There's another recent article out about the abandonment of historical romance by traditional publishers and readers and this month's post might be a good place to start if you're sad about that. June brings us 18 (!) Unusual Historical titles to tempt you. If you're sad about the state of the subgenre, maybe put down that romantasy title, try some of these, and talk up the ones that tickled your fancy. Now, do you have a snack? Something to drink? Good - let's get started....
Duty vs. desire…
Which will win?
Princess and healer Theadora doesn’t flinch at the sight of armed soldiers. Yet when another uprising threatens to disturb Constantinople’s peace, and Varangian guard Erik bursts into her sanitorium, she’s stunned by her body’s immediate reaction to the rugged Viking…
After the tragic loss of his family, Erik vowed to never love again. So he refuses to let his inconvenient attraction to Thea distract him from his duty: escorting her to marry the king of Macedonia.
If Thea doesn’t wed, her people will suffer, so can the star-crossed lovers fight their feelings, as well as their enemies?
A Viking hero, a princess / healer heroine, and Constantinople! This is the author's debut romance, having been plucked from the pile during Harlequin's Warriors Wanted! blitz.
To Prince Saleem,
With Love
When Elise agrees to pose as her friend Lady Olive in a few letters with a faraway prince, she never dreams she’ll actually meet the man. Yet when they travel from England to Egypt, and Olive runs away, Elise finds herself alone with Prince Saleem and fighting a forbidden attraction!
It might be a tactical match, but Saleem’s all but betrothed to her best friend, and fiercely independent Elise is wary of his royal world. As they team up to solve a dangerous mystery, dare Elise reveal she’s the one who wrote the letters and surrender to this impossible desire?
Helmy's third book for Harlequin is the start of a new series and features a fan favorite trope - the marriage of convenience mix-up. The heroine wrote the letters sent to her BFF's intended and when the BFF turns into a runaway bride? Well our heroine finds herself fighting a forbidden attraction.
All hopeless romantic Eliza Dove asked for was one night of adventure. One glorious evening of freedom to explore the dark corners of London with a mysterious stranger before a lifetime trapped in a quiet, respectable marriage of convenience. Except now she wants more. Now she wants him.
Simon Cavell is no gentleman. Known only as ‘the Duke,’ Whitechapel’s prize boxer is one fight away from achieving his goal: to safeguard his late sister’s only treasure and leave the streets for good. He cannot allow some pretty young heiress to spill his secrets, no matter how tempting she might be. In return for her silence, Simon will give Eliza a taste of the darkness…and hope he doesn’t lose his heart in the process.
But one night together could never be enough. And now Eliza has a new plan—an even more scandalous bargain that will either land the heiress her duke or ruin them both.
The second book in The Doves of New York series features an American heiress wanting one last taste of adventure before settling down into a respectable (dare I say it - passionless) marriage, only to get her head turned by a completely inappropriate boxer from Whitechapel.
Elfreda Marsden has finally made a major discovery—an ancient amulet proving the Viking army camped on her family’s estate. Too bad her nemesis is back from London, freshly exiled after a scandal and ready to wreak havoc on her life. Georgie Redmayne is everything Elfreda isn’t--charming, popular, carefree, distractingly attractive, and bored to death by the countryside. When the two collide (literally), the amulet is lost, and with it, Elfreda’s big chance to lead a proper excavation. Now Elfreda needs new evidence of medieval activity, and Georgie needs money to escape the doldrums of Derbyshire. Joining forces to locate a hidden hoard of Viking gold is the best chance for them both.
Marsdens and Redmaynes don’t get along, and that’s the least of the reasons these enemies can’t dream of something more. But as the quest takes them on unexpected adventures, sparks of attraction ignite a feeling increasingly difficult to identify as hatred. It’s far too risky to explore. And far too tempting to resist. Elfreda and Georgie soon find that the real treasure comes with a steep price… and the promise of a happiness beyond all measure.
Enemies to lovers and make it queer. She's an budding amateur archeologist whose exciting discovery is lost thanks to her nemesis, back in the countryside after kicking up a scandal in London.
By day, Katarina Quinn masquerades as a well-bred lady of Savannah. At night, she runs with a ragtag gang of con artists and thieves. She’s a downright professional. And pros never make rookie mistakes like falling for the target—especially when they’re already in love with the criminal underlord of the city.
