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. 

Spooky Season: Unusual Historicals for October 2025

Another month, another month running late with Unusual Historicals. October though, she does not disappoint. Do you love all things spooky?  Well this is your month because the Gothics have come out to play. So buy yourself that second (or third...this is a no judgement zone) bag of Halloween candy, light a candle, maybe summon a few spirits (if that's your thing) and let's go browsing....

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles

WHO WILL SURVIVE LACKADAY HOUSE?

When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative's remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey. Things couldn't possibly get worse.

Then the master of the house announces the true purpose of the gathering: he intends to leave the vast family fortune to whoever marries his young ward, setting off a violent scramble for her hand. Zeb wants no part of his greedy family—but when he tries to leave, the way is barred. The walls of Lackaday House are high, and the gates firmly locked. As the Dartmoor mists roll in, there's no way out. And something unnatural may be watching them from the house's shadowy depths…

Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his heart. As the gaslight flickers and terror takes hold, can two warring lovers reunite, uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House—and live to tell the tale?

You know I'd harp less on my dislike of illustrated covers if more of them leaned into creating atmosphere and mood - and it's hard to not get drawn into that with the cover of Charles' latest. A young man trapped in a Gothic manor thanks to the whims of a wealthy relative wants no part of any of the shenanigans, only to find the house has untold secrets. Who to turn to? The man he was once hopelessly in love with - of course. I need to find my reading mojo because this sounds right up my alley.

The Dravenhearst Brides by Lindsay Barrett

“It’s very dangerous to love a Dravenhearst…even more dangerous, perhaps, to be loved by one.”

After a scandalous debut sent her into recluse, heiress Margaret Greenbrier returns to the Louisville social circuit for the 1933 season. Laudanum prescription or no, Margot is not crazy. She’s not. But perception is reality, and all the money in the world can’t buy the illusion of sanity. Nor, apparently, can it convince even the most red-blooded of men to get into bed with her.

Meanwhile, in the heartland of Kentucky, the Great Depression is sinking its roots into the Bluegrass. Prohibition has not been kind to the whiskey industry, and bourbon aristocrat Merrick Dravenhearst is feeling the squeeze. After a chance encounter with a beautiful heiress, sworn bachelor Merrick impulsively throws his hat in the ring for Margot’s hand. Just the right hint of lust, money, and quiet desperation…the best society marriages have been staked on far less, after all.

Upon arrival at Dravenhearst Distilling as a newlywed, Margot uncovers the legend of the Dravenhearst suicide brides—two generations of wives, both found dead on the grounds of the distillery. Her new manor home is teeming with ghostly glimmers of the women who lived there before her. And her brooding, beguiling new husband is unaware Margot has brought demons of her own to his estate, initiating a cataclysmic chain of events set to bring long-buried blood-tinged family secrets to the surface.

I didn't include it here but the subtitle on Barrett's latest is "A Kentucky Gothic Romance" and JUST GET IN MY EYEBALLS ALREADY! A wealthy heiress with a reputation for "madness" marries a man who desperately needs her funds because wow, Prohibition is a drag y'all. The spark and sizzle are there, but so are the secrets. A whole bushel of secrets...

The Peculiar Incident at Thistlewick House by Jenni Keer

Where bones fall from the cliffs and secrets linger in the mist, a village haunted by the past refuses to give up its dead... 

As the bones start to fall, the spirits will rise…

Norfolk, England, 1895: When renowned spiritualist Edward Blackmore receives a desperate message from his cousin Barnabas, begging him to come to the coastal village of Thistlewick Tye, his first thought is to ignore the request. Despite his cousin’s insistence that his wife is possessed by a malevolent spirit, Edward has no time for the man who stole his inheritance.

Lured by the promise of money, along with a genuine concern for Barnabas’s wife – who he’d once loved – he reluctantly travels to at Thistlewick House, only to arrive too late. Emma is dead.

Barnabas suspects there are supernatural forces at play. But Edward is convinced murder is afoot. As he begins to investigate, he finds himself drawn into the lives of those in this isolated and unnerving village, especially the beguiling woman who gathers up the human bones falling from the rapidly eroding cliffs.

Then he discovers that a travelling circus completely disappeared in the area forty years previously and no one is willing to talk about it. Perhaps not everything at Thistlewick Tye is quite what it seems…

 A hero loathe to help out his paranoid cousin arrives too late to help the woman he once loved. To discover the truth he finds himself drawn into the lives of the remote and isolated village, and a woman who gathers up human bones as the cliffs erode away into the sea (I mean, she sounds like fun AMIRITE?!). And what does all this have to do with a traveling circus who vanished from the area forty years ago?

Danger at Darkmoor Park by Syrie James

Hidden treasure. Murder. Mystery. Romance. All while snowbound at Christmas.

While trapped by a blizzard at a remote country manor house over Christmas, a school headmistress teams up with a charismatic doctor to solve a murder and hunt for hidden treasure.

But can she trust the man who has stolen her heart? 

Selena Taylor is thrilled to cohost a Christmas house party at Darkmoor Park, the beautiful Yorkshire estate she will one day inherit. But a massive snowstorm hits the area, and no one can leave. When one of the guests dies after giving Selena a cryptic clue to a cache of hidden money, she suspects that he was murdered.

