Book picks similar to
Love Lies and Murder by Catherine Winchester


historical-romance
historical
romance
historical-fiction

The Wicked Wager


Anya Wylde - 2012
    A plan that should have brought the lovers together and had them married within a month. It was a simple matter of masquerading as the duke’s gardener, compromising the lady, and then having the duke rush them off to Gretna Green.Alas, he underestimates the duke’s intelligence and the tangled situation on the estate—never had he imagined that compromising a lady could be so difficult.His endeavours lead to a comedy of errors, charades, and knotty love affairs. Yet he forges ahead in spite of pesky house guests, a flea bitten mattress, his lovesick best friend, and a blackmailer.Just when things seem to be going well, someone is murdered (very inconvenient), and he happens to be one of the suspects (extremely inconvenient).His simple plan for winning the wager suddenly becomes … a tad complicated.

Seductive Secrets


Carrie James Haynes - 2012
    Shunned from London society for being the daughter of England’s most notorious spy, Alyce Hythe desires only to clear her father’s name. For years, she has been hidden away from all prying eyes, given a new identity and told to forget who she was. But strange things have been happening causing old rumors to once more be whispered.Long has Lord Julian Casvelyn lived with guilt brought on when his brother was murdered by England’s most infamous traitor. But one eventful night has changed everything Lord Julian believed about his brother’s death. Never did he suspect the woman he has just saved from certain harm is the daughter of that man. Now Julian is caught in midst of a conspiracy and desire for that woman.Thrown together by fate, the two search for answers long denied them and along the way discover a love that can free them both.Previously published as Daughter of Deceit under Carrie James Haynes

The Rake Enraptured


Amelia Hart - 2014
    Yet Julia will have nothing to do with him. A stern governess, morally upright but with a heart of fire, she craves him beyond anything yet will fight him, and battle her own nature, until passion makes her weak.

Upon a Midnight Dream


Rachel Van Dyken - 2012
    Stefan, the future duke of Montmouth, no doubt thought his words were welcomed but he couldn't have been more wrong. Oh, he was handsome as a pagan Norse god, but that was unimportant when her life as well as those of her family hung in the balance. With less than six weeks left, Rosalind has stopped believing in the fairy tale, the prince on the white horse, and the stolen kiss that would awaken her from her worst nightmares. Resigned to her fate, she waits for the inevitable curse to run it’s course. "We must marry at once!" Stefan declared, fully expecting Rosalind to be delighted that he had come to save her, but he was sorely mistaken. Rosalind was no simpering docile female; she was a fiery temptress with a stubborn streak only matched by his horse, Samson. Insulting, infuriating, intoxicating and alluring enough to drive a man mad. Stefan found himself thankful for the curse that required him marry her, thankful for the betrothal contract he had so recently tried to release her from...With the fortitude of a sailor shipwrecked, abandoned, and a solider warring for his life Stefan decides to lay siege to the greatest prize, Rosalind's heart.

Runaway Heart


Claudy Conn - 1990
    He expected a country mouse with no polish, but instead he found a thoroughly engaging minx, and was oddly irritated by all the male attention she received.Chelsea with her unspoiled eye saw beyond Wainwright’s pursuit of hedonism to the intriguing man underneath. But to her shock, it appeared his heart belonged to her horrid Aunt Augusta!Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.390 KB 72,000 word count

With this Kiss


Victoria Lynne - 1999
    But Julia's bold gaze lit other fires he had long suppressed. And now this glorious stranger was his bride. But when he tried to claim his husbandly rights, she demanded three months grace--three months to know a stranger's mind, to touch a stranger's soul, to go where no woman had ever gone before. Into his lonely heart . . . With This Kiss.

A Heartless Design


Elizabeth Cole - 2013
    Yet men still try to win her, drawn by her sharp wit and intoxicating green eyes. But Cordelia knows a marriage could reveal her deepest secret and truly endanger her life. Besides, she hasn't met a man worth considering, until... Sebastien Thorne, a spy in the service of Crown. One of the elite agents in the group known as the Zodiac, he comes to London determined to solve a mystery with roots on the Continent. He won't let anything distract him. But is Cordelia a distraction, or the key to the mystery? As he learns more about the "heartless" woman, he becomes embroiled in secrets, plots, and a design that could change the future...and Cordelia is at the center of it all.

Stone Devil Duke


K.J. Jackson - 2014
    To protect her family, to protect herself, she is determined to find the men before they find her. The last thing she wanted was an entanglement with a duke that threatens her very survival... Hardened long ago, the last thing the Duke of Dunway wanted was an entanglement with a chit of the ton. But in the flash of a pistol, his fate is altered as he finds himself honor-bound to protect Lady Augustine from, of all things, herself.

