Book picks similar to
The Way of the Heart by Cheryl Holt


historical-romance
historical
cheating
romance

The Devil's Love


Julia London - 1998
    She believes her betrothed is a generous and noble man who has been longing for her. But the handsome man waiting for her at the altar is a dark, brooding stranger who rushes her into marriage, then abandons her at his country estate. Only the passion of Michael's kiss gives her hope that theirs can be more than a marriage of convenience. A man's need... With scandal shadowing his past, Michael, the Devil of Darfield, had no need for a wife. Remembering only the little hellion who made life miserable for him aboard her father's ship, he resents the agreement he made to marry her so he could save his ancestral home. Though determined to ignore her, he cannot stop thinking about his lovely violet-eyed bride. Her beauty tempts him. Her charm bedevils him. He tries to drive her away until he almost loses her. Then he vows to regain her love—before it is too late....

Magnolia


Diana Palmer - 1996
    Claire Lang loved her life there, but one man’s presence unsettled her very soul. John Hawthorn’s dark eyes and lean, handsome face captivated Claire more than she wanted to admit. And when tragedy struck, Claire found herself desperate enough to marry him—a man who didn’t retrn her passionate love her. But Claire aroused fierce, unexpected desires in her elusive husband. And once she had tasted his kisses and savored his lovemaking, she dared to fight for him as a sizzling scandal threatened to engulf them and the love she began to believe could be theirs.

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.

The Lover


Nicole Jordan - 1997
    Even in the stately ballrooms of Edinburgh where Sabrina Duncan first laid eyes on the powerful laird who would one day be her husband, he exuded an intoxicating sensuality. It was rumored that the touch of his lips could draw the very soul from a woman’s body—and when he pulled Sabrina into his arms, she had no doubts: The kiss he stole from her that moonlit night was like a brand on her soul, leaving her longing for more.A promise made long ago binds Niall McLaren to wed the eldest daughter of a neighboring laird to unite the two clans. But when Niall recognizes Sabrina as the enticing lass whose kisses enflamed his passion, the married life he once dreaded becomes a world of unexplored pleasures. Yet for all their beauty, the wild hills of Scotland are a place where ancient feuds and hidden secrets create unimagined peril for the lovers. For in the untamed Highlands, two hearts must clash before they learn to beat as one.Turn to the back of the book for an interview with Nicole Jordan and a sneak peek at her new romance, Master of TemptationFrom the Paperback edition.

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.

Unforgivable


Joanna Chambers - 2013
    But when the masks come off, Rose finds herself in a quandary.Gil does not recognise her.And for the first time since their wedding day, he desires her...***This revised (2022) edition establishes Unforgivable as the first in the Unmasked series. No significant alterations have been made to the original story, however the book has been lightly revised throughout.

Lady Gallant


Suzanne Robinson - 1991
    A daring spy in Queen Mary's court, she risked her life to rescue the innocent from a terrible fate. Yet it was Nora who needed rescuing when cutthroats attacked her--and when Christian de Rivers, a lusty, sword-wielding rogue, swept her out of harm's way ... and into his arms.A BOLD ADVENTURERAs magnificent and mesmerizing as a hawk, Christian both frightened and excited Nora, even as he pursued her with a single-minded passion that left her longing to be caught. Yet soon she would discover that she had reason to be frightened. For the dashing nobleman had his own secrets to keep, his own enemies to rout--and his own brand of vengeance for a wide-eyed beauty whom he loved only too well....

An Absent Wife


Camille Oster - 2013
    The death of the wife he'd ignored for close to a decade was a downright nuisance, making him further fodder for the gossips, and now a target for every designing matron in London. In line with her consistent talent for being disagreeable, Lady Adele Warburton had run off with a lowly lieutenant, leaving safety and respectability behind, then died in a cholera epidemic in a far flung country. In a last show of husbandly duty, Lysander decides to recover her effects, and grudgingly those of her lover, retracing the steps of the wife he'd barely known across half the world. But arriving in the mayhem of India, he finds that all is not as it should be.