Dr. Adrian Scott arrives out of the blizzard and he and Selena, fueled by a burning mutual attraction, become partners in investigating both mysteries—a thrilling hunt for hidden treasure and the search for a ruthless killer—while trapped with holiday guests who all seem to be hiding a secret.

When another guest dies and she starts receiving threatening notes, Selena realizes that she is in terrible danger, pursued by a relentless villain and involved with a man whose touch makes her heart race but who may be hiding a deadly secret of his own.

Our heroine just wanted to help host a Christmas house party and instead she gets a snowstorm that traps her guests, a murder, and a cryptic clue about hidden treasure. On top of that, all her guests seem to be hiding some sort of secret. Helping her crack the case? A handsome doctor with secrets of his own. This is the third book in The Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire series.

Beyond the Majestic by Juliane Ross-Clark

Atlanta, 1940s. A war widow at twenty, Abby Willingham is just trying to survive by working nights as a cigarette girl at the glamorous Club Majestic - where world-renowned swing orchestras keep the dance floor alive and corruption is concealed in the next room. Grieving, broke, and fending off her shady boss’s advances, Abby clings to her independence, the sympathetic ear of her fast-talking best friend, and the comfort of her late husband’s memory.

But when she meets architect Vince Vandenburgh III—charming, wealthy, and carrying secrets of his own—Abby begins to imagine a life beyond sorrow. As their paths continue to cross under the sultry glow of nightclub chandeliers, love dares to flicker... even as danger grows in the shadows.

Torn between the past and a future she never expected, Abby must choose: protect her heart—or risk it all for a second chance at happiness.

I know less than nothing about this book or author but it's set in Atlanta in 1946 and the subject headings over at Amazon include everything awesome I love that's not romance (they had me at "women's crime fiction," and "noir crime"). However, a hop on over to the author's web site touts this as "Romantic suspense at its most gripping..." and y'all I seriously need to find my reading mojo because hot damn!

The Sinner's Guide to Saving a Saint by Mihwa Lee

She offered her body. He demanded her truth. Both would require complete surrender.

Sylvia Addison had built her fortress from shadows and secrets—a respectable medical facility by day, an underground rescue operation by night. For six years, she'd saved desperate women from violence, forging documents and identities with the same precision she'd once used to survive her own brutal marriage. She'd learned to weaponize everything—her beauty, her wit, even desire itself—all while keeping her heart locked away where no man could shatter it again. Then Dr. Albert Raines arrived, threatening to tear down everything she'd built with his damning medical license and haunted dark eyes that saw too much.

Dr. Albert Raines came to Ravenwood seeking solitude, not scandal. The bastard son of an earl and a courtesan, he'd spent his life running from his mother's shadow, only to inherit a manor full of mysterious women and their maddeningly beautiful leader who threatened him with a gun and offered herself as casually as afternoon tea. Every instinct screamed to throw them out, to protect the reputation he'd fought to build. But watching Sylvia Addison save lives with fierce determination while carrying wounds that matched his own, Albert found himself wanting something he'd never dared imagine—a woman who understood that sometimes the greatest dignity came from choosing your own terms.

When a woman who uses desire as currency meets a man who's spent his life refusing to be bought, who will surrender first?

I've said it before, I'll say it again, I am utter trash for heroines who have "reputations." This is the fourth book in the Madams and Mischief series and when I heard of it's existence, I downloaded the first novella to give it a whirl - I just need to find my flagging reading mojo. On the subject of novellas - y'all words should still mean something and I'm not sure what's going on here because while this is tagged as "novella four" Amazon lists it at 300 page count. Could that be an error? I mean, maybe? Because the first novella in my TBR is listed at 112 pages.

A Viking Too Wild to Wed by Lucy Morris

Warrior, adventurer, charmer

…husband?

Egill Eriksson has had more wild exploits than he can remember. Now with his brothers settled, it’s time for him to secure his own future and finally wed! Enchanted by thrall Mildritha, Egill has a simple plan: free her from servitude and win her hand. If he can convince her he’s changed his ways…

The last thing Mila wants is a man trampling on her independence, especially one with a reputation like Egill’s! But there’s no arguing with their inescapable chemistry. Until Egill’s unruly past catches up with him and threatens the future Mila was just daring to hope for!

I mean, if you're not a Viking with a reputation, how good of a Viking could you possibly be? Our hero in Morris's latest is finally ready to settle down, he just has to convince the heroine that's he's a changed man. Turns out that's easier said than done.

Once Upon a Courtesan by Jess Michaels

Arabella Comerford always had too many dreams and desires to ever be happy with the forced marriage and staid life her cruel father planned for her. She sees her way out when she spies on a handsome gentleman engaged in elicit activities with a woman at Vauxhall Garden. Ultimately it leads her to her own path as a celebrated courtesan with freedom and money. But she always wondered about that man who got away and the startling green eyes that haunt her fantasies.

Silas Windham has been gone from London for nearly six years, after his father’s death caused a rift between him and the marquess’s legitimate children. Now he’s back thanks to the illness of his half-brother and unsure what to do next. Until he encounters Arabella at a hell and realizes she’s the woman who he once caught spying on him in a garden. The one he hasn’t been able to get out of his mind since.