Rogue's Honor


Brenda Hiatt - 2001
    When she is rescued from the near-disaster of recognition by a charming serving-man, Pearl pretends to be simple-minded to safeguard herself from any unwanted advances. But soon she begins to suspect that her rescuer is far more than the common servant he seemed at first.Luke St. Clair lives a double life, pretending to be a gentleman while in reality sustaining himself and the needy as the notorious Robin Hood-type thief, the Saint of Seven Dials. The last thing he needs in his life is a beautiful simpleton in need of protection. But "Purdy" proves to be anything but simple-or common! Once he learns the truth, does he dare continue, in the ballrooms of the elite, the flirtation that began in the slums of London? The risk is enormous, but Lady Pearl's sweet kisses may just be worth it.

The Charmer


C.J. Archer - 2013
    Charming. Devastating. He was the last man she needed, but the only one she wanted. Orlando Holt has never assassinated a woman before. The lovely, feisty Lady Lynden will be his first. She's supposed to be a vicious murderess, but when Orlando begins to have doubts, he sets out to discover the identity of the person who hired him. What he learns will turn his world upside down, and propel him headlong into love with a woman who's immune to his charms. Twice widowed by the age of twenty-four, Lady Susanna Lynden has had enough of charming men. Her last husband knew all the right things to say to get her to the marriage bed…then made her life miserable. Money may be scarce and her house falling down around her, but the exotic fruit from her orange trees will keep poverty away. Except someone is thwarting her at every turn. Someone who may even want her dead. The books in the Assassins Guild series are: #1 The Charmer #2 The Rebel #3 The Saint #4 The Sinner

The Rake and The Recluse: A Tale of Two Brothers


Jenn LeBlanc - 2011
    but there's something not quite right and though he wishes to be done with the entire situation, he just can't keep her from his thoughts...Francine Larrabee was on a path bound for certain glory, until she lands in Victorian England and is nearly killed by a team of terrifying black horses led by a Duke, Gideon, who matches them in spirit and demeanor and always seems to be cross. Though she is drawn to her rescuer, he wants nothing to do with her.Brother to The Duke of Roxleigh, the Lord Peregrine Trumbull, is Viscount of Roxleigh in name, but a rake of the worst order by action.... until he meets his match in a girl who requires his complete submission, something he has never been familiar with.Lilly Steele was a simple country miss until she was kidnapped, brutally attacked and left for dead in the far reaches of Great Britain, now she has escaped the aftermath and has asked Perry to do the untenable.She managed to recover her physical injuries... but the emotional scars run deep and will require absolute trust and healing from an altogether unlikely source.What is love? Where does it come from? What makes two people crash, and two other people burn. In this six part serial novel we learn what it means to love, what it means to care, and what it feels like to give up everything you know, to save the one person you can't live without.VOTED BEST HISTORICAL ROMANCE BY READERS for the 2012 Bookie Award!THIS IS THE COMPLETE NOVEL.All six parts of the serial are included in this edition:FREEDOMFOUNDTAKENRUINATIONSUBMISSIONRETRIBUTIONTHIS EDITION IS NOT ILLUSTRATED

Tempt Me at Midnight


Lauren Royal - 2014
    But when the man she's loved since her girlhood returns from a long spell abroad, she quite suddenly finds herself hoping the fine lord her brother has picked for her won't propose. She decides that if he does, she'll quite improperly turn him down—that is, until the man of her hopes and dreams informs her he has no intention of marrying her.The last time Tristan Nesbitt saw Alexandra, he was a common man with no hope of ever wedding the daughter of a marquess. Seven years later, he's now Lord Hawkridge, which should make him eminently suitable for the woman who long ago captured his heart. But a dreadful scandal has tarnished his name in England—a scandal so horrid that marrying Alexandra would ruin not only her flawless reputation but her whole family. For Alexandra's own good, he must fight his relentless desires and stay far away…

The Lady's Wicked Proposition


Vivienne Westlake - 2014
    charity anthology** Length: 20 pages A late night game of cards turns into something far more intriguing when Edwina Merriweather confesses a secret to one of the most charming and debauched men in London. Contrary to popular opinion, Dina is not in town to find a husband. Instead, she’s resolved to find a rake. Francis Chevalier is fascinated by the drunken spinster offering up her virginity like a piece of cake. Torn between the need to have her and the desire to protect her from her own stupidity, he politely declines. Undeterred, Dina returns with a proposition so daring even Chevalier cannot refuse.

Saved by a Rake


Em Taylor - 2013
    When she meets Lord Daniel Ramsey, a notorious rake, she decides on the former course of action.Daniel has been given an ultimatum, marry before his father dies or lose the majority of his inheritance money. Rebecca seems the perfect candidate, especially once rumours about her start to circulate in the drawing rooms of Mayfair.When Newthorpe is found dead on the morning of their wedding, the people around them find themselves suspects in the case. Who murdered Newthorpe and can Rebecca ever get over what he did to her?

Boxes For Beds


Maryann Miller - 2012
    They don't need the heat, and they have the leverage with the sheriff to make him do whatever they want. It seems like a good move to arrest Leslie Richards, the new woman in town, even though there is only thin circumstantial evidence against her. Better for it to be a stranger taking those babies and not one of their own.Leslie has left New York with her ten-year-old daughter, Mandy, hoping to escape from her past and the ruins of a relationship, only to discover that there is little peace for her in Pine Hollow, Arkansas.