New Year, New Unusual Historicals for January 2026

Welcome January 2026 - I guess. Besides the current news cycle, which is all bad all the time, I'm still sick. Am I getting better? I mean, sort of? I'm back to sleeping in bed (and not sitting up on the couch) and the cough is better (I guess?) although it's still here. At this point there's nothing for it, I have to go back to work this week and figure out how to string words together to tell y'all about this month's crop of Unusual Historicals (be gentle). I don't hold out much hope for my ability to do that right now, but if nothing else new historical romances are something we can hold on to - a small glowing light burning in what is currently the very dark cave we find ourselves in. Be good to each other Romancelandia and romance will be good to you.

Reclaiming His Viking Queen by Lucy Morris

He will have his queen… 

For better or worse! 

Viking Agnar has had many names: Usurper. Warlord. Wolf Slayer. Still, there’s one role he’s hell-bent on claiming—Skadi Friggsdottir’s husband! Rejected by Skadi years ago, he’ll be denied no longer. Storming her hall is easy. Taming his warrior queen will be much harder…

Young Skadi chose survival by marrying another over honoring her promise to Agnar. Now, believing Agnar has killed her husband, she’ll surrender her hand but never submit! Yet behind Agnar’s fury lies a man deeply wronged…one she can’t help but want. Is her enemy husband her doom, or her greatest desire?

 A new stand-alone Viking romance from Morris featuring a hero ready to claim the heroine who threw him over for another years before. I'm hoping for lots of sizzling Enemies to Lovers tension in this one, which is already locked and loaded on my Kindle.

How to Get Away With Scandal by Caroline Linden

Don’t fall in love with me . . .

Evangeline, Lady Courtenay, has flirted with scandal her entire life, and paid a steep price for it, with two unhappy marriages and a tarnished reputation. She’s vowed never to get entangled with another man—until a dashing explorer, just passing through London, smiles at her and sends her heart leaping. Just one night, she tells herself; that’s all she wants from him or any man.

Sir Richard Campion is entranced by Evangeline the moment they meet, even before she takes him home with her for a night of pleasure, only to be gone when he wakes. When he encounters her again years later, he is just as fascinated—and elated to find that she still feels the attraction, too. But this time, he intends to persuade her that he’s worth getting entangled with . . . forever.

 I can't say no to a scandalous heroine and Linden's latest features a twice-married heroine who sounds like she's earned every bit of her reputation. She's vowed to stay away from men, but then meets the "dashing explorer" hero and really, what's one night?  Turns out enough to ensnare them both.

When the Earl Was Wicked by Jess Michaels

Popular courtesan Evelina Comerford thought she had her life in order. She had been with her protector, a powerful duke, for years and believed they would be together forever, even if he was forced to marry and produce legitimate heirs. And then he broke her heart by walking out of her with no feeling to be with someone else’s wife.

Vaughn is the Earl of Blackburn and he is enduring a scandal to end all scandals. His wife of three years has not only begun a public affair with a duke he once called friend, but she’s demanding a divorce. He’s angry and hurt and he wants a little revenge, which is how he finds himself on Evelina’s door, asking her to pretend to enter an affair with him to make both of their former loves jealous.

But a fake affair swiftly turns to something more powerfully passionate. And spying and trying to undermine their former partners begins to lose its shine. But can they both overcome loves that were never meant to be and recognize the true love that is looking right at them? Or will it all be too late when they finally figure it out?

The second book in Michaels' Comerford Courtesans series features a heroine dumped by her protector Duke and a hero whose wife wants a divorce because she's in love with his friend, that same Duke. So naturally hero and heroine decide to enter into a fake affair in the name of revenge - only to get more than they bargained for.

Hollywood Glitz and Glamour by Ariella Talix

It's 1939, the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the major movie studios make all the rules.

Only a very lucky few receive the coveted contracts from Hollywood producers—but they come with heavy strings attached. Actors and actresses are beautiful, talented, and treated like pawns on a chessboard. It's all about image, income, and hedonism.

Troy Kingsley is a handsome, gifted actor who explodes onto the Hollywood scene, gathering fans from all walks of life. Little does anyone know that Troy is a lawbreaker and morally corrupt by society's standards.

