When a cavalry officer returns home at the end of the Civil War and discovers his fiance is dead, he finds comfort and true love in the arms of her loyal sister. Original.
Once a galley slave, now a Venetian merchant prince, Lorenzo Santorini is driven to seek revenge on his Corsair captor. He spares no time for softer emotions such as love. Yet when English beauty Kathryn Rowlands appeals for help in finding a friend lost to pirates, Lorenzo struggles to maintain his cold detachment. Kathryn awakens more than lustful thoughts. She stirs deep feelings that he has long forgotten. He must take drastic steps to protect her from his sworn enemy….
He gave Sarah her first kiss when she was 13. Now, Billy Cooper has taken up with a gang of outlaws. So 17-year-old Sarah Bass rides out to rescue the man she loves from a life of crime. But when innocent wiles lock them in a shotgun marriage, Sarah must come to terms with the vengeful passions that drive Billy--passions destined to unite them.
"I won't lose you now!" said Cam in a voice ragged with emotion. The moon moved across the sky from behind the sheltering trees, and suddenly the two of them were enveloped in moonlight. "I love you, and yet I know I have no right to speak to you of this. I'm not free. I’m engaged--" "Oh, Cam, don’t!" she begged. "It cannot be. It is too late. There is no way--" A tremor coursed through her -- a premonition of danger. This was madness, she knew. The two were as much star-crossed lovers as Romeo and Juliet, theirs as forbidden a love by all the same barriers of family, church, and honor. "There has to be a way. There must be. We'll find a way!" Cam declared as he drew her into his arms. "Cam, let me go. We must forget this ever happened." "How can we?" he asked in anguish. Ransomed Bride is a historical romance that brings to life a young couple's choice between duty and love.
After rescuing an archaeologist from danger, a dashing sheikh asks for her hand in marriage in this sexy romance by a USA Today–bestselling author. Kidnapped by rebels, Belle Winters discovers her rescuer is Rafiq al Akhtar, Sovereign Prince of the desert kingdom of Q’roum. Whisked away to his exotic palace, Rafiq expects her to show her gratitude—by marrying him! Rafiq demands Belle perform all her royal duties—both in public and in private. Soon she succumbs to the sultry heat of the desert and to Rafiq’s seduction. Belle is no longer an unwilling wife, now she is the sheikh’s very willing lover . . .
Travel to medieval Scotland in #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood’s beloved classic—a “rip-roaring romp, full of humor, romance, sword fights, and crisp dialogue...so much fun, it begs to be read in one sitting” (The Cedar Rapids Gazette). In the dark days after the death of Richard the Lionheart, lives and lands fell into upheaval at the hands of the power-hungry King John and his violent minions. One victim was innocent Gillian, who was just a child when the cruel and ambitious Baron Alford, determined to recover for the despotic king a jeweled box that slipped through his fingers, slaughtered her father and tore her family apart. A decade later, Gillian once again crosses paths with the nefarious baron, but instead of losing everything like she had as a child, she finds the key to resolving her past in two handsome Scottish chieftains. With the cunning and courage of the daring Scotsmen and the friendship of a new ally named Bridgid KirkConnell, Gillian at last has she what needs to reclaim her home, her family, and her father’s reputation. But in the presence of the mighty warriors, Gillian and Bridgid discover that desire can be a weapon of conquest, betrayal can slay trust in a heartbeat, and the greatest risk of all is to surrender to unexpected love.
The sensational second novel in Joan Johnston’s Western historical romance series set in the world of Bitter Creek. CAN SECRETS AND SECOND CHOICES EVER LEAD TO LOVE? After three months in a mail-order marriage, Hannah Wentworth McMurtry is a widow—pregnant, alone, and near death in the Wyoming wilderness. Though she is saved by a man with a face cut from stone, she still grieves the husband who died on their journey west. Hannah needs a husband, but does she dare marry another stranger? Flint Creed has also lost someone he loved—when the woman he hoped to marry chose his younger brother instead. Now he must find a ranch wife of his own. But every female in the remote Wyoming Territory is too old, too young, or already married . . . until he discovers Hannah on the prairie. Flint doesn’t pretend to love her, but he doesn’t tell her he loves another woman, either. Hannah doesn’t pretend to love him, but she doesn’t tell him about the child she carries. Though danger surrounds them on the Wyoming frontier, the greatest threats of all are the secrets within—revelations that could destroy the new life Hannah and Flint have begun to cherish. The passionate Westerns in Joan Johnston’s Bitter Creek series can be enjoyed together or separately, in any order: TEXAS BRIDE • WYOMING BRIDE • MONTANA BRIDE • SINFUL • SHAMELESS • BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE • SULLIVAN’S PROMISE
The last thing Ransom Kent wants is a bride. A woman cost him his peerage and his family in England. Now a rebel with a dangerous job to do for his adopted country, Ransom Kent's word is all he has left to honor his father and so he agrees to an arranged marriage to the scandalous daughter of a duke. Catherine Thorpe has no expectations of marriage in England and owes much to her cousin. She agrees to take her place as the expected bride and sails to a new life. She doesn't believe her impersonation will lead to romance and true love, but she didn't expect to become the Rebel's Bride.
This book presents a comprehensive overview of global courtship and marriage customs, from ancient history to contemporary society, demonstrating the vast differences as well as the similarities across all of human culture. This second edition of Marriage Customs of the World examines historical context, social significance, and current trends and controversies of matrimony in the Western world as well as other cultures. Apart from detailing the ceremonies from specific countries, the book identifies specific elements of the wedding event and discusses them in a comparative manner, showcasing the similarities across cultures. The new content in this work includes additional information on courtship and how future spouses are found in other cultures; marriage in art, cinema, theater, and poetry; wedding bands; forced marriages and shotgun weddings; New Year's weddings; legislation regarding marriage; and engagement practices. Entries carried over from the first edition have been revised and updated as well. With its broad scope and consideration of contemporary issues alongside historical information, this work will be ideal for high school and undergraduate students; scholars of anthropology, social studies, and history; and general readers.