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?

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.

Review: Beguiling Her Enemy Warrior

I may drag my feet completing a series, but I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I do finish that final book. Bonus points when it works out to where I enjoy all the entries in the series, which has been the case with Lucy Morris' Shieldmaiden Sisters trilogy for Harlequin Historical. This has been a trilogy where each book builds on the next, with the final book, Beguiling Her Enemy Warrior, wrapping up events set in motion in the first book, The Viking She Would Have Married. The hero in that book was supposed to marry a Welsh princess to secure an alliance his odious father wanted. Instead, the princess ran off (with his help) and he married his one true love, the heroine. The fly in the ointment? The princess' brother, the hero in this final book - and y'all he is not a happy man.

Helga's mother and two older sisters are fierce shieldmaidens. Helga is not. Her talents have always been elsewhere, as a healer, a skilled archer, looking after the women and children while battles rage. Helga is also the family rune caster and fortune teller, firmly believing she foretold her oldest sister's marriage and her next oldest sister's reunion with her true love. She's walking through the market after her older sister's, Valda's, weeding - looking on as Brynhild bickers with Erik, when she is taken captive. The dragon, the rune that she cast on that long ago day with her sisters, has finally come calling. 

Lord Rhys is in the cursed Viking outpost of Jorvik looking for his missing sister. She was sent to this hellscape to marry the despicable Jarl Ulf's son Halfdan, who threw her over for some shieldmaiden. Another nail in the Viking coffin. Not only have they raided his lands, terrified his people, the men are so cowardly they let women fight. Now his sister is missing. Rhys will have his revenge and when he sees Helga he shoots his shot. Her uncle is Jarl Ulf, he takes her and Ulf will have no choice but to broker a hostage exchange. Assuming, of course, his sister is still alive. And if she isn't? Oh boy...

As readers of the first two books know, Rhys is so very, very wrong. Ulf is despicable and thinks so little of Helga's family they live in near destitution. The only thing Ulf is upset about is that no marriage to Rhys' sister means he's going to have to take Rhys' Welsh lands the hard way. Which he's more than happy to do.

Once they're away from Jorvik and he doesn't fear she'll escape, Rhys removes Helga's gag and she tells him how wrong he is. Still, it's not a disaster for Rhys.  Yes, Ulf is still going to raid his holdings, but Helga's sisters and mother will track down his sister and exchange her for Helga's safe return. That's really all he wants. He'll figure out how to defeat Ulf with limited supplies and men after that. Of course he didn't expect to fall under the spell of Helga, who quickly worms her way under his defenses.

The bulk of this book runs along a parallel timeline to the second book, Tempted By Her Outcast Viking.  That book finds Brynhild and Erik in a road romance, tracking down the missing princess, and making their way to Wales to rescue Helga.  Like that book, Helga and Rhys start falling in love on the road, making their way back to his land in Wales. However the love truly blossoms once they are there, as Helga comes to understand the enormous pressure Rhys is under to protect his land and his people, the incredible obstacles in his way and the emotional baggage he carries.  A big reason he sent his sister off to marry Halfdan? His beloved aunt was taken captive by Ulf's men. The marriage was to lead to her release, which is why he knows his sister didn't just "run off." She knew what her duty was and that their aunt's life depended on it.

The romance is a bit of slow burn early on but catches fire in the final third, with our couple consummating their relationship prior to the final battle scene with Ulf.  There's also a rather thrilling scene where Helga helps rescue Erik's aunt, along with several other hostages. 

Besides having a healthy dose of external conflict, there's plenty of internal conflict to prop up the romance. Rhys has serious trust issues and Helga has just enough vulnerability to soften his defenses.  I'll be honest, I always found Valda and Brynhild the more interesting heroines, but Helga definitely holds her own. She's no shieldmaiden, but there's a quiet strength to her character that makes it hard to take your eyes off of her - which Rhys quickly discovers.  Also, there's a couple of scenes where she truly dresses him down in such a quietly fierce way, it's really something to behold. 

This is definitely a trilogy where each book builds off the ones that preceded, so no I don't think they necessarily stand alone all that well - but the overall arch of the storytelling is well done and it's a trilogy that has everything from internal angst to thrilling battle scenes. Also the couples? Not a single dud in the bunch.  It may have taken me a little while to finish the entire trilogy, but it was time well spent.