Long-held memories and desires explode into a passionate affair that can only be temporary for both of them. But as their passions soften into deeper and deeper connection, it leaves them both wondering if two wild, broken people might be able to let go of the past and become everything to each other.

A trapped and desperate heroine discovers the answer to all her problems after spying a notorious rake in flagrante delicto. Six years later, she's a celebrated courtesan and he's back in London when his half-brother falls ill.  Their paths cross again and naturally things get very complicated. Again, trash for a heroine with a "reputation" and OMG, this is the first in a series featuring courtesans!

Olive Becket Plays the Rake by Kat Sterling

A wallflower with a secret…

Olive Becket has played it safe since the day her father died. So no one is more surprised than she when her suffrage anthem–an anonymous, harmless jingle–is a state-wide sensation. The public is clamoring to know who she is, but revealing herself could incur the wrath of her anti-suffrage landlord. Unfortunately, the devilishly handsome detective hired to unmask the composer is convinced she knows something. As if supporting her family isn’t enough, now she must outmaneuver a man who makes her shiver. If she misses a beat, she could find herself on the street. Or worse–directly in the rake’s embrace.

A detective under pressure…

Emil Anderson’s new detective agency is sinking fast. When a lucrative partnership is dangled in front of him in exchange for locating one low-profile composer, he doesn’t hesitate. To his surprise, his only lead–a perplexing pianist with spellbinding doe eyes–is immune to his famous charm. Unfortunately for her, Emil loves a good riddle, and he’ll track her until it’s solved. There’s only one snag–the more time he spends with her, the more protective he becomes. Now he has to choose: close the case, or open his heart.

An unexpected partnership…

Her livelihood. His future. The truth. All dangerously close to unraveling. How can they put aside their mutual suspicion–and inconvenient chemistry–before someone else pulls the strings? And what if the ending they fear turns out to be the beginning they never saw coming?

No one is more surprised than our heroine when the little jingle she wrote becomes an anthem for the suffrage movement. And really, who knew one little jingle would end up causing so much fuss? She's treading lightly around her anti-suffrage landlord and now there's a detective snooping around looking to unmask her. Now if she can only thwart him while not falling for his charms.  This is the second book in The Seattle Suffrage Society series.

Lord Carlisle's Enticing Lure by Cerise DeLand 

She’s much too carefree, too lovely, too enchanting to be a spy.

His job is to catch spies. She cannot possibly be one—and he cannot possibly love her!

Clive Davenport, the Marquess of Carlisle, does not fall for beautiful women. But when the dark-haired sylph he glimpsed not far from his home last winter reappears on the beach at Brighton, he cannot escape her lure. Swaying in the June breeze, she is the picture of freedom and delight in the summer sun. Then she saves his little girl from the crashing waves of the Channel waters and constructs kites that dance in his daughter’s hands—and in his heart.

She tells him her name is Giselle Laurant, and that she is a French émigré with a work commission she must urgently finish. Employing her special talents as an illustrator, she does not reveal that her renderings of coastal English towns have a special destination.

So falling in love with dashing Carlisle creates problems. He will not disappear. Nor does she want him to. Her past experience with an abusive husband and French police are bitter. Yet she marvels at Clive’s kisses that are so sweet, and his tender regard so alluring, that she allows herself one night of surrender.

But when her foes track her, Clive is determined to save her, no matter her sympathies. No matter that he loves her to distraction.

The fifth book in the Scarlett Affairs series features a hero whose job it is to catch spies and a French émigré heroine, a talented illustrator, who likes to draw pictures of coastal English towns. I mean, she can't possibly be a spy, can she?  Dude, c'mon now.

The Lyon Returns by Kimberly Keyes

A widow starting anew. A gentleman dodging the noose. Will their pretense of a marriage turn into a head-over-heels love?

To purchase the publishing house of her dreams, new-to-London Gwendolyn Barnes must find herself a husband. With no desire to wed again, the young widow pays an exorbitant fee to the notorious Black Widow of Whitehall for a husband who, she assures Gwen, is almost certainly dead.

Then her husband, shipping magnate and aloof son of a duke, Gideon Devereux, walks through the front door.

After reading of his marriage to an unknown bride, the date of which provides him a handy alibi, Gideon returns to London determined to discover who framed him for treason. He’s content to allow his farce of a marriage to the beautiful bluestocking to stand. He only sees two problems—Gwen’s stipulation the marriage remain in name only, and an ungovernable hunger for each other that neither can quell.

Secretly falling for the brooding and seductive Devereux, a wary Gwen vows to avoid a repeat of her disastrous first marriage. And with his enemies circling ever closer, Gideon’s inner demons whisper that their white-hot passion can never ignite into a forever love.

Can this made-for-each-other couple discover new heights of happiness in each other’s arms, or will the echoes of their pasts tear them apart?

Another month, more books that are part of The Lyon's Den world. The heroine wants to purchase a publishing house but in order to do that she needs a husband. So she pays an exorbitant fee to wed a man that is most likely dead. It should be perfect, until it isn't. For you see, the husband isn't dead and his "marriage" just so happens to provide him with an alibi that wiggles him out of trouble. He's fine with letting the sham of a marriage stand, other than the fact that his wife doesn't want to consummate it. Oh and the small matter that someone almost succeeded in framing him for treason....

