"Let me put it to you gentlemen." A cold smile crept over his face as he relaxed back on one leg and slapped his thigh with his deerskin gloves. "Little of real value in history has been achieved without the shedding of blood. Mankind's progress may be traced in a river of gore. And if you would make something of value here," his light eyes glittered with challenge as he looked straight at Robertson, "you will have to bleed for it."

******

His hard body wedged itself between her upper thighs, pressed against her lower abdomen. Gradually, his deep, wondrous kisses relaxed her belated guard and he pressed his bulging manhood against her warm, pliant flesh. He lavished attention on her lips and closed eyelids, stroking the damp chaos of her hair. One swift, practiced movement removed the last barrier of his breeches and his flesh met hers. Pulsing, eager, and sensing the long-awaited fulfillment, his shaft entered her slowly, while he trapped her gasp of surprise in her throat.

Only bodice rippers can have these two scenes, impassioned talk involving lead up to American Revolutionary War and sexual purple prose consent issues, in the first 15% with its own certain je ne sais quoi.

Precisely fitted breeches hugged his manly loins,

Is this cut next to the slim fit in the Levi aisle?

Sometimes buidlings become characters in books. 

I sometimes select a hotel just because of its history.

These are some best Historic Hotels around the world.

Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan

Yamanashi, Japan
Opened: 705

Zum Roten Baeren

Freiburg, Germany
Opened: 1120

The Old Bell Hotel and Restaurant

Malmesbury, UK
Opened: 1220

Hotel Interlaken

Interlaken, Switzerland
Opened: 1323

Hotel El Convento

Location: Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Opened: 1651

Fairmont The Norfolk Hotel

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Opened: 1904

Don't you just want to pack your bags? 

Here are some great Historical Romance Novels that featuring Inns that you can visit. 

My lists are never in particular order. Enjoy!

1. It Happened One Night by Stephanie Laurens,  Mary Balogh, Jacquie D'Alessandro, and Candice Hern  

It Happened One Night . . . and nothing was ever the same again!

Once upon a time, four superstar storytellers—New York Times bestselling authors Stephanie Laurens and Mary Balogh, along with Jacquie D'Alessandro and Candice Hern—came up with a delicious idea. What if they each wrote a story about a proper young lady stranded at a remote inn away from society's constraints? What would happen? And how long would it take for her to give in to desire?

In these four amazing tales, four heroines will come face-to-face with the men who got away . . . only to discover that, instead of anger, there is still a passionate connection that cannot be denied. And while each of their lives is quite different, and their pasts utterly unique, they will all make a common discovery—that one night can change everything . . . forever.

2. Parting Gifts by Lorraine Heath

Marrying Maddie, a woman who works in a brothel in order to survive, widower Charles Lawson hopes to provide his three children with a loving mother until his terminal illness causes him to arrange a match between Maddie and his brother.

3. Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas

Poppy Hathaway loves her unconventional family, though she longs for normalcy. Then fate leads to a meeting with Harry Rutledge, an enigmatic hotel owner and inventor with wealth, power, and a dangerous hidden life. When their flirtation compromises her own reputation, Poppy shocks everyone by accepting his proposal--only to find that her new husband offers his passion, but not his trust.

Harry was willing to do anything to win Poppy--except to open his heart. All his life, he has held the world at arm's length…but the sharp, beguiling Poppy demands to be his wife in every way that matters. Still, as desire grows between them, an enemy lurks in the shadows. Now if Harry wants to keep Poppy by his side, he must forge a true union of body and soul, once and for all...

4. A Man and a Woman by Robin Schone

Widowed Megan Phillins longs to experience the intimacies shared with a man just once more. Playing the role of a harlot, she travels to the Land's End Inn, where she knocks upon the door of a mysterious stranger. After a night of forbidden passion Megan is shocked to discover the traveler is actually Connor Treffrey, an Englishman who was marooned and sold into slavery. But now Connor has returned to reunite with his well-bred family. And together, he and Megan will embark on a breathless journey of indescribable pleasure. 

5. The Grand Hotel by Elisabeth Fairchild, Barbara Metzger, Carla Kelly, and Allison Lane

London's luxurious Grand Hotel is the perfect setting for romantic rendezvous, glittering celebrations--and Cupid's good works. The impeccable staff and a host of most intriguing--and attractive--guests, will pamper, entertain, and romance readers in five heartwarming stories of love by five award-winning writers.