Enter Matthew DaMolin, a wittily charming, newly minted physician, who just so happens to be the son of one of the great American dynasties. Matthew is Kat’s ticket into a highly exclusive club, a place to rub shoulders with the likes of the Rockefellers and the Astors. The thief inside Kat is salivating, but much to her surprise, so is the woman. When her interest shifts from professional to personal, it threatens her place in both Savannah’s criminal underworld and high society.
With a street war brewing amongst the city gangs of Savannah and a jewel heist against Matthew’s family on the horizon, Kat’s two worlds collide in a clash of knives and double-crosses. Caught between the cunning, indomitable rogue she’s loved since childhood and the captivating, earnest man targeted by her schemes, she must choose…
Whose throat will Kat press her dagger against when the dust settles?
A con woman in Savannah, Georgia on the cusp of Prohibition makes the fatal mistake of a falling for her mark, a doctor from a monied American dynasty. In this debut, shenanigans, as they say, are afoot.
A sunny Miss, a scowling bachelor
A recipe for disaster…or romance?
Since returning from Waterloo, Lord Hawksmere has been a bad-tempered recluse. Having sworn never to burden a wife with his dour disposition, Hawk plans to spend the season helping his impoverished sister. But her annoyingly cheerful friend Miss Maggie Mackenzie is a distinct distraction!
Whisky heiress Maggie prefers brewing alcohol to being wooed. Or that’s what she tells herself from her place on the shelf! Hawk is imposing, interfering, yet, as their heated animosity melts into something even hotter, will the self-proclaimed spinster admit he’s also infuriatingly attractive?
The final book in Morris' Season to Wed series features a grumpy hero looking to make a match for his sister, only to become distracted by her spinster whisky heiress BFF.
Ophelia Blackwood has a choice: continue to evade a parade of her father’s ill-advised suitors, or seize control of her future and join the war effort with the Women’s Land Army. Ophelia finds camaraderie and confidence through hard work on a Somerset farm, and the independence she has always craved. But a year into her assignment, Silas Larke arrives, and she is irritated to discover that he is just as intriguing and attractive as he was during their intense summer friendship, years ago.
Injured on the front lines of World War I, Silas has spent a year convalescing, focused on returning to his work as a tenant farmer. When the British government unexpectedly assigns him to lend a hand on a local farm, he finds himself thrown together with the woman he couldn’t forget. But Ophelia has new dreams for her future, none of which include marriage. Forced to examine the future he always imagined, he will have to decide if love is worth changing all your plans for.
When pressure from the War Office raises the spectre of the farm’s repossession, should the harvest fail, the WLA women must pull together harder than ever to meet the required wheat quota. Ophelia knows she can’t afford distraction, no matter how beguiling the man, but the feelings kindled during her and Silas’s 1915 summer have returned as a blaze. Desperate to produce more for the war effort and save the farm with the people who have become her family, Ophelia and Silas push against the rising tide of their attraction, but Ophelia begins to wonder if they could be a force to be reckoned with, together.
The English countryside during World War I where a heroine desperate for independence is reunited with the hero, injured and returned home from the front. When the farm where they work is threatened they must band together to save it. Another debut this month!
Five squabbling guardians. Three rivals for an earldom. And one dashing cavalryman threatening to overset it all...
At fourteen, Arabella Audley inherited her father's Scottish barony—but was denied his English earldom. Shuffled between five quarrelsome guardians for six long years while Parliament dithers over determining the Earl of Audley's rightful heir, Belle's tired of being reduced to the role of pawn. This year, at the King's Birthday Ball, Baroness Culmaily will finally risk a gambit of her own.
The prize? Her beloved Audley Priory, and the chance to serve its people. The plan? Broker a betrothal to one of her rivals for the earldom. A perfectly sensible scheme—until a rakishly handsome cavalry officer checkmates Belle's schemes, challenging everything she thought she ever wanted....
Caught between legacy and love, audacious Belle must decide how far she'll go to secure the life—and heart—she truly desires.