When the studio determines it's time for Troy to marry, he’s not at all happy about it and gives the studio his own ultimatum.

Rosalie Channing came to Hollywood to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an actress. She doesn’t know anything about Troy other than he’s a terrific movie star who’s captured her attention in the past couple of years, and now she’s ordered to marry this stranger if they both want to keep their jobs.

She doesn’t know that Troy is a package deal.

If you're going to write a MMF historical, there may not be a better setting than 1930s Hollywood. Studios ran everything, spun stories out of whole cloth, and for the price of fame and fortune many an actor found themselves in one closet or another. Which is what we have in Talix's latest. I'm intrigued by this one for sure.

Waves of Desire by Lauren Everly

Two enemies bound by danger—and undone by desire.

Savannah socialite Samantha Warstein has finally been given the chance to earn her place within her family’s secret pirating legacy. Her first obstacle as a captain? An ambitious—and annoyingly handsome—navy lieutenant tasked with destroying the pirate trade. And she’s not sure which challenge appeals more: proving her worth or putting him in his place.

Having lost his parents to pirates, Lieutenant Christian Thompson takes his assignment seriously, determined to spend his life married only to the sea. But when a mysterious, red-headed beauty bests him in battle, the mission becomes personal. He’ll see her brought to justice, no matter how her laughter haunts him... or how her courage stirs something he thought long buried.

When a notorious pirate kidnaps Samantha, her uncle hires Christian to track her down. Little does he know, the woman he’s chasing and the woman he’s rescuing are one and the same. Bound together by danger and deception, they must work together to take down the most ruthless man on the seas. But as treacherous waters and buried secrets close in, their greatest peril may be the desire neither can resist.

This is Everly's debut and according to the bio listed on her web site she "first discovered her love for historical romance at the age of twelve, when she stumbled upon a hidden box of Johanna Lindsey novels in her mom’s closet..." I mean, I've never been less surprised by anything in my life after reading this blurb which is pure, unadulterated throwback featuring a pirate heroine and the hero determined to run her to ground, only to fall in love with her not realizing her true identity. The only thing missing is the heroine rocking blue eyeshadow on the cover 😂

Wife Wanted by Wren St. Claire

He advertised for a wife and found his soulmate.

Renowned antiquities scholar, Deodonatus (Deo) Kinninmounth Earl of Pendrell, needs a secretary to help him with a new project, but the lonely, socially awkward, bespectacled giant, also wants a wife. He decides to advertise for a lady to fill both roles.

Miss Emily Grenfell is a closet antiquities enthusiast, heiress, and social disaster. Escaping from her draconian mother and a suitor she doesn’t want, Emily arrives a day late for the job interview and is shocked to discover she has applied for a post working for a man.

However, when the enormous, hawkish-featured man with red hair and freckles, proposes a marriage of convenience, Emily is happy to accept, rather than return to a home where she is mistreated and misunderstood.

Embarking on a project to dig up a Celtic burial site on the Duke of Troubridge’s estate, Deo and Emily discover they have more in common than a shared passion for antiquities. As desire sparks between them, Deo struggles to come to terms with physical and emotional intimacy, and Emily falls for her adorably nerdish and irresistibly attractive husband. And when Emily’s rejected suitor tries to cause trouble for the pair, Emily must learn to understand the harsh childhood that has robbed Deo of normal emotional responses and help him discover what his heart is for.

A red-headed hero (with freckles! I love this guy already!) proposes a marriage of convenience to a heroine who will fill his need for a secretary and a wife. Our heroine, a social disaster, accepts in order to escape a family and suitor determined to keep her under their collective thumbs.  This is the final book in the author's All for Love trilogy.

The Explorer Returns by Ramona Elmes

Love hadn’t been enough years ago; would it be now?

Lisbeth, the widowed Duchess of Lusby, travels to Syria to deliver an ancient map that will allow her antiquities club in London to find important artifacts. She expects to deliver them to her colleague, but instead comes face to face with the man whose heart she broke years ago. Gone is the quiet man she once loved, and in his place is a brash, famous explorer. She is unimpressed.

