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?