Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt is $1.99 right now. This is historical romance and the first book in her Maiden Lane series. This book has been mentioned fairly frequently by readers as a terrific start to a series. It's a mix of dark suspense and historical romance, and readers who liked it loved the characters. Other readers felt the suspense was ill-fitting and wanted more romance. Have you read this one?
A man controlled by his desires…
Infamous for his wild, sensual needs, Lazarus Huntington, Lord Caire, is searching for a savage killer in St. Giles, London's most notorious slum. Widowed Temperance Dews knows St. Giles like the back of her hand— she's spent a lifetime caring for its inhabitants at the foundling home her family established. Now that home is at risk.
A woman haunted by her past…
Caire makes a simple offer—in return for Temperance's help navigating the perilous alleys of St. Giles, he will introduce her to London's high society so that she can find a benefactor for the home. But Temperance may not be the innocent she seems, and what begins as cold calculation soon falls prey to a passion that neither can control—one that may well destroy them both.
A bargain neither could refuse.
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The Rogue's Proposal by Jennifer Haymore is $1.99 right now. This is also historical (you knew that, I am guessing. Sorry) with a prominent BDSM theme. Some readers adored it – it has a 4+ star average – for the erotic content, the emotional tension, and the characters. The story for this book is set up in the prior novel, The Duchess Hunt, but this can be read, judging from the reviews, as a stand alone.
Lord Lukas Hawkins, the rakish second son of the House of Trent, has never found a wager he couldn't win or a woman he couldn't seduce—until his search for his missing mother leads him to a mysterious encounter with a beautiful stranger.
Luke's mother has been missing for months, and while his honorable older brother Simon, Duke of Trent, leads the official investigation from London, Luke sets out on a somewhat seedier path. Sources have told him his mother was last seen with a scoundrel named Roger Morton, but their association isn't clear. Was she kidnapped or did she go willingly?
While searching for Morton, Luke meets Emma Anderson, a secretive beauty with her own reasons for hunting Morton. At first Luke laughs at the idea of allowing a woman to join him in his search, but soon Emma's insights into Morton—like the woman herself—prove impossible to resist.
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Once a Rake by Eileen Dreyer is $1.99. This is book four of the “Drakes Rakes” series and has a 3.8 star average on GoodReads.
The conflict is tricky, too: Lady Sarah is trying to keep her husband's nearly bankrupt estate going while caring for his obnoxious mother and sister. Most everyone believes her husband, who went off to war, was killed as no one has heard from him in awhile. When a dude (Ian, better known as The Hero of this Novel) turns up on the estate grounds badly wounded (and accused of trying to kill Wellington, oops) Sarah cares for him, and emotional angst ensues. They're attracted to each other, but can't be together, especially if Sarah does believe that her missing husband is still alive. So historical + forbidden attraction + wounded hero + caretaker heroine – anyone's Catnip Alarm going off?
All he wants is her help . . .
Colonel Ian Ferguson may be a rake, but he's no traitor. Accused of trying to kill the Duke of Wellington, the disgraced Scotsman is now a fugitive–from the law, the army, and the cunning assassin who hunts him. Wounded and miles from his allies, Ian finds himself at the mercy of an impoverished country wife. The spirited woman is achingly beautiful . . . and hiding some dangerous secrets of her own.
All she needs is his heart . . .
She was a child nobody wanted. Now for Lady Sarah Clarke, holding on to her vanished husband's crumbling estate is her final chance to earn respectability. She knows that hiding the devastatingly handsome Ferguson will jeopardize her home. Common sense demands that she turn him in. But a single, delirious kiss shatters her resolve . . . and awakens a passion that neither of them can escape.
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Medieval Rogues by Catherine Kean is a boxed set of two novels and a novella. This boxed set has a 3.8-star review average. The reviews for the individual novels, A Knight's Vengeance and My Lady's Treasure, indicate that the stories are predictable – noble chivalry, damsels in distress, fights over land and general medieval badassery – but are, for many readers, very enjoyable reads.
The Medieval Rogues boxed set contains two full-length novels and one novella by bestselling, award-winning romance author Catherine Kean.
A KNIGHT’S VENGEANCE (Knight’s Series Book 1)
When Lady Elizabeth Brackendale is kidnapped and held for ransom by rogue knight Geoffrey de Lanceau, she vows to escape and thwart his plans to exact vengeance upon her father. Yet the more she learns about Geoffrey, the tormented warrior haunted by father’s killing years ago, the more she yearns for him. Only by Elizabeth and Geoffrey championing their forbidden love can they uncover the deadly secrets that could save or destroy all.
MY LADY’S TREASURE
To save a kidnapped little girl she loves as her own, Lady Faye Rivellaux joins forces with Brant Meslarches, a former crusading knight. Together, they seek a lost treasure that might have belonged to the legendary Celtic King Arthur—a hoard Brant’s murdered brother sought before he died. Faye is uneasy about her alliance with Brant, who harbors dark secrets, but she has no other way to find the child. As passion flares between Faye and Brant, they find terrible danger—as well as a treasure worth more than gold.
BOUND BY HIS KISS
On her way to visit Lord Bramwell Hawksley days before they will marry, Lady Miranda de Vornay is taken captive by forest outlaws. Held hostage by their leader, she fights her shocking desire for the bold, handsome rogue she should despise, especially when he claims he is Bram, and that her betrothed is his corrupt half brother. Uncertain what to believe, Miranda must find out the truth. She will love only one lord: the man to whom she’s bound by his long-ago kiss.(
I like the Maiden Lane series. Hoyt’s really good at sucking you into the universe and leaving you panting for the next book because you’re dying to know what happens with he next couple. Relatively few balls and house parties, too, which is pretty unusual.
I did have a few eye roll moments. If I’m remembering correctly, one of the heros has a reputation for being super dark and kinky—which turns out to mean (rather disappointingly, I thought) that he’s into very light bondage.
All in all—it’s one of the very few series where I paid full price to download a sequel on release day because I Could Not Wait.
the last set doesn’t list a price, and the amazon link rickrolls to a toyota site
I just tried the last set. It came up as 99 cents at 6pm Pacific.
Once A Rake is 99p on Amazon in the UK 🙂
I just discovered Hoyt a few months ago and am really enjoying her books!
@Jenny:
Hell yeah! Awesome!! And thanks for the alert. I can’t always see UK prices unless someone gives me the heads up. Enjoy!