Thomas Easton is astounded when Lisbeth appears in the Syrian café where he is spending time with friends. He never planned to see her again after she ended their betrothal with a letter. Gone is the daring young woman he once knew, and in her place is a regal duchess. This different Lisbeth annoys him. Shocking them both, Thomas goads her into staying for one more adventure. He insists to himself it isn’t because of any lingering feelings.

As they hunt for artifacts, feelings and temptations start to grow between them. Could they have another chance at love? Perhaps, but secrets and dangers both in Syria and England have a way of derailing even the most certain happily-ever-afters.

Want more antiquities? January seems to be the month for it, with this third book in Elmes' Brazen Curators trilogy.  She's a widowed Duchess come to Syria to deliver an ancient map and he's the explorer whose heart she broke years before. They agree to one last adventure and complications, naturally, ensue. 

Envy Unchecked by Alyson Chase

London’s first gentlewoman’s club — Tea, On Dit, and …. Murder.

London, 1820. Lady Mary Cavindish has scandalized society by opening her Minerva Club, a place where women can escape the constraints of propriety. But when a prominent member is found strangled inside its elegant walls, the club’s future teeters on the brink of ruin.

Already under siege by a moral crusade decrying her establishment as a den of vice, Lady Mary knows this murder could spell its doom. Refusing to let her creation perish, Lady Mary launches her own inquiry, probing the dark secrets of her members and the ton’s elite.

Frustrating her efforts is the arrival of a Bow Street Runner, a by-the-book investigator whose moral code doesn’t want the involvement of an eccentric widow in his case. Complicating the matter, as the investigation deepens, so do his feelings for the daughter of one of the prime suspects, a liaison that blurs the lines between duty and desire.

As they search for answers, Lady Mary and her fellow sleuths uncover a tapestry of betrayal, envy, and revenge. When scandal surrounds her, Lady Mary is forced to decide just where her allegiances lie.

The first in the Lady Mary Mysteries series, the publisher is marketing this as a mystery - but this blurb teases readers with plenty of romance-related shenanigans. She needs to find a killer in order to keep her club open and he's a "by the book" Bow Street Runner. One suspects that this romance may end up playing out over future entries. 

Once Upon a Wicked Wager by Cassandra Samuels

If love is a gamble, this is one wager they cannot afford to lose.

Notorious widow and social pariah, Lisbeth Carslake, Countess of Blackhurst, was acquitted of her husband's murder, but no one believes in her innocence. Known as the Black Raven, bringer of bad luck and death, she is the topic of gossip and wagers. She knows the only way to prove her innocence beyond doubt is to return to society and find her husband's killer.

Oliver Whitely, Earl of Bellamy, is well and truly in dun territory and drunkenly takes on The Black Raven Wager and ends up agreeing to a business proposal at the end of a fire poker, to escort Lisbeth back into the viper's pit known as the ton. Together, they must find her husband's killer before the killer finds them. That is, if her schedule allows and they don't kill each other first.

If antiquities aren't your thing, this month's Unusual Historicals also give you murder as an second option 😂.  She's a social pariah thanks to everyone thinking she murdered her husband and the only way to get her life back is to find the real killer. For that she's going to need help, which shows up in the form of our hero, who foolishly accepted a wager only to end up on the wrong side of a fire poker. A heroine with spirit - I like that. 

The Earl's Indifferent Daughter by Elizabeth Heights

Lady Esme de Neville has found true love… or has she?

Among the flatterers and fortune-hunters lining up for her hand, one man alone has captured her heart - and she will do whatever it takes to convince him of her affections. But after surrendering her virtue, Esme finds herself unceremoniously abandoned and forced to await her lover’s return at the country home of her sister, Frida, and brother-in-law, Callum.

Adam is a seasoned warrior, tasked with bringing Callum home to the highlands to his father’s deathbed. Upon arriving at Ember Hall, he unwillingly accepts a new assignment; to guard Lady Esme – whose youth and beauty threaten to topple the high barricades that have protected his heart for many years.

