Full Bloom: Unusual Historicals for May 2025

Y'all I felt like January was three months long and ever since the year seems to be zipping by. My unheard of, super rare, two planned vacations this year are coming up fast (July and September) and I'm starring down the barrel of end of fiscal year deadlines at work. Also, after a rough slump in late April / early May, I'm hoping to stay inspired and get some reading done through the summer months.  Just in time for that? A really interesting crop of Unusual Historicals landing in May, some of which are already in my TBR.

Copper Script by KJ Charles

Detective Sergeant Aaron Fowler of the Metropolitan Police doesn’t count himself a gullible man. When he encounters a graphologist who deduces people’s lives and personalities from their handwriting with impossible accuracy, he needs to find out how the trick is done. Even if that involves spending more time with the intriguing, flirtatious Joel Wildsmith than feels quite safe.

Joel’s not an admirer of the police, but DS Fowler has the most irresistible handwriting he’s ever seen. If the policeman’s tests let him spend time unnerving the handsome copper, why not play along?

But when Joel looks at a powerful man's handwriting and sees a murderer, the policeman and the graphologist are plunged into deadly danger. Their enemy will protect himself at any cost--unless the sparring pair can come together to prove his guilt and save each other.

A new KJ Charles is always cause for celebration, and this stand-alone romantic suspense is set in 1924 London. Also color me intrigued by the pairing of a police detective and a handwriting expert!

A Showgirl's Rules for Falling in Love by Alice Murphy

It’s 1897, and a new fashion for thin threatens to end the career of proudly fat vaudeville performer Evelyn Cross. Enter Thomas Gallier, the man behind the new palace of entertainment promising to be the apex of New York City’s theatrical scene. He’s in search of a star for his vaudeville spectacular, and when he hears Evelyn sing, he knows exactly who he needs to grace his stage.

 In a grand finale, present-day narrator Phoebe steps in to reveal secrets and show readers what it really means to claim self-love. Inspired by the true story of a Progressive Era troop of plus-size dancers, this is a story about the spirit of community and the power of romance.

A late-Victorian set against the New York City vaudeville scene that features a present-day narrator as a framing device. I'm not sure how this is gonna work, but I'm intrigued by the premise enough to already have this book locked and loaded on my Kindle. This one is what I call a "pseudo-debut" the author being a "pseudonym of a bestselling author."

Seduced by a Scoundrel by Alyxandra Harvey

Sometimes all you need is a nefarious plot.

And a handsome marquess.

Sybil Taunton has no interest in resting after her last mission, never mind that it left her chained in a cellar. Rest is boring. And when someone begins targeting members of the Spinster Society, Sybil is ready to storm London’s most exclusive gentlemen’s club, steal the infamous betting book, and force her grumpy, oh-so-proper neighbor into helping her.

Keir Montgomery, Marquess Blackburn, prefers order, quiet, and a scandal-free life. Sybil is none of those things. But when her latest scheme pulls them both into the sights of a rival society, he’ll do anything to protect her… including breaking every rule he holds dear.

::Kermit flail:: The third book in Harvey's The Spinster Society series about a secret society of women who protect other women from unscrupulous and dastardly men. Sybil was the "agent" who went missing in the first book in the series, so it's only natural she would eventually turn up as a heroine in her own story.  In order to protect The Spinsters she needs to team up with her neighbor, who I can guarantee is not prepared for the likes of Sybil....

Manic Pixie Dream Earl by Jenny Holiday

When not writing, poet Edward Astley, Viscount Featherfinch, spends his time fending off the young ladies of the ton—and some of its young men—and avoiding his cruel father. As heir to the earldom, Edward knows he must marry someday. Alas, he is already hopelessly in love with someone. Hopeless because not only is Miss Julianna Evans not a member of the aristocracy, she is employed. She is a magazine editor—the only one to publish his work. Also, in all their years of increasingly personal correspondence, they’ve never met.

