I know many readers, like me, hate the idea of adultery/cheating/infidelity in romance novels. Therefore I thought to start a list of books featuring cheating heroes and heroines as some kind of WARNING LIST as well as a recommendation list for those who are not bothered by adultery. I know I would find it useful.

Books in which the HERO CHEATS ON THE HEROINE and books in which the HEROINE CHEATS ON THE HERO.

UPDATED September 16th 2009

Here is what I have so far:

ASHES & ECSTASY by Catherine Hart (cheating hero and heroine)
DEVIL'S EMBRACE by Catherine Coulter (cheating heroine and maybe hero?)
ROYAL BRIDE by Joan Wolf (cheating hero)
PERFECT SIN by Kat Martin (cheating hero)
ALMOST A PRINCESS by Elizabeth Thornton (cheating heroine)
THE CONQUEROR by Brenda Joyce (cheating hero)
THE LOVER by Nicole Jordan (cheating hero) - original version
PROMISE OF THE ROSE by Brenda Joyce - minor adultery
COUNTERFEIT BETROTHAL by Mary Balogh - the couple was seperated because of adultery
FIRE SONG by Catherine Coulter (cheating hero)
ROSEHAVEN by Catherine Coulter (cheating hero)
LADY DELEFONT'S DILEMMA by Donna Simpson - (hero has a mistress; couple is estranged)
ONCE AND ALWAYS by Judith McNaught (cheating hero)
BEYOND SCANDAL by Brenda Joyce (h & h are separated right after they marry & he is gone for four years. He has a mistress and children with her)
SEPERATE BEDS by Lavyrle Spencer (cheating hero) Highlight to see a longer spoiler Former girlfriend lies, he denies it - she throws him out anyway and says marriage is over. And as the title suggests the marriage except for one night was a celibate one (her wishes, not his). After she tosses him out and divorce is filed then he later moves in with his ex.
THE OBEDIENT BRIDE by Mary Balogh (Hero keeps a mistress after married to the heroine)
BOLD ANGEL by Kat Martin (cheating hero)
THE IMMAGINATION OF THE HEART by Judith Glover (cheating hero and heroine)
A PERFECT MARRIAGE by Laurey Bright (cheating hero)
THE ROME AFFAIR by Laura Caldwell
THE DOLLMAKER by Amanda Stevens
ONCE UPON A PILLOW by Connie Brockway and Christina Dodd. The adultery is sort of accidental and not very offensive.
THE MARRIAGE BED by Laura Lee Guhrke
TIGER'S EYE by Karen Robards. Heroine is married; hero "consoles himself" with other women.
RAIN LILY by Candace Camp
THE DUCHESS'S NEXT HUSBAND by Terri Brisbin
EFFI BRIEST by Theodor Fontane
ANNA KARENINA by Count Leo Tolstoy
KREUTZER SONATA by Count Leo Tolstoy
YOUR WICKED WAYS by Eloisa James (Although the Hero and Heroine were separated for a number of years he had kept mistresses.)
PAINT THE WIND by Cathy Cash Spellman
THE OTHER WOMAN by Patricia Kay
THE COMING HOME PLACE by Mary Spencer
WIDOW'S FIRE by Elizabeth Chadwick
JUST BETWEEN FRIENDS by Sandra Steffen
STEALING HOME by Sheryl Woods
IN ANOTHER MAN’S BED by Francis Ray
SOMETHING BORROWED by Emily Griffin
A COTTAGE BY THE SEA by Ciji Ware
BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY BY Brenda Novak
THE OTHER WOMAN by Eric Jerome Dickey
LET’S MEET ON PLATFORM 8 by Carole Mathews
REASON TO BELIEVE by Kathleen Eagle
CAMEO LAKE by Susan Wilson
PLAY DIRTY by Sandra Brown
WHAT MATTERS MOST by Cynthia Victor
EVERGREEN by Belva Plain. (Heroine, Anna Friedman, has several encounters with Paul Werner throughout the book)
MAN WHO CRIED by Catherine Cookson. (Cheating Hero)
PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS by Sherry Thomas (Both cheat while estranged)
THE STRANGER IN BIG SUR by Lillian Bos Ross
THE SCARLET THREAD by Francine Rivers (cheating hero)
A TASTE OF SINn by Connie Mason (cheating hero).
PRINCE OF DREAMS by Lisa Kleypas (cheating hero)
ONCE A STRANGER by Megan Alexander (The hero cheated in the past)
ANY WAY YOU WANT IT by Kathy Love
NIGHT SWIMMING by Rebecca James
THE RAKE'S RAINBOW by Allison Lane (cheating hero)
SILK AND SECRETS by Mary Jo Putney (heroine, before book begins)
THE SHATTERED ROSE by Jo Beverly (heroine who may or may not think hero dead)
BYGONES by LaVyrle Spencer (hero before book begins which starts with H/h divorced for 6 years)
BITTERSWEET by LaVyrle Spencer (hero commits adultery with heroine - wife I think is also cheating so...)


