Giving Thanks: Unusual Historicals for November 2024

I'm not sure if it's just the fact of getting older (I have a big milestone birthday hitting next year - yikes!), the general stress of the last several years (2020, if not longer, to now has been a lot for all of us I think!) or that I'm closing out Year 21 (!) of this blog's existence - but I'm feeling maudlin. In honor of Thanksgiving, I want to thank all of you who still visit this most dinosaur of mediums (people still blog?!), take the time to occasionally comment, and just show your support in a multitude of ways. I appreciate all of you and you're a big reason why I haven't just thrown up my hands and let this space collect permanent mothballs. Now, let us give thanks and show our appreciation for some intriguing Unusual Historical titles landing this month:

The Muse of Maiden Lane by Mimi Matthews

Stella Hobhouse is a brilliant rider, stalwart friend, skilled sketch artist—and completely overlooked. Her outmodish gray hair makes her invisible to London society. Combined with her brother’s pious restrictions and her dwindling inheritance, Stella is on the verge of a lifetime marooned in Derbyshire as a spinster. Unless she does something drastic…like posing for a daring new style of portrait by the only man who’s ever really seen her.

Aspiring painter Edward “Teddy” Hayes knows true beauty when he sees it. He would never ask Stella to risk her reputation as an artist’s model but in the five years since a virulent bout of scarlet fever left him partially paralyzed, Teddy has learned to heed good fortune when he finds it. He’ll do anything to persuade his muse to pose for him, even if he must offer her a marriage of convenience.  

After all, though Teddy has yearned to trace Stella’s luminous beauty on canvas since their chance meeting, her heart is what he truly aches to capture….

An overlooked heroine starring down the barrel of spinsterhood decides to pose for the only man, an artist, who has ever truly seen her. What she gets instead is a marriage of convenience. This is the fourth book in the author's Belles of London series.  Miss Bates posted a recent review.

Duchess Material by Emily Sullivan

Phoebe Atkinson is what society might call unconventional. Instead of marrying well like other women born to wealth, she chose to be a schoolteacher. Not to mention she lives in a leaky flat in an unfashionable part of town rather than stay in her parents’ mansion. But when her most promising pupil goes missing she has only one option: beg her sister’s best friend, the powerful Duke of Ellis, for help. 

The last thing William Margrave ever expected was to inherit a dukedom. But now that he has it, he’s determined to act the part perfectly—and that includes marrying the perfect duchess. A bluestocking Bohemian schoolteacher is decidedly not duchess material. But he can’t resist her plea for help regarding her missing student. 

As they fall further into the mystery, William discovers that he never got over his childhood crush on Phoebe, and he doesn’t really want to.

A wealthy, unconventional heroine who lives in a leaky flat and is a schoolteacher (!) has no choice but to go to a powerful Duke (our hero) for help when one of her students goes missing. Our Duke needs to find a suitable wife, not get tangled up with some schoolteacher - but of course, tangled he gets. This sounds positively delightful, and oh look - another review from Miss Bates.

Her Warrior's Redemption by Michelle Willingham

They fought for their lives 

Now they must fight for their love!

Trapped in Constantinople’s brutal fighting pits, Brian of Penrith forms an unbreakable bond with his fellow captive, resilient maiden Velaria. Yet once they escape home to England, Velaria’s highborn status keeps her out of the humble warrior’s reach. 

But their shared struggle in returning to their former lives connects them once more. Though Brian is haunted by past guilt, and Velaria is destined to marry a nobleman, a thrilling attraction ignites! Soon Brian discovers the truth about his past, which gives him hope for redemption and could forever change their fates…

Constantinople! A hero and heroine imprisoned together! And then, of course, despite the bond they share, once back in England society deems him "not good enough" for her. This is the third book in Willingham's Legendary Warriors series and seriously, I just need to binge read them.

The Scandalous Widow by Elizabeth Rolls

She’s determined never to marry again… 

Is he the gentleman to change her mind? 

Left penniless by her late husband and disowned by her family, widow Lady Althea withdrew from polite society, and became infamous for indulging in not-so-secret liaisons with gentlemen of the ton. These days, Althea lives quietly with her beloved dog, Puck, and secretly pens salacious novels instead! 

Then handsome solicitor Hugo Guthrie arrives, with her orphaned nieces in tow, and turns her life upside down. For the girls need a home, and working with Hugo is making every emotion Althea thought she could live without come crashing back to life!

Please, please for the love of all that is holy let this heroine truly be "scandalous." Please, please let it be that she truly has taken a series of lovers, it's not some elaborate ploy and she's really not pure as the driven snow hiding a Big Secret - because hot damn this blurb is 100% pure Wendy catnip.

Mentor to the Marquess by Melissa Kendall

A survivor of spousal abuse, matchmaker Olivia Heather, the Dowager Countess of Allen, devotes her time to preventing the young ladies of society from following in her footsteps—until a series of newspaper articles accuse her of murdering her late husband.

Her plan to use her feminine wiles to convince the man responsible for the attacks to stop is stymied when the man in question, the infuriatingly handsome Thellusson Vaith, Marquess Lowell, requests that she find a love match for his daughter.