6. Make Me Yours by Betina Krahn

Mariah Eller was only trying to save her inn from being trashed. So how did the widow manage to attract the unwanted—and erotic—attention of the Prince of Wales? Not that being desired by royalty is necessarily bad… Only, Mariah much prefers the prince's best friend….

Jack St. Lawrence is very tempting, and very loyal. And he knows that the prince gets involved only with married women. So he figures sexy Mariah is safe…until the prince demands Jack find her a husband!

The problem? Jack and Mariah can't fight their sizzling attraction. And once they give in to their desires, the situation is even worse. Because the prince's man has found a husband for Mariah.

Himself…

7. A Place Called Rainwater by Dorothy Garlock

The small town of Rainwater, Oklahoma, has become a notorious boomtown now that a gusher has flooded its streets with drillers, welders and roustabouts of every description. Jill, a young woman who runs the hotel for her aunt, is unprepared to cope with the attention she receives from the woman-hungry men.

8. In the Heart of the Highlander by Maggie Robinson

Ever since Mary Evensong’s elderly aunt Mim got sick, Mary’s masqueraded as the owner of the Evensong Agency, finding housemaids and husbands, and solving pesky problems, for the peerage. Someday she’d like to shake off her silvery wig and spectacles and be the young woman she truly is, but desperate clients are waiting for “Mrs. Evensong” at the office.
 
Like a scandalous Scottish baron. Honor forbids Lord Alec Raeburn from explaining the suspicious circumstances surrounding his wife’s death, but he knows who’s responsible. He just needs to hire an actress to lure the scoundrel into a trap. 
 
After listening to Raeburn’s story—and seeing him in his kilt—Mary knows the perfect person for the role. Letting her red hair down, she heads off to the Scottish Highlands to pose as a seductress, but soon finds herself with more than her virtue at stake in a tug-of-war between two powerful men. She could wind up in danger—or in the heart of the highlander.

9. Hooked by Stef Ann Holm

Using an alias, stunt reporter Matthew Gage arrives in Harmony, Montana, to uncover the cheating going on in the town’s famous annual fly-fishing contest—not to tangle lines with a husband-hunting miss. But as soon as Meg Brooks gets stuck under his hotel bed, he’s hooked on her high-spirited charm. Besides, he hopes she’ll provide him with insider information—and a few kisses—while he snoops around.

But innocent Meg believes Matthew is “Vernon Wilberforce,” a polite carpet-sweeper salesman, the gentleman caller of her dreams. As the fishy scandal threatens to upset Harmony, Meg employs every lure in the book to land Matthew. But her heart will be broken by a man who isn’t what he seems…unless they each learn the truth: The best prize in life is given, not won. It’s love.

10. The Earl of Her Dreams by Anne Mallory

Facing the choice of flight or a wedding she cannot abide, Kate Simon has chosen to flee. Disguised as a boy, she takes refuge in a roadside inn, and finds herself rooming with intensely secretive Christian Black. Kate is breathless in the presence of this handsome, mysterious rogue whose piercing gaze seems to strip her naked. But neither suspects that a savage storm and a murder will draw them closer together still. But not the passion in their hearts

Christian dares not let anyone learn of his haunted past—or that he is, in truth, the Earl of Canley—especially not a slip of a girl whose masculine attire cannot disguise the exquisite female form beneath. But now that destiny and a dastardly crime have united them, Christian can no longer contain his desire to taste the nectar of Kate's sweet kiss. Danger certainly abounds, but the gravest peril might be resisting a once-in-a-lifetime passion that can heal all wounds.

Vote for the best of the best on my Goodreads list: Room for the Night: Inns in Historical Romance.

She vowed never to be married....

Sister Eloise was perhaps the most well intentioned novice at the Convent of the Brides of Virtue — and the one always in the most trouble. Headstrong and earnest, she was determined to surprise her frustrated abbess and succeed in her latest role as the convent’s new husband judge. 

But to do so this modest beauty, who had forsaken all carnal pleasure, must judge a warrior whose mere presence exuded a dangerous, unpredictable, and totally male sensuality.

He’d do anything to be a husband....

Peril, earl of Whitmore, needed a virtuous wife in the worst possible way. And he could think of no way worse than taking a stubborn, opinionated young novice back to his blighted estate and proving he was husband material. But in the days and nights to come he finds that the one test he can’t pass is resisting this maddeningly irresistible woman. 