Dreaming of a Lyon by Sandra Sookoo

In search of excitement… Though Captain Simon Henry Huxley lost an eye in the naval war with America in 1812, it hasn’t slowed him down the past six years. Since his contemporaries are falling into parson’s mousetrap with alarming regularity—manipulated by Mrs. Dove-Lyon no doubt—and with yearning to return to the sea thrumming through his veins, London is a bit dull. But after a spontaneous visit to the infamous Lyon’s Den gaming hell one winter night, his life will change in every conceivable way.

Dreaming of freedom… Lady Hattie Anne Russell, youngest daughter to the Earl of Stonewycke, has been intimate with scandal since the day she turned sixteen. She dislikes rules, labels, or the ton’s boring dictates for proper ladies, and through it all she’s been bedeviled by dreams of an adventurous lion. Frustrated, her mother turns to Mrs. Dove-Lyon for help in marrying Hattie off before further disgrace follows; no stake is too high, and any Lyon will do, but Hattie won’t be tamed, and neither will she submit to marriage without a fight.

A matchmaker’s interference may provide both… After a hasty marriage of convenience, the newly wedded pair is forced to make the best of their reality. As the calendar marches toward spring, the two accidentally find common ground by bonding over the silliest of things. Secrets and dreams are shared, and emotions prompt surprising heat between them, yet an unexpected complication has the power to destroy what they’re building. It will take daring heroics and exceptional mettle to prove they are worthy of a love—and a life—for the ages.

Yes, more Lyon's Den - and look, I'm only human. The hero is rockin' an eye patch. Also I can't even begin to tell you the last time I saw the War of 1812 play any sort of role in a historical romance since the bodice ripper era. He's anxious to return to the sea, and she's a scandal-ridden heroine whose mother is determined to bring her to heel. Of course these two messy people end up married to each other because it would be no fun otherwise.

Ah, October. The month for spooky shenanigans, mysteries and secrets galore. Will this crop of Unusual Historicals that feature so much Wendy catnip unearth my reading mojo? God willing and the creek don't rise. What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to?

May Day: Unusual Historical Highlights for May 2021

It's a blue ribbon day here at The Bat Cave - COVID vaccine shot #2 was jabbed into my left arm this morning.  I'm using it as an excuse to lounge about, be lazy....and browse new Unusual Historicals.  Never mind that I seem to be in a wee bit of a reading slump at the moment.  Since when has that ever stopped me from ogling at books?  Here's what is catching my eye for May:

The Lady Has A Past by Amanda Quick

Investigative apprentice Lyra Brazier, the newest resident of Burning Cove, is unsettled when her boss suddenly disappears. Lyra knows something has happened to Raina Kirk, and tracks down her last known appearance at an exclusive hotel and health spa. The health spa is known for its luxurious offerings and prestigious clientele, and the wealthy, socialite background Lyra desperately wanted to leave behind is perfect for this undercover job. What Lyra lacks in investigative experience she makes up for in gut instinct, and her gut isn’t happy that she’s saddled with a partner by Luther Pell, Raina’s dangerous lover, who wants to bring in someone with more experience to help. 

Instead of the suave, pistol-packing private eye she expected, though, Simon Cage is a mild-mannered antiquarian book dealer with a quiet, academic air, and a cool, remote gaze. Lyra suspects that Simon is much more than what he seems, and her instincts are confirmed when they arrive at the spa and pose as a couple: Simon has a unique gift that allows him to detect secrets, a skill that is crucial in finding Raina. 

The unlikely duo falls down a rabbit hole of twisted rumors and missing socialites, discovering that the health spa is a façade for something far darker than they imagined. With a murderer in their midst, Raina isn't the only one in grave danger—Lyra is next.

This is the 5th book in Quick's Burning Cove series, set in 1930s southern California and each book follows a different couple.  This blurb carries a whiff of paranormal to it (the mention of the hero's "unique gift") and certainly there's a mystery afoot.  But really, I'm in it for the bookish hero partnered with female PI apprentice.  This is a hardcover release, hence the sticker price.

Kidnapped by the Viking by Caitlin Crews

Stolen by the enemy… 

In thrall to his touch! 

Mercian princess Aelfwynn’s hard-earned escape from a tumultuous life at court to a nunnery is thwarted when she’s kidnapped by rugged Viking Thorbrand from a rival clan. She expects this dark-hearted warrior to have wicked intentions, but he’s not the savage beast she expects. There’s something about him that calls to her and soon it’s the shockingly addictive pleasure she finds with her captor that’s the biggest danger of all…

Well, well, well - isn't this interesting? Crews has written a mess of books (she's also Megan Crane) and Harlequin readers predominantly know her from her work with Harlequin Presents and Harlequin Dare.  This right here is her first Harlequin Historical (and I'm pretty sure her first historical period).  I've been reading romance a long time. I can't tell you the number of historical authors I've seen jump ship to contemporary.  It's pretty rare to see the reverse (not that I think Crews is jumping ship - more like just adding to the yacht club!).

Her Lady's Melody by Renee Dahlia

Two women, both widowed on the same day, find new love after loss. 

