Despite his many responsibilities, there is nothing Leopold Sloane, the 11th Duke of Debden, takes more seriously than the safety of those he loves. When one of his sisters is injured at a protest rally, he drags his family to Bath for the summer to keep his reckless and rebellious siblings out of harm’s way. The only flaw in his plan is his overwhelming but inexplicable attraction to the new chaperone he has hired to watch out for them. An outspoken conundrum of a woman who soon causes him more trouble than both his sisters combined...but who calls to his soul regardless.
From the moment Portia Kendall read her first revolutionary pamphlet beneath her bedcovers at Miss Prentice’s School for Girls, she realized that her true calling was to make the world a fairer place for the masses downtrodden by the aristocracy. A calling that led her to Equitas, a radical newspaper that champions reform. But as Portia discovers, writing doesn’t pay the bills. To make a living, she must push aside her principles and serve the very people she criticizes weekly in her column. A temporary position as a chaperone in the home of a pompous duke seems like the perfect way to earn enough to follow her heart. Unfortunately, the duke who hires her seems to be more dashing and noble than pompous and soon begins to call to her heart too—as much as she tries to deny it. But dare she risk her principles for love or will her pride always come before a fall?
More romcom shenanigans in this third book in Heath's Miss Prentice's Protegees series. One of his sisters injured at a protest rally is all it takes for our hero to haul his rebellious siblings to Bath for the summer. Small fly in the ointment however - he hires the heroine as their new chaperone, not knowing that she also writes for a radical newspaper. Sparks, inevitably, fly.
Caroline Ashfield has led the life familiar to many a woman of her station. Married off for social and political connection to a much older man, she led a life of privilege, but also of emotional discomfort. Now, though, her husband has been dead many years and she has enjoyed the freedom being a widow of a certain age has granted her. She can do what she wants, read what she enjoys and support her scandalous nieces to her heart’s desire. Everything is perfect. Well, except for one her constant thoughts about celebrated courtesan Simone Stanford.
Simone is also an independent woman, though certainly from a very different path, and she would tell everyone in her orbit that she wants nothing more than exactly what she has. Her playful interactions with the very proper Caroline were at first just for fun, but somehow they’ve become much more serious and left ripples in their wake she never expected. Now something is awakening between them and it feels like it could change everything for both of them.
An escalating passion and a secret affair are one thing, but when a moment arrives when they could find true happiness will they embrace it? Or let the pains of the past and fears of the future snatch true love from their arms?
Two heroines, both having earned their independence by divergent means. What happens when the proper widow falls for a courtesan? Complications, no doubt. This is the fourth book in The Comerford Courtesans series.
A forbidden attraction
To the mysterious valet…
With nowhere else to go, penniless Sofia Guaro has been the guest of her brother’s grand British in-laws, feeling stifled. Her only escape is sneaking out to explore London with the family valet—broodingly handsome Josiah Meadows…
Josiah gets drawn back into his criminal past when he is forced to take one last mission to retrieve a painting from Cornwall—and Sofia won’t be left behind! He must resist his beguiling accomplice. After all, having sworn never to return to his own aristocratic family, can he ever be the man she deserves?
A heroine with nowhere else to go falls into the orbit of a valet with a secret criminal past. What happens when she gets sucked into his last mission to "retrieve" a painting? Part of the author's The Ladies of Scandal series, set in the 1830s with Gothic overtones.
A house divided…A passion ignited!Outraged when Yorkist knight Edmund Deverell stakes his centuries-old claim on her beloved home, Lancastrian maiden Isobel Calvert won’t leave without a fight! But her best defense against destitution is to propose marriage—to her enemy!After the pain of his first union, Edmund had never planned to wed again, his only allegiance now is to the House of York. Still, he can’t deny a practical marriage will secure his legacy and leave his emotions intact. But days of verbal sparring with his new wife lead to nights of unforgettable passion, until Edmund finds his loyalties wavering dangerously…
In 1887 London, the elite of Mayfair prosper while the poor of St. Giles die. Despite being an aristocratic wife, Ellen Grenfall fights in the bowels of London to save the lives of premature infants and their mothers with her fledgling medical dispensary--a cause close to her heart after her own infant loss.Eight years earlier, Mark Grenfall joined the Royal Navy to escape his struggling marriage. But when he’s suddenly called by his family to provide an heir, he’s forced to return to London and the woman he abandoned—discovering that she is nothing like the giggling debutante he left behind. The real Ellen is a passionate, wildly intelligent woman pursuing neonatology, and he’s just the man who underestimated her.Ellen has no use for a husband who abandoned her, especially not with a medical practice to keep her busy, but Mark's attention and support of her medical research sparks a new connection. Yet unresolved grief and a duty to produce an heir that neither feels capable of meeting endangers their fragile reunion.Ellen must decide if she's willing to open her heart to her husband—and the possibility of new life—and try again.
