#TBRChallenge 2026: His Diamond of Convenience

The Book: His Diamond of Convenience by Maisey Yates

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin Presents #3324, 2015, Out of print, Available digitally, Book 4 in The Call of Duty series

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: Yates is an autobuy for me in the Presents universe because she understands the assignment. The emotions run intense and she leans in hard on the fairy tale. I have a signed print copy of this, which means I picked it up at an RWA conference back in the day.

The Review: There was never any doubt that I would dig up a Presents for this month's Tropetastic! theme. This is the very definition of low-hanging fruit. That said, given my reading mood and output of late (dreadful), I knew if I was going to pick up a Presents I was going to entrust my fragile reading mojo to a pro - and Yates is, if nothing else, a total pro in the Presents line. She's since moved on to single title glory, but I feel strongly that if you strapped her into an office chair and tied one hand behind her back, she could still churn out a total banger Presents. 

Twelve years ago an impressionable 16-year-old Victoria Calder fancied herself in love with a much older man, a business associate of her father's. While the relationship never turned sexual, this man used Victoria's naivete to his advantage, breaking her heart and stealing away her father's business. And ever since then? Victoria has been throwing herself on the pyre, determined to win back the business and Daddy's love. And now? She's landed on the perfect plan.

Dmitri Markin is a former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, plucked from the streets and underground fighting scene in Moscow by his mentor, since passed. Dmitri parlayed his success in the ring into a thriving business portfolio (because of course he did...) and one of those businesses? You guessed it, Victoria's family business. What Victoria also finds out is that Dmitri wants to start his own charity to honor his late mentor, but his reputation is preceding him. Nobody's real anxious to throw money at a guy who wants to help children when said guy has a reputation for being a hot-headed, uncouth man-whore. Victoria, being of the silver spoon set, with loads of experience stumping for various charities, knows this - and proposes a deal. She'll help him drum up support for his charity by hosting various galas and putting a little polish on his tarnished reputation by pretending to be his oh-so-suitable fiancé. In return? He gives her back Daddy's business. 

On the surface these two couldn't be more different. Dmitri from the streets, fighting his way through just to survive. Victoria, the blue-blooded princess, raised to want for nothing, only to be scorned by Daddy the minute she steps out of line. However, as Yates peels back the layers, you realize how alike these two characters are. Not to put too fine a point on it - they're both fighters - and honestly, my money is on Victoria. Cruelly used by a villain taking advantage of a 16-year-old girl (!), faced with Daddy's disapproval after the fallout, she wraps herself in an Ice Princess cloak and wears it with style. This heroine puts the cold in cold fish - because when she wasn't cold, when she wasn't the Ice Princess? The people who should have loved and protected her turned their backs on her. Eventually through Dmitri she learns that she can't keep paying for one past "mistake," and on top of that she's not the bad guy in that scenario (not by a long shot). She's vulnerable, and certainly falling in love with Dmitri makes her more so, but does that mean when the third act break-up hits she curls into a little ball and cries her eyes out?

No.

Because she's a fighter. And she's past taking shit from anyone - and that includes Dmitri. 

Dmitri is an OK sort, prototypical Presents hero with a wounded past that's practically slathered on with a trowel. I mean, if you didn't think the street kid fighting in seedy Moscow bars was tragic enough, we find out later how he ended up in such a predicament (Daddy and Mommy issues - because, Presents). He has serious self-worth issues, despite the success he's had in MMA and in business, so naturally the third act break-up is all his doing - not being good enough for Victoria, control issues stemming from those Mommy and Daddy issues, along with the general Presents ickyness surrounding Victoria's "innocence" (of course she's a virgin before they do the mattress mambo, this is a Presents y'all).  

Ultimately Victoria is the bigger, more mature person even though her heart is broken and Dmitri comes crawling back begging for forgiveness.  It doesn't exactly tread new ground, but that's not what I want in a Presents. I want the intensity, I want the passion, yes I want the drama llama third act break-up where the hero comes crawling back in order to ultimately win the heroine's heart. Yates understands this, and delivers.

Final Grade = B

Library Loot Review: The Place Where They Buried Your Heart

Apparently the horror genre is having a moment, although like romance now being marketed as "women's fiction," I suspect horror is sliding over into suspense and thriller marketing. Not so with The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry, the book cover having caught my eye recently and had me thinking, "I might like that as an audiobook listen." So much about the cover of this book reminds me of those lurid-looking horror paperbacks you'd see on drugstore shelves in the 1980s - and in many ways, that's what this book ultimately achieves. It's a throwback y'all.

The story opens in 1993 when Jessie Campanelli is a sulky 13-year-old whose mother has just grounded her after a nosy neighbor saw her smoking a cigarette at a nearby playground. Life is so unfair in that special way only 13-year-olds think it's unfair, and here comes her baby brother, 8-year-old Paul, pestering her to play a board game. Jessie is not having it and just wants to be left alone, so after a sibling spat (where she keeps calling him "Paulie" and he tells her to stop calling him that - he's grown-up now!) Jessie dares him to go into the old, abandoned McIntyre house. The house sticks out like a sore thumb on their quiet Chicago street, and it's been abandoned for years - ever since the McIntyre patriarch brutally murdered his family and then committed suicide. Kids have broken into the creepy house before, including a boy who fell through the rotting staircase and almost lost his leg. But a dare is a dare - so Paul gathers up his courage, takes along his friends, Richie and Jake, and enters the house. When neighbors hear the terrified screams of Richie and Jake, they break down the front door. Richie is relatively OK, Jake has lost his arm, and Paul is nowhere to be found. It's like the house swallowed him whole. 