Dr. Luciana Stanmore wondered if this stoic fragility would haunt her forever. The Great War officially ended on 11 November last year, but the wounded weren’t magically healed by the signing of the armistice. Eventually, the hospital at Remy Siding near Ypres emptied enough for Luciana to head home to England, but a letter from her Oma in Amsterdam took her there instead. She should be taking the time to heal and grieve for her lover Maggie who died in the war. When the neighbour’s son breaks his arm falling out of a tree, Luciana must confront her war trauma to help him. It would be a lot easier if the boy’s mother wasn’t so beautiful and empathetic towards her shocked state. A plot to kidnap the boy gives Luciana a reason to emerge from the shell she’s built around her heart, and a reason to spend more time with Therese. 

Therese De Seletsky is a widow with a secret, or two. In hiding from the Bolsheviks, she lives quietly in Amsterdam with her seven year-old son, Count Pavel de Seletsky. Her husband, Alexandre, the previous Count, was killed during the Russian Revolution, with Therese watching on as she hid in the cupboard with Pavel wrapped in her arms. With Russia in turmoil, she needs to keep her son safe, so when Pavel is almost kidnapped, Therese panics. Her neighbour, the elusive gorgeous Dr Stanmore, helps her figure out the threat to Pavel, and together they must travel to England to find the final piece of the puzzle. It’d be easy, except Luciana reminds Therese of all the feelings she’s buried deep since she was pulled out of music college in scandalous circumstances and quickly married to the Count.

A doctor with trauma from World War I gets entangled with a beautiful widow hiding her son from the Bolsheviks. So much drama, so much Wendy Catnip. My wee little nerdy history-loving heart has just skipped a beat.  

The Wedding Night Affair by L.C. Sharp

An unlikely pair explores the darkest corners of London society in this thrilling historical mystery.  

 The year is 1748, and Lady Juliana Uppingham awakens in a pool of blood, with no memory of how her new husband ended up dead beside her. Her distaste for her betrothed was no secret, but even so, Juliana couldn’t possibly have killed him…could she? 

Juliana’s only hope is Sir Edmund Ashendon, a dashing baronet with a knack for solving seemingly unsolvable crimes—and a reputation for trouble. A man as comfortable in the rookeries of St. Giles as he is in the royal court, Ash believes Juliana is innocent, though all signs point to her as the killer. He doesn’t expect to develop a soft spot for the spirited widow, one that only grows when escalating threats against Juliana force Ash to shelter her in his home. 

When another body is found, it becomes clear that Juliana has been dragged into something much, much bigger than simply her husband’s murder. With a collection of deadly black-tipped feathers as their sole clue and a date at the end of a hangman’s noose looming, they’ll have to find the real killer—before it’s too late.

Carina Press seems to be marketing this one as a historical mystery and a second book featuring this same couple is on the horizon - but I'm featuring it here because it smells romantic suspense to me.  Also, it's a Georgian which is something different beyond the usual Regency or Victorian historical mystery crop.

  

Candace Sweet's Confectionary by Bonnie Dee (Kindle Unlimited)

Decadent chocolate inspires romance for two confectioners. 

After suffering indignities at the hands of her guardian, Candace Sweet sheds the shackles of an aristocratic upbringing to open a confectionery. There she delights in creating decadent chocolate truffles, but memories of her ordeal continue to embitter her new life. When an irresistible salesman enters her shop, he introduces a new element into the confusing recipe of emotions. Candace struggles to reconcile her growing feelings for Monsieur Moreau with the purely business agreement he proposes. 

With his family business failing, chocolatier Alain Moreau works to expand the venerable Moreau brand beyond Paris. While peddling chocolates to a new shop in London, he is struck by exquisitely decorated truffles… and their equally appetizing creator. Soon, he isn’t certain whether he’s more interested in selling to or wooing the proprietress, yet there are serious impediments in his life to any romantic entanglement. 

Figures from both of their pasts keep the sweet makers apart. When an old friend comes to Candace for support during her time of need, Candace begins to understand that some barriers should be broken and true happiness may require sacrifice. 

The finest chocolate is created by combining the bitter with the sweet.

I'm currently in low carb, low sugar Hell and last night I dreamt I was scooping up mountains of chocolates off the ground. I miss sugar y'all. Also, painful honesty time - I've never gotten the appeal of guardian/ward romances. Too much "ick" for me.  A heroine wronged by her guardian who opens up a confectionary and falls for a Frenchman looking to save the family business.  Yes, please! This is the third book in Dee's Providence Street Shops series.

The Knight's Runaway Maiden by Nicole Locke

She hates all Warstones. 

Can this one win her love? 

Balthus of Warstone secretly loved Séverine, even though she was unhappily married to his brute of a brother, then she fled six years ago. Now that her husband is dead, Balthus must find Séverine and reclaim her sons as his father’s heirs. Balthus’s desire is to claim her, too, and despite his battle-maimed arm and her distrust of his family, he’ll prove he’s a suitor worthy of such a courageous woman…

She ran away from an abusive marriage and now her smitten brother-in-law has to track her down because she's raising the heirs. I wish this guy the best of luck.  He's going to need it.