For Esme, the long days of waiting pass slowly, with her brooding bodyguard providing her only source of distraction. Despite his best efforts, Adam is unable to resist her overtures of friendship. Opposites attract and soon the sparks of romance begin to fly.

But fate has an extra surprise in store. Just as Esme recognises the depths of her feelings for Adam, a figure from the past threatens the future she longs to embrace. Her happiness – and Adam’s too – depends on two things: de Neville family loyalty and the power of true love.

Heights wraps up her Sisters of Ember Hall medieval trilogy with a heroine who fancies herself in love and only managed to ruin herself in the process. Now she's moldering away at her sister's country home being guarded by the hero, not the man she fancies herself in love with but the the one who ultimately ends up capturing her heart. 

Hopefully by the time I start thinking about February's Unusual Historicals post I'll be past whatever plague I managed to catch and we'll all have had some measure of good news to hold on to. In the meantime, share what Unusual Historicals you're looking forward to in the comments section. 

New Year, New Unusual Historicals for January 2025

While I generally like to be hopeful at the start of the new year, January 2025 has been testing my patience mightily. It's been a rough start for many of us here in Romancelandia and doesn't exactly instill much hope - but there's still books and there are still unusual historicals, despite the continued pronouncements by publishers and readers that the historical is "dead." It's only dead if we allow it to die on our watch folks! And to that end, let's take a look at some of the unusual historicals making their debut to bring us a little sunshine in this darkest of Januarys....

Remember When by Mary Balogh

The Dowager Countess of Stratton, Clarissa Ware, née Greenfield, has just presented her younger daughter to the ton, and the rest of her life belongs only to herself. She returns to Ravenswood, intending to spend the summer alone there. But the summer has other plans for her.

Born a gentleman, Matthew Taylor has chosen to spend his life as the village carpenter. Growing up, he and Clarissa were close—dangerously so, considering his family’s modest fortune. As a young man, he never would have been a suitable match for the daughter of the wealthy Greenfields. Clarissa married Caleb Ware, the Earl of Stratton, so Matthew married another, though he was widowed soon after.

Now everything is different—Clarissa has already lived the life expected of her by society. And Matthew is as attractive and intriguing as he was when they were young. As their summer friendship deepens into romance, they stand together on the precipice of change—essentially the same man and woman they remember being back then, but with renewed passion and the potential to take their lives in an entirely new direction.

Balogh has made a career in the Regency era and not writing much that's "unusual" by my definition, but this fourth book in the Ravenswood series ticks a major unusual box - her couple is older. A Dowager Countess with grown-ass children reunites with the hero, the one who got away thanks to societal pressures and class differences. Now, no longer in the bloom of youth, with those pressures largely passed, they're thrown together for the summer.

A Deal with the Devil by Alyxandra Harvey

When you steal from the Devil, getting burned is half the fun!

When Kitty’s gambler father sells her sister into marriage to a notoriously cruel lord with three dead wives, Kitty will do anything to stop it. Including steal from the Devil himself.

What else is a bookseller to do? Kitty's talents include giving literary tours of London and selling scandalous novels. If she has to find a murderer, she's going to need all of the help she can get. Even if Devil is as disreputable and handsome as…well… the devil.

The earl created an empire for himself based on collecting debt vowels. Fortunes, inheritances, secrets… anything is fair game. No one crosses him.

Until Kitty.

She steals a vowel right from his pocket—and uses it to blackmail him into helping her save her sister. But no one steals from the Devil and gets away with it.

People beg for his mercy, his attention—anything he is willing to give. He might enjoy having Kitty beg. Even if he already knows she’d rather punch him in the eye. It only makes her more tempting. Irritating. Perfect.

Sometimes it takes both a Devil and a Spinster to stop a murderer…

After reading the first book in this series, The Scandalous Spinster, last year I began stalking Amazon for the release date on book 2 and ended up hitting the preorder button so fast I broke a fingernail. Bookseller Kitty is desperate to save her sister from an "arranged" marriage to an odious man and sees no other way than to steal from the hero, a morally flexible Earl who has made his fortune collecting debt vowels. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Wedding Night with Her Viking Enemy by Lucy Morris

Wedded and bedded by her Viking enemy!