Paul's disappearance shatters Jessie's family in unimaginable ways and as the story moves forward in time there are more victims. The house particularly seems to have a taste for children and with more "disappearances" the house becomes stronger, a malevolent force with tentacles reaching out for more victims. Nobody seems to be able to stop it, not Jessie's father who tried to burn it down, not the city who finally shows up to demolish it. The house continues to stand, continues to claim victims, until Jessie, now an adult, thinks she's found a way. 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I can't say no to a house story - be it the English house party, the Gothic manor, or the creepy haunted house. Henry builds good atmosphere with this story - the house is suitably creepy, with a high body count and moderately high levels of gore (look, this is a horror story...). The Chicago setting is pitch-perfect, and there's a Gen X feel to the story and characters that tickled me - although Jessie being born in 1980, I guess you can make the argument she's a millennial, but whatever - the book starts out in the 1990s I'm calling it Gen X. 

The audiobook was engaging and this story did keep me entertained, but...

C'mon, you knew that was coming...

Y'all this is Tell-y AF. Tell, tell, tell. Endless telling. Everything about this story feels relayed to the reader, like we're all sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows. I was never immersed in the action of the book as events were unfolding. It's all relayed to the reader. It's just not terribly immersive or well-written y'all - yes, even though the story is engaging and the characters are interesting. All the telling feels extremely paint-by-numbers.  In fact, I'm convinced that even though I was engaged by the audiobook version, I think had I tried to read this it would have been more of a slog. 

So where does that leave me? Lord, I don't know. Again, I love me a haunted house story and the vibes are suitably creepy here. Also it damn near made me nostalgic for the 1990s even though that decade was not all sunshine and lollipops. Entertaining, yes. Gushing adoration, no. Would I recommend it? Eh, it depends. No regrets, but this one could have a been a showstopper and just...wasn't.

Final Grade = B-

Reminder: #TBRChallenge Day is March 18

Well, it's now March, I'm still not reading much, and this blog is dangerously close to having a neon Vacancy sign affixed to it. It's a good thing I don't have delusions of grandeur to make fame and fortune as an influencer because I'd be starving to death within a matter of days. But I can always count on my own self-imposed monthly TBR Challenge deadline to kick my butt into gear.  Speaking of, our next TBR Challenge is set for March 18, and this month's optional theme is Tropetastic!

I mean, this is kind of a free pick month if you think about it since all romances contain one trope or another, but this is the month to let your Trope Freak Flag fly! Maybe it's the guilty pleasure trope you won't apologize for loving (hello, Wendy likes Boss/Secretary stories...). Maybe you want to go with a book chock-full of all the angsty, tropey, drama llama. Or maybe you just want to pick a book out of the pile that features a comforting trope you return to again and again. No matter how you run with the theme this month, it's all fair game!

But no matter what direction you choose this month remember that the goal of the TBR Challenge has always been read something, anything, that has been languishing in your pile of unread books.

It's never too late to sign up for the Challenge.  You can learn more about it, and see a list of who is participating, over at the #TBRChallenge 2026 information page.

Hearts & Flowers: Unusual Historicals for February 2026

It's only February and I feel like we're all already exhausted by 2026. On the bright side, we've had the Olympics to watch, I'm fully past whatever hellish plague I had last month, and as of February 15 we're in HALF PRICED CANDY MONTH! Seriously, February 15, November 1 and whatever Monday falls after Easter are my favorite times of year. Also, while it's the shortest month of the year, it's a bonanza for romance (despite the terrible "think pieces" we all must suffer through) and we have 15 (!) unusual historicals (OK, two reprints) to tempt us. And yes, I am front-loading this post with the Harlequin Historicals for reasons. Wendy's still Salty AF.

Forbidden to the Banished Laird by Marguerite Kaye

Alone with the laird

…and their forbidden passion!

For landscape gardener Jessica, accepting a post on a remote Scottish island means escape—from her broken dreams and tattered reputation. But meeting the brooding laird who hired her, disturbingly attractive Murdo, Jessica wonders if she’s made a dangerous miscalculation…

Murdo has only had the furious ghosts of his past for company, until Jessica’s sweetness and inner steel offers a way out of the darkness. As her employer, and with his heart destroyed, she is utterly forbidden. But with nowhere to hide from their simmering connection, will Murdo play by Society’s rules, or burn everything down?

A new stand alone from Kaye - she's a landscape gardener (!) with a reputation (my favorite kind of heroine!) and he's a broody Scottish Laird. Harlequin is marketing this as a Victorian Gothic and y'all I am here for it.