 

Also, she thinks he’s a woman. Named Euphemia.

 

Julianna is baffled. How can her soul mate not want to meet? Could it be that Euphemia is not the simple country girl she claims to be? Perhaps she’s wealthy. After all, she’s never cashed any of the bank drafts Julianna has sent. Perhaps Euphemia simply doesn’t want rank to come between them. Well, no more. Having extracted the details of a trip Euphemia is planning, Julianna squanders her meager savings and surprises her at the scene.

 

He is very, very surprised. As is she.

 

Now the two will have to decide what is true, what is not, and whether the truest thing of all—love—just might be worth an earldom . . .

He's an heir and secret poet, in love with a wholly unsuitable woman.  The woman in question is his magazine editor, feels as if they are soul mates and slight wrinkle here - thinks he's a woman.  I mean, what could possibly go wrong?  This is the second book in Holiday's Earls Trip series.

Doxy of the Ton by Emily Royal

Mimi La Fleur has survived heartbreak and destitution. The girl she once was is long gone and she never wants to be owned by a man again. She uses her body to earn a living, but her heart, and her pleasure, are not for sale. When she saves the life of a drunken duke, she’s reminded of a world long forgotten. He makes her an offer she can’t refuse—enough money to set her free, provided she agrees to be his mistress for six months.

Alexander Ffortescue, fifth Duke of Sawbridge, is notorious among the ton for indulging in all the vices London has to offer, but after he causes the death of his best friend in an accident, he’s disowned by all. When he’s set upon by brigands outside a tavern, he finds an unlikely saviour in a doxy, whose warm embrace and soft body give him much-needed comfort.

But Mimi is no ordinary doxy. Beneath the façade is a caring, compassionate woman who sees through Alexander’s rakish exterior to the lost soul within.

OMG SHE'S A DOXY!!!!!!!  He's a Duke on the outs with society after a tragic accident, it's the seventh book in the Misfits of the Ton series blah, blah, blah. THIS IS NOT A DRILL, SHE'S A DOXY!!!!!  I broke a nail one-clicking this.

The Lady Makes Her Mark by Susanna Craig

Known only as “Miss C.” Constantia Cooper creates satirical cartoons for Mrs. Goode’s. But her anonymity hides a more shocking secret—one that requires she remain elusive. When a scandal at the magazine threatens to expose her, Constantia packs up and flees. But in her haste, she is struck by a carriage and suffers a blow to the head. Fortunately, she’s rescued by a gentleman. Unfortunately, he is all too familiar. Feigning amnesia seems Constantia’s best strategy . . .

 

Alistair Haythorne, Earl of Ryland, would never turn away a lady in distress—even if he’s often the target of said lady’s biting satire. In fact, while “Miss C.” recuperates, he will have her teach his sisters to draw. Perhaps it will inspire a more flattering portrait of him . . .

 

But secrets make interesting bedfellows and as Constantia and Alistair grow closer, their opinions of one another change—drastically. With love in the air, two things stand between them: Alistair’s need to marry an heiress to keep his family’s estate intact . . . and a series of threats that endanger Constantia’s life. Can what keeps them apart ultimately bring them together?

She's a cartoonist who fakes amnesia when she comes face to face with her favorite subject, the hero. While he's not a fan of her satire, he sees the opportunity to have her teach his sisters to draw while she recuperates from her accident. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? This is the, presumably, final book in the Goode's Guide to Misconduct series / trilogy.

The Chef and the Countess by Karyn Gerrard

Liam Hallahan, illegitimate son of a disreputable duke, carries hidden scars from a childhood living on the streets. Through sheer determination, he acquired an education, took the gaming hall he’d inherited and successfully turned it into a respectable restaurant. Liam isn’t usually surprised by life’s twists and turns…until a widowed Countess is unceremoniously dumped on his doorstep.

