As I started working on this month's unusual historicals column I had to remind myself that November and December tend to be the dog days for publishing - and historical romance is no different. I was beginning to wonder if I'd have more than two titles to feature, and then - just like manna from heaven - Amazon's algorithm (and authors who had rights revert back to them) gifted me, and you fair reader, with a robust list. Here's what caught my eye landing in November 2021:
Forced to wed the warrior
Falling for the man…
Noblewoman Amée Évreux had pledged her life to God, until her father promised her in marriage to thundering Norseman Jorund Jötunnson. After escaping her overbearing father, Amée vows never to fall under another man’s thumb, but her resistance to being Jorund’s wife turns to desire as she gets to know her intriguing new husband. For beneath his fierce exterior she’s glimpsed an unexpectedly pure heart. If only she can penetrate the fortress that surrounds it…
Am I a hypocrite? Yes I am. But hey, at least I own it. There's a certain segment of Romancelandia that gets gross over Taboo Priest Heroes and while I will gamely admit I have enjoyed the VERY occasional Priest Hero Romance, they are the exception over the rule in my case. They're too problematic for me in a post-Catholic sex abuse cover-up world. But a nun heroine? When was the last time we saw that? Also, nun heroines set in this time period (Vikings Ahoy!) is going to read differently in a historical context than, say, a 21st century nun. So yes, I'm a hypocrite and I plan on reading the hell out of this.
Two best friends torn apart by war. Could the re-enactment of four Christmas dinners create a love worth fighting for?
Lord Rafe Stanmore didn’t just lose his leg in the war; he lost his charming outlook and all his athletic prowess. His best friend, James St. George, brought him through the worst times with his cheerful letters. Rafe can’t bear to face James now he’s so altered, but to placate his sister he agrees to a quick visit. His secret longing for James and the nightly re-lived trauma of the war should be able to stay hidden for a few days.
During the war, James tried to declare his love for Rafe with careful words and extravagant gifts, and never had any indication of his affection being reciprocated. How could gorgeous, athletic, and aristocratic Rafe be interested in polio scarred James? But when Rafe arrives at the farm unexpectedly, James can’t resist giving him all the Christmases he missed. It’s his last chance to show Rafe exactly how he feels.
Four Christmases to reveal a passion that can’t be denied. One last chance to admit the love they’ve been hiding all along.
Vicar Pietr Sorenson is preparing to endure--enjoy, rather--another solitary, frigid holiday season at the edge of the Yorkshire moors, when Miss Joy Danforth's coach lurches to a halt across the village green. Joy and her brother have nowhere to wait out the impending bout of nasty weather, while the vicarage is even emptier than usual.
The lady is on her way to charm a titled nitwit into offering her marriage, lest her family face financial ruin. Pietr has accepted a prestigious post closer to civilization, though he hasn't quite found a way to tell his congregation he's leaving early in the New Year. Will Pietr and Joy steal some holiday comfort beneath the mistletoe, or find the love of a lifetime on a bleak mid-winter night?
This self-published holiday romance is tied to Burrowes' Grand Central published Rogues to Riches series and while the heroine's plight is fairly common in historical romance (marrying to save the family from financial ruin), vicar heroes are a favorite in Romancelandia and not terribly thick on the ground. Added bonus of the bad weather / cabin romance trope and I'm all in.
Nothing in common
Except an intoxicating attraction!
Sharing a steamy kiss with Anne Peverett at a Christmas ball is utterly out of character for Dr. Lord Ferris Tresham. He’s far too busy treating London’s poor to court anyone. Until Anne is revealed as the herbalist who’s been treating his patients with her homemade remedies! If they unite forces, will Anne be a bigger threat to his practice…or his closed-off heart?
Oh sure, the hero is a Lord but he's also a doctor and our heroine (note the no Lady title...) is an herbalist. What we have here ladies and gents is a medical romance set in Victorian London. It's also the first book in Scott's Peveretts of Haberstock Hall series.
The Maiden Bride by Linda Needham (Reprint)
MARRIED BY PROXY
With the world in chaos in the aftermath of the Black Death, the widowed Lady Eleanor arrives at her husband's tattered and deserted castle, determined to make a home for the trio of orphans she has adopted on her journey, as well as for any other straggler who needs to start their lives afresh. As she explores the battered keep, a huge shadow overtakes her in the darkness--a gargoyle made flesh, commanding her to leave or pay the consequences. Unaware that the beast is the ruthless, black-hearted war lord whom she married by proxy before the Great Pestilence, but had never met, Eleanor steels her courage, claims her legal dower rights to the castle as the widow of William Bayard, the late lord of Faulkhurst, and demands that he either stay and help her restore that castle, or leave immediately.
WIDOWED IN HASTE
Nicholas Bayard is stunned to discover the virginal bride he thought had perished in the plague is very much alive, and more beautiful than he could ever have imagined. Not that he could allow such a thought to matter. Believing himself cursed by God and damned for his life of war and infamy, he conceals his true identity from his wife and reluctantly agrees to help restore the castle–one final penance for his sins, and then he will leave the world for a solitary, monastic life.
Yet Eleanor is a constant temptation, her hope and determination nearly impossible to resist. Her generous heart and joy in life is as intoxicating to Nicholas as her belief in miracles, and he soon finds himself burning for the woman he cannot have, for the love he doesn't deserve.
But when Eleanor follows the clues that lead to Nicholas's true identity, she falls in love with the remarkable and selfless man her husband has become, and proves to him that love is the greatest miracle of all.
Roselyn Harrington ran from her arranged wedding to Spencer Thornton and into the arms of a man she thought loved her. Years later, when a wounded Thornton washes ashore on her island, his presence threatens her in more ways than one.
Spencer lies helpless, knowing that a Spanish spy plans to accuse him of treason—or kill him. He must return to London, but how can he leave, when his anger over Roselyn's betrayal is rapidly becoming passion?
Originally published as His Betrothed by Avon in 2001 what we have here is an honest-to-goodness Elizabethan set historical romance. How Elizabethan? Well for starters our hero is a spy for Queen Elizabeth who washes ashore, injured, from the Spanish Armada. The only thing that could make this more Elizabethan is if he was carousing with Will Shakespeare. Anyway, this is the first of Callen's Brides trilogy and all three books were republished this month - so if you like this one? You can quickly score the next two.
What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to reading?
3 comments:
On the priest hero v (medieval) nun heroine: I'll be a hypocrite right next to you. I have never been able to read a Catholic priest as a hero, partly because of I was raised in a majorly Catholic country, in a fairly devoted environment, and partly because I was very young indeed when I first became aware of Catholic priests's sexual abuse at all levels. On the other hand, many women became nuns to escape poverty or violence, so.
(Of course, no idea how the heroine in this book decides to become a nun, so that may color my feelings if and when I read it)
Also, very much want to read "The Maiden Bride"
AL: Thank you - yes, that's what I was trying to articulate re: women looking to escape poverty/violene/etc. but words haven't been coming easily...well, for awhile now. Sigh.
The Maiden Bride looks so good! I can easily lay my hands on an audio edition thanks to work, so I may go that route. I feel like I might be ready to change things up a bit - I've been on mystery relistening jag for a while now.
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