Books like 'The Key'
Readers who enjoyed The Key by Lynsay Sands also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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Storm and Silence by Robert Thier
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFreedom—that is what Lilly Linton wants most in life. Not marriage, not a brood of squalling brats, and certainly not love, thank you very much!But freedom is a rare commodity in 19th-century London, where girls are expected to spend their lives sitting at home, fully occupied with looking pretty...Categorized as:
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Hell's Belle by Annabelle Anders
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThere comes a time in a lady’s life when she needs to take matters into her own hands… A Scheming Minx Emily Goodnight, a curiously smart bluestocking – who cannot see a thing without her blasted spectacles – is raising the art of meddling to new heights... -
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 100 ratingsSince its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr...Categorized as:
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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 6 by Beth Brower
Rated: 4.78 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThere is bedlam, and there is delightful bedlam. This afternoon touched on the second, much to my pleasure. The Year is 1884 and Emma M. Lion has, at long last, gained her majority. Entering a golden age of friendship with Pierce, Islington, and Hawkes, Emma is confident she will manage whatever comes her way...Categorized as:
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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 7 by Beth Brower
Rated: 4.72 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"The image of Pandora’s Box being opened by my own hand flashed across my mind. A sobering and somewhat disappointing realization when one understands they are their own worst enemy."The Year is 1884 and Emma M. Lion has, at long last, gained her majority. Entering a golden age of friendship with Pierce, Islington, and Hawkes, Emma is confident she will manage whatever comes her way...Categorized as:
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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5 by Beth Brower
Rated: 4.72 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsI took Treasure Island to church with me as a talisman.“What a lovely bible,” Mrs. Tribly said.“Isn’t it just?” I replied, hoping she would not ask me to read a favorite verse aloud.I do not believe the psalmist wrote,Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest,Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s...Categorized as:
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A Lady on the Chase by Jessica Scarlett
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHer father promised her to one man.She promised her heart to a second.Until she meets the third.Lady Alicia Kendall has it all: wealth, beauty, suitors--and a history of creating scandals. The only thing she doesn't have is her best friend and man of her dreams, Henry Crawley...Categorized as:
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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 2 by Beth Brower
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 20 ratings“I was sitting at my desk reading, with a cup of tea, my windows flung open, when I heard The Tenant enter his garret, just on the other side of the wall from myself.” The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s...Categorized as:
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Diamond in the Rough by Jen Turano
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAs part of a bargain with her grandmother, Poppy Garrison accepts an unusual proposition to participate in the New York social season. Forced to travel to America to help his cousin find an heiress to wed, bachelor Reginald Blackburn is asked to give Poppy etiquette lessons, and he swiftly discovers he may be in for much more than he bargained for...Categorized as:
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Truce by R.L. Mathewson
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author R.L. Mathewson comes the fourth installment in the Neighbor from Hell series…For readers who enjoy touching stories that make them smile, laugh, and fall in love.Elizabeth knows what’s expected of her, perfection...Categorized as:
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Dare to Cause a Scandal by Emma V. Leech
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTheir mothers dared all for love. Just imagine what their daughters will do…A one track mind…Miss Arabella Hunt is a vivacious redhead with a kind heart and decisive nature. The daughter of the man who owns the notorious gambling den known as “Hunters” has set her sights on the beautiful Louis César de Montluc, the Comte de Villain. The trouble is, the devil doesn’t know she exists... -
Battling the Bluestocking by Martha Keyes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGreat minds do NOT always think alike.Phineas Donovan is possessed of a sharp intellect. Fresh from Cambridge, he obtains a generous live-in position as tutor for the son of the wealthy Lord Bettencourt. If he can prove his value, he has hopes of being given the patronage of his employer, allowing him to take up a position as vicar... -
A Governess Should Never... Deny a Duke by Emily Windsor
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratings“So tell me, Miss Beaujeu, why should I employ you as governess?”A question to rouse fear within the breast of any prospective governess but for Isabelle, a lady with impeccable references and tightly pinned hair, it barely raises a brow...Categorized as:
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Lady At Last by Annabelle Anders
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsShe can't make a baby without a husband! Or can she? A fter witnessing the miracle of birth, self-determined spinster Miss Penelope Crone is having second thoughts about swearing off marriage. She wants – no, she needs – to experience the blessed event herself... -
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Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDuellist and gamester, the young Marquis of Vidal had fairly earned the sobriquet 'Devil's Cub' - a tribute to the wilder excesses of his father, the Duke of Avon.When Mary Challoner discovered Dominic's plans to run away with her lovely sister, she donned cloak and mask in a daring impersonation and found herself bound for France with the most notorious rake in Georgian London... -
Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAlso see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE] ACE #1 Heartsick and desperate to return home to America, Georgina Anderson boards the Maiden Anne disguised as a cabin boy, never dreaming she'll be forced into intimate servitude at the whim of the ship's irrepressible captain, James Mallory...Categorized as:
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The Perfect Spinster by Annabelle Anders
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHe’s more rake than gentleman and she’s more minx than spinster. Miss Olivia Redfield’s prospects for marriage are nonexistent, bleak at best. Removed from society for an ill-fated physical defect, she’s resigned herself to caring for others in a somewhat dreary existence...Categorized as:
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Keeping Kinley by Annette K. Larsen
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"Rylan made me feel like things were possible. Like I was possible, and he was possible, and we could be possible together." Kinley is content tending her apple orchard, until a chance meeting with a childhood friend changes her priorities. Spending time with nobility is not socially acceptable, but Rylan rejects the norm... -
The Impertinent Miss Templeton by Lynn Messina
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA PATENT FOR PASSION No, no, no! It doesn’t matter how many times the Duchess of Trent (The Harlow Hoyden) requests her help with a delicate matter regarding a patent for her sister’s invention, Tuppence Templeton will not lend a hand...Categorized as:
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The Lord and the Cat's Meow by G.L. Robinson
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA languid Lord Devin is astonished when a petite virago called Wilhelmina accuses him of selling an unfit horse to a drayman. He isn't aware of the irregularities in his stables. Later, she foists a stray, starving kitten called Horace on him. But Hermione, his betrothed, hates cats. And Horace hates her...Categorized as:
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The Magic of You by Johanna Lindsey
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsAlso see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE] ACE #1 ACE #2 As wild and reckless as the most incorrigible of her male cousins, Amy Malory has reached a marriageable age and has set her sights on a most inappropriate mate: the straight-laced American ship captain who once nearly had her Uncle James hung hanged for piracy...Categorized as:
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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...Categorized as:
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Five Kisses by Rachael Anderson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe first kiss crumbles her world. The second mystifies. The third unbalances. The fourth sends her reeling. And the fifth –ah, the fifth . . .Inspired by Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, Miss Sarah Meacham has always behaved circumspectly, until an emotional outburst directed at a well-deserved gentleman earns her the nickname of Miss Shrew. As a result, she vows to never trust—or love—again... -
When He Was Wicked: The 2nd Epilogue by Julia Quinn
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDo the best things really come to those who wait? Three years have passed since Francesca's and Michael's marriage, and they are still childless. And Francesca wonders, can a woman be truly and completely happy when a little piece of her heart remains empty? But just when she makes peace with her fate, something unexpected occurs...Categorized as:
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Tender Rebel by Johanna Lindsey
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsScottish beauty Roslynn Chadwick needs the safety of marriage to protect her from an unscrupulous cousin and the fortune-hunting scoundrels who covet her wealth. And Anthony Malory is precisely the sort of handsome rogue she's been warned against... -
Her Prairie Knight by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAlso available: His Prairie Princess (Prairie Brides, Book One) Prairie Brides is a series, so you'll definitely want to read the books in order to have the most fun! Enjoy these sweet romances and getting to know the Cooke brothers along with the rest of the townsfolk of Clear Creek! Newly released from prison, the last thing Colin Cooke expected to see in Clear Creek was an angel... -
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... -
The Partridge: The First Day by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDear Mrs. Walters, One of my fellow clergy told me of Denver’s Benevolent Society of Lost Lambs. I believe your organization is just what our town needs to become a community of virtuous men and women...Categorized as:
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The Re-education of Mr. Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Alexa Douglas
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”– Mark TwainElizabeth Bennet is the daughter of one of New York’s first families. When her grandparents take her and her sisters on a journey abroad, she is not surprised to encounter anti-American prejudice among the members of the English upper class...Categorized as:
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Her Prairie Viking by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAlso from Kit Morgan: His Prairie Princess (Prairie Brides Book One) Her Prairie Knight (Prairie Brides Book Two) His Prairie Duchess (Prairie Brides Book Three) Prairie 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... -
Falling for the Chieftain by Keira Montclair
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFate reaches across time to bring them together. Can love bridge their differences? Allison Sutton isn’t the sort to take risks. She’s a nurse, so she’s seen exactly where risk-taking can lead. But she leaves her comfort zone to visit Scotland with her sisters, and then takes a further leap of faith when one of them insists they jump from a waterfall that’s supposedly enchanted...Categorized as:
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Memory's Embrace by Linda Lael Miller
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA classic Western romance from beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller.In the wilderness of 1880s Oregon, beautiful Tess Bishop was captivated by the most fascinating stranger ever to drift into her small lumber town--a man as handsome and cultured as he was mysterious... -
The Earl’s Hideaway, No Ladies Allowed by Esther Hatch
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIf there is one woman Samson Rutherford, Earl of Riverton, can’t abide, it is his meddling sister. He has spent his whole life being a pawn in her plans and tricks, but when one of her schemes leaves him dressed in women’s clothing, he has finally had enough... -
A Town and Country Season by Joyce Harmon