Wed in Haste to the Prince by Heba Helmy 

A hasty proposal

…leads to a fiery union!

Prince Adnan’s convenient new bride is everything he never wanted—reckless, vexing and distractingly beautiful! So he offers Lady Olive a deal: play the part of loving wife in front of his ailing mother, and he’ll help her find what she’s looking for in Egypt. Then they’ll part ways…

Olive, desperate to stay in Egypt and unearth her family secret, agrees. Except she uncovers another side to her supposedly stoic and unreachable husband. As she learns the burdens he carries, she’s tempted to share hers, but more shocking is her temptation to share his bed!

The second book (likely the last?) in Helmy's Princes of Egypt series, set in Egypt (duh) features a marriage of convenience (inconvenience?) and a couple who both have their own burdens. This is why I'm going to miss Harlequin Historical y'all. Here we get an Egyptian prince hero while in other historical romances it would be a British dude robbing tombs and stealing antiquities.

The Viking She Shouldn't Crave by Sarah Rodi

Their forbidden tryst…

Is treason!

Helena’s spent her life preparing to be the Byzantine Prince’s bride. But when his cruel disinterest turns her position perilous, she finds salvation in fierce warrior Viggo. As the Prince’s personal guard, he knows her betrothed like no other. Could Viggo help her win his affections?

Only, Helena swiftly discovers the man she craves is not her husband-to-be…but thrillingly rugged Viggo! To act on their desires would be committing treason. Getting caught could be fatal. And yet, resisting their illicit connection feels like a fate worse than death…

This is why I love Viking and medieval romances y'all - loyalty was everything and picking the wrong side could get you killed. Anyway, heroine who has spent her whole life "training" to marry a prince is in a bind when her groom-to-be ain't all that into her. She's desperate for help, and there's the hero - her betrothed's loyal guard like right there! Surely he can help her catch her soon-to-be husband's eye! I mean, what could possibly go wrong? 

Sweetest Taboo by Joan Vassar

Queens, New York, 1952–Detective Bruce Smith’s life is far darker than his loved ones can comprehend. Passing for a straight white man leaves him feeling empty. His sexuality, colored mother, and self-imposed loneliness lead him to make a mistake he can’t afford.

Scott Wilkins is an unmoored soul, who drifts across a segregated America, working as a porter. In a time when it’s illegal and dangerous to be his authentic self, Scott’s existence as a colored, homosexual man is nothing short of unapologetic.

When their paths cross, both men learn the meaning of unconditional love. Sweetest Taboo is an African American, M/M romance that celebrates black love without regret.

In the event you're new to this blog, let it be known that Wendy is an Angst Junkie, and this stand alone by Vassar sounds like Angst-A-Rama-Jama. You've got an in-the-closet, passing as white, cop in 1952 Queens who falls for a man drifting across the country working as a porter (!). I'll be honest, the porter thing is what hooked me hardcore here. Like boardinghouses, I can't quite get enough of trains in my historical romances (and yes, I'm aware - 1952, but I wasn't alive then so historical it is!)

Scandal Amidst the Stacks by Sandra Sookoo

Major Cornelius Montgomery is suffering from ennui since his days in the military are over. Just turned forty, he is searching for something meaningful to fill his life, for empty romantic liaisons and scandalous pursuits have lost their charm. One February evening, he peers into a bookshop for a glimpse of the only woman who’d managed to capture his heart, but she is off limits because she’s his best friend’s sister. Does it matter?

Lady Penelope Needham—the Marchioness of Weymouth—is searching for purpose. Her husband proved sterile, which thwarted her dream of being a mother, then he died in a hunting accident, leaving her widowed at the age of thirty. To keep busy, she happily works at a book shop because books are old friends and they never disappoint, yet when she happens to glance outside one cold night and spies an old crush—her brother’s best friend—life has the potential to change. Doesn’t it?

The moment Cornelius steps into the bookshop, he’s beset with familiar attraction. As for Penny, since she’s afforded more freedom in society as a widow, she’s keen on pursuing something with the rogue, even if it’s only a bit of wickedness amidst the stacks she never had in the past. When emotions between them are far too strong, and whispers of scandal bring her brother’s ire, they are both brought to a crossroads. If they wish to have a second chance at a romance, they’ll stop hiding behind excuses. Won’t they?

Book two in Sookoo's Dashing Rogues and Ruined Librarians (!) series gives us an older hero (40!) who is pining for his best friend's sister. Our heroine, said sister, is a 30-year-old widow who, turns out, has been pining for our hero. There's nothing for it - they'll have to carry on a torrid affair. 

A Most Peculiar Courtship by Mihwa Lee

Amelia Thornton never expected her wedding day to involve quite so many tears—her own. Married to the notorious Marquess of Hereford in a business arrangement that benefits everyone except her heart, she's determined to keep her distance from the insufferable rake. But Charles has an annoying habit of appearing when she least wants him. When her investigation into dangerous factory conditions leads her straight into the arms of a monster from her past, Amelia discovers that her scandalous husband might be the only man brave enough to help her seek justice—if she can resist falling for his unexpected kindness first.

