Books like 'True Pretenses'
Readers who enjoyed True Pretenses by Rose Lerner also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical romance small town historical-fiction industrial-era regency politics marriage-of-convenience class-difference fake-relationship
-
Come High Water by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBridget O'Shea had sworn she'd never fall in love again. She had a hotel, The Black Swan, to operate alone, since her sisters - Catherine and Alice - had both married the previous year. And then there was Ella, her lovely baby daughter. The hotel and Ella took up all her time and energy... -
Hidden Truths by Jae
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLesbian Fiction: Historical Fiction - Sequel to Backwards to Oregon - Commuter Novel - 19 hours reading - "Luke" Hamilton has been living as a husband and father for the past seventeen years. No one but her wife, Nora, knows she is not the man she appears to be. They have raised their daughters to become honest and hard-working young women...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction industrial-era lgbtq action-adventure adult animals audiobook -
Choices by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDouglass Esmeralda Sullivan has just discovered that all men are gutter rats, all except for her six half-Irish, half-Mexican brothers, and sometimes she's not so sure about them. She's sitting in the middle of a dusty road on a hot Texas day, fuming because she's made a horrible mistake concerning Raymond Pierce, a despicable Yankee, one who has led her down the daisy path to destruction...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction industrial-era action-adventure adult book fiction historical -
Lily of the Valley by Sarah M. Eden
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCumberland, 1786Amateur inventor Kester Barrington prefers the peace and quiet of his estate to the bustle of Society. But when his tight-knit group of friends, the Gents, descends on Livingsley Hall for their annual gathering, he stoically joins in their activities. It all seems exhausting—until an unexpected addition to the party catches his eye: his new neighbor, the lovely Violet... -
-
True Heart's Desire by Caroline Fyffe
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsUSA Today bestselling author Caroline Fyffe invites you back to Eden, Colorado, where five sisters have inherited the town—and are winning over men's hearts one by one.Since their father's death summoned Lavinia Brinkman and her four sisters to Eden, Colorado, Lavinia has been content with her new life. Well, almost... -
The Earl's Iron Warrant by Kate Archer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn Icy Lady and an Implacable Lord... Charles Battersea, Earl of Dalton and heir to the Duke of Glastonburg, is the last holdout among the six young heirs who have been pressured to marry by way of the Dukes’ Pact. This surprises precisely nobody, especially not himself. He has unaccountably lost his friend, Grayson, to Miss Dell, but if he is forced to tow the bachelorhood line alone, so be it...Categorized as:
historical-fiction industrial-era regency action-adventure adult book colonization fiction -
Miss Determined by Grace Burrowes
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTrevor, Marquess of Tavistock, has finally decided to stop larking around on the Continent, come home, and take a bride. His solicitors applaud his decision to settle down, provided he chooses a wealthy young lady to be his marchioness. Those years Trevor spent seeing the world were bad years for the lordly coffers...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family industrial-era regency romance historical fiction friendship -
Absolution by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Irish are hardheaded so Elspeth Hamilton doesn't like them. The Mexicans are hotheaded so likewise, she doesn't think much of them either. Since Rebels burned her family home, killing both her parents in the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania fire, it stands to reason she surely doesn't waste affection on Rebels. Colum Sullivan is all three: Irish, Mexican and Rebel...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era adult american-civil-war book civil-war -
Evening Star by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAddison Carter was hired by Magnolia Oil to work as their company doctor in Healdton, Oklahoma. In 1917, oil companies didn't hire women to work for them, so that alone was quite a miracle... -
Before the Larkspur Blooms by Caroline Fyffe
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCaroline Fyffe returns to the windswept prairies of Wyoming with a beautiful story of rekindled love… Thomas Donovan spent eight long years in prison, convicted of a crime he didn't commit. Finally released, he returns home to Logan Meadows, Wyoming, to discover his parents long buried and his neighbors wanting nothing to do with him... -
Drawing Mr. Darcy: Sketching His Character by Melanie Rachel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen Thomas Bennet's childless aunt and uncle ask that one of his five daughters come to stay with them, he knows just which girl to send. Bright, energetic, and endlessly inquisitive, his little Lizzy is poised to become the apple of her father’s eye and the target of her mother’s fears. Neither will promote family harmony... -
The Stable Master's Bride by Christine Sterling
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratings★★★ The second book in a brand new series from the author that brought you THE CHAPMANS and the best-selling THE BLIZZARD BRIDES series. ★★★A woman needing a home; a man needing a mother for his children and a marriage of convenience that is nothing like they imagined.Hannah Woods has lost everything... -
Three Sins and a Scoundrel by Tracy Sumner
