Books like Uncertain Joy by Hilary Wilde

Mary Balogh’s historical romance follows Fleur, a young woman who survives on the London fringe, as she navigates forbidden desire, danger, and social expectations while working as a governess.

A spirited governess arrives at Devil's Fell to govern six unruly girls, only to find herself challenged and enchanted by the estate’s widowed master, Colonel William Gregory, whose orderly life is disrupted by her fiery wit and hidden secret.

When a weary companion is rescued by a dashing officer, she becomes the governess of a diplomatic family in St. Petersburg, only to be accused of espionage—a perilous predicament that forces her benefactor to risk everything for her safety.

When Earl Devon Mathewes seeks to restore his standing, he must hire a governess, adopt a grateful orphan, and win a respectable bride—all while courting the secretive Miss Pamela Lockhart.

"For as long as Meg Crane could remember, she has experienced the impossible dream - that one day she would live on an island where palm trees were silhouetted against the mountains. And now, in the Seychelles, she had found that island. And she had also found the enemies and rivals Craig Lambert and Gaston Duval, whose two familires had feuded before them, and who now would themselves carry on the feud over Meg. Certainly Meg was inclined to be more attracted to Gaston, but she could sympathise with Craig, and with his wish to keep his island unspoiled. But was it only sympathy she was feeling?"--Publisher description.

When a reclusive rancher's family secrets are exposed on reality TV, twin brothers Keanu and his brother become overnight stars—but a growing romance with the producers' seductive showrunner threatens to unravel everything.

Young Maisie Farange navigates life between her divorced parents and their new spouses, witnessing adult adultery and society’s hypocrisy while trying to understand her own place in the world.

Missionary Julia Foster leaves the markets of India for the halls of Highland Hall, where as governess she must navigate privilege, faith, and a family in crisis while her new master, Sir William Ramsey, wrestles with financial ruin.

After a diplomatic posting in Paris, Celeste Milford accepts a governess role at Blythe Hall, where she tutors Penelope and Kiki while navigating love triangles with Ellery Throckmorton and Garrick Throckmorton.

In Regency England, the immaculate governess Lady Charlotte Dalrumple must navigate a rocky romance with the unruly Lord Wynter Ruskin, learning that genuine love requires breaking the strict rules of courtship.

Hannah Setterington, a seasoned governess, trades her academy for a companion role with the enigmatic Lord Raeburn, whose dark past and rumored murder of his wife threaten to ignite a passionate and dangerous romance.

In 1860, young governess Ellen Paget travels to Paris to serve a noble family, only to find her life shattered by tragedy and scandal, forcing her back to a reluctant home life in Sussex.

In summer 1946, twenty‑year‑old Elizabeth, an apprentice actress at a seaside theatre company, discovers love and heartbreak when she falls for director Kurt Canitz, only to learn he is not what she imagined.

"A "born writer" who never completed the creative life promised by her famous name and gorgeous imagination, Dolly Wilde was charged with charm, brilliantly witty, changeable as refracting light and loaded with sexual allure. She made her career in the salons - and in the bedrooms - of some of London's and Paris' most interesting women and men. Attracting people of taste and talent wherever she went, she drenched her prodigious talents in liquids and chemicals, burnt up her opportunities in flamboyant affairs and created continuous sensations by the ways in which she seemed to be re-living the life of her infamous uncle.". "In this biography, Joan Schenkar provides a fascinating look at what it means to live with the talents but not the achievements of biography's usual subjects: those obliterating "winners" - like Dolly's uncle Oscar - whose stories have almost erased riveting histories like Dolly's own. And she uncovers never-before-published evidence of the hidden life of the Wilde family and of the extraordinary salon society of Natalie Clifford Barney, Dolly Wilde's longest and most fatal attachment."--BOOK JACKET.