Some Like It Hot: Historical
A guide to steamy romance and erotica at the Valley Cottage Library.
Catharine Ashe
- The Prince byLibby Shaw is determined to become a member of Edinburgh's all-male Royal College of Surgeons. Disguising herself as a man, she attends the surgical theater and fools everyone--except the one man who has never forgotten the shape of her exquisitely sensual lips. ...will make a prince say yes to her every desire Forced to leave his home as a boy, famed portraitist Ziyaeddin is secretly the exiled prince of a distant realm. When he first met Libby, he memorized every detail of her face and drew her. But her perfect lips gave him trouble--the same lips he now longs to kiss. When Libby asks his help to hide her feminine identity from the world, Ziyaeddin agrees on one condition: she must sit for him to paint--as a woman. But what begins as a daring scheme could send them both hurtling toward danger...and an unparalleled love. Best Romances of the Month, Amazon Editors' Choice
- The Rogue byLady Constance Read is independent, beautiful, and in need of a husband--now. The last man on earth she wants is the rogue who broke her heart six years ago, never mind that his kisses are scorching hot . . . Evan Saint-André Sterling is rich, scarred, and finished with women--forever. He's not about to lose his head over the bewitching beauty who once turned his life upside down. But Constance needs a warrior, and Saint is the perfect man for the job.
Tessa Dare
- The Governess Game byAfter her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don't need discipline. They need a loving home. Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud: duke's heir in the streets and devil in the sheets. The ladies of London have tried--and failed--to make him settle down. Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart . . . without risking her own. Like any self-respecting libertine, Chase lives by one rule: no attachments. When a stubborn little governess tries to reform him, he decides to give her an education--in pleasure. That should prove he can't be tamed. But Alexandra is more than he bargained for: clever, perceptive, passionate. She refuses to see him as a lost cause. Soon the walls around Chase's heart are crumbling . . . and he's in danger of falling, hard.
Eloise James
- Say Yes to the Duke byMiss Viola Astley is so painfully shy that she's horrified by the mere idea of dancing with a stranger; her upcoming London debut feels like a nightmare. So she's overjoyed to meet handsome, quiet vicar with no interest in polite society -- but just when she catches his attention, her reputation is compromised by a duke. Devin Lucas Augustus Elstan, Duke of Wynter, will stop at nothing to marry Viola, including marrying a woman whom he believes to be in love with another man. A vicar, no less. Devin knows he's no saint, but he's used to conquest, and he's determined to win Viola's heart. Viola has already said Yes to his proposal, but now he wants her unruly heart...and he won't accept No for an answer.
- Wilde in Love byOne of Cosmopolitan's Best Books of 2017! Lord Alaric Wilde, son of the Duke of Lindow, is the most celebrated man in England, revered for his dangerous adventures and rakish good looks. Arriving home from years abroad, he has no idea of his own celebrity until his boat is met by mobs of screaming ladies. Alaric escapes to his father's castle, but just as he grasps that he's not only famous but notorious, he encounters the very private, very witty, Miss Willa Ffynche. Willa presents the façade of a serene young lady to the world Her love of books and bawdy jokes is purely for the delight of her intimate friends. She wants nothing to do with a man whose private life is splashed over every newspaper. Alaric has never met a woman he wanted for his own . . . until he meets Willa.
Beverly Jenkins
- Rebel byValinda Lacy's mission in the steamy heart of New Orleans is to help the newly emancipated community survive and flourish. But soon she discovers that here, freedom can also mean danger. When thugs destroy the school she has set up and then target her, Valinda runs for her life--and straight into the arms of Captain Drake LeVeq. As an architect from an old New Orleans family, Drake has a deeply personal interest in rebuilding the city. Raised by strong women, he recognizes Valinda's determination. And he can't stop admiring--or wanting--her.
- Forbidden byRhine Fontaine is building the successful life he's always dreamed of--one that depends upon him passing for White. But for the first time in years, he wishes he could step out from behind the façade. The reason: Eddy Carmichael, the young woman he rescued in the desert. Outspoken, defiant, and beautiful, Eddy tempts Rhine in ways that could cost him everything.
Julie Ann Long
- Lady Derring Takes a Lover byA mistress. A mountain of debt. A mysterious wreck of a building. Delilah Swanpoole, Countess of Derring, learns the hard way that her husband, "Dear Dull Derring," is a lot more interesting--and perfidious--dead than alive. It's a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the one building Derring left her, are the seeds of her liberation. And she vows never again to place herself at the mercy of a man. But battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing if not merciless. When the charismatic naval hero tracks a notorious smuggler to a London boarding house known as the Rogue's Palace, seducing the beautiful, blue-blooded proprietress to get his man seems like a small sacrifice. They both believe love is a myth. But a desire beyond reason threatens to destroy the armor around their hearts.