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMeet the newest member of the Leighton Cluster! The final novel in the popular Duchess Society series by USA Today bestselling author Tracy Sumner!Beneath his disguise lies a secret life…and a secret love.Jasper Noble is the most feared man in London, a ruthless scoundrel with a reputation as dark as the rookery alleys he prowls...Categorized as:
historical-fiction steamy industrial-era regency romance historical fated-mates friends-to-lovers -
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsBridgerton meets Poldark in this sweeping LGBTQIA+ Regency romance from award-winning author KJ CharlesAbandoned by his father as a small child, Sir Gareth Inglis has grown up prickly, cold, and well-used to disappointment. Even so, he longs for a connection, falling headfirst into a passionate anonymous affair that's over almost as quickly as it began...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction industrial-era lgbtq regency action-adventure adult audiobook -
-
Bloom Town: Genesis by Ally North
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJune, 1852.A preacher’s daughter with a secret. An outlaw running from the gallows. A love story spanning oceans and deserts and years. When Abby Proctor is kidnapped from a train in the middle of the desert halfway to her new life in California, she makes a promise to herself—she will escape... -
Pushin' Up Daisies by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCatherine O'Shea is the oldest and most responsible of the three O'Shea sisters. She has just buried her mother, one of the last victims of the flu epidemic of 1918. Her father had been one of the first to succumb to the flu and her fiance was killed in the war. And now there is a detective living at her hotel, the Black Swan, looking into the disappearance of her abusive brother-in-law... -
Spring House by Mary Ellen Taylor
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe lives of two women, generations apart, converge in this enthralling novel of love, mystery, memories, and secrets. Pregnant and still grieving the death of her fiancé, historian Megan Buchanan is forging ahead on a dream project: to restore to its original glory the landmark hunting lodge her own great-great-grandfather built on Virginia’s Eastern Shore... -
The Making of a Highlander by Elisa Braden
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn Elisa Braden's enchanting new Midnight in Scotland series, the unlikeliest matches generate the greatest heat. All it takes is a spark of Highland magic."Make me a lady, and I'll make ye a Highlander." –Mad Annie Tulloch, Scottish lass"Challenge accepted...Categorized as:
class-difference family female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era regency action-adventure adult -
Redemption's Edge: Book 1, Redemption Mountain Historical Western Romance by Shirleen Davies
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“A heartwarming, passionate story of loss, forgiveness, and redemption set in the untamed frontier during the tumultuous years following the Civil War. Ms. Davies’ engaging and complex characters draw you in from the start, creating an exciting introduction to this new historical western romance series...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era 19th-century action-adventure adult book fiction -
Tempest by Beverly Jenkins
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsFrom USA Today Bestselling Author Beverly Jenkins comes a new novel in a mesmerizing series set in the Old West, where an arranged marriage becomes a grand passion . . . What kind of mail-order bride greets her intended with a bullet instead of a kiss? One like Regan Carmichael—an independent spirit equally at home in denims and dresses. Shooting Dr...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era marriage-of-convenience steamy adult alpha-mc -
Secondhand Bride by Linda Lael Miller
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTo win his father's ranch, a hard-living cowboy settles down and takes a wife--another man's wife! The youngest McKettrick brother, Jeb, is the wild one who never could stay out of trouble. And trouble is what he gets when he proposes to Chloe Wakefield... -
The Last Chance Cowboy by Jody Hedlund
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAs a midwife, Catherine Remington is successful in bringing new life into the world, but she's failed one too many times in finding true love. When she's accused of a murder she didn't commit, she's forced to flee and decides to run away to Colorado to honor a patient's dying wish to deliver a newborn infant to his father.The repentant prodigal Dylan McQuaid is finally back in Fairplay... -
The Duke's Refuge by Lorri Dudley
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen love comes in a tempest, who knew it would wear pink? Georgia Lennox has traded in her boyish ways for pink gowns and a coy smile to capture the eye of the Earl of Claremont. However, on the day she's convinced the earl will propose, Georgia is shipped off to the Leeward Islands to care for her ailing father... -
Her Country Gentleman by Sian Ann Bessey, Sarah M. Eden
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLondon is not the only place to find love . . .WITHIN SIGHT OF THE SEA by Sian Ann BesseyWhen Charlotte's grandmother invites her to accompany her to Norfolk, Charlotte jumps at the chance to visit the sea and escape the fuss surrounding her sister's wedding preparations in London...Categorized as:
historical-fiction industrial-era regency adult anthologies audiobook fiction georgian -
-
Do Not Forsake Me by Rosanne Bittner
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsExperience the epic, sweeping story of Jake and Miranda Harkner from Bittner's beloved Outlaw Hearts, called by New York Times bestseller Heather Graham "a wonderful, absorbing read, with characters to capture the heart and the imagination". Fate brought them together. His past may tear them apart. Miranda Hayes' life was changed the day she faced down infamous gunslinger Jake Harkner.. -
