Cover of Watch the Wall, My Darling

Affiliate links — we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Learn more

Watch the Wall, My Darling

Jane Aiken Hodge

gothic romance
(1k)Warm

On a stormy English marsh, a masked smuggler captures a woman — and her heart.

Description

The title comes from "A Smuggler's Song" by Rudyard Kipling:Five and twenty ponies,Trotting through the darkBrandy for the Parson, 'Baccy for the Clerk;Laces for a lady; letters for a spy,And watch the wall, my darling, while the Gentlemen go by! The carriage that was rolling swiftly along the rainy English marsh on the road from London suddenly stopped. A barricade blocked the way. Dark figures surrounded them. Christina had no time to cry out as strong arms caught her from behind. A hand covered her mouth. She bit it as hard as she could.She looked up at the tall, masked stranger, and a mysterious, frightening sensation swept over her. Those fiery brown eyes gazed at her in a way she had never known before ...

Books like this

Cover of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

V.E. Schwab

448 pagesgothic romance
(1.5M)Warm

Cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets, Addie LaRue finds the one man who remembers her name.

6 tropes in common

Cover of Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

500 pagesgothic romance
(2.3M)Mild

A plain governess falls for her brooding employer — but Thornfield Hall hides a devastating secret.

4 tropes in common

Cover of Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

359 pagesgothic romance
(2.2M)Mild

A fierce, doomed love between a foundling and a gentleman's daughter tears two families apart across generations.

5 tropes in common

Cover of Rebecca

Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier

488 pagesgothic romance
(733k)Mild

A shy new bride discovers her husband's first wife may never truly be gone — and Manderley holds dark secrets.

7 tropes in common

Cover of Starling House

Starling House

Alix E. Harrow

308 pagesgothic romance
(170k)Warm

A desperate girl takes a job at a cursed gothic house — and falls for its brooding, lonely heir.

9 tropes in common

Cover of Carmilla

Carmilla

J. Sheridan Le Fanu

108 pagesgothic romance
(210k)Warm

A lonely young woman falls under the intoxicating spell of a beautiful, vampiric stranger in a gothic castle.

7 tropes in common

Cover of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

V.E. Schwab

544 pagesgothic romance
(176k)Warm

Three women across five centuries are offered freedom by an alluring stranger — and everything comes at a price.

6 tropes in common

Cover of Carmilla and Laura

Carmilla and Laura

S.D. Simper

159 pagesgothic romance
(4k)Warm

A lonely 19th-century girl falls for her mysterious new companion — who may be the vampire killing her village.

7 tropes in common

Cover of Salt & Broom

Salt & Broom

Sharon Lynn Fisher

282 pagesgothic romance
(20k)Warm

A witch healer arrives at a cursed estate to save its brooding master — a witchy retelling of Jane Eyre.

8 tropes in common

Cover of Seduced by a Stranger

Seduced by a Stranger

Eve Silver · Dark Gothic

352 pagesgothic romance
(916)Warm

A desperate woman arrives at a crumbling abbey where her host is either her greatest love or her killer.

8 tropes in common

Cover of Crimson Peak

Crimson Peak

Nancy Holder

352 pagesgothic romance
(5k)Warm

A young woman swept away by a seductive stranger discovers his crumbling mansion hides blood-soaked secrets.

7 tropes in common

Cover of Weavingshaw

Weavingshaw

Heba Al-Wasity

464 pagesgothic romance
(4k)Warm

A woman who sees the dead bargains her secret with a dangerous merchant — and gets trapped in a hungry, haunted estate.

7 tropes in common

Cover of Too Wicked to Kiss

Too Wicked to Kiss

Erica Ridley · Gothic Love Stories #1

424 pagesgothic romance
(2k)Warm

A reclusive lord rumoured to be a killer invites her in — and she can't decide if he's dangerous or irresistible.

8 tropes in common

Cover of Gothikana

Gothikana

RuNyx

416 pagesgothic romance
(123k)Steamy

A gothic castle, a century-old mystery, and a forbidden pull between a brooding professor and his darkest student.

7 tropes in common

Cover of His Wicked Sins

His Wicked Sins

Eve Silver · Dark Gothic

gothic romance
(1k)Warm

A governess falls for the brooding widower suspected of murdering women connected to him.

8 tropes in common

Cover of The Possession of Alba Díaz

The Possession of Alba Díaz

Isabel Cañas

369 pagesgothic romance
(16k)Warm

A demon claims her body; the one man she can't have may be the only one who can save her soul.

8 tropes in common

Cover of Nocticadia

Nocticadia

Keri Lake

682 pagesgothic romance
(176k)Steamy

A med student on a haunted island falls for her darkly brilliant professor — and his dangerous secrets.

5 tropes in common

Cover of Into the Darkness

Into the Darkness

Barbara Michaels

323 pagesgothic romance
(2k)Warm

Inheriting a share of her grandfather's antique jewelry shop, Meg finds herself co-owner with a dangerously attractive s

6 tropes in common

Cover of Heart, Haunt, Havoc

Heart, Haunt, Havoc

Freydís Moon · The Gideon Testaments #1

156 pagesgothic romance
(2k)Warm

A trans exorcist tackles an unruly haunted house — and accidentally falls for its nonbinary owner.

7 tropes in common

Cover of Dark Desires

Dark Desires

Eve Silver · Dark Gothic

352 pagesgothic romance
(6k)Warm

A penniless woman takes a job with a brooding doctor — but is her compelling employer a murderer?

7 tropes in common

A work in progress, built for my wife with love. Suggestions welcome