This Georgian-set prequel novella in the Audacious Ladies of Audley series is loosely drawn on the real life inheritance of Elizabeth Sutherland, 19th Countess of Sutherland. Our fictional heroine, tired of being a pawn amongst squabbling "guardians" looks to form an alliance with the hero, and naturally gets more than she bargained for.
In the months since their father, Rory, died, the MacLeod sisters have had to contend with bands of smugglers convinced he left a treasure buried within the walls of their home at Castle Cairncross. Only the most mystifying occurrences have foiled the thieves—stirring whispers that the sisters are sorceresses. Yet, they have no treasure, nor are they witches. However, each inexplicably possesses a unique ability. The eldest, Catriona, is a brilliant healer and alchemist—a skill she is about to put to unforeseen use . . .
Hamish Muir, the charismatic Marquess of Ballantyne and son of Rory’s business partner, has come to claim his share of the treasure. When he spies fiery-haired Cat in the village, he follows her. But the tables turn, and Hamish finds himself at Castle Cairncross—emerging from a daze . . .
Persuaded the castle harbors no treasure, Hamish remains certain Rory hid it somewhere. Cat offers a proposal: She will help Hamish decipher her father’s notes if he takes her on the treasure hunt with him—and her sisters are not left alone. Reluctantly, Hamish summons two Lairds to the castle. But as he and Cat set off to navigate a maze of maps and danger, a mutual respect—and attraction—ignites between them. Perhaps the real treasure isn’t gold after all . . .
The start of a new series for Bradley, set in Georgian era Scotland. Rumored buried treasure, fortune hunters, and a heroine rumored to be a sorceress but actually a healer and alchemist joins forces with her father's former business partner. But can she trust him?
She risks everything for the truth.
He guards secrets that could tear them apart.
When Athena Taylor opens the Darkmoor Bridge School for Girls at the grand and storied Thorndale Manor, she hopes for a new beginning. But the estate’s dark past quickly resurfaces when a maid is found dead under suspicious circumstances—and whispers stir of a murder committed nine years earlier, a crime for which Ian Vernon’s sister was convicted.
Athena believes the two cases are connected. Ian Vernon, Thorndale’s brooding former heir, insists she’s wrong—and warns her to leave the past buried. But Athena is as fearless as she is determined, and her investigation brings her into close quarters with the man who should be her adversary… yet soon proves to be something much more.
As secrets unravel and a killer grows desperate, Athena finds herself in terrifying danger, caught between the pursuit of justice and a powerful attraction that threatens to derail everything.
Book two in the Gothic Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire series finds the heroine's school in danger when a pesky dead body turns up. Is it related to previous death connected to the hero's sister?
He rescues the runaway bride. She steals the scoundrel’s heart.
Evelyn Sparrow is a celebrated art conservator at the National Gallery in London. It’s an unprecedented position for a woman, and the life she has built is a dream come true. But she’s been harboring a secret: not only is she the daughter of a baron, but she’s betrothed to a much older and terrifying earl. Her dream life will end the moment they marry. At their wedding, and with nothing to lose, Evelyn does the unthinkable—and runs from the altar.
Ollie McNab has skated through life on the coattails of his brothers’ hard work, as well as his own good looks and charm. When he makes a major error at their pub, The Harp & Thistle, he realizes how little his brothers respect him. Previously tasked with overseeing the restoration of one brother’s prized art collection, Ollie is determined to prove his dependability by seeing it through. It doesn’t hurt, either, that the paintings are being restored by the beautiful and intelligent Miss Sparrow, who fascinates him endlessly. So when she shows up unexpectedly at his pub in a soaking-wet wedding dress, he promises to do everything he can to help her.
With nowhere else to go, Ollie offers Evelyn a room at his home. Naturally, Ollie’s brothers are not happy with this improper arrangement, and Evelyn’s family is tearing apart London to find her. But when a painting under their care is stolen by a famous thief, Evelyn and Ollie must find it before anyone realizes it’s gone, or the final thread of their reputations are destroyed.
That is, if they don’t create their own scandalous trouble first.
A heroine who lands her dream job only to have it threatened by marriage to an odious man runs straight into the arms of a charming rogue determined to change his ways when he realizes how little his brothers respect him. This is the second book in The Harp & Thistle series.
Three years ago, American heiress Violet Goodwin shared a charged, “almost-kiss” with the dashing Captain Alistair Crawford. But when fate reunites them in Victorian London, they are no longer the same starry-eyed young dreamers they once were.
