Small But Mighty: Unusual Historicals for July 2022

As I whined about mentioned in last month's Unusual Historical post, June and July are busiest months for me at The Day Job.  Here's the good news: I closed out the books on fiscal year 2021/2022 and managed to get the incoming budget for fiscal year 2022/2023 allocated!  The bad news? Staffing shortages and being spread too thin = Wendy is a hot mess. Which means all y'all are seeing the Unusual Historicals post for July releases during the last week of the month. Yo, it is what it is. Which can also be applied to the number of titles. Kind of slim this month, but here are the ones that caught my eye!

The Return of the Duke by Lorraine Heath 

When his father, the Duke of Wolfford, is hanged for an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria, Marcus Stanwick is stripped of everything. Vowing to return honor to his family, he seeks to expose the others involved in the treasonous plot and bring them to justice. His search forces him to turn to a woman he despises for her unforgiveable betrayal—a woman known as the heartless harlot. 

Harboring secrets, Esme Lancaster has her own reasons for wanting to discover who’s behind the conspiracy that’s still afoot. She doesn’t trust Marcus but can’t deny the handsome devil makes her wonder if she does indeed possess a heart, one he could very easily steal. 

 As their hunt for the truth leads them into danger, Marcus finds Esme isn’t cold and calculating as he’d assumed but fire and brimstone, with courage and determination to match his own. Soon, they’re unable to deny their growing desire for each other. But giving into temptation comes at a cost, and they must decide if love is worth the risk of losing their one chance for redemption.

So, general rule - I tend to skip over 99% of all historical romances with Duke in the title but every once in a while one comes along that's just different enough for me to take notice. The hero's reputation is in ruins because Dear Old Dad was hanged after an assassination attempt of Queen Victoria! And to restore honor to the family name? Yeah, he has to team up with Dear Old Dad's mistress, who because this is a romance novel, turns out to be...um, complicated.  This is the third book in a trilogy, generally what readers have come to expect to be "The Payoff Book" and this may be where I hop on the series train.  Because, you know, the hero's father tried to assassinate the Queen!!!

The Defiant Maiden's Knight by Melissa Oliver 

A tense, dramatic medieval love story. 

A knight’s protection… 

That she doesn’t want…or need? 

Joan Lovent may be losing her sight but she refuses to lose her independence too. So when Sir Warin de Talmont tells her it’s too perilous to be out alone in the city, she doesn’t pay him any heed. But with threats surrounding them, she begins to value his protection and helps with his dangerous work in return. If only the powerful connection between them wasn’t so impossible to ignore!

This book kicks off Oliver's new Protectors of the Crown series, which is set in the early days of Henry III's reign and follows a trio of knights protecting the Crown from a mysterious group bent on treason, destruction and all-around shenanigans. A heroine losing her sight, determined to maintain her independence, finds herself leaning on the hero for protection. The back cover blurb offers hints of a "team work" storyline and I love me stories that feature hero and heroine working together towards some larger goal.

The Shopgirl's Forbidden Love by Jenni Fletcher 

From forbidden love 

To forever? 

Belles Biscuit Shop is more like a home than a place of work for Nancy MacQueen. The shared attraction between her and James Redbourne, the handsome owner of a nearby store, has been simmering for years, but she’s refused to trust his feelings for her. After all, they’re not remotely in the same social class. Until one day Nancy can no longer deny her love—only to find he’s become engaged to someone else!

Every month I search for Unusual Historicals and I still have a tendency to miss titles. Case in point, this is the fourth and final (!) book in Fletcher's Regency Belles of Bath series and the third one to feature a shopgirl heroine! Oof!  Anyway, this is the final book in the series, hence another "Payoff Book."  According to the author's website, this romance spans an eight year period starting with events prior to the first book in the series, and picking up where book three left off.  Which means just as the heroine is waking up to smell the coffee? It might already be too late.  Another series discovered, another series to catch up on.

What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to reading?