Driven by duty . . .British spy Nathaniel Blackmore has one objective: find and apprehend an Englishman suspected of treason in France in the tumultuous year after the Napoleonic Wars conclude.
Intrepid Scottish widow Isobel Graham, grieving the loss of her husband at Waterloo, is determined to find her missing younger sister. Her desperate search leads her to Paris on the fringes of Nathaniel’s investigation.Entangled by choice . . .Posing as lovers to infiltrate Paris’s most dissolute society, they plunge into ever-widening circles of vice, from an opulent gambling hall to a club catering to debauched desires. In a perilous world of shadows and lies, genuine attraction is a complication.Compelled by desire . . .Fueled by danger, their charade as lovers ignites into incendiary passion and something unexpectedly tender . . . except their relationship isn’t meant to last beyond the mission’s end.
He's a spy looking for at traitor and she's a widow trying to find her missing sister. To achieve both their goals they decide to pose as lovers while traipsing through Parisian society. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
In a London that insists women remain quiet, dutiful, and dull, two unlikely conspirators discover a secret that awakens everything society tells them to suppress…
Jenny Rosewood – single, clever and nearly thirty, heaven forbid – has long disguised herself as a man to attend nighttime lectures and chase knowledge forbidden to her. But when an accidental alteration of her uncle’s sleeping draught unleashes a dizzying rush of freedom, Jenny sees an opportunity.
Together with Gwen Walters, a pharmacist’s wife hidden in her husband’s shadow, they form a covert sisterhood where London’s ladies gather to indulge in their secret tincture under the guise of afternoon tea.
Soon, society's most proper ladies are sipping their way toward inspiration, rebellion and risk.
Because once women taste freedom, no amount of decorum can force it back in the bottle.
Hobbes has a background in romance and reviews seem to indicate this is what we'd call "romantic elements." Jenny is a 30-year-old spinster, and a lesbian, while Gwen is in an unhappy marriage that has slowly stripped away her own identity. When Jenny discovers an unexpected side-effect to her uncle's sleeping tonic, they decide to go into business and shake up society ladies. These two apparently meet matches, not with each other. Lots of grey in this back cover blurb, which intrigues me quite a bit.
She lost everything to war. But can she risk her heart again?Widowed and grieving, Eileen Bentley leaves bomb-scarred London for the rugged coast of Cornwall, determined to start over as housekeeper to her dear late husband's brother.But the war is never far behind. As air raids reach the docks of Falmouth and Eileen takes up fire-watching duty once more, the past refuses to loosen its hold - her husband's memory shadowing every step.Then she meets Captain Andrew Harvey, a man marked by loss, whose quiet strength begins to break through her sorrow. As danger closes in and old loyalties pull tight, Eileen must can she open her heart again, or will grief keep her bound to what she's lost?
More romantic elements, this strikes me as one of those historical sagas that are quite popular in the UK and Europe but don't always catch fire here in the States. A grieving widow who lost everything in the war, leaves a bomb-ravaged London to be her brother-in-law's housekeeper. Naturally she meets someone new, only to have danger and their pasts throwing up road blocks.