Charles Bartholomew Hereford has perfected the art of living down to society's expectations, but his sharp-tongued wife sees right through his carefully constructed façade. The brilliant writer who compared his moral compass to a weathervane is driving him to distraction with her stubborn refusal to accept his protection. Between her mysterious late-night disappearances, her talent for attracting dangerous enemies, and the way she makes his pulse race during their fencing lessons, Charles finds himself fighting battles on multiple fronts. When Amelia's crusade for workers' rights puts her in mortal danger, he'll have to choose between maintaining his reputation as London's most notorious rake and becoming the hero she never knew she needed.

The third book in Lee's Daring Damsels features a marriage of convenience (inconvenience?) that gives birth to an enemies to lovers romance. She's a crusader leading the charge against dangerous factory conditions, and he's the notorious wastrel rake who, turns out, actually might be able to help her. 

Felicity's Eloquent Earl by Maeve Greyson

She gave him a meal; he offered her poetry—and both hungered for more.

Lady Felicity has mastered the fine art of disappearing. The sixth of eight siblings, she’s long been labeled the “cull of the litter” by Society’s sharpest tongues. Shy, curvaceous, and far more comfortable in a kitchen than a ballroom, she slips away from every soiree her matchmaking brother forces her to attend—preferably toward the comforting scent of butter and warm bread just pulled from the oven. Food, after all, is her love language.

But the night she finds a ravenous stranger prowling a host’s kitchen, her quiet world tilts. The handsome, silver-tongued intruder devours the food she prepares with poetic praise that leaves her cheeks—and her heart—unexpectedly warm.

Drake Pemberton, newly minted seventh Earl of Wakefield, didn’t plan on falling for the charming “kitchen angel” who saved him from starvation. Nor did he expect her to be a duke’s sister—with a dowry that could rescue him from the debt and danger left by his not-so-dead uncle, the sixth Earl of Wakefield. But Felicity is determined to marry for love, not money, and Drake knows the truth about his circumstances could send her running.

As a delicious attraction simmers into something deeper, lies of omission, malicious gossip, and dangerous creditors threaten to scorch their budding romance. Only trust—and a love worth every risk—can save them before it all boils over.

The fifth book in Greyson's Seven Unsuitable Sisters series features a wallflower more comfortable in kitchens than ballrooms and a mysterious stranger, who she feeds, and then offers her poetry in return. I love the sound of everything about this back cover blurb, please Lord, be good.

The Lyon's Pretty Pugilist by Nicki Pascarella

Female pugilist Josephine Martin dreams of opening a gymnasium to teach woman how to defend themselves. But first, she needs the blunt. The best way to get it would be to become the next champion of the prestigious Duke’s and Dame’s Mill, but first she needs to convince the duke to sponsor her. If only the fretful heir of a destitute earl didn't stick his nose in her business. Now, thanks to him and the mysterious Mrs. Dove-Lyon, she must win an absurd, and implausible bet before she can garner the duke’s attention and make her dreams come true. Except the duke is not the peer she wishes she could win.

Nicolas Wentworth, the heir to the cursed Shiredale Earldom, is given one last chance to settle his father’s gambling debts and save his family from ruin. All he has to do is fulfill the terms of Mrs. Dove-Lyon's deal: turn the beautiful pugilist from a side-show guttersnipe into a lady acceptable to ton standards and present her to his rakish ducal friend at the event of the season. If only the lady he's helped to create for the duke wasn't the lady of his heart.

Part of the never-ending (100+ books!) Lyon's Den world, Pascarella introduces her "Scandalous Ladies of the Silk Knuckles Saloon," a series featuring a group of women pugilists (there's covers for an upcoming trilogy listed on her website!). Our heroine wants to open her own gym to teach self-defense to women, but for that she needs money. However, she needs a sponsor, which lands her in a Pygmalion trope. As it would - I mean, naturally!

Where Highland Thistles Bloom by Paula Quinn

In the wild Highlands of Lochaber, Constantine Cameron reigns as Lochiel, warrior, leader, and legend. Merciless in battle and moody in spirit, he is a force few dare challenge. When a mysterious young woman, disguised as a lad, stumbles onto his land, he saves her. But he doesn’t know that she carries secrets darker than the Highland nights. Secrets that can start another war.

Ismay MacPherson has spent her life running from cruelty, from chains, and from the truth that could destroy her. Yet under Constantine’s watchful eyes, she finds a sanctuary that feels impossibly safe, even as she weeps into her supper, her pain unspoken but not unnoticed. Can she dare to trust the Cameron Lochiel with the secret she has carried all her life? And will her past finally catch her in its merciless grip?

In a land where loyalty and vengeance collide, Constantine and Ismay must navigate the treacherous path between love and survival, where the greatest danger may be opening one’s heart.

A 17th century Scottish historical and the first book in Quinn's new Where Heaven and Earth Collide series.  He's a legend, she's a Chick In Pants with a dark secret. Reviews on this one indicate it's a closed door, fade to black romance featuring a couple working through trauma. 

When He Was a Rogue by Tess Thompson

He's determined to restore his family's honor. She's desperate to secure her sister's future. Neither expected to find a love that would change everything.