Now a determined nurse fighting for better maternal healthcare, Violet has sworn off marriage in favor of her mission. Alistair, once a hopeful naval officer, has returned from his time with the East India Company disillusioned, nearly penniless, and drowning his disappointments in vice. With a dream of launching his own trading company, he strikes a desperate bargain with a clever fellow captain—help him woo a wealthy heiress, and the funds will follow.
The only problem? The heiress in question is Violet.
As their undeniable chemistry reignites, Alistair must decide: will he fight for his future or for the woman he can’t forget? And can Violet risk her carefully built independence for the one man who could truly break her heart?
She's a nurse who has sworn off love in favor of her cause and he's a disillusioned former naval officer now penniless determined to right his ship by starting his own trading company. For that he needs money, which means he needs an heiress. Guess who the heiress is. Reunited and it feels so good? Also, another debut this month!
She may be innocent…but she's also deadly!
When seemingly fragile Miss Ivy Cavendale takes the headmistress position in an orphanage, it is her chance to stay anonymous in society. But not all is what it seems with Miss Ivy. When an intruder breaks in one night, she’s quick to draw her weapon, and while fear - her constant companion - has mysteriously disappeared, one thing is very clear: she and her charges are the next target of The Devil’s Sons.
Commissioner Edward Worthington owes the head of The Queen’s Deadly Damsels a debt. So, he must keep an eye on the Duchess’s new protégé. How much trouble can the shy Miss Cavendale be? Rather a lot, actually. The diminutive wallflower has been overlooked and forgotten by society's elite, but Edward sees a woman full of fascinating contradictions he’s compelled to unravel.
Burdened by secrets and childhood trauma, Ivy is stunned as Edward ignites a breathless curiosity within her. And when he asks her to join forces to identify the dangerous intruder at The Widow’s Ball, she cannot refuse. She may not trust many, but something tells her she should trust Edward… with more than just this mission.
The fourth book in The Queen's Deadly Damsels series features a heroine hiding as the headmistress of an orphanage who finds herself in danger, and our Commissioner hero comes riding to her rescue. Although who ends up rescuing who is the question....
A man obsessed with justice
Reverend Jonah Sinclair survived the deadly streets of London due to divine intervention and two well-trained fists. Determined to bring his father's killer to justice, he’ll risk his vocation—and his life—for answers. When the notorious Earl of Rochford offers him a position as tutor to his young ward, Jonah accepts, believing the mysterious Ravenglass Hall could lead him to the murderer. But instead, he finds himself drawn to the earl’s abandoned countess, a woman whose fierce strength stirs a forbidden temptation.
A lady with a dangerous secret.
Faith Trenton, Countess of Rochford, is struggling to defend her crumbling estate from an embezzling steward. To keep her enemies at bay, she disguises herself as a man, until Jonah's arrival threatens to expose her perilous secrets. Despite their irresistible chemistry, she must push him away to keep her home and her family safe.
But when a succession of attacks threatens everything Faith has fought to protect, she’s forced to place her trust in Jonah, and pray he won’t unravel the truth, or her heart.
Helping Faith could sabotage Jonah’s mission. Loving her might cost him everything.
Ready for it? Another debut. A reverend hero hungry for revenge takes a tutor position because he believes the estate will provide answers. Instead he quickly finds himself entangled with his employer's wife, who's been abandoned in the country and is trying to save the crumbling estate from an embezzler.
He’s in dire straits. She has a secret. Can they overcome all odds to be together?
Gunn Burnett, Laird of Leys, has returned from war only to face a new battle, keeping his struggling inn and pub from financial ruin. The last thing he needs is another mouth to feed. But when a fragile, bruised woman shows up on his doorstep, clearly desperate and in need of shelter, he can’t turn her away.
Jocelyn Townsend has finally escaped her abusive husband, fleeing England for the quiet anonymity of a Highland village. Renting a small room in a failing inn is a risk, but it’s safer than the life she left behind. Determined not to be a burden, she offers to work for her keep, but the brooding laird refuses her coin, and her distance.
