entangle her with the one person she could happily throttle.
The Stranger She Married
Donna Hatch - 2008
Desperate to save her family from debtor's prison, Alicia vows to marry the first wealthy man to propose. She meets the dashing Lord Amesbury, and her heart whispers that this is the man she is destined to love, but his tainted past may forever stand in their way. Her choices in potential husbands narrow to either a scarred cripple with the heart of a poet, or a handsome rake with a deadly secret.Cole Amesbury is tormented by his own ghosts, and believes he is beyond redemption, yet he cannot deny his attraction for the girl whose genuine goodness touches the heart he'd thought long dead. He fears the scars in his soul cut so deeply that he may never be able to offer Alicia a love that is true.When yet another bizarre mishap threatens her life, Alicia suspects the seemingly unrelated accidents that have plagued her loved ones are actually a killer's attempt to exterminate every member of her family. Despite the threat looming over her, learning to love the stranger she married may pose the greatest danger to her heart.
The Second Seduction of a Lady
Miranda Neville - 2012
Now, five years later, Max still can't get Eleanor out of his head or his heart. He has a single chance to make a second impression—one that will last forever.
The Banished Bride
Andrea Pickens - 2002
and Aurora Sprague finds herself a child bride, married in haste to a young man she's never met to settle her father's gaming debt. Moments after the ceremony, the new groom gallops off to the army and Aurora is banished to a remote estate, married in name only. Years later, Alex Fenimore, now a top intelligence officer, is on a secret mission when a fiery young lady helps him escape attack. He has no idea that the woman is his wife or that the sparks of desire between them are about to ignite a dangerous passion.
True Love for the Reluctant Earl
Eleanor Keating - 2020
When faced with a suitor who is only seeking her wealth, will she choose to follow her heart or end up locked in a loveless marriage forever?
When Edward was sent away from Bellham Manor to join the military after an argument with his father, he never expected to return to London. Forced back by his father's death - he must fulfill a mysterious stipulation or risk losing everything that’s rightfully his. He must find a bride of noble birth within ninety days. Having already lost one woman he loved dearly, Edward does not want to marry for convenience.Lady Adelaide has lived her whole life being told what to do and how to do it by her overbearing, relentless mother, the Duchess of Strafford. The duke and duchess are determined that she will find a husband during this London season, but their daughter is unconventional; she cares nothing for the trappings of the ton or the strictures of the society. Fate brings our heroes to meet unexpectedly, in the dark, alone - then again in a great ball...but all is not what it seems! Nefarious forces are conspiring to keep them apart and destroy their newfound interest and happiness. Will their love be enough to flourish despite the constraints and expectations of society?
The Substitute Wife
Dallas Schulze - 2003
Leggy, flame haired and wise beyond her years, she decided that he should marry her instead.But even though Luke needed a wife by his thirty-sixth birthday or he would lose his inheritance, he had to say "No!" Well, that was what he tried to say, but somehow Cat left with a ring on her finger and a wedding date on her calendar. And Luke could only curse his grandfather's positively medieval blackmailing scheme...and count the seconds till the wedding night.Cat, of course, knows her own mind -- and her own heart -- and she wants Luke. Meanwhile, Luke is wondering how long this will play out, and hoping that it might be a little longer with each passing day. The problem is, he's quite capable of doing something very stupid -- like falling for Cat.Because sometimes love just doesn't take no for an answer.
If the Earl Only Knew
Amanda Forester - 2016
After that kind of adventure, Kate knows she won't ever be accepted as a proper society lady.To the annoyingly clever, temptingly handsome, and altogether troublesome Earl of Wynbrook, society ladies are a dead bore. Kate, on the other hand, is scandalous, alluring, and altogether fascinating. And Kate can't decide which she relishes more, the thrill of chasing fearsome pirates, or having Wynbrook chase after her...
His Majesty, the Prince of Toads
Delle Jacobs - 2006
But even before he learns the circumstances of his inheritance, he encounters her at a New Year's gala. Shock sets in as he realizes the most beautiful woman in England is the same gangly, calf-eyed chit who tricked him into marriage six years before. That's not how Sophie remembers it. She wishes fervently she'd had the sense not to scream when the drunken scapegrace crawled into her bed at her Uncle Harry's house party. True, she'd had a secret tendre for the handsome wastrel, until his scathing denunciation of her after their forced wedding. Then he went off to war without even consummating their union, and for six years she heard nothing from him. Now the toad offers her forgiveness in exchange for his presence in her bed? Revenge comes more to mind.And so the battle of wits begins. And the harder they fight it, the more they fall in love.
Adora
Bertrice Small - 1980
And in the dying days of the great Byzantine Empire - that last vestige of what had once been Imperial Rome - her value as the emperor's daughter was priceless.Three men claimed her as wife. Orkhan, the powerful Ottoman sultan; the dashing pirate Alexander, lord of Mesembria; and Prince Murad, to whom Adora's heart truly belonged. In a grand epic that sweeps the reader from the golden palaces of fourteenth-century Byzantium to the blazing sensuality of the sultan's harem, Adora was a woman who firmly controlled her own destiny because she and Murad were meant only for each other. And together their passions would forge an empire.Adora! Her name was the secret of all love.Publisher Note: This story was previously published elsewhere, 1980-1995.
Miss Winthorpe's Elopement
Christine Merrill - 2007
She never meant to wed a noble lord over a blacksmith's anvil!Adam Felkirk, Duke of Bellston, had no intention of taking a wife. But then Penelope's plight moved him. Now the notorious rake has a new aim—to shock and seduce his prim and proper bride.But the gorgeous duke will be taught a lesson of his own as scholarly Miss Winthorpe becomes his seductive duchess!
Separate Beds
LaVyrle Spencer - 1985
It seemed like a page out of a fairy tale. But everything about it–from the formal vows to the magnificent reception–was a lie, Catherine had reluctantly agreed to Clay's "marriage of convenience"...and the only thing that could threaten their arrangement was the unexpected arrival of love.