James Ashford has survived disgrace, war, and years on the edges of society. Now he is determined to reclaim his family’s honor by restoring Ashford Manor, the crumbling estate that once defined his family’s legacy. To see it rise again, he turns to Georgiana Hartwell—a widowed lady bold enough to continue her late husband’s architectural practice.

For Georgiana, the commission is more than a livelihood. It is her chance to prove her worth in a world that would rather dismiss her, while earning the dowry her younger sister needs to secure a good match. Yet even as her passion for the project grows, so too does the pull she feels toward the roguish man who defies every rule of society.

But their budding partnership faces powerful enemies: Georgiana’s manipulative mother, determined to control her future, and a predatory figure from her past who refuses to let her go. With scandal circling and danger drawing near, James and Georgiana must decide if they will risk reputations, safety, and the carefully built walls around their hearts—for a love strong enough to redeem them both.

Book 2 in The Duke's Legacy series features a wounded hero looking to save his crumbling estate and a widowed heroine bold enough to have carried on with her dead husband's architectural business. She needs the money and wants to prove herself and he's a rogue who thumbs his nose at society. Looks like we can also expect a heaping dose of external conflict here.  

Mistress for Wyndview by Jane Charles

At the age of eight and twenty, Sterling Wynd, Earl of Wyndham, left England.

Duty weighed heavily on him, and solemnity filled his soul. However, before he turned thirty, chose a suitable wife and went about begetting heirs, he wanted to do something for himself—see the world. Or at least the part that had made his family wealthy.

Caroline Sutcliffe had once loved deeply. She’d married quickly and her husband soon went off to war. But after receiving word of his death, and finding herself alone, she returned to her father and the Cape Good Hope to carve out a new life for herself and her daughter.

She had not expected to meet a handsome English Lord filled with duty and in possession of so little humor. Further, she could not understand why she was drawn to him. Yet, Caroline knew that she could love Sterling deeply and passionately, but she feared he was not capable of either.

Will Sterling find a way to open his heart and let go of his control or will he lose the one woman who could fill the emptiness within?

First book in a new series, a fairly typical sounding romance between a wounded hero and a widowed, single mother heroine who falls in love with him (against her better judgement).  Nothing terribly unusual here other than it's set in Cape Good Hope, South Africa!

Taciturn in the Ton by Emily Royal

A marriage of necessity…with a man who shuns her.

Despite being a duke’s sister, Olivia Whitcombe is shunned by Society due to one insurmountable flaw: her illegitimacy. Taunted by debutantes and rejected by suitors, her debut Season couldn’t get any worse—until she’s caught in a compromising position with a taciturn stranger.

To save the Whitcombe name, Olivia yields to her brother’s demands and finds herself transported to a neglected manor and forced to marry a silent, brooding earl with pain and anger in his eyes, who shuns her at every turn.

Charles Devereaux hasn’t spoken a word since witnessing his mother’s violent death as a child. On inheriting the earldom and a mountain of debts, he returns to Penham Park, his hated childhood home, and reluctantly enters the Marriage Mart. When a debutante of doubtful birth falls—literally—into his arms, Charles curses himself for being snared so easily.

But dark secrets and the specter of Death linger within the walls of Penham Park, and when Charles’s heart begins to soften toward his bride, it may be too late.

Book 9 (!) in the Misfits of the Ton series, features an illegitimate heroine "compromised" by a hero who suffers from selective mutism.  He's broody with the requisite neglected manor who thinks she orchestrated the whole thing, and used to being shunned she's trying to carry on. Then, naturally, the past comes roaring back to haunt them.

The Duke's Somerset Sins by Anne Knight, Colleen Kelly and Kay K Denner

This is your invitation to the Bastards’ Ball.

All of London knows the sixth Duke of Somerset for his sprawling wealth, stern demeanor, and the antics of his five (mostly) illegitimate children, known in ballrooms and gossip rags as the Somerset Sins.

But each of the Sins is soon in for a surprise. The duke is dying, and he has one demand for his children: marriage. If they can’t secure a spouse that meets his approval, he’ll find one for them with a glittering ball on Valentine’s Day.

Christened the Bastards’ Ball, the beaumonde will turn out in droves to watch one of the most powerful men in England play matchmaker for his unruly brood.

Except, much like their father, the Sins have their own schemes.

William - the duty-bound heir finds himself locked in a room with a beautiful, free-spirited woman he shouldn’t want but desperately does.

Alex - the charming rake hatches the perfect plan to wed the lovely flowerseller, and annul the marriage later.

Addy - the hellion likes all the things a duke’s daughter shouldn’t: gambling, wearing waistcoats, and a certain lovely proprietress of a gaming hell.

Sebastien - the independent industrialist will do anything to further his financial interests, even marry an intriguing older woman in exchange for a share in her family’s business.

Sophie - the darling of the family decides to break free and find her own adventure, alongside a gruff, working man with the eyes of a poet traveling the same direction.

Discover each Sin’s story in this steamy anthology of interconnected novellas. One family, five stories, a thousand ways to start a scandal.