The Duke's Wife by Jess Michaels

After she found out her husband was a bigamist with three wives, Abigail Montgomery’s world fell apart. She was still reeling when she found out he was courting yet another woman, the sister of the Duke of Gilmore. She intervened anonymously and Gilmore’s reaction brought her world down around her. She has seen him as an enemy ever since. An arrogant, interesting, very handsome enemy.  

 No one can push Gilmore’s buttons more than the fascinating Abigail Montgomery. They constantly butt heads and yet he can’t get her off his mind. But now that her year of mourning for the husband who betrayed them all is over, she is showing up in his life a lot more. When a series of playful wagers leads to a passionate moment, everything changes. 

Now forced to marry after being caught together, the two must navigate a tangled past and a cloudy future. Could these enemies ever be more than lovers? Or will their stubborn hesitation to get closer keep them from being truly happy together?

The final chapter in Michaels' The Three Mrs series. Wife #3 saves Would-Be Wife #4 from her fate only to have the woman's brother be a thorn in her side ever since. Enemies to Lovers meets Michaels' reputation for writing sizzling and steamy.

Vanquished by Hope Tarr (Reprint)

A devil’s bargain… 

“The photograph must be damning, indisputably so. I mean to see Caledonia Rivers not only ruined but vanquished. Vanquished, St. Claire, I’ll settle for nothing less.” 

Known as The Maid of Mayfair for her unassailable virtue, unwavering resolve, and quiet dignity, suffragette leader, Caledonia – Callie – Rivers is the perfect counter for detractors’ portrayal of the women as rabblerousers, lunatics, even whores. But a high-ranking enemy within the government will stop at nothing to ensure that the Parliamentary bill to grant the vote to females dies in the Commons – including ruining the reputation of the Movement’s chief spokeswoman. 

After a streak of disastrous luck at the gaming tables threatens to land him at the bottom of the Thames, photographer Hadrian St. Claire reluctantly agrees to seduce the beautiful suffragist leader and then use his camera to capture her fall from grace. Posing as the photographer commissioned to make her portrait for the upcoming march on Parliament, Hadrian infiltrates Callie’s inner circle. But lovely, soft-spoken Callie hardly fits his mental image of a dowdy, man-hating spinster. And as the passion between them flares from spark to full-on flame, Hadrian is the one in danger of being vanquished.

Originally published by a small press in 2006, both Men of Roxbury House books are now available as self-published digital editions (in related news 2006 was 15 years ago...). A hero desperate for money takes a job from an odious government official to bring down a bothersome suffragette. I highly recommend checking out the 2006 review at All About Romance - because while none of us really did "content warnings" back in the day, Ellen wrote a detailed review that discloses the hero as a rape survivor and an anal sex scene, which would have been a rarity in historical romance back in 2006.

Whew! That's a lot of books to choose from this month.  What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to?

Spring Bouquet: Unusual Historical Picks for April 2021

After whining about my lack of eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine last month, it's like the universe heard me. Or maybe the Pfizer Gods?  I had my first shot on Saturday and other than a sore arm, I've been fine. OK, so I was wiped out with fatigue Saturday afternoon, but honestly that's pretty much been my constant state for the past year so....maybe she's born with it, maybe it's the vaccine?  So in honor of being one step closer to being protected, I thought it was time to celebrate with some unusual historicals - and boy howdy, there's a bunch to choose from this month!

   

Caught in a Cornish Scandal by Eleanor Webster

Will saving a stranger 

Start a scandal? 

With her family facing ruin, and desperate to avoid an arranged marriage, Lady Millie Lansdowne must work with smugglers. Millie knows smuggling isn’t going to be plain sailing, but rescuing a mysterious gentleman in a storm embroils her in a thrilling family drama! Helping handsome stranger Sam recover is a risk to her plans—and her emotions. He makes her feel alive, but she will be gambling on her family’s future if she goes with her heart…

A heroine with her back against the wall turns to smuggling and inconveniently (well, isn't it always?) falls in love.  I loved Webster's A Debutante in Disguise (another unusual historical!) and am looking forward to this one. 

The Devil Comes Courting by Courtney Milan

Captain Grayson Hunter knows the battle to complete the first worldwide telegraphic network will be fierce, and he intends to win it by any means necessary. When he hears about a reclusive genius who has figured out how to slash the cost of telegraphic transmissions, he vows to do whatever it takes to get the man in his employ. 

Except the reclusive genius is not a man, and she’s not looking for employment. 

Amelia Smith was taken in by English missionaries as a child. She’s not interested in Captain Hunter’s promises or his ambitions. But the harder he tries to convince her, the more she realizes that there is something she wants from him. She wants everything. And she’ll have to crack the frozen shell he’s made of his heart to get it.

Oh my, a hero upended by his assumptions finds out the "reclusive genius" he seeks is actually a woman.  And wouldn't you know it? The woman seems very not interested.  Milan is back with this third book in her Worth Saga. 

Book of Love by Erin Satie

She’s trying to make ends meet. He’s out for a bit of fun. 

Cordelia Kelly is busy, focused, worried about the future of her fledgling bookbinding business. When a handsome man stops her on the street to pester her with questions, she gives him the consideration he deserves: none. That handsome man happens to be the Duke of Stroud, and he finds Cordelia’s hostility hilarious. He gives chase, if only for the pleasure of provoking her again. 