And as the dark secret of the Whitmore estate is revealed and their passion ignited by a single forbidden touch, they find that the perfect match is often made in a far more sensuous place than heaven.

I grew up in a train town. Ergo, I love trains. May your journeys always be safe  Let the lullaby of the tracks rock you into wonderful dreams. 

Here are some wonderful Historical Romance featuring the Railroad. 

1. Train From Marietta  by Dorothy Garlock

In a Depression-era romance, rugged westerner Tate Castle meets fragilely beautiful Katherine Tyler, a New Orleans native, in a west Texas romp. Kate, who has earned a nursing degree in New York, is California-bound from the Big Easy, on her way to work for an uncle at a San Francisco hospital. Her father's business partner has other plans for her, in order to shake down her rich father. Kate is kidnapped as she steps off the westbound train in Texas for a breather and is held by two desperate outlaws and the mastermind's nephew. Tate, a horse rancher with a handicapped daughter, is hired by Kate's father to find her; her rescuer arrives at a major captivity crisis point. First believing she's too much of a city girl for him, Tate has to change his tune when Kate proves much tougher than she looks during their escape through the wilderness to the nearest town. Among other complications, his strong-willed daughter, who gets tangled up in their flight, doesn't seem likely to have the same change of heart, but all's well that ends well, even in dustiest Texas.

2. Shadow's Stand by Sarah McCarty 

hadow Ochoa is lying low in the western Kansas Territory, waiting for his fellow Texas Rangers—the Hell's Eight brotherhood—to clear his name. That is, until he's unjustly strung up for horse thieving…and pretty Fei Yen intervenes. Invoking a seldom-used law, the exotic lady prospector claims Shadow as her husband and rides off with the bridegroom shackled to her buckboard.

Savvy, fearless Fei is single-mindedly devoted to her hidden claim and all it promises: wealth, security and freedom. A husband is just a necessary inconvenience and a name on paper to hold the claim she cannot.

Shadow isn't a man to take orders from anyone, especially from lovely Fei—except that the daily friction between them ignites into nightly blazes of all-consuming passion. Soon Shadow is dreaming a little himself: of the life they could have if only Fei could see past the lure of independence. If only bounty hunters weren't closing in on him. If only he's left standing when the impending showdown has ended….

3. The Soft Touch by Betina Krahn

She is a softhearted Baltimore heiress...

Lovely but disastrously tenderhearted Diamond Wingate has terrible trouble saying "No": to the poor and unfortunate who beg at her gates; to entrepreneurs with big plans and no money; and worse, to the silver-tongued young men who line up to propose marriage. So far she has managed to keep her three fiancés a secret, insisting she cannot marry until she turns twenty-three. But her birthday--and disaster--are looming....

He is a hardheaded Westerner...

Rugged, independent "Bear" McQuaid has never taken a dime he didn't earn by his own hard work. But now his dream of building a railroad, so close to coming true, is about to collapse from lack of funds. Approaching Baltimore's infamous "soft touch," he learns she has other assets as well: a delicate, strawberry blond beauty and shining intelligence--and a fascination for the romance of the railroad. Then Bear uncovers Diamond's embarrassment of riches in fiancés as well as money and charms. Now he must make a choice: finance his dream through a little genteel blackmail, or do it the hard way...by falling in love.

4. Behind His Blue Eyes by Kaki Warner

Hoping to escape his past, Ethan Hardesty left a career as an architect and went to work for the railroad. Only two things impede his desire to transform Heartbreak Creek into a thriving town once again—a vandal bent on stopping the railroad, and the beautiful but hardheaded woman who won’t sign over the final right-of-way through the canyon.

Audra Pearsall has good reason for not allowing a train to pass within yards of her home, no matter how persuasive the handsome Mr. Hardesty can be. But when vandalism escalates to murder and fear stalks the canyon, Audra doesn’t know who to turn to—until the man she thought was her friend proves to be an enemy, and the man she wouldn’t allow herself to trust becomes her reluctant hero…

5. Coming Home for Christmas by Carla Kelly

Three soldiers, three generations, finding love at Christmas

1812: A Christmas in Paradise

To save nurse Laura Ortiz from destitution, British naval surgeon Thomas Wilkie has made her an offer this Christmas—a marriage of convenience….