A dying stranger on her doorstep. A bloodstained letter with her initials. And the real scandal happening downstairs.London, 1821When a bloodstained stranger dies on Lady Mary Cavindish’s doorstep, the eccentric widow is thrust into a new mystery. In his hand is a crumpled letter bearing what appear to be her own initials—yet she has never met the man.Determined to discover why a dying manufacturer of tinned goods sought her out with his final breath, Lady Mary launches her own discreet investigation. Assisting her are her clever maid, Marie, and her loyal under-butler, Brett.As the unlikely trio delves into the victim’s tangled life, they uncover a nest of suspects: a bitter wife conducting her own affair, a grasping mistress, a vengeful business rival, and a hot-tempered brother bent on defending his sister’s honor. But the deeper they dig, the more dangerous the truth becomes.Meanwhile, Marie’s quick wit clashes with Brett’s quiet determination. Though she insists she has no interest in the steadfast under-butler, Brett has already decided Marie is the woman for him—and he refuses to be ignored while they hunt a killer together.
Wanted – Respectable gentleman to wed an American heiress. No rakehells.Myrtle Gray and her sisters have but one job. To aid in the expansion of their family’s assets, prestige, and influence by securing husbands with respectable titles. But Myrtle is not sure whether or not she can. With five years on the American marriage mart behind her, how can she be sure she’ll have more luck in London than she’s had in Texas?Despite receiving the queen’s blessing, she’s had no suitors come forth. Not for her, anyway, and as such, Myrtle has found herself on the verge of spinsterhood. Enter Viscount Fredericks. By all accounts, he’s not worthy of her interest. He is rakish, with rumors abounding that he’s more interested in bedding women than wedding anyone. Add to that his issue of dubious parentage, and he is out of the question. At least he should be…Samuel Fredericks is in a bind. Some cowards amongst his cousins have challenged his right to his inheritance. He must find someone to wed with haste. Miss Gray, his attractive new American neighbor, is intriguing, but she deserves better than him, a fact he knows from the moment he lays eyes on her.When a murder victim lands at their feet, will they find the killer before they become the primary suspects? Only time shall tell the tale… but working together to catch a killer forces them closer, and their passion for one another only burns brighter.
Liberty "Libba" Lennox was born to perform.An actress by trade, she can transform herself into anyone the stage demands. But when her brother's dangerously charming best friend drags her into his latest scheme, Libba finds herself cast in the most demanding role of her career: Princess Xandine of the Bedouai, a glittering foreign fiancée whose fortune is large enough to tempt and manipulate the powerful Templeton-Rath shipping dynasty.Jasper Townsend has been planning his big break since childhood.A Brighton shipyard boy with big dreams and no fortune, he's finally found his chance: the Templeton-Raths are coming to town, and their plain but practical heiress daughter needs a husband. Jasper knows he can’t compete with every hopeful swain in Brighton, but if he’s already "engaged" to someone glamorous enough to set aside for true love, he might have an incredible future on the horizon. It's the perfect scheme, isn’t it? He just needs his best mate’s little sister to help out. Just a little favor. Just a temporary, a brilliant diversion. Absolutely nothing could go wrong.But Libba has never played small.With every staged kiss, every invented accent, every dazzling performance, Libba reminds Jasper how incredible she is. And how impossible it would be to ever want someone else.Soon, the man who meant to discard her is improvising a future that doesn't work without her. And the actress who spent her whole life becoming other people must decide whether the greatest role she'll ever play is the one where she finally gets to be herself.
A woman made for the light. A man born to the shadows.When Lady Violet Sharpe flees her controlling brother and a fate she refused to accept, she reinvents herself in the lively Lanes of Brighton with a new name, a botanical shop full of flowers, and the desperate hope that her brother never finds her. She wants nothing more than to bloom quietly in her corner of the world, far away from the cruelties of powerful men. But when a dubious prize fight draws her into the wrong place at the wrong time, Violet finds herself face to face with one of the most dangerous men in Brighton.What’s a woman to do? Pretend she’s lost, of course! And pray she can keep her identity a secret. Her prayers, unfortunately, go unanswered, and instead she draws the attention of the very kind of man she wants to avoid at all costs.Drake Fury is not a man to be crossed. One of the feared Fury brothers and the undefeated Brute of Brighton’s underground fighting, he has built his reputation on brutal swiftness. His world is simple: Power is taken, never given. Weakness is punished. And threats are eliminated.But when his newest tenant turns up where she shouldn’t be, lies to his face, and somehow outmaneuvers him and escapes, Drake is left with a problem he cannot quite solve . . . or stay away from.Violet Sharpe.The brightest flame he’s ever met.As suspicion turns into a dangerous battle of wills, and Violet is thrust fully into Drake’s world, she must decide how much she is willing to risk to stay free, and this dark king must reckon with the one loss more dangerous than defeat: losing her.
