Giving Thanks: Unusual Historicals for November 2024

I'm not sure if it's just the fact of getting older (I have a big milestone birthday hitting next year - yikes!), the general stress of the last several years (2020, if not longer, to now has been a lot for all of us I think!) or that I'm closing out Year 21 (!) of this blog's existence - but I'm feeling maudlin. In honor of Thanksgiving, I want to thank all of you who still visit this most dinosaur of mediums (people still blog?!), take the time to occasionally comment, and just show your support in a multitude of ways. I appreciate all of you and you're a big reason why I haven't just thrown up my hands and let this space collect permanent mothballs. Now, let us give thanks and show our appreciation for some intriguing Unusual Historical titles landing this month:

The Muse of Maiden Lane by Mimi Matthews

Stella Hobhouse is a brilliant rider, stalwart friend, skilled sketch artist—and completely overlooked. Her outmodish gray hair makes her invisible to London society. Combined with her brother’s pious restrictions and her dwindling inheritance, Stella is on the verge of a lifetime marooned in Derbyshire as a spinster. Unless she does something drastic…like posing for a daring new style of portrait by the only man who’s ever really seen her.

Aspiring painter Edward “Teddy” Hayes knows true beauty when he sees it. He would never ask Stella to risk her reputation as an artist’s model but in the five years since a virulent bout of scarlet fever left him partially paralyzed, Teddy has learned to heed good fortune when he finds it. He’ll do anything to persuade his muse to pose for him, even if he must offer her a marriage of convenience.  

After all, though Teddy has yearned to trace Stella’s luminous beauty on canvas since their chance meeting, her heart is what he truly aches to capture….

An overlooked heroine starring down the barrel of spinsterhood decides to pose for the only man, an artist, who has ever truly seen her. What she gets instead is a marriage of convenience. This is the fourth book in the author's Belles of London series.  Miss Bates posted a recent review.

Duchess Material by Emily Sullivan

Phoebe Atkinson is what society might call unconventional. Instead of marrying well like other women born to wealth, she chose to be a schoolteacher. Not to mention she lives in a leaky flat in an unfashionable part of town rather than stay in her parents’ mansion. But when her most promising pupil goes missing she has only one option: beg her sister’s best friend, the powerful Duke of Ellis, for help. 

The last thing William Margrave ever expected was to inherit a dukedom. But now that he has it, he’s determined to act the part perfectly—and that includes marrying the perfect duchess. A bluestocking Bohemian schoolteacher is decidedly not duchess material. But he can’t resist her plea for help regarding her missing student. 

As they fall further into the mystery, William discovers that he never got over his childhood crush on Phoebe, and he doesn’t really want to.

A wealthy, unconventional heroine who lives in a leaky flat and is a schoolteacher (!) has no choice but to go to a powerful Duke (our hero) for help when one of her students goes missing. Our Duke needs to find a suitable wife, not get tangled up with some schoolteacher - but of course, tangled he gets. This sounds positively delightful, and oh look - another review from Miss Bates.

Her Warrior's Redemption by Michelle Willingham

They fought for their lives 

Now they must fight for their love!

Trapped in Constantinople’s brutal fighting pits, Brian of Penrith forms an unbreakable bond with his fellow captive, resilient maiden Velaria. Yet once they escape home to England, Velaria’s highborn status keeps her out of the humble warrior’s reach. 

But their shared struggle in returning to their former lives connects them once more. Though Brian is haunted by past guilt, and Velaria is destined to marry a nobleman, a thrilling attraction ignites! Soon Brian discovers the truth about his past, which gives him hope for redemption and could forever change their fates…

Constantinople! A hero and heroine imprisoned together! And then, of course, despite the bond they share, once back in England society deems him "not good enough" for her. This is the third book in Willingham's Legendary Warriors series and seriously, I just need to binge read them.

The Scandalous Widow by Elizabeth Rolls

She’s determined never to marry again… 

Is he the gentleman to change her mind? 

Left penniless by her late husband and disowned by her family, widow Lady Althea withdrew from polite society, and became infamous for indulging in not-so-secret liaisons with gentlemen of the ton. These days, Althea lives quietly with her beloved dog, Puck, and secretly pens salacious novels instead! 

Then handsome solicitor Hugo Guthrie arrives, with her orphaned nieces in tow, and turns her life upside down. For the girls need a home, and working with Hugo is making every emotion Althea thought she could live without come crashing back to life!

Please, please for the love of all that is holy let this heroine truly be "scandalous." Please, please let it be that she truly has taken a series of lovers, it's not some elaborate ploy and she's really not pure as the driven snow hiding a Big Secret - because hot damn this blurb is 100% pure Wendy catnip.

Mentor to the Marquess by Melissa Kendall

A survivor of spousal abuse, matchmaker Olivia Heather, the Dowager Countess of Allen, devotes her time to preventing the young ladies of society from following in her footsteps—until a series of newspaper articles accuse her of murdering her late husband.

Her plan to use her feminine wiles to convince the man responsible for the attacks to stop is stymied when the man in question, the infuriatingly handsome Thellusson Vaith, Marquess Lowell, requests that she find a love match for his daughter.