Men have ruled Celia Gillingham’s life for as long as she could remember. Orphaned at a young age, her uncle negotiated a marriage for her with an old earl. After her husband’s death, Celia, now alone and penniless, goes back to her uncle’s home, only to find herself dropped off at an East End business by her viscount cousin. He tells Liam that Celia will work off his gaming debt. Instead, Celia asks Liam for a job. And Liam reluctantly agrees, putting the countess to work in his kitchen.

The unlikely pair soon discover a growing respect and a simmering passion—not only for cooking, but each other. Only Celia’s loathsome uncle and cousin haven’t forgotten about her.

An illegitimate son of a Duke inherits a gaming hell and decides to turn it into a restaurant. I mean, a hero who inherits a gaming hell and doesn't make his living off enflaming gambling addictions? WHAT MAGIC IS THIS?!?!?  She's a discarded widow dumped off to pay an odious cousin's gambling debts. This is the second book in The Duke's Bastards series.

The Lady Needs a Rogue by Tara Kingston

She’s happily on the shelf . . .

Heiress MARY CATHERINE MASON has no need of a husband. Shipped off to London to hunt a title—and the pasty lord who would unfortunately come with it—the talented photographer has dodged every suitor her tycoon father has thrown at her. A minor scandal here, a costume malfunction there—Macie has outsmarted the heiress-hunters at every turn. But she doesn’t count on being saddled with a bodyguard, much less a rogue like her brother’s friend, Finn Caldwell. Years earlier, the young rake had been the bane of Macie’s girlish existence. Now, Finn is a man. Taller. More handsome. And even more infuriating. Striking a bargain with her tempting protector, Macie enlists Finn in a romantic charade—surely a besotted bodyguard would deter the stuffy nobles hungry for a taste of her father’s fortune. But when a mysterious threat forces them together, Macie realizes Finn might just be the rogue her secretly tender heart craves.

Her rogue and protector . . .

FINN CALDWELL had one job—seal a crucial business deal with an old friend. But now, the bargain rides on Finn’s ability to keep his friend's sister out of trouble, a feat easier said than done. Macie attracts wolves in gentleman’s clothing and stumbles upon danger while toting her camera through the city. Macie’s unlike any woman he’s ever known—as clever and independent as she is beautiful, she challenges and intrigues him like no other. He wants her in his arms. In his bed. In his heart. But Macie is off-limits—especially to a rogue like him. Until she’s caught up in a perilous mystery, and Finn must put everything on the line to protect her.

Can he prove he’s the man she wants . . . the man she needs? Not for one night, but for the rest of their lives.

This is the second book in the Rogue of Her Own series and features a late Victorian heiress heroine who has no desire to marry and just wants to be left alone to pursue her photography.  She didn't plan on getting stuck with a bodyguard, especially when it's her brother's friend tasked to keep her out of trouble.

Miss Tiffany Has a Secret by Bronwen Evans (Reprint, Updated)

Miss Tiffany Deveraux is more than just a bluestocking, she’s a financial genius hiding behind the plain façade of an orphaned ward. Society sees a penniless, unremarkable girl under the Earl of Marlowe’s care, and Tiffany intends to keep it that way. Her quiet fortune, earned through sharp wit and savvy investments, is a secret she’ll protect at all costs. Because the only way to know if a man truly loves her… is if he believes she has nothing to offer but her heart.

Slade Ware, Marquess of Wolfarth, has the Midas touch, or so the ton believes. Lauded as a brilliant investor, his success is largely luck, and that luck may have just run out. When he learns of Tiffany’s hidden talents and growing wealth, a marriage of convenience seems the ideal solution. She gains protection. He gains stability. Simple. Logical. Unemotional.

But emotions have never followed logic.

As friendship deepens and hidden wounds come to light, what begins as a calculated match risks turning into something neither of them anticipated. Because what Tiffany truly wants isn’t his title or protection, it’s his heart. And that’s the one thing Wolfarth swore he’d never give again.