Well hello there Wendy Catnip. An on-the-run heroine creates a new life in Brighton, only to be noticed by the one man she doesn't want to get noticed by - the dangerous prize fighter Drake Fury who, despite knowing she's hiding something, can't seem to stay away. This is the second book in the Bastards of Brighton series.
Miss Helen Cosgrove only wants a quiet life, instead she falls for the Duke of Roxboro…or does she?Helen has spent her life invisible. As a lady's companion to the spoiled daughter of a marquess, she exists in the margins of polite society—neither servant nor equal, wanted by no one and belonging nowhere. She asks for nothing more than to survive one final Season, collect her promised wages, and disappear into a quiet life of her own choosing.But when the notorious Duke of Roxboro appears in a darkened alcove at a ball, Helen's carefully ordered world begins to unravel.Fletcher Bean grew up in The Devil’s Acre; a place he’ll do anything to escape. Resembling a duke, even Roxboro, is profitable. Bracelets, necklaces, earbobs, stickpins…they all find their way into Fletcher’s pocket. No one ever questions him or rather, Roxboro, until he meets a sharp-tongued, perceptive lady’s companion and chaperone.The attraction between them is immediate, passionate and doomed from the start. Miss Cosgrove believes Fletcher to be only an unrepentant libertine. A sot. A debauched duke.But the truth is far worse.
The second book in the London Vices series, she's a lady's companion who just wants to collect her wages and retire to a quiet life of her own choosing. What she didn't plan on was catching the notice of the notorious Duke of Roxboro - or has she? Our hero is an imposter, who conveniently happens to resemble the Duke and uses that resemblance to his full advantage - that is until he meets our heroine, and a very inconvenient attraction ensues.
An American doctor, a British earl, and a love to last a lifetime.When a doctor determined to prove herself . . .Eight years ago, Dr. Abigail Chadwick, born in England and raised in America, eloped with the handsome, wealthy, and oh-so-roguish Earl of Lancaster. It was a marriage of convenience that was never supposed to be anything more . . . until a night of passion changed everything. When her resolve to obey her head instead of her heart is threatened, Abigail flees to the one place she knows Stephen will never think to look for her: London.Is hunted by a charming wolf in earl’s clothing . . .From the moment Stephen meets Abigail, he’s instantly intrigued. His bride of convenience is nothing like he expected and everything he desires. When she vanishes without a trace, he refuses to give up until he finds her. When he does, he offers her a daring ultimatum: Live with him at his country estate as his wife for three weeks, and her freedom is hers . . . if she still wants it.A marriage of convenience erupts into a passionate battle of wills!
The third book in the Ladies of Seduction series. She's an American doctor who runs away when her convenient marriage becomes emotionally inconvenient - so she heads back to London thinking her husband, our hero, won't think to look for her there. Turns out she's very, very wrong.
All’s fair in love and science…It is the summer of 1844, and seasoned microscopist Kalila Darwish has made a decision: travel to London, impersonate her cousin Dameer, and attempt to change the Society of Microscopic Biology from within. Clever and resourceful, Kalila is confident that she can convince her male peers to allow women into the Society over a series of lectures. All she needs to do is make sure she blends in—and for a woman with an extraordinary eye for detail, that shouldn’t be much of a challenge at all…Oliver Booth had expected to enjoy the Society’s summer lecture series, but not like this. The person introducing themselves as Dameer Rafiq is none other than the woman he ran into only days ago, and Oliver is desperate to know what her angle is. But his Lady Impostor is guarded and rightfully so. After all, he was the one who’d left teasing critiques on all those papers she had submitted to the Society over the years, making her see him as something of a rival…As Kalila’s affection for Oliver grows, she is forced to decide what to throw her heart into and to reckon with the fact that the world of science is riddled with far more hurdles than she was anticipating. With her research at risk, she and Oliver must work together—and Kalila must decide if her disguise is more of a help…or a hindrance.