Her vows with the Viking?

To have and to hate!

The idea of Sigrid joining hands with Viking Grimr Eriksson is laughable—they’re sworn enemies after all!—until her half brother’s treachery reignites the feud between their rival families. Now Sigrid must silence the war drums by wedding the new Eriksson jarl.

Yet even resourceful Sigrid’s diplomacy is tested by a husband whose stubbornness infuriates her even if his battle-honed body entices… There seems to be no getting past the distrustful warrior’s defenses, but when the king demands they produce an heir, can they put aside their loathing and give in to their longing?

A new stand-alone Viking romance from Lucy Morris, who has proven herself to this reader to be very capable in the time period. We have a time honored enemy to lovers trope here, along with a heroine throwing herself to the wolves thanks to something her idiot brother did. 

The Guardian's Bride by Susan King

She once saved his life and stole his heart. Now he must return the favor.

Accused of poisoning the English king, healer Lady Rowena Keith ends up in a dungeon beside a brawny, snoring Highlander. After he dispatches an assailant, he escapes into the Scottish hills, hauling her with him. To her surprise, she recognizes the rogue as her childhood betrothed and the knight whose life she once saved. Now he is her only hope.

Accused of treason, Sir Aedan MacDuff, a loyal knight and guardian of Scotland, must secure a legendary treasure. He doesn’t need the hindrance of a prim, beautiful healer, even one who captivates him. Traveling in disguise to avoid capture, they soon discover passion together—and find a mysterious link between Rowena’s healing stone and the treasure Aedan is protecting—one that could change the future of Scotland forever.

But can they avoid the king’s wrath long enough to see it happen?

A new medieval from King, the third book in her Highland Secrets series, features a heroine accused of poisoning the King being rescued from the dungeon by a fellow cellmate, who turns out to be none other than her childhood betrothed. Ah, reunited and it feels so good....

Lord Ravenscroft is Not a Gentleman by Barbara Russell

Edith wants only one thing: to become a surgeon like her father. Who has time to make friends when she has anatomy books to study? Who wants to go to a ball when she has medical conferences to attend?

Peregrine, Perry to his friends, doesn’t share her enthusiasm for books. He’s the brother of the Earl of Ravenscroft, titled, and powerful. Studying? Why would he need to study? He’s the spare. With no title comes no responsibilities.

But after they risk their lives on the sinking steamship Princess Alice, they start to reconsider their priorities. Edith tries every pleasure London has to offer. Perry works hard to become a good earl after the title passes to him. Sudden seizures have plagued him since the incident, and he must keep his condition secret, not to be marked as deranged or worse, cursed, and locked up in an institution.

Edith’s hedonistic life comes to a grinding halt after the almost-nude painting she posed for is bought by Perry, now Lord Ravenscroft. She’s furious. The artist promised not to sell the compromising painting, and now she wants it back before a scandal ensues.

Perry proposes a deal. If she works for him as his secretary, he’ll give her the painting.

Except their attraction may cause another scandal.

When you love a sub genre that's waning because of publishing and reader foibles, sometimes you need to take a flier, and this sixth book in Russell's Victorian Outcasts series is that for me, because I'm not gonna lie, I find this back cover blurb a mess. But within the mess there's a lot that intrigues including two characters whose priorities change after they survive a disaster. Then, of course, the chickens come home to roost.

Forced to Marry the Earl by Elizabeth Heights

1298A.D. Merciless warrior Otto Sarragnac becomes Earl of Darkmoor upon his father’s death in battle. As part of the peace treaty, Otto’s long-standing enemy offers his daughter’s hand in marriage…

Ariana of Kenmar faces her forced marriage without flinching. Not because she aspires to be a wealthy countess, but because her beloved aunt is being held captive in the imposing fortress at Darkmoor. Ariana intends to use her new position to find and free Ysmay, even if that means double-crossing her new husband; the infamous Feared One.

