You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO comes from Brenna, who is looking for this older historical:
It’s a historical Romance book from the late 80s or very early 90s.
The main character was a street kid in London. She was proud of being a virgin, while many of the other street girls were not. She somehow became indebted to a man who seemed really gruff and mean, but of course had a heart of gold. She moved in with him as a servant to pay him back and they fell in love.
I’m already wondering whether this has aged well.
Once More, Miranda
by
Jennifer Wilde
Add To: Goodreads to-read list →
This book is available from:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying
purchases.
We also may use affiliate
links in our posts, as well. Thanks!
It sounds a bit like Shirlee Busbee’s Whisper to Me of Love. The pickpocket girl turns out to actually be a proper lady so she can marry her rich benefactor.
Might be a Jane Feather title.
Sounds like Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C Wrede. There was a second book called Magician’s Ward where they actually get together. These books were staples of my middle school/high school years.
Could it be The Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer
After looking it up, I don’t think it’s The Devil’s Cub. But I swear this sounds so familiar.
The Heyer with the street kid was These Old Shades. The heroine of that one is the mother of the hero of The Devil’s Cub. It may be the answer to the HABO since it fits the description.
Not Devil’s Cub, could almost be These Old Shades, though. But I’m remembering a Lisa Kleypas and a Miranda Neville along these lines, though the titles escape me at the moment. It was a fairly common trope at one time.
Yeah, I remember a Nicole Jordan with a pretty similar set up too. There were a lot of these at one time.
There’s definitely nothing in THESE OLD SHADES about virginity. Heyer published that in 1926. But I can’t think of any Heyer the explicitly mentions virginity. The HABO definitely sounds like an 80s/early 90s book. I learned some really odd things about female virginity from books published in that era.
The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer – I liked that one. Here is a link:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/heroine-disguised-as-a-man
Or could it be A Loving Scoundrel from Johanna Lindsey’s Malory series?
Samantha James, A Perfect Bride, might be the one you’re looking for.
Some of this sounds like Lorraine Heath, she has a couple of series with heroes and heroines who were London street urchins, The Scoundrels of St. James and Sins for All Seasons. The books with heroines who were street kids are “The Earl Takes a Fancy”, “When a Duke Loves a Woman” and “Surrender to the Devil”. However I don’t remember which, if any of the heroines were virgins, or any of them becoming a servant in the hero’s household.
Johanna Lindsay – one of the regency series
A Loving Scoundrel by Johanna Lindsey? Although it’s 2005…
Loving Julia by Karen Robards had some of these features, too.
Sounds a lot like Once More Miranda by Jennifer Wilde (Tom Huff).
Truly old skool romance.
Loving Julia by Karen Robards?https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629630.Loving_Julia
Thank you for all the suggestions – Once More Miranda by Jennifer Wilde is it!