She's a microscopist who decides to impersonate her cousin to convince a bunch of men that women have actual brains. The fly in the ointment? Our hero, who knows she's not a he, and it turns out he's the same bloke who has been leaving "teasing critiques" on all the papers she's submitted over the years. I'm going to guess that's not going to go over well when she learns the truth. This is the start of a new series for Kamal.
Two rivals from opposite worlds. One absurd treasure hunt. No time whatsoever for falling in love.Lady Cordelia Nichols has buried two dukes in six weeks and has not the time, or patience, for a third. But when her father’s estate and title pass to commoner Justin Wright—the adopted son of a former scullery maid, by way of the most baffling entailment in English legal history—Cordelia must decide how far she’ll go to protect Hollyhead House and the three eccentric sisters who depend on her.Justin has no interest in being a duke. He has a London life, an architectural firm, and a perfectly comfortable absence of aristocratic obligation. But settling the estate requires returning to the country house where he was never welcome. He finds a crumbling manor, four unmarried women, and a very beautiful eldest daughter who rides like a highwayman and argues like a barrister.Then the late duke’s will surfaces a secret: a hidden fortune, left only for the heir “worthy enough” to find it. Suddenly Cordelia and Justin are rivals in a madcap treasure hunt where ciphered Shakespeare, overturned garden statues, and increasingly poor decisions abound. With a gossip columnist circling and their reputations unraveling, the search for the duke’s treasure may ruin them both. And falling in love along the way is the one disaster neither of them anticipates.
A dangerous mission. A deadly secret. A desire that could ignite a war.Michel de Chevalerie has spent years navigating the brutal territories of the Mongol Empire, protecting the precious trade routes between France and the East. As heir to a powerful duke, he's a soldier, a diplomat-and a man who doesn't make mistakes. Until her.When a mysterious Mongolian woman stumbles into his path, injured and alone, Michel is drawn in by her sharp wit, fiery will, and beauty that makes his blood burn. He knows better than to get involved. But one reckless decision pulls him into a treacherous game of deception, desire, and political intrigue.Eve is fleeing everything she's ever known: a forced marriage, a bloodstained crown, and the enemies that hunt her like prey. Her only hope lies west-in the fabled lands of France. To get there, she'll use every weapon at her disposal, including the charming nobleman leading a merchant caravan through her homeland. But what begins as a calculated seduction becomes something far more dangerous.Michel might be her best chance at survival. He could also be the ruin of them both.As secrets unravel and armies close in, Michel and Eve must decide what's worth fighting for: duty, desire… or each other.
He's a French knight protecting trade routes in Mongolia who gets a lot more than he bargained for when he meets a mysterious Mongolian woman running away from a forced marriage and various enemies. Her only hope, as she sees it, is to get to France and she'll do anything, including charming the hero. This is the second book in a series, and absent of a sample at the time of this posting, I suspect it's set in the 17th century.
In a world of war and duty, hearts intertwine in unlikely love.In the shadows of post-war Spain, Thomas Markham, a spy, is sent on a covert mission, only to be captured and brutally tortured to the point of near death. Salvation comes in the form of an unexpected savior.Under threat of death, Elena Diaz, a skilled healer, is forced to keep the English captain alive. But something about him, his resilience and fighting spirit, reminds her of the brother she lost. When the chance to escape arises, she risks everything to take the broken Englishman with her.Drawn even closer together on their journey from the Spanish coast to the heart of England—in the face of danger, betrayal, and hidden truths—they long to share a life together, but can they find a place where they are truly safe?
She is the woman they whisper about.He is the man she was never meant to love.Eilidh Hart has spent years enduring a reputation she does not deserve. No matter how fiercely she plays her fiddle—or how honestly she lives—cruel rumors follow her from village to village. Music is her refuge. Her rebellion. The one place where she is truly free.Torquil MacGregor wants no part of clan rivalries or whispered judgments. A gifted lute player with a gentle soul, he believes music speaks truths no blade ever could. When he hears Eilidh play, he’s drawn to her instantly. He doesn’t see the scandal others see, but the woman beneath the lies they all ty to ignore.Their connection is immediate. Undeniable. Forbidden.With both families warning them apart and old tensions threatening to resurface, Eilidh and Torquil must decide whether a love born in song is worth the cost of defying clan, custom, and expectation.