Show no weakness; show no mercy. This is the Knights’ Code which Otto has lived and breathed since birth. His father’s brutal death has caused him to question its wisdom, but his closest advisors whisper of a growing rebellion within the ranks of his own men. This is the wrong time for The Feared One to discover his humanity. Nevertheless, Otto’s new bride impresses him with her steady courage and backbone of steel. Soon he is seeking out her company, surprising her with gifts and beginning to suspect that he may have a softer side after all.

Ariana can’t allow herself to be distracted from her true purpose. She must rescue Ysmay, no matter how her heart pounds in Otto’s presence. Despite his kindness towards her, she can’t allow herself to trust the man she was raised to fear. And so, behind his back, she plots her betrayal.

Unbeknownst to Ariana, there are even darker forces at play. Soon her duplicity will be revealed, but she stands accused of a grave crime she did not commit. Will Otto uncover the truth and forgive her? Or will their burgeoning love fall victim to the bloodlust of their feuding families?

The second book in The Earls of the North series features a heroine willing to face a forced marriage in order to save her captive aunt and to do that she has to double-cross her new husband, who has his own brewing rebellion to deal with. 

Disarming the Baron by Lexi Post

Mademoiselle Lissette Fontaine knows she doesn’t belong among the ton, yet finds herself fast friends with many people of that status, specifically those in the Belinda School for Curious Ladies. As much as she enjoys her new friends, and the easy life of being a lady as opposed to her days of stealing food to survive, she will do anything to avoid marrying a peer, even enlisting the help of her old friend Mr. Anthony Taylour to find a wealthy middle-class spouse.

Anthony Taylour, the Baron of Bellamore, is rarely what he appears because as a fourth son, he knows he’s expendable. So he uses his fortune to make the world a better place, whether it’s as a Bow Street runner, a soldier against Napoleon, or a detective for his friends among the aristocracy. Needing a weapons expert, he visits the Belinda School for Curious Ladies and is pleased to rekindle his friendship with Lissa, but he’s cautious about teaming up with her once again. After all, when last they traipsed about France, she was younger and always dressed as a man.

It doesn’t take long to accept that Lissa is a critical asset in his current investigation, so when she manipulates him into posing as his mistress at a secret house party he needs to attend, he’s determined to keep her safe. However, it’s impossible to keep her innocent, and his feelings for her begin to change. Unfortunately, the lord they’re investigating is far more dangerous than Anthony realized. He can think of only one way to save Lissa.

The third book in the Courting a Curious Lady gives us another messy back cover blurb this month, but that's why Baby Jesus invented reading samples. Apparently the Belinda School of Curious Ladies is teaching more than pianoforte and embroidery, and our main couple has a past together that involved the heroine traipsing through the French countryside dressed as a man. 

 

A Dangerous Game by Mandy Robotham

London, 1952. Seven years after the chaotic aftermath of World War II, London has is coming alive again, with jazz clubs and flickering cinema awnings lighting up the night sky.

But for widowed Helen ‘Dexie’ Dexter, she’s still a woman in a man’s world. She longs to prove herself as an officer in the London Metropolitan Police, yet she’s stuck intervening in domestics and making tea for her male colleagues.

Then Harri Schroder arrives, seconded from Hamburg to the Met. Haunted by the loss of his wife and child, Harri is unlike any man Dexie has ever known. Compassionate and sharp-witted, he sees her not as a threat, but as an intelligent, canny officer full of potential.

And when Harri is tasked with hunting down a Nazi war criminal-turned-respected-businessman, with connections to the upper echelons of British society, it’s Dexie he turns to for help.

But as their bond deepens, a deadly fog engulfs London. Dexie and Harri must expose the fugitive before he vanishes, risking everything for justice – and each other…

Another flier for this month, I can't swear to anyone this is a romance in the strictest sense of the genre definition. It may end up being historical fiction with romantic elements, but there's enough promise on the back cover blurb that I'm including it. A widowed heroine bumping her head against the glass ceiling at her job with the London Metropolitan Police teams up with our hero to hunt down a Nazi war criminal. 

May we all reach the light ahead as we navigate through a gloomy January. Be good to each other Romancelandia, and please share what unusual historicals you're looking forward to in the comments.