1855: O Christmas Tree

A generation later, it's Thomas and Laura's daughter, widowed lone mother Lilian, who's working as a nurse in the Crimea. Christmas seems a long way away—until Major Trey Wharton helps her bring back the festive sparkle.

1877: No Crib for a Bed

Lilian's son Captain Wilkie Wharton is finally on his way home from Fort Laramie. It's a long, arduous, life-changing train journey…which sees him discover his soul mate and the true meaning of Christmas!

6. Lady Lavender by Lynna Banning

Widow Jeanne Nicolet's beautiful lavender fields are threatened by the advancing railroad. With her livelihood in danger, Jeanne will fight to protect her, and her little daughter's, future.

Constantly on the move, surveying the land, suits Colonel Washington Halliday just fine. He can escape the haunting memories of war that have left his emotions as damaged as his injured body.

Under the sultry heat of the Western sun, the scent of the purple fields is heady, but not as intoxicating as the lavender lady herself….

7. Claiming the Heart by Sara Luck

As the Texas and Pacific Railroad expands across the wideopen frontier, a spirited young woman finds a triumphant love amidst the tracks and tumult. 

History in the making . . . 

July 1876: Building a railroad that reaches Fort Worth city limits by a midnight deadline is an all-consuming obsession for track supervisor Gabriel Corrigan—while his socialite wife, Marthalee, daughter of a powerful Louisiana politician, heads home to arrange a marriage annulment. But when Gabe crosses paths with Josie Laclede, a vivacious businesswoman from St. Louis, he sees a sassy lady bold enough to stake her claim in the wild Texas plains—yet soft and sweet enough to win his heart. 

Love for the keeping . . . 

Though her past is a mystery—Josie was a foundling, raised by a kind widower who now runs a shop and hotel with her—Gabe dreams of a bright future with Josie by his side. Tantalized by his gentle kisses, and swept up in the thrilling track-laying race that has all of Fort Worth pitching in, Josie is tempted to fall hard for Gabe. But Marthalee returns, vying for the T&P fortune he stands to make. And when her father offers Gabe a senate seat and a chance to get back into his wellconnected family, a heartbroken Josie vanishes with the prairie breeze. Will their dream of a once-in-a-lifetime love go up in smoke?

8. Stowaway Bride by Adrianne Wood

Emily Highfill Grant is done with the rules of Boston society. She wants adventure—to see things she’s never seen before—and that’s exactly what she gets when she sneaks onto a train bound for San Francisco and finds herself face-to-face with a handsome, bare-chested stranger . . . who is also her wealthy grandfather’s nemesis.

As stowaways go, the breathtaking woman who turns up in Lucien Delatour’s private Pullman Palace car is most intriguing. Though she refuses to reveal more than her first name, Emily creates a lot of scintillating commotion on their cross country journey. But when Lucien discovers her true identity, the real trouble begins, and he faces a choice between the trailblazing railroad he invested everything in, and the feisty lover who captured his heart.

9. The Cowboy Who Caught Her Eye by Lauri Robinson

The Shopkeeper's Shame

Pregnant and unmarried, Molly Thorson knows her livelihood is under threat. The last thing she needs is a distracting cowboy swaggering into view. Especially one who knows she has a secret and still looks at her with desire in his eyes.

The Cowboy's Secret

Carter Buchanan knows all about secrets. It's his job to know. And Molly sure has something to hide. But the fear in her eyes touches a place he thought long-ago dead—and now this cowboy can't help but consider exchanging his pistol for a band of gold.…

10. The Runaway Heiress by Stef Ann Holm

Raised in stfling luxury and determined to escape an arranged marriage, Evelyn Thurgood-Baron masquerades as a lady's maid and hops the next train out of Beaumont, Texas. When her employer turns out to be a wanted man in disguise, she wonders whether scandalous behavior will be her undoing. But Evelyn is all too willing to stand by this stranger, who can offer her nothing but adventure...and a broken heart. 

Framed and branded a criminal, New Orleans police lieutenant Luke Devereaux will do anything to get to El Paso and clear his name...even sneak aboard a train while wearing women's clothing. He never bargained on having a maid -- particularly not one with such deep blue eyes. As they cross the harsh Texas terrain, renegade lawman and rebellious lady fall in love. But can Luke overcome betrayal and learn to trust in tomorrow?

Got any more? Gimme! 

Vote on the Goodreads list: Rail: Railroads in Historical Romance