A disgraced warrior. A spirited noblewoman. A second chance neither expected.Aaron McNally left Scotland behind the day he lost his honor.Banished in disgrace, he forges a new life in Norway—earning a title, a sword, and a place in the king’s army. Determined never to repeat the mistakes of his past, Aaron believes redemption must be earned.Then he meets Kara Dalgaard.Kara has never been the obedient daughter her father wants. Fierce-hearted and restless, she longs for more than the quiet life expected of her. But when Aaron arrives at her family estate recruiting soldiers for the king, she’s pressured into taking part in a cruel deception meant to shame him.She regrets it almost immediately.As attraction grows between them, Aaron begins to imagine a future he never thought possible. Yet old wounds and buried truths refuse to stay in the past.Aaron fought to reclaim his honor.Now he must decide whether risking his heart is worth losing it all again.
Third book in the Heart of a Viking series, he left Scotland with his tail between his legs and remade himself in Norway, hoping to not repeat past mistakes. Then he meets the heroine. Complications ensue.
Society darling Abigail Ross has everything: wealth, beauty, and a future carefully planned. That is, until the notorious Captain Thorne forces her into hiding in New Orleans with a reclusive widower who wants nothing to do with her. She’s told it’s the safest place for her, and she’s inclined to agree—no pirate would think to look for her in the middle of a swamp.
Since his wife died, Lucien Moreau has turned his back on the world. Whispers follow him wherever he goes, branding him a madman. A murderer. He’s long since stopped caring, so long as he’s left alone with his ghosts. But the bright, headstrong socialite he’s forced to protect begins to unravel his carefully guarded solitude.
When Thorne strikes again, Abigail finds herself in the middle of a dangerous pirate hunt. As secrets about her father’s involvement in a government plot are revealed, she faces a choice: stand with family and keep her gilded life or walk away and lose it all.
The race is on to find those guilty as the line between survival and surrender begins to blur. And the undeniable pull between Abigail and Lucien becomes harder to deny—until resisting each other feels far more dangerous than any pirate on the horizon.
It's Old School shenanigans in the third book in the Secrets of the Seas series. A society darling who lands in the crosshairs of a notorious pirate captain is sent into hiding in New Orleans. Her protector? A reclusive widower who wants absolutely nothing to do with her or the mess that she's brought to his doorstep.
In 1800s London, Isabella Eardley dreams of becoming England's first great female landscape artist. When she meets the charming painter Harrison Curzon, she sees a chance to pursue her artistic ambitions. But as the granddaughter of a duchess, Isabella faces mounting pressure to marry the Duke of Winkham and fulfill her family's expectations.
June Calvin weaves a captivating tale of romance and rebellion in this Regency-era story. Through secret art lessons, daring escapes, and passionate encounters, Isabella challenges the rigid constraints placed on women of her time. With her loyal friend Virginia by her side, she navigates the treacherous waters of London society while fighting for her right to create art.
Will Isabella choose the safe path of a prestigious marriage, or risk everything for love and artistic freedom? As her father's threats grow more menacing and her feelings for Harrison deepen, Isabella must find the courage to defy convention and forge her own destiny. Her choice will either shatter her dreams or lead to a life she never dared imagine.
A Traditional Regency first published by Signet in 1997. A heroine with aspirations to become a painter cannot find anyone to give her lessons, well other than the most notorious rake in all of London that is. Will she follow her dreams and her heart or give into familial pressure to do what is "expected." Thanks to the Wayback Machine, The Romance Reader gave this 4 Hearts back in the day (B grade) and a positively scandalous sensuality rating for a Trad....PG.
Whew! Like the introduction to this post, I normally finish these up with a couple of pithy sentences; but 22 titles! I think I need to lie down. Maybe with a cool cloth on my forehead while I do some book shopping on my phone...
