Marina Fletcher’s Rules:
Rule 1: Spend life composing music in peace. Do not worry about finding a husband.Rule 2: If must worry about finding a husband, marry for love only or commit to becoming a spinster.Rule 3: Resist urge to spend time with the sinfully sexy Duke of Framlingham, who clearly does not believe in love.Rule 4: Never ever say yes to said duke’s wicked plan for us to silence society’s expectations with a fake engagement…But what happens when this wallflower breaks every single rule?
Morris takes a break from the Vikings she's known for for a new Regency era stand-alone featuring a wallflower music composer heroine who finds herself saddled with a fake engagement - as you do. I've enjoyed several of Morris's Viking romances so I'm intrigued by this one.
Duty, desire, and deception reside under one roof.Standing in the remote windswept moors of Northern England, Coldwell Hall is the perfect place to hide. For the past five years, Kate Furniss has maintained her professional mask so carefully that she almost believes she is the character she has created: Coldwell’s respectable housekeeper.It is the summer of 1911 that brings new faces above and below the stairs of Coldwell Hall—including the handsome and mysterious new footman, Jem Arden. Just as the house’s shuttered rooms open, so does Kate’s guarded heart to a love affair that is as intense as it is forbidden. But Kate can feel her control slipping as Jem harbors secrets of his own.Told in alternating timelines from the last sun-drenched summer of the Edwardian Age to the mud-filled trenches of WWI, The Housekeeper's Secret opens its door to a world of romance, the truths we hold onto, and the past we must let go.
A below-stairs romance set in the early 20th century featuring a heroine and hero both with secrets and a heaping dose of Gothic vibes. Yes please.
As a founding member of King & Co., London’s most successful private investigation firm, studious Eleanor Law delights in secretly proving that women can solve crimes just as well as men. When a charming con man pretends to be her fictional boss, "Charles King," Ellie knows he’s lying, but accepting the scoundrel’s offer of help might just be the key to cracking her new case and recovering a priceless manuscript.“Henri Bonheur”—or “Harry” as he asks to be called—claims his criminal past is behind him, but a man who steals and seduces with such consummate ease can never be trusted. As the investigation draws them deeper into danger and desire, Ellie’s infuriated to realize she’s developed feelings for her law-breaking accomplice. How can she love the scoundrel when she doesn’t even know his real name? And what will happen when Harry’s past finally catches up with him?
A heroine who runs a private investigation firm meets her "boss," and despite knowing he's lying through his teeth partners with him to solve her latest case. She just forgot the first rule: do not fall in love with a con man.
Proper eastern lady Mary Catherine Templeton is on the verge of being destitute when she inherits a saloon out west. She’s determined to take her bachelor’s degree and make a success of the struggling liquor joint, even after her innocent sensibilities are shocked to discover its other sinful commodity.All burnt-out bounty hunter Blaaze Lassiter wants is to retire in a quiet, uneventful town, catch up on his reading, and try a little whittling. He thought he'd found the perfect place to abandon his live-by-the-gun ways. But ever since that she-devil changed the rules for the amenities in her establishment, the townsmen have started a ruckus detrimental to his peaceful existence.When the backlash against Mary Catherine becomes life-threatening, Blaaze feels duty-bound to strap on his guns again to protect the woman who’s got his blood riled in more ways than one. And once he puts down this insurrection, he’s gonna take up a new leisure activity—one that involves giving the prissy college graduate a whole different kind of education.
I'm not going to lie, Blaaze spelled with two a's makes my eyes roll, but IT'S A WESTERN! In references readers of a certain age will probably only get, the author is tagging this one as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas meets Shane and honestly this could be a lot of fun.
She’s running from the past…Am I the key to her future?As a private investigator to the rich, it’s my job to be impartial, but returning to moody Edinburgh—the city where I made my name—to locate Marianne Crawford unsettles me. And when I meet the beguiling governess in question, I’m inexplicably drawn to her…Marianne Crawford is a survivor. She’s lived through experiences designed to destroy her. But I’m here to reveal her true identity, not to fall under her spell. I’ve never been afraid of secrets, but once I uncover this one, I’m afraid I won’t be able to walk away…
Kaye is back with a stand-alone Gothic set in Edinburgh and I am here for it! Our heroine has escaped an asylum and is hiding in plain sight as a governess. Our hero is a former policeman turned private investigator.
Berlin 1961: When Uli Neumann proposes to Lise Bauer, she has every reason to accept. He offers her love, respect, and a life beyond the strict bounds of the East German society in which she was raised — which she longs to leave more than anything. But only two short days after their engagement, Lise and Uli are torn violently apart when barbed wire is rolled across Berlin, splitting the city into two hostile halves: capitalist West Berlin, an island of western influence isolated far beyond the iron curtain; and the socialist East, a country determined to control its citizens by any means necessary.Soon, Uli and his friends in West Berlin hatch a plan to get Lise and her unborn child out of East Germany, but as distance and suspicion bleed into their lives and as weeks turn to months, how long can true love survive in the divided city?