Final Grade = B

Like a Box of Chocolates: Unusual Historicals for February 2024

February always seems to be a bit of a "slump month" for me and this year that manifested in both reading and blogging. I've had a terrible case of the blahs.  Which is why this month's Unusual Historicals post is a little later than usual - I couldn't find the spoons to draft it up last weekend because I knew it was going to be long. Hey, it's a good problem to have but long blog post means Wendy has to find words, and words have been hard.  Luckily I seem to have adopted Azteclady to my unusual historical payroll, who has been doing a bang-up job on sending me suggestions as she comes across them - it's why these posts have been so robust of late. So if you've been enjoying these posts lately, raise a glass to AL who has been a tremendous help!

The Temple of Persephone by Isabella Kamal

Persephone Honeyfield is witty, intelligent, and very aware that the only way to escape the monotony of the life she shares with her father and sister in the English countryside—and the wagging, ever-critical tongues of the people around her—is through marriage. She also knows the likelihood of it being a love match is nearly zero.

Aidon Barrington has carried on the legacy of his family’s funeral furnishing business, losing himself in the process. A shell of his former charming self, he’s traded his reputation as a rake for that of a recluse and regularly appears in the scandal sheets as London’s mysterious Lord of the Dead.

When Persephone finds herself at Gallowsgate—the old Barrington estate—on a seemingly simple errand, an unexpected run-in with the Lord of the Dead himself leaves her on the brink of ruination. With no other way to silence the village rumor mill, or save her sister’s reputation, Persephone agrees to marry Aidon, becoming the wife of a man she hardly knows.

Persephone finds herself increasingly fascinated by her new husband, whose kind, patient nature stands in stark contrast to the ever-swirling rumors about him. But when the gossip begins to sound more like reality than fiction, she attempts to uncover the truth behind the Lord of the Dead while discovering she may have already lost her most guarded possession: her heart.

OMG, the hero is essentially a funeral director y'all! Go ahead, try to think of the last time you read that in a romance novel, let along a historical romance novel. Essentially the Persephone myth dropped in Regency England, this also happens to be the author's debut.

A Gentleman Never Tells by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Frank Melrose is on the cusp of taking his father's printing business global—the last thing he needs is the distraction of any woman, let alone the dazzling Taya Winters.

He's under pressure from the newspaper to unmask the mysterious highwayman causing havoc in Belmore Square, but his infuriating clashes with Taya keep slowing him down.

What's more, he's sure that the highwayman is right under their noses—and that exposing their identity will end not only his story, but ruin his family, too...

The second book in the author's Belmore Square series features a hero running the family's printing business whose work gets tangled up with the heroine. How much you want to bet she knows more about the mysterious highwayman than she's letting on?

Knight of Darkness by Sherry Ewing

Sometimes finding love can become our biggest weakness…

Wymar Norwood understands responsibility. His two brothers have been in his care since his parent’s death. With his title and lands stripped from him by the usurper Stephen, he aligns himself with the Empress Matilda, the rightful Queen of England. If he can win her favor and become her champion knight, he prays all will be returned to him.

Lady Ceridwen Ward of Norwich is out to prove not only to herself but the Empress that she is more than capable of protecting those she loves. She hides herself in the guise of a knight and follows along with her men to Lincoln to raise her sword for the Empress’s cause. But life can become complicated, especially after your identity is revealed.

::Kermit flailing:: ENGLAND DURING THE ANARCHY OMG! I'm hard-pressed to think of another medieval that mines this period in English history. A hero who lost everything and a heroine (a chick in pants story!) with something to prove. This also appears to be the first book in a series (I mean, the hero does have two brothers so...

In Want of a Viscount by Lorraine Heath

American Leonora Garrison has come to England in desperate search of investors to keep her family business afloat but instead finds surprising pleasure when she visits an exclusive ladies’ club and dares to kiss a stranger, who leaves her yearning for more.

With a libertine for a father, Viscount Wyeth, more commonly known as Rook, vowed to live his life above reproach, with nary a hint of disgrace. Until one night, he takes a mysterious beauty into his arms, a lady who tempts him to cast his sterling reputation aside in favor of more wicked pursuits.

When fate reunites the couple, they are torn between desire and duty. Leonora may want the viscount, but she needs a stakeholder not a lover. When caught in a compromising situation that places everything they hold dear at risk, they must determine how best to win. However, in this scandalous game, nothing except love takes all.