He thinks life is a game. She doesn’t play around. 

Within days of meeting Cordelia, Stroud sets a marching band on a matchmaking mama, defaces a local monument, and ropes Cordelia into a round of his favorite game. In that same time, Cordelia stitches together the complete works of Mary Wollstonecraft, enthusiastically devotes herself to a petition demanding expanded legal rights for married women, and beats Stroud at his own game. 

She defies all expectations. So does he. 

Most people dismiss Stroud as a fool—himself included. When Cordelia sees past his lighthearted facade, he’s terrified and also... in love? Stroud barges into Cordelia’s life, offering her all the material and sensual temptations she’s learned to do without. She usually has willpower to spare, but turning him down takes all of it, and then some. He’s oddly irresistible. 

Or maybe they’re just perfect for one another.

Oh Lord, this is one of those tropes I love that really isn't a trope per se.  The earnest heroine who finds herself entering the orbit of a hero who thinks life is one big party - or perhaps one big joke. Plus the heroine is a bookbinder - I mean, how can you not love that?  

An Earl, the Girl and a Toddler by Vanessa Riley

Surviving a shipwreck en route to London from Jamaica was just the start of Jemina St. Maur's nightmare. Suffering from amnesia, she was separated from anyone who might know her, and imprisoned in Bedlam. She was freed only because barrister Daniel Thackery, Lord Ashbrook, was convinced to betray the one thing he holds dear: the law. Desperate to unearth her true identity, Jemina’s only chance is to purloin dangerous secrets with help from The Widow’s Grace—which means staying steps ahead of the formidable Daniel, no matter how strongly she is drawn to him . . . 

Married only by proxy, now widowed by shipwreck, Daniel is determined to protect his little stepdaughter, Hope, from his family’s scandalous reputation. That’s why he has dedicated himself not just to the law, but to remaining as proper, upstanding—and boring—as can be. But the closer he becomes to the mysterious, alluring Jemina, the more Daniel is tempted to break the very rule of law to which he's devoted his life. And as ruthless adversaries close in, will the truth require him, and Jemina, to sacrifice their one chance at happiness?

A heroine who survives a shipwreck (!) only to get amnesia and a stay at Bedlam for her troubles.  That's England for you - putting their best foot forward. I've a sucker for heroes trying to live down reputations (their own, their family's, whatever...) and reading between the lines of this blurb I'm detecting some Drama Llama.  Sign me up!

The Warrior's Innocent Captive by Ella Matthews

An impossible choice: 

His family or love 

Born into different worlds, formidable steward Erik Ward could only admire sheltered noblewoman Linota Leofric from afar. Now he must escort Linota on a dangerous journey—a route that could also enable Erik to finally find his missing sister. Only when Linota is kidnapped, Erik must stop at nothing to save her, and ultimately faces an impossible choice: his vulnerable sister—or the courageous beauty in his arms…

This third book in Matthews' House of Leofric series is a road romance featuring a couple of very different classes.  A Wendy Top Tip - if you love road romances you really need to be reading medieval settings.  The sub genre is ripe with them! 

The Soldier and the Spy by Annabelle Greene

A beholden man finds himself falling for the war hero he’s destined to double-cross. 

Three hundred pounds for one night of protection. It’s a job offer, but it’s also a ruse. Captain Benjamin Frakes, war hero and de facto head of the Society of Beasts—a club for gentlemen who prefer gentlemen—is tempted to turn it down. But August Weatherby, the sexy, brazen stranger making the offer, has captivated him completely. 

August is hardly the flush flirt he claims to be, however. An indebted man, desperate to save his infirm sister, August makes an ideal pawn for a lord eager to bring down the Society of Beasts once and for all. But August’s charge to find evidence against Frakes is at odds with his own virgin desire to entice the captain into showing him the true meaning of pleasure. 

As August’s infiltration pushes him deeper into the beguiling world of delights behind the Society’s closed doors, he and Frakes discover new ways to push the boundaries of their own cravings. But with mounting pressure to complete his devious mission, August finds himself torn between the man his heart yearns for and the sister whose life depends on his betrayal.

Greene continues her Society of Beasts series for Carina Press with a twist on the bodyguard trope - a war hero takes a job he's unsure of only to find out he's guarding a man who is essentially working with a villain to bring down his gentlemen's club.

The Defiant Wife by Jess Michaels

Pippa Montgomery never thought her life would go like this. When she found out her late husband was a bigamist and had been murdered, she thought nothing could ever be the same. When she met his brother Rhys, the Earl of Leighton, she knew it. 

Now they must navigate a scandal that will tear them both apart. They must make decisions that will affect the illegitimate child Pippa’s late husband fathered behind her back. And ultimately they must fight, for as long as they can, the simmering desire between them that is bound to explode. 

Two people, broken by a desperate scandal. They can only turn to each other, but they know they can never be together. Will they overcome the obstacles in their way and find a way to love one another? Or will the last consequence of one man’s conduct be the loss of a love that could last all time?

The second book in Michaels' The Three Mrs series features Wife #2 who has found out her murdered husband was a bigamist and she's embroiled in an inconvenient (again, isn't it always?) attraction with her brother-in-law. 