Hey, so remember anthologies?! We have a new one, featuring six illegitimate children of a dying Duke determined to see his by-blows make good matches. The fly in the ointment? I mean, other than being the product of various affairs? They're all unspeakably unconventional in their own ways. 

The Halifax Hellions by Alexandra Vasti (Reprint)

From the day of their debut, when Matilda smoked a cheroot and Margo tied a cherry stem in a knot with her tongue, the Halifax twins have flouted convention at every turn. But when Matilda runs off with the dangerous Marquess of Ashford—who has every reason to hate her—she may have gone a bit too far.

Determined to stop Matilda’s inexplicable elopement, her sister Margo turns to her oldest friend for help: because if anyone can get her to Scotland in time, it’s starchy solicitor Henry Mortimer. But the road to Scotland is paved with secrets. Beneath his buttoned-up exterior, Henry is ardently, wildly, miserably in love with Margo. And Matilda and Ashford’s relationship too may not be quite what it seems.

Between salacious engravings, secret identities, and demanding feral cats, nothing about the journey goes as planned. With the Halifax Hellions at the reins, a week in a carriage is exactly enough time to turn the world upside down . . . and, perhaps, find the love stories they never expected.

Originally published in digital and audio as separate novellas, Vasti's Halifax Hellions are now together in a print edition with an newly added epilogue. One twin running off to marry a man who should hate her and another twin who gives chase with a "starchy solicitor." Vasti leans into romantic comedy and this sounds fun. 

To Sin With a Viking by Michelle Willingham (Reprint)

She holds him prisoner. But he’s about to claim her heart…

Caragh O’Brannon never expected to survive a Viking raid—let alone capture a warrior. Fierce, bound, and utterly dangerous, Styr Hardrata should be her enemy. Instead, he awakens forbidden desires she cannot deny.

Styr came to Ireland seeking trade, not a battle. But the fiery Irish maiden who holds him captive stirs a hunger more powerful than freedom itself. Though honor binds him to another, Styr harbors a secret that could change everything.

Caught between loyalty and longing, Caragh and Styr must choose—betray their hearts or surrender to a passion strong enough to defy fate.

Originally published by Harlequin Historical in 2013, this self-published reprint, first in a duet, features an already-married (!) hero whose arranged marriage is in the final death throes when he's taken captive by the literally-starving heroine. Oh, and Viking hero, story set in Ireland. God bless having 20+ years worth of blog archives, I read and reviewed this back in the day. The subject matter is very tricky, but Willingham does a great job with it, and the hero's wife gets her own romance in the second book, which is being reprinted in March.

Whew! And here we are, at the end. Seriously, I won't tell you how long it took me to draft this post. The least you could do to show your appreciation? Go forth, read a historical romance. Then tell all your friends about it.

#TBRChallenge 2026: The Pirate and His Lady

The Book: The Pirate and His Lady by Margaret St. George

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin American Romance #462, 1992, Out of print - including digital, reprinted 2002 as part of Harlequin's defunct Dreamscapes line - also out of print, including digital. If you want this book y'all, you're buying a used print copy.

What Was It In Wendy's TBR?: So for you young'uns running across this post, once upon a time there was an author named Maggie Osborne who wrote some dynamite historical westerns. Well, she also wrote category romance under the name Margaret St. George. I didn't make the same concerted effort to hunt down the St. George books as I did the Osborne titles, but I tend to pick them up when I stumble across them at library used book sales or charity shops. I'm not sure how long I've had this one though since it appears I failed to catalog it (yes, I have my print TBR cataloged - don't hate the player, hate the game). 

The Review: Back in 1992 there weren't monster romances featuring heroes with tentacles, nor Kindle Unlimited for that matter, to give readers their WTFBBQ fix, there was just category romance. Now this may seem like a sad and long ago bygone era, but let me assure you, Harlequin got a lot of mileage out of throwing wacky at the wall and sometimes you'd stumble across stories with plots you could only compare to a fever dream. Ladies and gents, I present to you The Pirate and His Lady - a time travel romance featuring an 18th century privateer who washes up on the shore of Key West and is rescued by a modern, 20th century heroine. Published in the Harlequin American Romance line. Dear God, what a time it was to be alive!

Elizabeth Rawley and her Uncle Cappy (seriously) run a salvage / treasure hunting business in Key West, Florida. Her and the guy she's about to break up with are getting ready to attend Cappy's annual "Pirate's Ball" costume party when she spies a ship battle from the beach and she knows it's a "reenactment" of the battle between The Black Cutter and the Madre Louisa. Elizabeth knows this because she and Cappy have been hoping to find the Madre Louisa, which sank shortly after she defeated the Black Cutter in battle so they can claim the riches that were on board. The problem? Instead of catching a clue where on the vast ocean floor the Madre Louisa is located, all Elizabeth has accomplished is an unhealthy obsession with Richard Colter, Captain of the Black Cutter.  She's deeply moved by the reenactment which is happening on the 200th anniversary of the battle - except there's one minor detail.  Her boyfriend that she's about to break up with? Doesn't see a thing. Did Elizabeth hallucinate the reenactment?