Mail Order Marvel by Kirsten Osbourne
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCoral has always been different than other young ladies and not just because of the circumstances of her birth. When her sister, Esther, moves west to Montana to be a mail order bride, she goes with her, hoping that she will quickly find a husband herself and not long be a burden on her sister and her new husband... -
A Bride for Abel by Cyndi Raye
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCan a marriage by proxy change a man's world for the better? Abel Roosevelt finds himself behind bars in Pistol Ridge for simply defending himself in a game of cards. He is given the ultimatum; marry the bride by proxy who was meant for the man that was killed. Or, hang. Kate Eisenhour's only choice is to marry by proxy. With no other options, she sets off to a new life in Montana Territory... -
The Farmer's Bride by Christine Sterling
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA woman needing a home; a man needing a helpmate and a marriage of convenience that meets both of their needs. Forced from her home, Elizabet Garrett needs to find a husband, and fast. What she doesn’t anticipate is meeting a man who is nothing like she expects, but just might be the answer to her prayers... -
The Wrangler's Inconvenient Wife by Lacy Williams
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“…pure sweetness in a very readable package, perfect for those who like their romance gentle, G-rated, and family-style.” - Publisher’s Weekly on The Homesteader’s Sweetheart. ”…smart, gentle, and uplifting…” Publisher’s Weekly on Return of the Cowboy Doctor. Lacy Williams is the USA Today bestselling author of the acclaimed Snowbound in Sawyer Creek and Cowboy Fairytales series... -
An Improper Proposal: a novel by Davalynn Spencer
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSweet Historical Western Romance An Improper Proposal – First in the Front Range Brides collection of stories about strong women who find and defend love in 1880s Colorado. Love hadn’t brought her to Colorado, but it might be the one thing that keeps her there. Mail order bride Mae Ann Remington won’t let circumstances get in her way...Categorized as:
historical-fiction industrial-era marriage-of-convenience adult book christian fiction historical -
Annie's Song by Catherine Anderson
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsAnnie Trimble lives in a solitary world that no one enters or understands. As delicate and beautiful as the tender blossoms of the Oregon spring, she is shunned by a town that misinterprets her affliction. But cruelty cannot destroy the love Annie holds in her heart. Alex Montgomery is horrified to learn his wild younger brother forced himself on a helpless "idiot girl...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era marriage-of-convenience steamy abuse adult -
A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsWhen a devilish lord and a bluestocking set off on the road to ruin... time is not on their side. Minerva Highwood, one of Spindle Cove's confirmed spinsters, needs to be in Scotland. Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, a rake of the first order, needs to be... anywhere but Spindle Cove... -
A Lady of True Distinction by Grace Burrowes
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHawthorne Dorning either finds a way to turn his family’s vast botanical resources into a successful commercial venture, or the estate the Dornings have called home for centuries could be broken up. He loves the land and he’s never shied away from hard work, but he knows nothing about creating perfumes or fragrances... -
Captain Jones's Temptation by Audrey Harrison
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHe has it all – or so it seems. She is hiding from her past. They both have to protect a child.Can they overcome their mutual dislike to battle the common enemy? Will their secrets destroy their carefully crafted lives?Captain Samuel Jones is handsome, charming – when he wants to be – and one of the highly coveted King's Messengers...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction industrial-era regency action-adventure adult bodyguard book -
-
Colin's Quest by Shirleen Davies
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsColin’s Quest, Book One, MacLarens of Boundary Mountain Historical Western Romance SeriesFor An Undying Love…When Colin MacLaren headed west on a wagon train, he hoped to find adventure and perhaps a little danger in untamed California. He never expected to meet the girl he would love forever...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era 19th-century action-adventure adult book fiction -
Sourdough Creek by Caroline Fyffe
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCassie Angel is used to taking care of herself. With a spirit of adventure, and a need to stay safe, she departs a dying Nevada town for the golden opportunities that await in California--along with a new life. When charming Sam Ridgeway shows up, claiming to know her uncle, and offers her protection in her travels, she has no idea there is an ulterior motive involved...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era action-adventure adult book fiction -
Morning Glory by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsClara Anderson has her routine, and she likes it that way. But oil has brought change to Healdton, Oklahoma, and she doesn't like it one bit. She might not have the means to stop history in the making, but that doesn't mean she has to rent rooms in her boarding house to oil well riff-raff... -
High Country Bride by Linda Lael Miller