The first book in The Season of Secrets series is an updated reprint of A Lady Never Surrenders, and this edition also includes the prequel novella, Miss Serena Wakes Up which was previously published as A Lady Never Concedes. Confused yet? Anyway, she's a financial wizard hiding her talents to protect her heart from dishonest men and he's a Marquess whose luck in the financial markets has finally run out. He discovers her secret and a marriage of convenience is born.

A Rogue in Firelight by Susan King (Reissue, Updated)

Ronan MacGregor, laird of Glenbrae, lawyer, distiller, and sometime smuggler, cools his heels in Edinburgh’s dungeon as the city prepares for King George IV’s visit. But when the king asks to meet the distiller of his favorite Highland whisky, Ronan is released into the custody of the deputy lord provost. The Gaelic-speaking Highland rogue must be tidied up for the royal occasion—but he is not what he appears to be.

Ellison Graham, the deputy provost’s widowed, reclusive daughter, agrees to transform the rugged Highlander into a gentleman before the king arrives. Sequestered in the Highlands with MacGregor, she discovers he is highly educated, needs no lessons, refuses a royal audience—and has quickly stolen her heart.

Temporarily free, Ronan strives to help his friends and save his whisky business, never expecting to fall in love with beautiful Ellison, a secret novelist longing for passion and excitement. When a bitter rivalry threatens them, Ellison must face her fears while Ronan must choose between his freedom and his heart.

He's a lawyer, whisky distiller and smuggler rotting in a cell until he's sprung because of King George IV's impending visit. She's a heroine who thinks she's in a Pygmalion trope, but turns out our hero does not need a makeover, and he also has no desire to meet the King.  This is an updated reprint of Laird of Rogues, which is the third book in an out of print trilogy, the first two books featuring fantasy elements (fairies, legends, blah blah blah). However, this updated reissue is now listed as Book 1 in The Whisky Rogues series and nothing in this blurb screams fantasy elements to me. All this to say, I have no idea but it's already downloaded on my Kindle.

Another month with a bonanza crop of Unusual Historicals to be intrigued by and investigate. What are you looking forward to adding to your TBR?

Candy Hearts: Unusual Historicals for February 2025

If January felt six months long, February has been blinked and you missed it - and yes, I realize February is the shortest month of the year, but still. I'm gearing up for my busy season at work (end of the fiscal year, June 30, is big hairy deal in my job and I basically start that process around this time) and I'll be going in for outpatient surgery the first week in March to take care of the hiatal hernia that has made my life miserable for the past couple of years. But, we still have books (well, at least for now...) and while February is a short month, it's a bonanza of options for unusual historicals - which, dead my ass. Again, historicals will only die on our watch, so if any of these look good to you - give them a whirl and spread the good word far and wide.  Here's what caught my eye this month:

A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera

Paris, 1889

Physician Aurora Montalban Wright takes risks in her career, but never with her heart. Running an underground women’s clinic exposes her to certain dangers, but help arrives in the unexpected form of the infuriating Duke of Annan. Begrudgingly, Aurora accepts his protection, then promptly finds herself in his bed.   

New to his role as a duke, Apollo César Sinclair Robles struggles to embrace his position. With half of society waiting for him to misstep and the other half looking to discredit him, Apollo never imagined that his enthralling bedmate would become his most trusted adviser. Soon, he realizes the rebellious doctor could be the perfect duchess for him. But Aurora won’t give up her independence, and her secrets make her unsuitable for the aristocracy.

When dangerous figures from their pasts return to threaten them, Apollo whisks Aurora away to the French Riviera. Far from the reproachful eye of Parisian society, can Apollo convince Aurora that their bond is stronger than the forces keeping them apart?    

This is the third and final book in the author's Las Leonas trilogy and this back cover blurb positively sings for me. Paris, a physician heroine in the crosshairs for having the gall to provide women with health care and a Duke hero who is very much on the outside looking in. He's determined to make her his duchess and she's less than thrilled with the idea - sign me up!