- Beauty and the Spy byVery few people know that Viscount Kit Whitelaw is the best spy in His Majesty's secret service. But his high-flying life has finally banished him from London. Not to worry; if Susannah's erotic sketches are any indication of her nature, she'll be a delicious stand-in for the thrill of espionage.
Sarah MacLean
- Wicked and the Wallflower byWhen Wicked Comes Calling . . . When a mysterious stranger finds his way into her bedchamber and offers his help in landing a duke, Lady Felicity Faircloth agrees--on one condition. She's seen enough of the world to believe in passion, and won't accept a marriage without it. The Wallflower Makes a Dangerous Bargain . . . Bastard son of a duke and king of London's dark streets, Devil has spent a lifetime wielding power and seizing opportunity, and the spinster wallflower is everything he needs to exact a revenge years in the making. All he must do is turn the plain little mouse into an irresistible temptress, set his trap, and destroy his enemy. For the Promise of Passion . . . But there's nothing plain about Felicity Faircloth, who quickly decides she'd rather have Devil than another. Soon, Devil's carefully laid plans are in chaos and he must choose between everything he's ever wanted . . . and the only thing he's ever desired.
- The Day of the Duchess byThe one woman he will never forget... Malcolm Bevingstoke, Duke of Haven, has lived the last three years in self-imposed solitude, paying the price for a mistake he can never reverse and a love he lost forever. The dukedom does not wait, however, and Haven requires an heir, which means he must find himself a wife by summer's end. There is only one problem--he already has one. The one man she will never forgive... After years in exile, Seraphina, Duchess of Haven, returns to London with a single goal--to reclaim the life she left and find happiness, unencumbered by the man who broke her heart. Haven offers her a deal; Sera can have her freedom, just as soon as she finds her replacement...which requires her to spend the summer in close quarters with the husband she does not want, but somehow cannot resist. A love that neither can deny... The duke has a single summer to woo his wife and convince her that, despite their broken past, he can give her forever, making every day THE DAY OF THE DUCHESS
Carolyn Miller
- The Elusive Miss Ellison byForeword INDIES Book of the Year Award Winner. Even though all the other villagers of St. Hampton Heath are swooning over the newly returned seventh Earl of Hawkesbury, Lavinia is not impressed. If a man won't take his responsibilities seriously and help those who are supposed to be able to depend on him, he deserves no respect from her. In Lavinia's pretty, gray eyes, Nicholas Stamford is just as arrogant and reckless as his brother--who stole the most important person in Livvie's world. Nicholas is weighed down by his own guilt and responsibility, by the pain his careless brother caused, and by the legacy of war he's just left. This quick visit home to St. Hampton Heath will be just long enough to ease a small part of that burden. Asking him to bother with the lives of the villagers when there's already a bailiff on the job is simply too much to expect. That is, until the hoydenish, intelligent, and very opinionated Miss Ellison challenges him to see past his pain and pride.
Lynsay Sands
- Hunting for a Highlander byFour Buchanan brothers have found their brides...only three more to go in this scintillating romance from New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands... Lady Dwyn Innes feels utterly out of place among the eligible women who've descended on Buchanan Keep, vying for the attention of the last unmarried brothers. She isn't long-legged and slender like her sisters, or flirtatious and wily like other lasses. Since her betrothed died, Dwyn has resigned herself to becoming an old maid. Yet a chance encounter with a stranger in the orchard awakens her to a new world of sensation and possibility... After weeks away, Geordie Buchanan returns to find his home swarming with potential brides, thanks to his loving but interfering family. But one lass in particular draws his attention from the moment he spies her climbing a tree. Lady Dwyn is not nearly as plain as she thinks. Her lush figure and eager kisses delight him, as does her honesty. But the real test lies ahead: eliminating a hidden enemy, so that he and Dwyn can seal their Highland passion with a vow.
- Surrender to the Highlander byWaking after an illness to a castle overrun by rugged Highlanders is disconcerting, but so is learning that she's slowly being poisoned. Niels insists on staying by her side, and Edith soon discovers that even more dangerous is her wild attraction to the fierce warrior. Niels has never met a more courageous--or enticing--woman than Lady Edith. The idea of such a bonny lass being forced to enter a nunnery is more than any red-blooded Scotsman could bear. He'll gladly marry her himself. But while sweeping her off her feet is easy, it'll take all his skill to defeat her family's relentless enemies, and convince her to surrender to his sweet embrace. . . .
Olivia Waite
- The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics byCatherine St Day looks forward to a quiet widowhood once her late husband's scientific legacy is fulfilled. She expected to hand off the translation and wash her hands of the project--instead, she is intrigued by the young woman who turns up at her door, begging to be allowed to do the work, and she agrees to let Lucy stay. But as Catherine finds herself longing for Lucy, everything she believes about herself and her life is tested. While Lucy spends her days interpreting the complicated French text, she spends her nights falling in love with the alluring Catherine. But sabotage and old wounds threaten to sever the threads that bind them.