Run Wendy Run: Incoming Unusual Historicals for June 2022

When I was a wee baby Super Librarian wannabe, June was always one of my favorite months on the calendar - namely because I was getting out of school for a couple of months and I could carry myself off to the local library to read whatever the heck I wanted (no assigned reading?! SIGN. ME. UP.)  So the irony isn't lost on me that June and July now signify the busiest, generally most dreaded months of my working life. Close out the out-going fiscal year, get everything ready for the incoming fiscal year. Every year I welcome in summertime slightly unhinged and hit early August completely drained. My respite? I mean, besides wine and chocolate? New Unusual Historical romances of course! Here's what's landing in June that caught my eye:

 

The Viking She Would Have Married by Lucy Morris

In close quarters… 

With the Viking she’d loved and lost 

AShieldmaiden Sisters story - with her family fallen on hard times, Valda’s forced to join the crew on Halfdan Ulfsson’s merchant ship as he sets sail on the treacherous silk route. But this handsome jarl’s son is the man she’d planned to wed, until his bitter betrayal. Knowing she can never trust him, she must focus on saving her sisters…and not the intense connection that still burns between them!

If this were the Billboard Top 100, this book would be my number one with a bullet for June. First, give me ALL the Sheldmaidens! Second, Valda was a secondary character in A Nun for the Viking Warrior which I read earlier this year. Valda was the hero's BFF in that book, the hero who saw her like a sister and naturally her feelings for him ran a little deeper. But instead of being a villainess, Valda was more practical about love - which is to say she saw the writing on the wall.  I'm really looking forward to this book and should have a copy in my hot little hands very soon.

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

Marian Hayes, the Duchess of Clare, just shot her husband. Of course, the evil, murderous man deserved what was coming to him, but now she must flee to the countryside. Unfortunately, the only person she can ask for help is the charismatic criminal who is blackmailing her—and who she may have left tied up a few hours before… 

A highwayman, con artist, and all-around cheerful villain, Rob Brooks is no stranger to the wrong side of the law or the right side of anybody’s bed. He never meant to fall for the woman whose secrets he promised to keep for the low price of five hundred pounds, but how could he resist someone who led him on a merry chase all over London, left him tied up in a seedy inn, and then arrived covered in her husband’s blood and in desperate need of his help? 

As they flee across the country—stopping to pick pockets, drink to excess, and rescue invalid cats—they discover more true joy and peace than either has felt in ages. But when the truth of Rob’s past catches up to him, they must decide if they are willing to reshape their lives in order to forge a future together.

We have Georgian London, a Duchess turned criminal and a highwayman, con artist who sounds too slick by half. I am here for the rogue with a heart of gold and this one sounds fun.

The Welsh Lord's Convenient Bride by Lissa Morgan 

A wedding between enemies

A marriage to heal their scars 

 Hiding a disfigurement, Eleanor de Vraille is already lacking confidence when she arrives at her future husband’s cheerless Welsh castle. And Rhun ab Owain’s open disapproval of her does nothing to make her feel at ease. Their union is to seal peace between their families, nothing more. But Eleanor’s heart rebels—is she a fool to hope for any affection from this strong-willed nobleman with the dark glittering eyes?

An enemies-to-lovers romance set in 13th century Wales featuring a scarred heroine.  This is Morgan's debut novel, the 12th manuscript she completed, and (wait for it...) the first historical.  Prior to getting the call for this book she had been consistently submitting contemporaries to Mills & Boon before a meeting with an editor suggested she try her hand at a historical.  This book was the result.

Guarding Jessica by Kate Bridges (Kindle Unlimited)

In this enemies to lovers romance, Jessica and a daunting Mountie are forced to travel together on a perilous secret mission. 

Jessica Haven desperately needs Mountie Travis Reid to escort her across the Rocky Mountains in secret search for the baby she’s lost. No one else believes her story, and the cold-hearted Mountie who doesn’t think much of her is her last hope. 

Travis knows Jessica as the mayor’s spoiled daughter. Travis is already on a deeply personal journey to deliver extraordinary horses to the other side of the Rockies. He doesn’t want to spend his days—and heated nights—on the trail with a woman he dislikes. Yet when Jessica discloses her tender story, it rings an emotional truth inside of him in a place he thought was long buried. She displays courage, grit and sensuality. While their risky path narrows and intimacy deepens, can Travis and Jessica lower their defenses to trust each other?

This is a reprint of The Proposition, which was originally published by Harlequin Historical in 2004. While it's the first book in what was the Reid Brothers trilogy back then - Bridges wrote several Canadian-set stories for Harlequin featuring Mountie heroes, and has been self-publishing them under a rebranded Mountie Brides umbrella.  This is one I haven't read, but I've enjoyed other books by Bridges and mama needs more historical westerns y'all.

What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to this month?