Never Gamble Your Heart by Lindsay Lovise

When the genteelly born, impoverished Frankie Turner's impulsive younger sister goes missing, Frankie has no idea where to begin the search to find her. But when she discovers hasty marriages materializing between “troublemaking” women and men who don’t deserve them, she knows her sister is somehow involved. The only thread connecting the groomsmen is a membership to Rockford’s, an exclusive gambling hell owned by the devilish Jasper Jones. And it just so happens that Jasper has recently become the guardian of a sullen fifteen-year-old.

Jasper suspects his new governess has an ulterior motive for being in his household, but he can hardly find the time to uncover it when his life is in a constant uproar. First, Frankie teaches his niece how to count cards and then she tries to break into his study. When he finally learns Frankie’s true reason for being there, he agrees to help the brilliant mathematician find her missing sister, even if it means giving her a fake dowry and watching men trip over themselves in her presence. As he and Frankie work together to dismantle a nefarious scheme, Jasper realizes that for the first time in his life, he’s gambled his heart—and possibly lost it.

Lovise is one of the few new writers working in historicals right now and this is the second book in her Secret Society of Governess Spies series.  A heroine with a penchant for numbers looking for her missing sister finds a connection at the hero's gambling hall, the same hero who has a sullen teenage ward. They're soon working together to bring down a dastardly plot, as one does...

The Viking's Princess Bride by Sarah Rodi

He’s won the throne… 

But she’s his royal prize! 

Victorious in his quest for revenge, Viking Njal takes the Saxon crown—and their princess! But while he’s wedding Cwen in the name of peace, he cannot deny the way she entices him. Even if it’s clear she’s holding something back… 

Princess Cwen has long accepted being used for her kingdom’s gain, but taking the enemy’s hand is the most outrageous request yet! Still, the rugged warrior ignites a fire inside her… Cwen just can't let Njal storm her carefully constructed walls. Because she’s harboring a secret that could rock the foundations of their marriage!

Rodi's latest stand-alone features a Viking hero who has taken a crown by force and decides to wed a princess in the name of "peace," while she, understandably is less than thrilled with the idea, even if she's always known that what she wants has very little to do with anything - oh, and look, she has a Big Secret!  Because what's a princess without a secret?

The Confessions of a Lady by Darcy McGuire

Dare she risk her secrets?

In the world of upstairs/downstairs, Housemaid Penny Smith anticipates her employer’s needs and blends into the background making her the perfect spy for the prime minister against a suspected member of the Devil’s Sons. There’s only one problem. When she meets the guilty marquess, his actions don’t match the evidence against him. Lord William Renquist defies her every expectation and sets her traitorous heart racing.

Lord William Renquist, Marquess of Stoneway and secret spy to Queen Victoria, must infiltrate the Devil’s Sons, tearing the brotherhood apart from the inside. His mission – to bring evil men to justice while atoning for the sins of his family, proving honour is stronger than tainted blood. There’s only one problem. A canny maid who is always in the right place at the wrong time and who deliciously challenges his every order.

Liam and Penny are unknowingly playing a dangerous game from opposite sides of justice. And at a masked ball, forbidden attraction burns into something far more complex as their secrets spin into daring confessions. This battle against their enemy will only be won if Penny and Liam can work together. But can a maid from downstairs ever trust an upstairs marquess?

This is the third book in the author's Queen's Deadly Damsels series and features a housemaid, who is a spy and a Marquess, who is a spy. Do either of them know the other is a spy? Of course not - there's no fun in that!  Also, and this cannot be overstated, I am trash for upstairs/downstairs "stuff" in historical romance.

Benefactor to the Baroness by Melissa Kendall

In a world of rules, surrendering to love is the only rebellion that matters.