Continue to stay safe and stay healthy Romancelandia. Get your vaccine if/when you can.  And may many amazing unusual historicals await you!  What are you looking forward to reading this month?

March Madness: Unusual Historical Highlights for March 2021

Don't mind me. Just sittin' over here waiting for my turn in the vaccine queue - which I'm convinced won't be until July 2061 at this rate. I'm so ready. Like, beyond ready. So to distract myself from my growing impatience I've been plowing my way through "obligation reading" and looking for new, unusual historical romances.  Here's what caught my eye being published in March:

 

The Unexpected Wife by Jess Michaels

Although Celeste Montgomery was forced into a marriage a year ago, her husband is more often gone than home and she is living a quiet life. Until investigator Owen Gregory shows up at her home to tell her some outrageous news: Her husband has been murdered…and he was also a bigamist, making her the third of three wives. 

Owen Gregory was hired to investigate Celeste’s husband, but he never thought it would lead him here, to this beautiful woman whose life he just shattered. Once he determines she couldn’t be the murderer, he asks her to join him in London, in the hopes she can help him solve the crime. 

Now they must navigate two other wives, a broken-hearted brother and a duke who keeps poking his nose in as they work to determine who killed Erasmus Montgomery. Not to mention the intense feelings and passionate desires growing between them. But will secrets long held endanger them in ways they never imagined? And will they find a way to save each other before it’s too late?

Once upon a time there was a Maggie Osborne western with a similar plot (1 husband, 3 wives) albeit minus the murder and the private investigator hero.  I'm intrigued by the mystery angle here, and also the private investigator hero who starts to take a very personal interest in the heroine.  This is the first book in the trilogy - so now's the time to get in on the ground floor y'all!

Betrothed to the Enemy Viking by Michelle Styles

A wounded Viking warrior 

Must keep his enemies close… 

 Left for dead by a mysterious attacker, Viking warlord Kal Randrson comes around with a deep head wound and a hazy memory, yet he instantly recognizes his rescuer—captivating Lady Cynehild, whose life he turned upside down years before. Although she’s his enemy, they agree to a fake betrothal to expose his attacker. But is the capable, intriguing Cynehild’s mission to help him, or has she another intention entirely?

A heroine with secrets who rescues the hero PLUS a fake engagement?! Could my life get any better?  Styles writes consistently good books and this is the 2nd in her latest Vows and Vikings series for Harlequin.

Trouble for the Leading Lady by Rachel Brimble (Kindle Unlimited ; Hoopla)

Bath, 1852. 

As a girl, Nancy Bloom would go to Bath's Theatre Royal, sit on the hard wooden benches and stare in awe at the actresses playing men as much as the women dressed in finery. She longed to be a part of it all and when a man promised her parents he could find a role for Nancy in the theatre, they believed him. 

His lie and betrayal led to her ruin. 

 Francis Carlyle is a theatre manager, an ambitious man always looking for the next big thing to take the country by storm. A self-made man, Francis has finally shed the skin of his painful past and is now rich, successful and in need of a new female star. Never in a million years did he think he'd find her standing on a table in one of Bath's bawdiest pubs. 

 Nancy vowed never to trust a man again. Francis will do anything to make her his star. As they engage in a battle of wits and wills, can either survive with their hearts intact? 

Brimble is a name I recognize from the now (sadly) defunct Harlequin SuperRomance line and this second book in her Ladies of Carson Street sounds right up my alley. A disgraced heroine with a shot at redemption, all she has to do is a trust a man - which doesn't come easy.  This one is available via Kindle Unlimited, and also Hoopla (check to see if your local library offers this service!)

The Shipwrecked Earl's Bride by Renee Dahlia (novella)

LORD RUPERT STANMORE was banished to the continent for a grand tour after being caught kissing his best friend, Lord Benburgh. Two years later and life back in England has caught up to him. His father died recently and now he’s the latest Earl of Stanmore. On the way home, his ship is wrecked in a storm, and he washes up on a beach in Spain, only to be rescued by a beautiful woman. As the Earl, he has an obligation to marry. He’d rather be hung for sodomy than allow his mother to choose his bride, and who better to annoy his proper and distant mother than a poor foreigner as a bride? He plots for Sofia to fall in love with him, not expecting to fall for her.

SOFIA LUCIANA RIAL is the only daughter of a fisherman in Spain. She taught herself to read English from books washed up on their beach, a skill her widowed Father sees as pointless. In his opinions, she should spend all, not most, of her time doing domestic work. When a man washes up on the beach near their cottage, she realises he might be her ticket out of poverty. She sets about to make him fall in love with her so he can take her to England where she will never again have to worry about where her next meal will come from. Only her plan fails when she falls in love with him. But how can she convince him that her love is real?

Now see, some of you probably read this blurb and think the heroine mercenary. I'm thinking the gal is a realist - bless her heart.  Bisexual hero on his way home to claim an inheritance he's likely conflicted about and a heroine desperate to climb her way out of the poverty cycle.  I'm here for this.  Check your digital TBRs before one-clicking - this was originally published in the Twelve Rogues of Christmas anthology.

What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to reading?