Nonetheless determined to make him pay for his misdeeds, Olivia vows to ignore the attraction simmering between them—until she learns that he hasn’t bedded a woman since his wife’s death nearly twenty years prior. Unable to resist the sensitive, guilt-ridden marquess, she takes on a new role: Mentoring him in the ways of pleasure.

But when they discover letters that suggest someone is manipulating Thel’s daughter using the same techniques that Olivia’s husband once used against her, they must delve into Olivia’s wounded past and resolve old family conflicts before the marquess’s daughter is in danger and Olivia is arrested for a crime she did not commit.

This is the second book in the author's Seductive Sleuths series and I'll be honest, the whole "she mentors him in the bedroom" thing just seems like piling on in a blurb that has more than enough plot going for it. But I'm intrigued by the set-up of the heroine trying to help women so they don't fall into the same trap she did so I'll undoubtedly give this one a whirl at some point.

The Countess's Christmas Groom by Fenna Edgewood

A festive house party, a forbidden attraction…

Returning home for the holidays, Lady Katherine Colworth hopes that the cozy glow of Christmas might bring her a reprieve from the painful rumors of her husband’s death. Instead, she finds herself drawn to an unlikely confidant—a handsome, young footman serving in her family’s household.

A man out of place but captivated…

Ashley Spencer has worked his way up from the stables to a temporary post inside the manor, but the glittering holiday gatherings seem worlds away from his life. Until he meets the countess. Beneath the festive garlands and candlelit halls, he discovers a woman he’s bound to protect—even as he’s falling deeply in love with her.

A love that defies all expectations…

Under mistletoe and moonlight, Katherine and Ashley cross the boundaries of class and age, drawn together by a love as fierce as it is unlikely. But with Katherine’s past threatening to shatter their newfound happiness, will the season’s magic be enough to protect their hearts?

A house party and an affair between a Lady and a footman.  These are the kind of holiday romance shenanigans I can totally get behind! This is also the first book in a series.

Knight of Mayhem by Sherry Ewing

As one of Empress Matilda's most trusted knights, Lord Richard Grancourt helps plan his monarch's escape when Oxford Castle is held under siege by King Stephen’s army. When a woman in Stephen’s forces discovers their plan, Richard is tasked with remaining behind and keeping her silent.

Lady Annora de Maris will do anything to save her son, who has been King Stephen's hostage since his men killed her husband and took her home. Though she’s forced to raise her sword against King Stephen's enemies, her loyalties are secretly with the Empress she’s compelled to fight against.

Richard takes Annora captive, but his tactics challenge his beliefs about honor and justice, and his feelings for Annora conflict with his duty.

The fourth book in the author's Knights of Anarchy series features a heroine hiding her true motives and a hero who takes her captive when she discovers his plans. I love that this series is set during The Anarchy and I really need to read Book 1....

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know by Mary Jo Putney (Reprint, novella)

He was going to be hanged on Tuesday

English-born Andrew Kane had enjoyed the adventurous life of a gambler in the Wild West, but after winning a ranch in Colorado, he was ready to settle down. Then his attempt to protect a young tavern girl led to a shoot out and a wrongful conviction for murder.

On his journey to the gallows, he meets despairing young widow Eliza Holden who intervenes when he's being beaten by his guards. Together, they find comfort and a stunning sense of connection. Can Eliza create a Christmas miracle for them both?

Originally published in the 1993 Rakes and Rogues anthology, I believe this might be Putney's only published western?  I love reading westerns and I like reading short so this one is going on the pile.

Christmas Through the Ages by Carla Kelly (Reprint, novellas)

In Christmas Eve Proposal, Christmas gets interesting when naval war hero Ben Muir returns home and takes lodgings in the village teashop with Mandy Mathison. For when her scandalous past is revealed, only he can save her future!

In A Father for Christmas, when Marine Ezra Eldridge manages to escape a hijacked ship, he knows he must complete his dangerous mission. But when he manages to find an empty house, he discovers beguiling widow Lissy and her young son… and they agree the perfect cover is for him to pose as her husband!

And in Christmas Dance with the Rancher, stranded, spirited Katie becomes chore girl on Ned Avery's ranch. When Ned asks her if she would marry a rancher, she laughs it off and teaches him to dance, promising him he will soon find a wife. But she’s unaware it’s her Ned has set his sights upon!

Christmas With a Naval Captain by Carla Kelly (Reprint, novellas)

In The Captain’s Christmas Journey, Captain Everard is escorting Verity to her governess job—and for propriety’s sake that means a convenient engagement!

In Captain Grey’s Christmas Proposal, Captain Grey had been fighting malarial fever in Savannah when he was nursed back to health by the captivating Theodora Winnings. He proposed by letter—but her reply was lost for a decade. The answer was “yes!”—but is she still willing to become his Christmas bride?

And in Christmas Promise, now that peace has broken out, Captain Jeremiah Faulk is at odds over what to do this Christmas, let alone with his life. Until a simple act of charity reunites him with his lost love—the unattainable Ianthe Mears …

Finally these last two anthologies by Carla Kelly feature stories that have all been previously published in multi-author Harlequin Historical anthologies, but it's the first time they've been packaged together. Kelly's Christmas stories are fan favorites and this is a great opportunity to have all of these stories in one place or pick them up if you missed them the first time around.

What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to?