Plagued by survivors’ guilt after escaping her impoverished childhood selling matchsticks, Fontaine Shepherd, the Dowager Lady Kerry, uses her position on the board of a charitable foundation to relocate starving orphans to the new world—until contact with the new office is abruptly lost. Fearing the foundation will discover she’s been clandestinely using funds to bribe workhouse owners to release children, she decides to travel across the ocean and re-establish communication herself.

Except the only captain who can transport her in time insists that she not travel alone.

Facing a lonely life after marrying off her nieces, Rosemary Summersby reluctantly agrees to attend a ladies’ charity group. There, she meets the vivacious Lady Kerry, who challenges her long-held beliefs of how a lady should look and act. Compelled by a desire to experience the excitement of which her niece often speaks, Rosemary accompanies the dowager baroness to a workhouse and witnesses the cruelty of poverty firsthand.

Then Lady Kerry stumbles into Rosemary’s cottage one night with an outrageous request: to travel across the ocean as her companion and help her uncover the mystery behind the missing orphans.

Unable to convince the dowager baroness of the dangers of her plan and remembering the sense of responsibility that drove her to accept three orphans into her life fifteen years prior, Rosemary decides to join Lady Kerry on her trip. But as the vast ocean and a noble mission stretches before them, a shared purpose and a single bunk ignite an unexpected passion that makes both women question what they truly want for themselves.

I'm going to be honest, I find this back cover blurb for the third book in the author's Seductive Sleuths series entirely too messy, but we've got a Dowager noblewoman who has known poverty, freeing children from deplorable workhouse conditions who needs a companion to travel across an ocean to unravel a mess. Also, while people are neither genre nor trope (says Wendy) - it's also Sapphic. At the very least it's worth reading a sample.

Complications in Paris by Melinda Copp

It was supposed to be a season in France, but then she decided not to go home.

Diane Talbot is an American in Paris and desperately wants to stay that way. Instead of returning to Woollett, New York, she and her sister didn't get on the boat. Now, nearly a year later, their father's fiancée and her stepson—at Daddy's behest—have come to Paris to bring them home. When they surprise Diane in a compromising situation with French party boy Guillaume Allard, she improvises and claims they're engaged.

It's the perfect plan. As long as she can convince her family that she's getting married and has established herself in Paris, they can't take her home. The best part is that Diane won't really have to get married—not to the man her father wants or to Guillaume.

Handsome and charming Guillaume barely knows Diane. But she's fun, and he owes her a favor. He goes along with the fake engagement, but that's a decision he soon regrets.

As Diane and Guillaume spend more time together, the ruse gets harder to perpetuate, and her family gets more involved. Soon, this perfect solution is far trickier than anticipated, and their feelings for each other have grown so complicated that it can only be love. Ultimately, they're forced to face an impossible obstacle to their happily ever after: he wants a lifelong commitment, and she believes marriage is a trap best avoided.

Three words: Belle. Époque. Paris. If that isn't enough, an American heiress in Paris not all that anxious to return home (I mean, I'd stay in Paris just for the croissants and macaroons, so I hear you girl!) fakes an engagement with a "French party boy," as one does.  Of course it all soon gets complicated, as it always does.

The Mysteries of Pendowar Hall by Syrie James

She vowed to solve a murder.

Now she’s in danger of losing her heart … and her very life.

Diana Taylor, a bright and spirited governess who has sworn off love, is sent to Pendowar Hall in Cornwall to honor a pledge. She vows to teach her godmother’s niece and to find out who was behind the suspicious death of the former baronet. But her new charge is also a mystery, as is the man who inherited the ancient coastal estate—the charismatic but brooding Royal Navy Captain William Fallbrook, who is home on leave to recover from an injury.

As Diana investigates, her feelings for the enigmatic Captain Fallbrook blossom, and her guard goes up. Pendowar Hall is brimming with secrets as well as a frightening legend about a Mermaid’s Curse. What is behind the mysterious footsteps in the night? Is there more to the story of the tragic deaths of the former baronet’s wife and son? What secrets is Captain Fallbrook hiding? Can she trust the man who has stolen her heart?