The third book in Heath's Chessmen series has a nice twist on the American heroine traveling to England - she's not looking for a titled husband, she's looking for a investor to save the family business. Adding a hero who is overcompensating to live down the sins of his father and I'm intrigued...

Margins of Love by Sara Adrien

When Feivel “Fave” Pearler, is the golden boy of the Ton, but the haute-couture jeweler has a secret. Rachel Newman, a debutante who dares to defy societal expectations for a chance at true love. Their spicy romance is a perilous journey of love against all odds, challenging the confines of their world. When a gossiping blackmailer puts their impossible hope for a future together in jeopardy, they both navigate the greed and scorn of the aristocracy. Read their story and find out how they find a way to sidestep fate and gain a chance at forever in this historical romance that captures your heart?

If all illustrated covers looked this one I wouldn't hate them so much. Someone make a note of that, will you?  Anyway, this is the first in Adrien's Infiltrating the Ton trilogy, and while I firmly believe that people are "neither genre nor trope" I want to point out the series features Jewish characters; although what makes this first book unusual is that the hero is a jeweler who, naturally, has a secret. Because what's a romance without some secrets?

The Return of His Caribbean Heiress by Lydia San Andres

An unforgettable first kiss 

An unexpected second chance… 

It’s been five years since the night Leandro Díaz kissed heiress Lucía Troncoso before she left for Europe. He’d known they were from different worlds and would have to part, yet losing her still hurt… Now she’s returned but Leo isn’t the man he once was. Hardened by life, he holds Lucía at a distance and refuses to give in to their reignited attraction. Until danger hits and they’re forced closer than ever before…  

Every month I look at the new Harlequin Historical offerings and every month I resolve to go on a binge of them through my TBR. Set in the early 20th century, San Andres' latest Caribbean-set historical features a reunion, cross-class romance.

The Husband Heist by Alyxandra Harvey

As a duke’s twin sister, Lady Summer is used to being both noticed and ignored---and she finally means to use it to her advantage.

First, she steals art from The Mayfair Art Collectors Society with none the wiser. Well, except for Eliot Howard, the Earl of Blackpool, a rakehell and the bane of her existence. But as the art she steals with her madcap friends rightfully belongs to Eliot’s aunt, Summer is certain he will not get in the way.

The trouble is, she has also accidentally stolen a list of women spies working for the Crown. Someone is using the art exhibit to pass messages about an auction to sell off the code that will reveal the names and put them all in danger. Summer is determined to protect them.

A heist gone wrong when the heroine steals from the wrong person and unwittingly stumbles across espionage. This is the third book in Harvey's Dainty Devils series featuring unconventional heroines. 

To Steal a Marquess by Maeve Greyson

Alec Douglas, Duke of Lionwraith, a war hero betrayed on the home front while he was away at battle, trusts no one and prefers his solitude. But when his sister begs for help because she is ruined, he vows to make the man responsible pay. When the vile rakehell proves impossible to find, Alec isn’t swayed. He can just as easily destroy his enemy with a subtler attack. The Marquess of Ardsmere’s business provides the best wines and rarest imports to the finest houses in all the realm—but by the time Alec is finished, West Belgium International will cease to exist.

But the despicable marquess can’t be the ruination of Alec’s sister, because the man does not exist. However, Lady Francis, better known as Frannie and sometimes as the Marchioness of Ardsmere, is quite real. Born in Belgium after a terrible accident killed her father, Frannie was introduced to the world as the family’s ward rather than an Ardsmere daughter, and a fake Ardsmere son was fabricated for her to marry to keep the wealth, lands, and privileges of the title away from a heartless cousin. The ruse has served quite well, but now some quarrelsome duke threatens everything because his lightskirt sister tossed her reputation to the wind and ridiculously named the pretend marquess responsible.

Frannie is not about to lose her lucrative empire or expose herself as a fraud. There’s naught to be done but assume her usual role as the imaginary marquess’s wife and put the deplorable duke in his place. However, when she meets Alec’s sweet, trusting sister, she can’t bring herself to finish the poor girl off or take down her handsome brother. Cursing her soft-heartedness, Frannie agrees to help Alec. Not just because he’s a tempting challenge she can’t resist, but also because his sister is kindness itself.

While tracking down the real foe responsible, Alec and Frannie come together in a complicated dance that not only risks riches and reputations but also their hearts. Frannie’s life of lies has always provided everything she needs—except love. What’s she to do when the man who steals her heart despises anything that isn’t true?