After returning from the party, and breaking it off with the dud, she heads down to the beach only to stumble across a man. That man? None other than Captain Richard Colter, wounded and likely suffering a concussion.  He suspects nothing is amiss other than having just lost his ship and crew, what with Elizabeth rescuing him while wearing period colonial clothing. However once he's inside her house? Well, witchcraft comes to mind.

What follows is the comedy of errors one would expect in a time travel romance with some icky gender expectations tossed in for good measure. Richard talks like a pirate and has definite notions on a woman's place in the world - so single Elizabeth living alone, unchaperoned, never married, I mean she's probably a whore right? And he's flabbergasted to discover she's in her late 20s and not 18. Then there's of course modern day small appliances like the coffee maker and toaster - never mind the bathroom. Honestly I've never been the ideal audience for time travel because I find these requisite scenes rather tedious, but I got some chuckles when, needing to distract him, Elizabeth turns on the television. Needless to say she slips out of the house unnoticed and when she returns? He's right there on the couch where she left him and he's amazed that "King Larry" will be interviewing "the Madonna" later that evening. I couldn't help it, I laughed.

I'll hand it to St. George, she really threw herself into the question "What would happen if you threw a man with 18th century sensibilities into the 20th century?" Unfortunately, it's icky. All I could think of is that certain segment of Romancelandia who decries historical romance heroes who happen to have one enlightened idea about a woman's place in the world wringing their hands and crying anachronism! Anachronism!!!!!! Seriously, they'd love this book. To put it bluntly, Richard is a bit of a Neanderthal. Not the most offensive of this ilk I've read over the years, but Alan Alda this guy ain't. (And if you get that reference, congratulations - you're officially old)

For a good portion of this book Richard is the sort of romance hero who bemoans that Elizabeth won't simply do as she's told and then is flabbergasted that he can't do much about it. "So it's true. 'E can't discipline a woman, even if she needs a strong hand." My hero 🤮

Unfortunately Elizabeth didn't pick up the slack for me. She dumps the guy she's seeing at the start of the book because the next step would be them taking the relationship to the next level (yes, sex) and while she has every indication he'd be a gentle and considerate lover, sometimes a woman just needs to be "taken." And yet, once Richard is in her life? She struggles with the push-pull factor to their relationship.

There was the rub. Elizabeth would fight like a tiger to be the dominant partner in any relationship. But in her heart, she couldn't respect a man who would let her dominate him. And she sure as hell didn't intend to allow any man to dominate her.

Why is Elizabeth like this? Daddy issues. It was the 1990s folks, you shouldn't need to ask.

These gender roles, how masculinity and femininity are defined, make up the bulk of the conflict in this book and, likely not seeing anyway around this, St. George then moves the conflict to Richard potentially returning to his own time, will Elizabeth go with him, Cappy needing to close the business because they're broke, and the potential possible discovery of Richard's sunken ship which was carrying a boatload of gold - not the Madre Louisa. Unfortunately even as she moves off of it, it's still there. Lurking between the lines, bleeding into the margins. 

Where does that leave us? Well, even taking into account this was published in 1992, I found the gender dynamics and "expectations" pretty gross for most of this story. On the other hand? St. George slathers on the angst in the last third and how the time travel aspect is resolved and the discovery of Richard's sunken ship made those chapters sail (ha!) by for me. 

Would I recommend this? I mean, maybe if you were interested in gender and power dynamics in early 1990s romance, but trust me - you'd be better served to pick up a Maggie Osborne western if you're looking for unconventional, strong yet vulnerable heroines and the men who lose their hearts to them. If there's a Grossness Scale to be applied to vintage romance, this is 1990s Gross as opposed to Bodice Ripper Era Gross - but all of it's not great, we're just talking varying degrees. Very much a product of it's time.

Final Grade = C-

Reminder: #TBRChallenge Day is February 18

It's now February and I'm still not reading, although I seem to have fallen into a re-listening groove with audiobooks, so maybe that's a step in the right direction?  Well I better get it together because our next TBR Challenge is set for February 18. This month's optional theme is Vintage.

A perennial favorite that consistently shows up in annual theme poll responses, vintage can mean anything from Old School to a genre classic you might have buried in your TBR.  Or maybe it can just mean a main character who likes vintage clothing - creativity with the monthly suggested themes is highly encouraged.

However if the idea of sticking to a theme is more than you can deal with right now (and really, can't blame you), remember that these themes are always optional.  The goal of the TBR Challenge has always been read something, anything, that has been languishing in your pile of unread books.

It's never too late to sign up for the Challenge.  You can learn more about it, and see a list of who is participating, over at the #TBRChallenge 2026 information page.