He looks to be entranced by Diana, even though her determination to dig up the past seems to get on his last nerve. Soon, Diana’s bold quest to unmask his uncle’s killer leads her into terrifying danger, for someone is determined to end her life before she can discover the truth.

The first book in the Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire series has all the touchstones of a Gothic - Cornwall, a suspicious death, a governess, and a brooding hero (in this case a Navy Captain!) who has inherited an "ancient coastal estate." Also there's a curse, because of course there's a curse.  I am trash for Gothics, so this one is more than worth a look.

Evidence of Evil by Mary Lancaster

Pursuing murder and fighting love…

Several weeks after they parted company, courtesan Constance calls on the wealthy business-man Solomon Grey to request his help solving another mystery. Her old friend Elizabeth, now the wife of respected magistrate Sir Humphrey Maule, is being accused of murder.

Solomon, bored and restless, happily agrees, before he realizes they are expected to pose as husband and wife. While this presents its own challenges, the case itself is elusive. The young woman fished out of the lake in her nightgown is the Maules’ neighbor, and there is nothing to show how she died except that it was not by drowning.

Hunting for evidence, Constance and Solomon turn their attention to the complicated victim herself, who may have harboured more than one deadly secret.

Sigh. The second book in the Silver and Grey trilogy and I've had Book 1 in my immediate TBR for the past two months. Soon, my pet, soon. Anyway, our couple, a courtesan heroine and a wealthy businessman hero, pose as husband and wife to find a killer. 

A Diamond in the Rough by Andrea Pickens (Reprint)

Determined not to follow in the footsteps of his weak-willed wastrel father, Adrian, Lord Marquand, has designed a life for himself based on order and reason . . . and a passion for creating the most beautiful gardens in England. However, he must keep his true identity as England’s most acclaimed landscape designer a secret. But when his father gambles away Adrian’s beloved ancestral estate, he’s sure all is lost . . . until he’s offered a way to win it back.

Adrian isn’t the only one keeping secrets. Derrien McClellan, a fiery, unconventional Scottish lass must disguise herself as a boy to play golf on the hallowed course at St. Andrews. She’s the best golfer. . . which is why a dear family friend asks her help in teaching Adrian how to play so he can beat an unprincipled cad at his own game and win back Woolsey Hall. Derrien has good reason to dislike an English lord, but she grudgingly agrees.

And so the games begin! Secrets tangle with misunderstandings as the mismatched pair struggle to work together. And suddenly the stakes are higher as they head into the final match . . . with their hearts now in play, will Love conquer all?

Pickens has written a lot of books (she's also published under the names Cara Elliott and Andrea Penrose) and my sleuthing confirms this is a reprint of a Traditional Regency published by Signet in 2001.  This is a sports romance (golf!) and a Trad. I mean, if that's not an unusual historical nothing is. Also, god bless All About Romance, I was able to find a review they published for the book back in 2001, written by old friend of the blog, Blythe.

A Rogue to Watch Over Me by Tara Kingston

A woman in danger . . . a bold Scot who’s vowed to protect her . . .

AMELIA STEWART is no man’s damsel in distress. When a dashing Scottish rogue storms into her orderly library claiming he is there to defend her from a mysterious threat—summoned by a letter her brother wrote before his death—she rebuffs him as a cruel fraud. Amelia has had her fill of charlatans seeking to profit off her raw grief. But when she’s targeted by ruthless criminals hunting a treasure tied to her brother’s suspicious death, Amelia joins forces with the brash rake to bring the cutthroats to justice. As danger closes in, Amelia and the tempting Scot are brought together, day and night. She knows better than to fall for a man like him, but Logan MacLain might well be the rogue she’d never dreamed she wanted . . . never dreamed she needed . . . with—or without—his kilt.

Honor bound to watch over her, he’ll risk everything . . . except his heart . . .