OK, I'll be honest - back cover blurbs that are long enough to be the novel tend to annoy me - but I'm still intrigued. This is the second book in Greyson's Sisterhood of Independent Ladies series and features a hero bent on avenging his sister's honor except for the minor detail that the man who did her dirty doesn't actually exist. He's a fabrication created so the heroine wouldn't lose everything after her father's death. Now the heroine is a quandary, her delicate house of cards about to topple.

Convenient Vows with a Viking by Lucy Morris and Sarah Rodi

Two Viking short stories

Two alliances at the altar!

In Her Bought Viking Husband by Lucy Morris, Orla strikes a deal with enslaved Jarl Hakon to protect her land. She’ll buy his freedom if the handsome warrior marries her! In Chosen as the Warrior's Wife by Sarah Rodi, at the emperor’s bride show, Viking Fiske must choose noblewoman Kassia to save her from an unhappy fate. But his new bride holds a secret that threatens their newfound desire…

What's better than one Viking? Well two Vikings of course! Every Morris book I've read so far I've enjoyed and Rodi is an author I still need to try.  Both of these stories sound great, so in the pile it goes!

The Lady of a Lyon by Linda Rae Sande

She's a former courtesan. He was once her favorite client. Will a conniving earl thwart a matchmaker's efforts to see them reunited?

Newly widowed viscountess and mother to a young boy, Annabelle reluctantly returns to London in the hopes of securing invitations to Society events. Although she’s more than able to run the Burwick viscountcy on behalf of her son, Benton is in need of a titled father to help him along in life. Worried someone will recognize her—she was one of the ladies of The Elegant Courtesan before Burwick made her his viscountess and took her off to his country estate—Annabelle soon realizes she can’t hide her identity when one of her former clients confronts her. Embarrassed and angered by his overtures, Annabelle decides to leave her fate in the hands of matchmaker Bessie Dove-Lyon.

As a lieutenant colonel in the British Army and the second son of an earl, Jeffrey never expected to inherit an earldom and have to marry. Now he's in a quandary. He’s in desperate need of funds, for the Year of No Summer has left the earldom’s coffers empty. When he spies his favorite flame-haired courtesan in a tailor’s shop with a young boy, Jeffrey doesn’t realize she’s become a respectable lady. His comment about her son is mistaken as an insult, and he fears he may have missed his opportunity with the woman he still finds irresistible.

Learning he can win a wealthy woman in a game of chance at The Lyon’s Den, Jeffrey agrees to the Black Widow of Whitehall’s matchmaking method.

When he discovers Annabelle is the prize, the stakes may be more than he can afford, for if she ends up in the arms of a man he trusts, his heart—and a friendship—will surely be broken.

A former courtesan who married well, now widowed, in need of a new titled husband to aid in her young son's development and a second son who suddenly finds himself inheriting the keys to the kingdom. Oh, and it just so happens that he was once her favorite client.  This is another entry in the larger "Lyon's Den" world and I am nothing but trash for heroines who have "reputations." 

The Hawk Laird by Susan King (Reprint)

When a haunting prophecy leads to revenge - will the truth lead to love?

From the moment Isobel of Aberlady sees the stranger emerge from the shadows to spirit her away from a besieged Scottish castle, she knows it is at the cost of her freedom—and his. Renowned for her visions, the lovely, isolated Isobel has been protected until the Scottish rebel takes her hostage for his own ends. Outlawed and unjustly accused of betraying his leader, falconer Sir James Lindsay needs his good name restored—and Lady Isobel, whose prophecy caused his undoing, is his only weapon.

Intending to exchange the valuable lady for another hostage, James takes Isobel deep into his forest lair. He does not count on finding an abandoned goshawk who needs his help—nor does he expect to fall in love with the beautiful prophetess. Amid treachery and hope, passion and betrayal, their love becomes the one shining light, a source of retribution, renewal, and finally destiny foretold—and forever ....

For us old farts who still read blogs (😂), King is one of the authors part of the long-running Word Wenches blog. This medieval is a reprint of her 1998 book Laird of the Wind that was published by  Penguin's long-running Topaz line. A heroine who has a vision of her own abduction and a falconer (!) hero desperate to clear his name. This sounds like my favorite kind of a medieval - one you can really sink your teeth into, swooning along the way.

Whew! Another robust month.  What Unusual Historicals are landing in your TBR this month?