So Wild a Heart


Candace Camp - 2002
    But the former abbey they received came with a price—a curse that no family member would ever know happiness.Devin Aincourt, Earl of Ravenscar, makes no apologies for who he is—a drinker, a womanizer, a gambler. Having been cast aside by his disapproving father years before, Dev is content to live out his cursed life in this hedonistic manner. Until his mother asks him to make a bold move to restore the family name and fortune: marry a rich American heiress.Believing it will be a marriage in name only, Dev agrees to marry Miranda. But he never imagined that this feisty, unconventional foreigner would have plans of her own: to restore Blackwater, the old abbey, to its former glory, to extricate Dev from the clutches of a devious mistress and to win his heart for her own. All while risking her own life to an unknown enemy.

A Duchess in Name


Amanda Weaver - 2016
    An American heiress and graduate of Lady Grantham's finishing school, she's been groomed since birth to marry an English title—the grander the better. So when the man chosen for her, the forbidding Earl of Dunnley, seems to hate her on sight, she understands that it can't matter. Love can have no place in this arrangement.Andrew Hargrave has little use for his title and even less for his cold, disinterested parents. Determined to make his own way, he's devoted to his life in Italy working as an archaeologist. Until the collapse of his family's fortune drags him back to England to a marriage he never wanted and a woman he doesn't care to know.Wild attraction is an unwanted complication for them both, though it forms the most fragile of bonds. Their marriage of convenience isn't so intolerable after all—but it may not be enough when the deception that bound them is finally revealed.

The Light in the Darkness


Ellen Fisher - 1998
    Embittered by the death of his wife, scornful of female wiles, and completely contemptuous of any attempt to bring happiness into his life, Grey hardly considered himself good husband material. And yet, if only for the shock value of it--and to put an end to all the nagging--Grey showed up one day with a bride on his arm: an ignorant, ill-kempt, timid young tavern wench....The Most Unlikely Bride...Jennifer knew she was no one's idea of a suitable bride for the rich, elegant Grey--least of all, his. But though she couldn't begin to understand the reasons behind his caustic, tormented personality, she did know one thing. He had saved her from a life of drudgery and cruelty, and she would repay him by turning herself into a ravishing, accomplished beauty who would do him credit in society's eyes. And maybe, just maybe, in the process, he might fall in love with her just a little....

The Coming Home Place


Mary Spencer - 1994
    Handsome rancher James Kagan had closed his heart when his childhood sweetheart died, and beautiful Elizabeth Beck had lost everyone on the journey from Tennessee to California, but they discover that the only place they truly belong is in each other's arms.

Courting His Countess


C.J. Archer - 2013
    When Rose doesn't accept his apology, however, he loses all hope of a happy future together. Yet he's thankful she has agreed to come to his bed to beget an heir. Known as the Ice Maiden at Queen Elizabeth I's court, Rose has been trying to forget the man she once loved—a love she thought destroyed after he spent their wedding night with his mistress. Withstanding Thomas's charms, however, is proving more difficult than she expected.Can she forgive the ultimate betrayal? Can he ever atone for what he did?

Bride of the Lion


Elizabeth Stuart - 1995
    But nothing could defend her from the brooding magnificence of the invader who quickened her wild Welsh blood and stole her tender soul.Robert de LangleyFaull of arrogance and outlaw vigor, the fabled Lion of Normandy would hold his old enemy's daughter hostage for his plundered lands - until he decreed that he must keep them both.Tossed between vengeance and lingering desire, war made them enemies, and passion possessed them.

An Infamous Marriage


Susanna Fraser - 2012
    Wed for mutual convenience, their union unconsummated, the couple has exchanged only cold, dutiful letters. With no more wars to fight, Jack is ready to attempt a peace treaty of his own.Elizabeth Armstrong is on the warpath. She never expected fidelity from the husband she knew for only a week, but his scandalous exploits have made her the object of pity for years. Now that he's back, she has no intention of sharing her bed with him—or providing him with an heir—unless he can earn her forgiveness. No matter what feelings he ignites within her…Jack is not expecting a spirited, confident woman in place of the meek girl he left behind. As his desire intensifies, he wants much more than a marriage in name only. But winning his wife's love may be the greatest battle he's faced yet.