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTwo identical sisters – one London season. Identical twins Elizabeth and Marianne always imagined they would have a London season together. But money is tight. Marianne will have a season, while Elizabeth will spend the summer in the bucolic country village of Piddledean. But the twins have a plan of their own... -
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The Lord and the Red-Headed Hornet by G.L. Robinson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAmelia Organizes Herself Into Trouble!She's a born organizer and a redhead to boot. Can she get everyone around her marching to her tune?Amelia and Aurelius are orphaned twins. She's a bossy, fiery red-head. Her handsome brother wants to join Wellington's army. But she wants him to become a diplomat...Categorized as:
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Emma by Jane Austen
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 86 ratingsEmma Woodhouse is one of Austen's most captivating and vivid characters. Beautiful, spoilt, vain and irrepressibly witty, Emma organizes the lives of the inhabitants of her sleepy little village and plays matchmaker with devastating effect...Categorized as:
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Delphine and the Dangerous Arrangement by Alicia Cameron
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"My lord Gascoigne, I wish to lay my bargain before you with all openness... Your duties, under the terms of this bargain, are to guide me through the dangerous waters of the Beau Monde. I trust my instincts, but it would be useless to suggest that I am experienced in the ways of the world. I can see at once that you are... -
Katherine, When She Smiled by Joyce Harmon
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKatherine Rose has a secret. She was shocked to discover that her late father, a famous scholar, was secretly the author of lurid Gothic novels. These novels, wildly popular though critically disparaged, are her family’s main source of income... -
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsA lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen's club.Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried—and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she's vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she's been missing...Categorized as:
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Magicians of Quality by Patricia C. Wrede, Caroline Stevermer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor country-bred cousins Cecelia Rushton and Katherine Talgarth, something extraordinary is afoot besides the constant whirl of Regency balls - something Young Ladies of Quality rarely come in contact with: magic. Oh, not the mere love spells used by country folk, but real sorcery capable of thwarting ambitions and destroying life...Categorized as:
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Highland Treasure by Mary McCall
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCan the Highlands survive a gifted soul with a tendency toward mischief? Leonce MacPherson became chieftain after a Norman slaughtered his father and clansmen. For two years he raided Northumbria seeking vengeance while a dream woman promises the return of his great sword, stolen in the massacre...Categorized as:
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Miss Benwick Reforms a Rogue by Maggie Fenton
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA lady in disguise...A rogue out for revenge... What better way to escape an abusive fiancé and a tyrannical mother than by masquerading as the very male secretary to the most infamous scientist in the land? Davina Benwick can't think of a single one. But pretending to be a man is hard work, especially around her employer... -
Hell Hath Frozen Over by Annabelle Anders
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Duchess of Prescott, now a widow, fears she’s experienced all life has to offer. Thomas Findlay, a wealthy industrialist, knows she has not...Categorized as:
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Hell of a Lady by Annabelle Anders
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRegency Romance between an angelic vicar and a devilish debutante: A must read if you love sweet and sizzle with an abundance of heart.THE DEVILISH DEBUTANTEMiss Rhododendron Mossant has given up on men, love, and worst of all, herself. Once a flirtatious beauty, the nightmares of her past have frozen her in fear. Ruined and ready to call it quits, all she can hope for is divine intervention...Categorized as:
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Viking Unchained by Sandra Hill
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsONCE A VIKING....He swore he'd travel the earth to find his little boy. But Viking warrior Thorfinn Haraldsson never counted on traveling through time--and he's more than a little surprised to find himself in modern day Baghdad in the midst of a Navy SEAL operation. Luckily, the SEALs include his cousin, who takes him Stateside... -
The Weaver Takes a Wife by Sheri Cobb South
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHaughty Lady Helen Radney is one of London's most beautiful women and the daughter of a duke, but her sharp tongue has frightened away most of her suitors... -
After a Fashion by Jen Turano
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMiss Harriet Peabody dreams of the day she can open up a shop selling refashioned gowns to independent working women like herself. Unfortunately, when an errand for her millinery shop job goes sadly awry due to a difficult customer, she finds herself out of an income. Mr... -
Miss Penelope by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Lonely SheriffA Runaway HeiressAnd a town full of Musicians?Fiddler's Gap needs women! And Sheriff Aubrey Cole has come up with an idea to get some. After all, if the town doesn't grow, no one will move there let alone any businesses. They'd really like a bank, among other things, so it's time to do something about it. But the men of Fiddler's Gap aren't look for just any 'ol brides...Categorized as:
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Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsSometimes you find love in the most unexpected of places...This is not one of those times.Everyone expects Billie Bridgerton to marry one of the Rokesby brothers. The two families have been neighbors for centuries, and as a child the tomboyish Billie ran wild with Edward and Andrew. Either one would make a perfect husband... someday...Categorized as:
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Devil of the Highlands by Lynsay Sands
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThey call him the Devil . . .He is the most notorious laird of Scotland: fierce, cold, deadly . . . and maybe even worse. Yet Evelinde has just agreed to wed him. Anything, she thinks, is better than her cruel stepmother. Though Evelinde should be wary of the rumors, she can't help but be drawn to this warrior . .
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