How's this for high stakes conflict? You fall in love, you get engaged and two days later the Soviets are rolling barbed wire across Berlin separating you from your fiancé. After a dearth of World War II era historical fiction with romantic elements, this sounds positively fresh.
After the scandal of his broken engagement, Nathan Dunbridge accepted his fate as a bachelor—so of course that’s when the most ineligible woman of all turns up in disguise at a society event: Verity Cole, former spy and Stonecliffe’s resident troublemaker… a woman Nathan finds equal parts alluring and irritating.Living in London under an assumed name, Verity runs an investigation agency. So when a stranger shows up claiming to be the rightful Dunbridge heir, Nathan turns to Verity to help him uncover the truth. Verity agrees, always eager to unravel a mystery—especially when it involves the handsome Nathan Dunbridge.As Nathan’s family secrets threaten everything he’s known, he finds Verity is the only person he wants to confide in. But Verity has secrets too—secrets that make it impossible to be with a proper gentleman like Nathan. And when an enemy from her past appears, will Nathan and Verity be able to hold on to their impossible love, or will they be torn apart?
The final book in Camp's Stonecliffe trilogy features a former spy heroine now running an investigative agency, a hero contending with a man claiming to be his family's rightful heir, and a heaping helping of secrets coming from both sides. Oh, and our heroine and hero share a past, because what's a romance novel without some complications?
His vow?To protect her!After dressmaker Aura Soriana’s father passes away, her home and livelihood are left on the line. With only herself to count on, she’s cautious when she meets handsome Eduardo Martinez, heir to a shipping empire, and has no time for his easygoing attitude and showy gestures!When Eduardo discovers Aura’s home has been broken into, and the dangerous men pursuing her are linked to his family, the only way to keep her safe is to claim she’s his fiancée! Yet if independent Aura’s to meet him at the altar, Eduardo must face his past and show her she can rely on him…
San Andres' fourth book in her Caribbean Courtships series is set in 1910 Dominican Republic and features a dressmaker heroine in uncertain waters after her father's death, a shipping heir hero and a fake engagement.
Dorian Whitaker, Duke of Holland, needs an heir after his so-called “fairytale marriage” ended in disaster. When the intriguing bookseller he’s hired to liquidate his late wife’s library finds love letters revealing an affair, he is drawn into a mystery alongside a lady whose sharp intellect dazzles him and dares him to imagine a new adventure outside the gilded cage of the Ton.If anyone found out Caroline Danvers writes erotic novels under a pen name, she’d face utter ruin. Except her latest hero inspiration is none other than the Duke of Holland—a man with the power to destroy her family’s bookshop. And yet the real man proves to be so much more than the character she created. Even as they expose the dark secrets of his past, she knows he can never discover her own. But the more time they spend together, the more tempting it is to rewrite their ending and turn fantasy into reality.
Yes, the first book in the Bluestocking Booksellers series does feature a Duke hero but a BLUSTOCKING BOOKSELLER! Ahem. To complicate matters the heroine is the secret writer of erotic novels and oopsie doodle, the hero was her latest "inspiration."
From one scandalStraight into the arms of another!Felicity Morgan has written a lurid gothic novel and all of London is clamoring for the sequel! But her mortified family have sent her to the countryside in disgrace! Felicity is relieved to be free of her parents’ relentless matchmaking—until she learns her host has a marquess in mind for her…Reclusive widower Martin Howell, Marquess of Woodley, has no interest in entertaining rebellious Felicity, but she is bringing lightness to his gloomy estate…and his brooding heart. They bond over their determination to remain unwed…until a kiss brings them to the brink of another scandal!
Another heroine who has secretly written a gothic novel except, well, she gets found out and naturally her family is less than thrilled. Hustled off to the country to lay low, she's more than happy to escape any more attempts at matchmaking. She just didn't exactly plan on meeting our hero, a widower determined to remain unwed.
When Their Deepest Secrets Come to Light…Devlin Raines, Duke of Dartmoor, has worked hard to put his father’s sins and his life as a former mercenary into the past. He’s saved the family’s reputation, kept his mother and sisters safe, and is on the verge of a respectable—if loveless—marriage. His future seems on track—until a mysterious, beautiful woman inverts his world…a woman who can only be a ghost.Only the Darkness Can Save ThemPeyton Chandler is dead to the world. When assassins attacked her family’s carriage ten years ago, killing her parents and attacking her, she faked her own death to stay alive. But now she’s returned to London to seek revenge against the man she believes was responsible…Devlin Raines. Only the more time she spends with him, the more everything she thought was true falls apart. And before she knows it, her only safe path to finding answers depends upon her ability to trust the one man she swore to destroy.
A Duke who just so happens to be a former mercenary (because, of course) is ready to settle into a dull life of respectability when a woman, returned from the dead, shows up seeking revenge. I mean, if it's not one thing it's another AMIRITE?!