Gunn senses she’s running from something. Or someone. And he’ll protect her with his life before he lets the pain of her past catch up to her. But when the truth comes to light, and with it, a secret she’s hidden for far too long, they’ll have to face the past head-on if they hope to claim a second chance at happiness.
I feel the need to apologize upfront for the Whitesnake earworm. He's returned from war and working to save his business. She's running from an abusive husband and offers to work at his inn in exchange for room and board. This is the fifth book in the Rogues of Redemption series.
A man with a past could change her future.
Having failed to win the hand of the woman he loves, William Cole returns to his childhood home the same vain, shallow gentleman who relies too much on his charm and good looks. He wants to join the military, but his father decides William should take over the reins from the retiring vicar and—while he’s at it—marry the vicar’s daughter.
Unlike William, Verity Lockhart has changed in the five years since he saw her last. While he might remember her as a quiet, mousy sort of girl, she has developed opinions and habits deemed unsuitable for a young lady, the worst of which is a fascination with science and—gasp!—insects. No man, says her mother, would want a wife who is always running off with a butterfly net.
William and Verity can agree on one thing only: they have no desire to marry each other. They will have to encounter an utterly shameless rogue, an unusually honorable gentleman, and a very real war to form a love so deep, it could be the best choice either has ever made.
The third book in the Ladies of Munro series features a feckless hero strong-armed by his father to take over for the retiring vicar and marry the man's daughter. The fly in the ointment, the daughter is no longer some quiet, mousy girl willing to go quietly.
When a mission of critical importance arises, Lord Lynsley, the enigmatic head of Mrs. Merlin’s Academy for Extraordinary Young Ladies, is forced to take on the assignment himself. But when things take an unexpected turn, he has has no choice but to ask for help from a former agent whose injury during a botched mission ten years ago forced her to retire from the elite unit of unconventional lady spies.
Can old wounds—both physical and emotional—be put aside in order for them to work together to destroy a new weapon that may give Napoleon and the French an insurmountable edge in the war against Britain and its allies? The mission takes them into the heart of enemy territory, where danger threatens from all angles, and to have any hope of survival they will have put aside old hurts and trust each other . . .
The first three books in Mrs. Merlin’s Academy for Extraordinary Young Ladies are definitely reprints, originally published by Hachette in the mid-2000s. This one is, I'm pretty sure, not a reprint but rather the first time appearance of a fourth entry to the series. The hero who runs the academy of lady spies is forced to take an assignment himself and he's going to need the help of the heroine, a former agent who retired ten years ago after a job went wrong. Spy games, danger, intrigue and a road romance!
At Prebbles Flying Circus. the daring Eliza Gray captivates audiences with her breathtaking feats on horseback. Yet beyond the applause, she harbours a longing to find the family she lost as a child and discover who she truly is.Fate, however, takes an unexpected turn when Eliza is unceremoniously knocked down by a curricle driven recklessly by Raven, Earl Purfoy. Dazed but intrigued, she cannot help but notice Purfoy’s commanding presence.
For his part, the dashing lord, is mortified at his carelessness and resolves to assist the spirited yet intriguing young woman. He deposits her in the care of his dearest friends, Corinna and Alick Wolfe, who encourage Miss Gray in her search for her family and sponsor her entry into London society. The glittering balls and scurrilous gossip of the ton are a far cry from the circus ring and Eliza finds herself the subject of intense speculation and unwelcome advances.
As a most accidental debutante, Eliza has to navigate the complexities of high society and her new friendships. Her quest for family and belonging becomes perilously entwined with Zadoc Flynn, an American heir of a New York plutocrat, who intends to take home with him the finest racing horse money can buy...and an English bride.
Can Eliza uncover the truth of her past and the family she longs for? And will it be Mr Flynn or Lord Purfoy, or indeed her new female friends, who help her find her place in the world?
In a tale of courage, passion, and self-discovery, this lost orphan must decide where she truly belongs.
A heroine with no notion of her past who performs in a circus (!) soon captivates society and must make a choice between two men, all while trying to find answers about her family and past. This one is listed at nearly 350 pages but it sure is giving me all sorts of Traditional Regency vibes.
I won't tell you how long it took me to draft this post but what I will say is I hope you enjoyed reading about this month's crop of Unusual Historicals. Now go forth, save the subgenre, and happy reading!
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