Little Miss Crabby Pants Pours One Out: RIP Harlequin Historical

Y'all it's a dire timeline we currently find ourselves in and it's spilling over into Romancelandia. Word got out this week that Harlequin is killing the Harlequin Historical line. I follow longtime HH writers Terri Brisbin and Amanda McCabe on Facebook and they both posted the news - so that's good enough for me when it comes verify your sources.   Terri's post has the most thorough information so I'll embed that below: 

There have been rumors that Harlequin was going to kill the Historical for over a decade now, with things ramping up to a fever pitch when Harlequin was acquired by Harpercollins in 2014. Surely with the juggernaut that was Avon, Harpercollins would jettison Harlequin Historical. I mean why put up with red-headed stepchild HH when you got Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas and Eloisa James?  Fast forward to 2026 and Avon has thrown all their weight behind contemporary romance with cartoon covers and the only historical on my radar is the upcoming Julie Anne Long, coming in June 2026 (with an illustrated cover, natch). Harlequin Historical hung on a lot longer than I think anyone gave them credit for, even as Harlequin bungled their way through the marketing of that line (legit, there was a stretch where they stopped distributing HH to physical retail spaces - like, you could not find an HH in a bookstore!)

I've been out in these Harlequin streets a long time but it's getting hard to love them. Look, I understand the economics of the situation. Inflation and rising costs - not to mention the economics of big box stores and our Evil Overlords at Amazon - have killed the mass market paperback format. Then you look at the fact that romance readers were the first to truly embrace digital reading, in droves, which I think also helped hasten the demise of mass market but also caught the industry by "surprise" and, having learned nothing from the music industry, they bungled their way through the transition to digital - which, honestly, they're still bungling. Digital gave rise to self-publishing, which gave rise to "cheaper books," which larger conglomerate publishers just cannot compete with because of overhead costs. A romance reader buying retail (and reading 100+ books every year) was going to take a flier on a 99 cent book, even if that traditional publisher priced their digital formats at a reasonable price point (and many of them didn't - how many times have we seen ebook editions that are more expensive than the print?).  Compounding this? Publishers dug in their heels with libraries when it came to digital lending. Early on this wasn't an issue with Harlequin, who were REALLY friendly with library digital buying and borrowing until they were sold to Harpercollins (hello, metered access), but it's another reason why we're in the boat we're in folks. 

All of these economic factors, plus shifting reader tastes, has led to Harlequin jettisoning several lines. I'm still pissed about SuperRomance y'all. However, it was when they killed the Desire and Love Inspired Historical lines that I knew things were about to get real - and here we are. In a genre chasing TikTok popularity, the days of going into a bookstore and walking to the register to buy a category romance, a historical, an erotic romance, a contemporary romcom, and a gritty paranormal romance are fading fast. If it's not a romantasy or a women's fiction novel masquerading as a contemporary romance publishers just have no frickin' clue what to do with it. The days of being able to read a back cover blurb and look at the cover art to determine what you were actually buying or reading are long gone. All the packaging looks the same now to the point you could stack the books face out against a wall and basically get something resembling a wallpaper pattern. 

Am I old and cranky? Yes. But it's my blog and I can crank all I want.

It's hard to stress what Harlequin Historical brought to Romancelandia but I've been single-handedly trying to remind y'all for years now. When Regency England wallpaper took over, you could still find some variety and history with Harlequin. They were the last historical publisher to abandon westerns (albeit they too eventually did), you could routinely find medievals there along with Vikings.  Oh sure, they had Regencies, but they also had Victorians that read like actual Victorian era settings and not Regency 2.0: The Revenge. And then they'd slip in some off-the-beaten path gems, like Jeannie Lin's Tang Dynasty books or Michelle Styles' stories set in Ancient Rome. 

I realize we have many more books to come until the line shuts down in 2027, and the backlist will live on for a long time (although backlist also has a shelf life...) but I'm vacillating between sadness and pure rage that this moment has come. I'm mad publishers keep fumbling their business so poorly. I'm mad at the state of the world we live in where nobody can or even wants to read a book anymore. I'm mad at the state of my chosen profession for continuing to stress that Libraries Are More Than Books while the world burns down all around us because NOBODY IS READING BOOKS ANYMORE AND WHY AREN'T WE ADDRESSING THAT AS A PROFESSION?! I'm mad at everyone who felt abandoned by historical romance and stopped reading it even though I understand why you feel that way.  In general I'm just cranky and mad about all of it right now, even as my TBR can be seen from space.

So, what to do in the meantime? I need to spend more time focusing on my own Harlequin Historical pile and sharing that love. I also hope that you all go out and pick up an HH title that tickles your fancy - then talk it up to where ever it is you may talk books. 

When I was a wee baby romance reader I remember how frustrated I would get with Old Lady Romance Readers lamenting the demise of the genre because of erotic romance, and now, as they say, the shoe just may be on the other foot.  For I am lamenting the demise of the genre thanks to TikTok, publishers not knowing what the hell they're doing, and a world that has rendered most of us incapable of doing much outside of trudging through our daily existence hoping to keep our heads above water even as we all feel like slipping under.  Books can be a life preserver in a lot of ways, but the market is narrowing and shrinking, at least in traditional publishing spaces, and it doesn't instill much hope. Can self-publishing save us? With so much of it grossly dependent on Amazon? Doubts, I have them. 

Edited to add: Many thanks to Eurohackie for providing the link to the official Harlequin announcement. Also, they're reducing the number of Presents they publish every month which HOLY SH*T YOU GUYS!