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOne ranch. Three sons. Only one will inherit...and on one condition. Tired of waiting for his sons to settle down, Arizona-territory rancher Angus McKettrick announces a competition: the first son to marry and produce a grandchild will inherit Triple M ranch. Now, three distinctly different, equally determined cowboys are searching high and low for brides... -
A Bride for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsMina’s well-ordered life is thrown into disarray when her father drops a bombshell on his deathbed: she has a brother she never knew of. Not only that, he is on his way to rescue her from the collapse of their school under a mountain of debts... -
Claw Marks & Card Games by Maz Maddox
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCooper Woodlock is a man who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Between his gambling debt and being a widowed father, he can never seem to get Lady Luck back on his side. Desperate for a winning hand, Cooper starts hitting saloons and tempting fate in order to keep the bloodthirsty Spades at bay... -
Wyoming Wild by Sarah M. Eden
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHearts collide when a sheriff’s daughter asks a hardened US Marshal to join her fight for justice and rid a small town of her corrupt father. Wyoming Territory, 1876 US Marshal John “Hawk” Hawking is one of the most respected lawmen in the West, so when a telegram arrives from the small town of Sand Creek warning him of a death threat against him, he immediately begins an investigation...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction industrial-era action-adventure adult betrayal book fiction -
My Merry Marquess by Annabelle Anders
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Marquess to keep the holidays Merry…Stranded by a snowstorm in Maybridge Falls, the Marquess of Merriweather runs into the last person in the world he wants to see—Lady Eve Bailey. Because the last time he saw the auburn-haired beauty, she stole his heart and then crushed it into a thousand pieces. Lucky for him, he’s over her... -
Pretending to Wed by Melissa Jagears
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt’s a match made in heaven, as long as they don’t fall in love!The ranch Nolan Key has spent decades working for, even lost a leg for, is now his—or at least it should be. But an absurd clause in his father’s will means he’s in danger of losing the place to his lazy, undeserving cousin. Nolan finds himself scrambling to save his home—by proposing marriage to the town laundress...Categorized as:
historical-fiction industrial-era marriage-of-convenience adult book christian fiction historical -
His Prairie Duchess by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPrairie Brides is a series, so you'll want to read the books in order to have the most fun! Enjoy these sweet romances as you get to know the Cooke brothers and the townsfolk of Clear Creek. One of the wackiest little towns in the old west! Duncan Cooke had a problem. A really BIG problem... -
-
Mr. Darcy Steals a Kiss (and Some Other Stuff): A Pride and Prejudice Romantic Comedy by Alix James, Nicole Clarkston
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy family is about to be ruined, and the only person who can help me is a burglar whose kisses make me forget my own name. Elizabeth BennetMy father is a fraud. There, I’ve confessed it. Jane and I are the only ones who know that he fakes “ancient Greek vases” and sells them to unsuspecting buyers for exorbitant sums to keep our mother in pin money... -
A Hero for Miss Hatherleigh by Carolyn Miller
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCan a proper noble lady find a future with a fossil-hunting man of faith? As the daughter of Viscount Aynsley, Caroline Hatherleigh knows every rule of society--and she's always followed them precisely. But when she visits south Devonshire and encounters a fossil-hunting scientist and his sister, her assumptions about what is right are shaken...Categorized as:
regency historical-fiction industrial-era historical christian fiction religious small-town -
A Seaside Summer by Josi S. Kilpack, Martha Keyes
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSummer on the seaside . . . a perfect place for romance.Join us for three novellas in one collection:The New Countess by Josi S. KilpackDiane knows why the earl asked her to marry him; he needed a mother for his daughter, an heir for his title, and a hostess to assist with his position in Parliament... -
Where Love Grows by Maureen Driscoll
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the author of the Kellington and Emerson Regency romance novels comes the fifth book in the Jasmine Cottage series set in the early Victorian era. As the sole remaining resident of Jasmine Cottage, Emma Moore has watched as her sister and three friends found true love... -
Grasp the Thorn by Jude Knight
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn accident brings them together. Will a scandal tear them apart?Bear Gavenor has retired from war and built a business restoring abandoned country manors to sell to the newly rich. He’d like to settle in one himself and raise a family, but the marriage mart is full of harpies like his mother.Rosa Neatham’s war is just starting...Categorized as:
industrial-era regency historical-fiction marriage-of-convenience family romance historical fiction -
Indecently Daring by Emma V. Leech
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA frosty reception… Staying with her Aunt Harriet and Uncle Jasper at the beautiful Holbrook House seems the ideal place for Alana Cadogan after breaking things off with her best friend and long-term fiancé, Oliver Cootes. All of Alana’s plans for the future have come to naught and the horrifying prospect of the season and the marriage mart looms large on her horizon...Categorized as:
historical-fiction industrial-era regency class-difference romance historical small-town fiction
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.