Nonetheless determined to make him pay for his misdeeds, Olivia vows to ignore the attraction simmering between them—until she learns that he hasn’t bedded a woman since his wife’s death nearly twenty years prior. Unable to resist the sensitive, guilt-ridden marquess, she takes on a new role: Mentoring him in the ways of pleasure.

But when they discover letters that suggest someone is manipulating Thel’s daughter using the same techniques that Olivia’s husband once used against her, they must delve into Olivia’s wounded past and resolve old family conflicts before the marquess’s daughter is in danger and Olivia is arrested for a crime she did not commit.

This is the second book in the author's Seductive Sleuths series and I'll be honest, the whole "she mentors him in the bedroom" thing just seems like piling on in a blurb that has more than enough plot going for it. But I'm intrigued by the set-up of the heroine trying to help women so they don't fall into the same trap she did so I'll undoubtedly give this one a whirl at some point.

The Countess's Christmas Groom by Fenna Edgewood

A festive house party, a forbidden attraction…

Returning home for the holidays, Lady Katherine Colworth hopes that the cozy glow of Christmas might bring her a reprieve from the painful rumors of her husband’s death. Instead, she finds herself drawn to an unlikely confidant—a handsome, young footman serving in her family’s household.

A man out of place but captivated…

Ashley Spencer has worked his way up from the stables to a temporary post inside the manor, but the glittering holiday gatherings seem worlds away from his life. Until he meets the countess. Beneath the festive garlands and candlelit halls, he discovers a woman he’s bound to protect—even as he’s falling deeply in love with her.

A love that defies all expectations…

Under mistletoe and moonlight, Katherine and Ashley cross the boundaries of class and age, drawn together by a love as fierce as it is unlikely. But with Katherine’s past threatening to shatter their newfound happiness, will the season’s magic be enough to protect their hearts?

A house party and an affair between a Lady and a footman.  These are the kind of holiday romance shenanigans I can totally get behind! This is also the first book in a series.

Knight of Mayhem by Sherry Ewing

As one of Empress Matilda's most trusted knights, Lord Richard Grancourt helps plan his monarch's escape when Oxford Castle is held under siege by King Stephen’s army. When a woman in Stephen’s forces discovers their plan, Richard is tasked with remaining behind and keeping her silent.

Lady Annora de Maris will do anything to save her son, who has been King Stephen's hostage since his men killed her husband and took her home. Though she’s forced to raise her sword against King Stephen's enemies, her loyalties are secretly with the Empress she’s compelled to fight against.

Richard takes Annora captive, but his tactics challenge his beliefs about honor and justice, and his feelings for Annora conflict with his duty.

The fourth book in the author's Knights of Anarchy series features a heroine hiding her true motives and a hero who takes her captive when she discovers his plans. I love that this series is set during The Anarchy and I really need to read Book 1....

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know by Mary Jo Putney (Reprint, novella)

He was going to be hanged on Tuesday

English-born Andrew Kane had enjoyed the adventurous life of a gambler in the Wild West, but after winning a ranch in Colorado, he was ready to settle down. Then his attempt to protect a young tavern girl led to a shoot out and a wrongful conviction for murder.

On his journey to the gallows, he meets despairing young widow Eliza Holden who intervenes when he's being beaten by his guards. Together, they find comfort and a stunning sense of connection. Can Eliza create a Christmas miracle for them both?

Originally published in the 1993 Rakes and Rogues anthology, I believe this might be Putney's only published western?  I love reading westerns and I like reading short so this one is going on the pile.

Christmas Through the Ages by Carla Kelly (Reprint, novellas)

In Christmas Eve Proposal, Christmas gets interesting when naval war hero Ben Muir returns home and takes lodgings in the village teashop with Mandy Mathison. For when her scandalous past is revealed, only he can save her future!

In A Father for Christmas, when Marine Ezra Eldridge manages to escape a hijacked ship, he knows he must complete his dangerous mission. But when he manages to find an empty house, he discovers beguiling widow Lissy and her young son… and they agree the perfect cover is for him to pose as her husband!

And in Christmas Dance with the Rancher, stranded, spirited Katie becomes chore girl on Ned Avery's ranch. When Ned asks her if she would marry a rancher, she laughs it off and teaches him to dance, promising him he will soon find a wife. But she’s unaware it’s her Ned has set his sights upon!

Christmas With a Naval Captain by Carla Kelly (Reprint, novellas)

In The Captain’s Christmas Journey, Captain Everard is escorting Verity to her governess job—and for propriety’s sake that means a convenient engagement!

In Captain Grey’s Christmas Proposal, Captain Grey had been fighting malarial fever in Savannah when he was nursed back to health by the captivating Theodora Winnings. He proposed by letter—but her reply was lost for a decade. The answer was “yes!”—but is she still willing to become his Christmas bride?

And in Christmas Promise, now that peace has broken out, Captain Jeremiah Faulk is at odds over what to do this Christmas, let alone with his life. Until a simple act of charity reunites him with his lost love—the unattainable Ianthe Mears …

Finally these last two anthologies by Carla Kelly feature stories that have all been previously published in multi-author Harlequin Historical anthologies, but it's the first time they've been packaged together. Kelly's Christmas stories are fan favorites and this is a great opportunity to have all of these stories in one place or pick them up if you missed them the first time around.

What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to?

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?