This HaBO is from Becky, who wants to find this historical romance:
It’s a Beauty and the Beast/Cinderella type regency romance. (Hopefully I’m not mixing up 2 titles!)
The heroine shows up to the hero’s house pretty much destitute in a snowstorm or rainstorm and he has a pretty nasty attitude. He won’t put her back into the weather, at least but he is every bit a beast. She might have had a carriage or horse accident? Maybe she was being sent to become a poor spinster somewhere?
He was injured or had trauma from something in another country (maybe India) and had some quirks that others found offensive but our heroine wasn’t bothered by too much. He might have been an alcoholic, a soldier with PTSD, or an accident victim? I don’t think he had anyone else at the estate, or maybe just one devoted (but ticked off) valet.
Anyway, she tends to him and his dark side lightens as she respectfully is there for him. I think he couldn’t sleep or slept on something “weird” from the other country. She helps him rest and relax his nerves, so his true goodness starts to come out.
By the end, they obviously hook up and there was a lot of tenderness as he healed — and she came into her own personhood. Obviously, they did the whole married thing, which shocked a lot of people, but they both ended up better off together.
HaBO friends, thank you. I’ve found a lot of Beauty and the Beasts, but none that I’ve looked up seems to be quite right.
I know there are a lot that could fit, so let’s get cracking!
I think this is a book (or two!) from Elizabeth Hoyt’s Four Soldiers series. The first part sounds like To Beguile a Beast (she shows up unannounced and desperate on his doorstep, he’s super grumpy and has a scarred face from a war injury). The second part sounds like To Seduce a Sinner (he has PTSD, sleeps on the floor, though in that book they get married early on, also he has an understanding but surly valet). This series is pre-Regency though – all the heroes were injured in the war with the colonies. I’m currently listening to this series in audiobook!
Also possibly The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare, though I’m not sure there are enough elements that fit. She does show up at his door and he’s scarred. But it’s been a while since I read it.
Seven Nights in a Rogue’s Bed by Anna Campbell also starts with showing up at an imposing manor on a dark and stormy night, and the hero in that book is scarred and the classic dark and damaged recluse. This is also my least favorite of the books I mention in this comment.
Also rec league of BATB retellings would be really fun!
This sounds a bit like Tessa Dare’s Romancing the Duke.
*takes notes from @squee_me*
Following…
This sounds like When She Said I Do by Celeste Bradley. There’s a carriage accident in a rain storm and her whole family get stranded at his derelict house. She wanders around and stumbles upon him being a total hermit, as he was disfigured from war. There’s a forced marriage, some dom/sub vibes, and they thaw each other’s hearts in the HEA.
It sounds very much like To Beguile a Beast, but Grace Burrowes also has a book, When a Duchess Says I Do”, where the heroine is more or less destitute and wanders onto the hero’s estate, and he takes her in.
I was also thinking Seven Nights in a Rogue’s Bed.
Here’s a fun list in GoodReads:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/83756.Romance_and_Erotica_retellings_of_Beauty_The_Beast
Tracy Anne Warren’s Tempted by His Kiss also has a heroine taking refuge with a grumpy hero during a snowstorm.
Thank you SO much, biiitttches (or as we say around the kids, “heifer,” as in, “Don’t start with me, heifer!”) Pretty sure these kids will be scarred for life, but at least we’ll laugh our way through. Super fun to have community like y’all. Thank you to the site creators and all of you wonderful heifers out there!
I think the real question is, why don’t we all pursue dating like this? Seems to be a great track record of success.
But which is more effective: stumbling up to a house in a rainstorm or being forced to marry in order to inherit a large property? Why aren’t these formats for reality dating, I wonder?
I will second a request for a BATB Rec League! Also following.
Could this be Captive of Sin by Anna Campbell? Some of the details are different. Heroine has been beaten by her evil step brothers trying to force her into marriage. She is England’s wealthiest heiress but her brothers still control her money until she turns 21 in another month or two. She has runaway and is hiding in a stable outside an inn. The Hero and his Indian valet find her and take her with them while heading to his estate up north. The Indian valet treats her wounds. The Hero is a recently returned POW from the Indian wars. He had been held and tortured. His hands are horribly disfigured from the torture. He wears gloves to hide the injuries. He has PTSD from his captivity. I’m pretty sure he sleeps on a pallet in his closet. Only the valet knows. He ends up traveling to Guernsey with the heroine to get secretly married to escape the clutches of her brothers who have tracked her to his estate up north.
I recently re-read this so the details are somewhat fresh.
@Susan, whoa, that sounds pretty intense!