AAR

[bat and belfry]

Not quite malicious deception. For example, I loved Love in the Afternoon (heroine and hero exchange multiple letters as he's off fighting, but heroine is sending the letters under a different name; when hero returns, he has no idea the heroine was the sender all along) by Lisa Kleypas and Secret Love (heroine disguises herself to seek help from the hero; they've known each other since birth, but she doesn't want to alarm him so she operates under a guise and he falls in love with the "other" her) by Stephanie Laurens. Another one: All Through the Night (heroine is a moral thief by night and a staid, respectable lady by day; hero is obsessed with finding the thief/is fascinated by both sides of the heroine) by Connie Brockway.

Novels where the heroine has been under the hero's nose all along. Either she's in disguise, she has another motive. It's quite a specific trope, I understand, and if there are any novels with the reverse situation, that's appreciated too!

Any time period is fine.

Thanks in advance.

[Yulie]

I'm not sure I quite understand what you're looking for, and have only read All Through the Night out of the books you've mentioned. But assuming I'm right:
The Devil to Pay by Liz Carlyle
The Lady's Secret by Joanna Chambers
The Other Guy's Bride by Connie Brockway
Delicious by Sherry Thomas
An Offer From A Gentleman by Julia Quinn

[bat and belfry]

Thanks! That's exactly what I'm looking for. I've actually read The Other Guy's Bride, Delicious, and An Offer From A Gentleman--not sure why I blanked out on those titles.

And yes, I was pretty vague on the subject, but I didn't want to get so specific that I was down to a narrow selection of books. I'll check out The Devil to Pay and The Lady's Secret!

[Yulie]

Great! Glad to have helped. You can also check out this list of romances with characters in disguise. Some books from that list that I liked:
* The Imposter (2003) by Celeste Bradley
* A Deal with the Devil (2004) by Liz Carlyle
* My False Heart (1999) by Liz Carlyle
* The Lion's Daughter (1992) by Loretta Chase (Captives of the Night, the book that follows this one, might also work for you)
* The Wild Child (1999) by Mary Jo Putney

[veasleyd1]

Georgette Heyer, False Colours

A couple of others involve disguises -- the one with Avon and Leonie; the one with the fraternal twins.

[xina]

The Secret Swan by Shana Abe. Hero marries heroine just for her family name and fortune, heroine thinks it is for love. Wedding night is awful. He disappears for 8 years and when he returns, he thinks she is the cousin, when in fact she is his wife (heroine). He thinks the heroine has died.
Almost A Gentleman by Pam Rosenthal (disguise)
The Wind and the Sea by Marsha Canham (hero thinks she is boy, and she is actually the daughter of the man he is hunting)

edit to add one more...See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson. Heroine is a sports reporter traveling with a hockey team. She also writes erotic stories for a magazine undercover and goes by the name "Honey Pie". Hero doesn't know, but reads the magazine.
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[Islandgirl2]

His At Night - Sherry Thomas (Hero and Heroine are both deceptive for a reason on who they really are) Historical

Lady's Fortune - Anne Stuart (Hero is deceiving heroine and all into thinking he's some jester who rhymes all day long) Historical
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Romance my favorite reading pastime.

[lorif]

One of my favorites is AKA Jane by Maureen Tan but it might be hard to find.

[Mark]

Deception by Amanda Quick.
Mistress by Amanda Quick.
Scandal by Amanda Quick.
Several others by Amanda Quick.

[brwneyedbeauty]

I love A Secret Love and Love In The Afternoon. A couple other books I like with this theme are:
One Night With You by Sophie Jordan- Tired of being treated like a servant by her own family, Lady Jane Guthrie finally has a chance to escape . . . at least for one night. Attired in a daring gown, she arrives at a scandalous courtesans' masquerade ball looking forward to her few hours of freedom. But when she sees Seth Rutledge, her skin begins to tingle with anticipation. Many years ago, Seth broke her heart by falling for her beautiful, title-hungry sister. But now here he is, right in front of her, offering her his lips . . .
Embittered by war, Seth returns home to inherit the title that would have once won him the woman of his dreams. Though duty demands he wed, he's convinced passion no longer has a place in his life . . . until a masked siren sets his heart aflame. Desperate to find her again, he has no idea it's his childhood friend Jane--and that after one night together their lives will never be the same.

The other book is The Art of Seduction by Melanie George- Parris Sutherland cares little for the gossip swirling about her after she is left at the altar. She is far too busy with a new project: masquerading as "Lady Scruples" and exacting justice on philandering men. If only she could resist the desire aroused by her childhood protector, Dominick Carlisle, recently returned home after eight years.
As the new Duke of Wakefield, Dominick has no interest in the aristocratic duties foisted upon him. He'd rather unmask Lady Scruples -- especially if it distracts him from his long-suppressed feelings for Parris and the dreams that have haunted him since a sultry night with a mysterious girl so long ago. But when Dominick discovers that all of the women on his mind are one and the same -- Parris -- he vows to teach the minx a lesson by seducing her all the way to the altar.

I hope these work for you

[Natalie]

From the recently read, The Sea Change - the heroine pretends to be a ship surgeon.

[ladynaava]

So, when you mean deceptive, are you meaning heroine disguised as a boy type thing, or do you mean deceptive in other ways?

[Sterling_95]

In Faking It, the hero and the heroine spend a good chunk of the book trying to pull one con after another on each other.

Connie Brockway's The Bridal Season also features a con artist heroine.

Danelle Harmon's The Wicked One features a duke hero and a spy heroine and they spend the first half of the book deceiving and/or outwitting the other.

[Nicole]

Patricia Gaffney's Crooked Hearts starts out with deception on both the hero and heroine's parts. It's also delightful, and one of my favorites. Like in my top 10 books ever favorite.
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[JudyZ6666]