He broke her heart years ago. Now she desperately needs his help...When her escort party is ambushed, Lady Margaret Keith is desperate to rescue her young charge, the Scottish king’s daughter, and find a stolen seeing-stone. An archery contest offers the opportunity she needs. Dressed as a lad, she accidentally wounds a lord, escapes into the forest, and is caught by the local justiciar—the man who left her heartbroken years ago.After years in English custody, Sir Duncan Campbell is now a Scottish judge. Recognizing Margaret despite her disguise, aware she knows he unlawfully hides the English king’s gyrfalcon, he spirits her away to his Highland castle. There she reveals an unbelievable tale of a missing princess and a faery stone and begs his help. Even as passion rekindles between them, forgiveness is elusive.Yet when danger erupts, they must trust each other—and gamble that love will mend past hurts and save the future…
This is the second book in King's Highland Secrets series and, from what I can tell, a new release and not a reprint. The heroine's quest for a stolen seeing-stone lands her in hot water and into the arms of our hero, now a Scottish judge with sticky ties to the English.
Will a double masquerade…Reveal their one true love?Running away from a forced betrothal, daring actress Hope Sloane is lost and injured when she’s rescued by dashing gentleman Samuel Liddell. As she’s given the best guest chamber at Hayton Hall, it’s clear the baronet thinks she’s a society lady! To avoid being found out, she employs all her acting skills to become a grand heiress…Only, second son Samuel is not a baronet, either! But to make Hope feel safe, he goes along with her assumption. Hidden away together, the affection between them deepens, until unexpected guests arrive, and his lie threatens to backfire spectacularly!
A runaway actress has to pretend to be a society lady to ensure her safety only to be rescued by a second son pretending to be a baronet. This appears to be, at least, a duet - the first book also taking place at Hayton Hall and featuring a hero who actually IS the baronet.
Passion thrives in the midst of vengeance.The perilous streets of the Palais Royal have hardened Nicolas Lefevre. Orphaned during the Revolution, scarred by years spent in a violent gang, he is now determined to strike his own path training others in savate, the hand-to-hand combat that allowed him to survive. But to open a legitimate gymnasium, he must avoid the escalating conflicts of Paris’s criminal underworld. A beautiful thief who turns to him for help threatens to plunge him back into the life he vowed to leave behind.The family fortunes squandered by her wastrel brother, Violet de la Roque resorts to picking pockets for the city’s most notorious crime lord. At least until her employer decides she would make him more profit on her back, a fate she is desperate to avoid. She believes Nicolas might give her a fighting chance, but secret savate lessons soon turn into a deeper connection.
The third book in the author's Bleu Blanc Rouge trilogy features a hero who teaches savate (!) a pickpocket heroine under the thumb of a notorious crime lord who the hero only narrowly escaped himself. AztecLady gave this one a qualified recommendation and I really need to dig into this entire trilogy.
Long ago, Reynard Norwood loved deeply, but the lady died, and he vowed never to love again. On a mission for the Empress Matilda, he finds a lady worthy of love. She is barely surviving. How can he leave her? But how can he break his vow to the dead? Torn between loyalty to a ghost and following his heart, he must still make certain that the living lady is safe and secure.The life of Lady Elysande Thorburn of Blackmore has been in turmoil since King Stephen and his men laid siege to her home. With few resources, she must care for an ailing grandfather and meet her responsibilities to those loyal to the household. Her options for survival are running out. One of Empress Matilda’s knights arrives at her weakest moment. He’s determined she must leave with him, but she’s just as determined to stay.
Ewing wraps up her Knights of Anarchy trilogy with this final book, featuring a "I'll never love again!" hero who does, indeed, fall in love again with our heroine barely surveying after a siege on her home.
Whew! Another bounty of possibilities this month just in case you feel like you're not buried enough under your TBR. What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to?
6 comments:
I already have several of these in the insurmountable TBR--because of course we do--but I never fail to find more I want to read. ::shakes fist at Wendy::
Case in point: how had I not heard of the Rayne at all? GIMME! (I'll have to pretend the name thing was a typo in the blurb, because otherwise it'll bring on Black Dagger Brotherhood flashbacks)
AL: The Rayne has really been flying under the radar IMHO. I only learned about it by happenstance, stumbling across it on who-can-remember-which-one-now social media site.
I read the sample and, despite a few quibbles with the writing (I'm such a language snob!), it's on the list. I feel it's a bit high on the price scale for a new-to-me author, but her previous historical has a fairly high rating on the zon, so it's now on my radar.
Also: I just realized this is the second Unusual Historicals post this year with fifteen titles. Woot woot!
I definitely scooped up the Kaye and Merrill titles, and was seriously tempted by the other HHs. I have a couple of The Lydia San Andres books on Mount TBR that I need to read before committing to buying more (always the conundrum, LOL). HQN certainly has some interesting stuff coming out! It's also wonderful to see them in brick-and-mortar stores again.
Yes, it's been great to see HH back in brick and mortar stores again! The Kaye is my next read and I need to double-check my digital TBR, I'm not sure if I have the Merrill yet or not. My Kindle is more of a disorganized mess than usual....
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