Kathryn Shay - Firefighter Trilogy - Adultery is pivotal in this trilogy in especially the first two books. But you'll want to read the last one to finish the series and the characters to their happily ever afters.
1. After the Fire
2. On the Line
3. Nothing More to Lose


THE DEVIL'S WAGER by Nancy Richards-Akers (Regency)
THE BRIDE IN THE BLUE by Miranda Lee - HP. Marriage of convenience story -- the hero is unfaithful until the marriage is consummated.
MISS DRAYTON'S DOWNFALL by Patricia Oliver. Traditional Regency. Marriage is unconsummated, husband has a mistress.
THE FULFILLMENT by LaVyrle Spencer - Cheating heroine... the whole book is actually about adultery
A PERFECT MARRIAGE by Laurey Bright ( cheating hero)
THE ADULTERESS by Phillippa Carr (Victoria Holt)
CAPTIVE ANGEL by Deana James
THE WAY YOU ARE by Chery Holt ( A regency I think) - The h has been flirting with her sister's husband, Gregory ( just kissing actually) since her sister's marriage. Later on she gets married and forgets all about it but in my mind, even if she was not married at that time, she committed adultery because Gregory was married.
BOLD CONQUEST by Virginia Henley- hero and heroine cheat on each other, but I can't tell you why without giving away the ending.
ONCE UPON A SCANDAL by Barbara Dawson Smith- the hero and heroine are estranged for years and most of the time the hero had a mistress.
THE STEVE AND GINNY SAGA = SWEET SAVAGE LOVE, DARK FIRES, LOST LOVE LAST LOVE, SAVAGE DESIRE by Rosemary Rogers- hero and heroine continuously cheat on each other throughout the series.
RETURN TO ME by Rosemary Rogers- hero cheats on heroine early in their marriage and nearly cheats again, with the same woman, later on in the book.
SAPPHIRE by Rosemary Rogers- hero cheats on heroine.
THE BORDER LORD by Sophia James - (Harlequin Historical- Scottish setting) - Hero cheats on heroine after they're married.
HIS BONNIE BRIDE/AMBER FLAME by Hannah Howelll - Cheating heroine( not gone all the way, but barely).
THE FRENCH BRIDE by Evelyn Anthony - Cheating Hero





CHEATING I can read about, I don't like it but I am able to finish the book

Meaning kissing, heavy petting and not going all the way but still extremely painful for the person who is being cheated on.

* Hero/heroine in disguise are cheating with each other on each other which makes it a cheating and not.

* the cheating is done before the hero and heroine fall in love

* the cheating you don't find so offensive because it is in some way necessary - please state the reason!

* revenge cheating - usually hero finds a whore and does it with her in anger



THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL by Michelle Reid - kissing, thought about doing it and thought he did it but DIDN'T
THE LOVER by Nicole Jordan - new version - kissing, thinking about it
THE PIRATE AND THE PAGAN by Virginia Henely - the heroine cheats on the hero with the hero who is in disguise so it is not really cheating or is it?
A MASKED DECEPTION by Mary Balogh - (hero cheats on the heroine with the heroine in disguise)
SECRETS OF THE HEART by Candace Camp - Highlight to see a longer spoiler the hero, Michael, is a Bow Street Runner - he needs to hide his identify from his wife Rachel due to the nature of the case, and disguises himself as his illegit brother. Rachel is drawn to him - since it's her own husband , there truly is no cheating. In one scene, Rachel sees Michael coming out of another women's home (part of his investigation) and she jumps to the wrong conclusion; actually the way it is written, the reader might have also thought that Michael was cheating. If you stopped at that point, because you thought it was adultery, you would have it wrong .

LOVER ETERNAL by JR Ward - He thought he would kill her if he did it with her - right???
LADY VIXEN by Conne Mason - revenge cheating
SEA FIRE by Karen Robards - revenge cheating
ONCE AND ALWAYS by Judith McNaught - (cheating hero) - before he fell in love with her.
ROSEHAVEN by Catherine Coulter - It was almost in the beginning before they actually fall in love. He went to visit a property and when he comes back he feels guilty for doing so and doesn't understand why.


Please add more books as you come along them.

Thank you.

Jenny.

I don't think I'd include TIGER'S EYE on that list. The heroine was separated from her husband because he tried to have her killed.

Another one would be the original 1997 printing of NICOLE JORDAN'S THE LOVER. That part is removed from the 2004 rewrite. Shame on you Nicole.

Both covers can be viewed here so you don't by the wrong edition

Minor adultery in Brenda Joyce's <i>Promise of the Rose</i>.

There's a Mary Balogh I could add to the list, but I won't, because it's one of her very best books, the adultery totally works in context, and I would hate to put anyone off. I dislike cheating in books too, but sometimes it's important to the plot.

since the title of this thread is Adultery, I'll point out that the heroine wasn't married to the "hero" when she did it with her fiancee.

in COUNTERFEIT BETHROTHAL, the couple was seperated because of adultery

Man, I love that book!

Since you and I seem to be long lost twins, I'm positive it will make my keeper shelf.

<i>Lady Delafont's Dilemma</i> by Donna Simpson [Regency]
(hero has a mistress; couple is estranged)

<i>A Masked Deception</i> by Mary Balogh [Regency]
(hero has fling with a masked woman...it's sort of adultery...)

The Lover by Nicole Jordan (Hero cheats)

Once and Always by Judith McNaught. (Hero cheats.)

I really liked the original THE LOVER, and never did buy the re-write because the adultery played a pivotal role in the story. Not that I am a lover of adultry, but it worked in this book.

The Coming Home Place by Mary Spencer is a great book the hero is in love with his dead finance when he marries the heroine.
Wendy

Oh dear, I just hate to think of how adultery might come into that scenario.

Looks like I have the older, adultery-included version of <i>The Lover</i> in my TBR. I'll be interested to see if it works for me. Assuming I get to it sometime this year.

Beyond Scandal by Brenda Joyce. h & h are separated right after they marry & he is gone for four years. He has a mistress.

Lavyrle Spencer - Separate Beds (Hero cheats)

Mary Balogh - The Obedient Bride (Hero keeps a mistress after married to
the heroine)

Catherine Coulter - Roshaven (Hero cheats once)

I donated Rosehaven because the hero cheated although the story was a very good one, and one of my favorites, but I hated that part especially when he said the other womans name and he did not get why the heroine was mad.