LOGAN MacLAIN made his fortune taking risks. Now settled into a comfortable life running his tavern in Queen Victoria’s London, he’s content with a rogue’s existence and the hard-won certainty that love is mere fantasy. Until a message from a dead man calls upon him to repay a debt of honor. Now, Logan must risk his life to shield his murdered friend’s sister from the sinister menace which stalks her. But soon, protecting Amelia is no longer about a duty spawned by a long-ago vow. Drawn to her, he desires the clever beauty above all others. He wants Amelia in his arms. By his side. And in his bed.

A rogue’s passion . . . a woman’s heartfelt need . . .

But Amelia needs more than his desire. More than his passion. She believes in love. She trusts that Logan will watch over her. He will defend her, no matter the cost. But can he give her the heart he encased in ice all those years ago?

She's in danger from criminals looking for treasure and he's a OMG TAVERN OWNER (!!!!) who has vowed to protect her having been summoned by her brother from beyond the grave. She believes in love, he of course does not. And, you know, there's that whole minor threat on her life thing....

The Detective and the Baroness by Karyn Gerrard

Detective Sergeant Mitchell Simpson’s only purpose is his job with London’s Metropolitan Police. But when he’s seriously injured in the line of duty, he has no idea what to do. So, when he’s offered a private investigation to work on while he recovers, he jumps at it. The problem? His client is the baroness who nursed him back to health…and stole his heart while doing it. And worse, she’s newly married…

After tirelessly working as a nurse for a decade, Lady Corrine Addington entered an arranged marriage to save her family from financial ruin. But it’s not long before she realizes her estranged husband is up to something, so she hires Mitchell to follow him. But even she realizes that she enjoys Mitchell’s company a little too much. Then a murderous turn of events changes everything…

Suddenly a widow, Corrine is free to follow her heart. But Mitchell has figured out what the baron’s murderer was looking for, and fears that Corrine will be the killer’s next target. While Mitchell desperately wants to make her his, it’s more important that he keep her safe, even if it kills him. And it might…

The first in the Duke's Bastards series features a detective hero taking a private job while recovering from an injury. Minor detail that his client is the woman who nursed him back to health and she needs him to follow her estranged husband to find out what he's up to.  Turns out hubby soon gets up to getting dead and our heroine is in danger.

Heartbreaker of the Ton by Emily Royal

A ruined woman, a virgin vicar, a forbidden love.

Debutante Juliette Howard’s attempt to ruin her sister out of envy and spite ended badly—with Juliette herself ruined, disgraced, and pregnant. Consumed by regret, and reviled by Society, Juliette fled her family’s disappointment to hide in obscurity in a remote seaside village. As an outsider, she’s viewed with suspicion by all except the vicar with the gentle voice and kind eyes, whose compassionate soul threatens to breach her defenses.

Andrew Staines followed his calling when he entered the church. But his faith is continually tested in the country parish where the gentry consider those of lower rank to be disposable commodities. His is a lone voice speaking out against the injustices of the world—until a mysterious widow arrives with her young son. Her soulful eyes speak of past tragedy, but despite the hardships she endures, she becomes a champion for the cause of the downtrodden, and Andrew finds himself in danger of falling in love.

Despite vowing to protect her heart, Juliette finds a soul mate in Andrew—a man struggling with his faith, as she struggles to reconcile herself with her past sins.

But a fallen woman with an illegitimate child is no suitable match for a chaste vicar, a man revered as the model of morality. And when Juliette discovers Andrew’s connection to her family, she realizes that some sins can never be forgiven.

Y'all, this book was written just for me - I'm convinced of it. I am trash for a virgin hero paired with a heroine who has "a reputation." Also, it sounds like this heroine was a villain in a previous book and just get in my eyeballs already!   This is the sixth book in the author's Misfits of the Ton series.

Whew! I feel like we all just ran a marathon - 12 unusual historicals for our consideration to keep us warm during the remaining winter months.  What are you looking forward to picking up?