March 2023 Historical Romance Book New Releases

The Portrait of a Duchess by Scarlett Peckham (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Society of Sirens series. Cornelia is the niece of a duke but has built her reputation as a scandalous painter. She and her friends are trying to raise funds to build an institute for women and she needs a place to exhibit her latest collection of paintings. One seemingly random day, her uncle’s heir, Rafe, and now the duke comes to visit to inform her of her inheritance, which hinges on her being married. The surprise is that she’s already married to Rafe himself, and he suggests they go public with the marriage so she can claim her inheritance. What follows is a non-chronological story of how these two ended up married twenty years ago and then estranged in all the time since then. I mostly kept reading because I wanted to find out what happened, but the story itself wasn’t terribly interesting to me. Rafe is a smooshy sort of fellow who falls in love too freely and scares off all his partners with his enthusiasm and Cornelia is adamant about her independence and does not want the complication (or obligation) of love. He’s an overzealous puppy for most of the book and she’s the reluctant and selfish one, protecting her own isolation. And then there’s the political stuff happening in the background that wasn’t super interesting to me. On the plus side, Rafe is unapologetically bisexual here and one of his male lovers joins in for an encounter with Cornelia. So you know, if you like that stuff, here it is in a traditionally published historical romance.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

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Beguiling the Duke by Darcy Burke (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Lords in Love series. A duke’s carriage loses a wheel in a small village and he takes shelter in the small village of Marrywell. The village is completely pre-occupied with its annual matchmaking festival, so there’s no room at the inn and no workers to help fix the duke’s carriage. The local squire provides shelter for the week the the duke grows closer to the squire’s daughter. Sadie has been maintaining her father’s home and taking care of her four brothers for years and hopes that this year’s festival will prove fruitful for her marriage prospects. And this time, with the duke at her side, she’s actually getting the attention she deserves. But of course, Sadie and the duke are finding themselves drawn to each other instead. Relatively low on the angst and heartache scale here and a delightful read.

Advance ebook provided by Darcy Burke via NetGalley.

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The Heiress at Sea by Christi Caldwell (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone, but tied to The Duke Alone, as we are following the older sister of the main character from that book. Cassia, the often invisible eldest daughter of an earl, is setting off an adventure, dressing as a boy and sneaking onto her brother’s best friend’s ship so she can see the world. Turns out she’s on the wrong ship and ends up on Nathaniel’s boat, which is aimed to intercept a French war ship. Nathaniel is the second son of a duke, but recently became the heir after his brother fell off a horse. With his father’s demands in mind, this mission is likely to be his last. With everyone trapped on a ship, there’s plenty of drama to go around: Cassia is still pretending to be a boy, but she’s so terribly naive and sensitive that the other men mock her work; when they discover she’s actually a lady, there’s most definitely potential for scandal; and she cannot stop talking and chattering and also cannot detect sarcasm. It makes for annoying and infuriating conversation every time Nathaniel has to deal with her. But it’s a romance novel after all, and he starts to see her as someone brave (though naive) and also someone he wants to care for a protect. It was definitely a fun read and I enjoyed how all the conflict got resolved.

Advance ebook provided by Montlake Books via NetGalley.

Stealing the Duke by Lexi Post (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Marrying a Mabry series. Loosely modeled after the March family of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, we start the series with Joanna, who is in the process of stealing a book from an arrogant and pretentious duke. Unfortunately, that book has a false cover, and she doesn’t realize that she has stolen a book of scandalous illustrations and tutorials. When James finds that his book has gone missing, he suspects Joanna of the crime. These two banter and debate and talk around the stolen book, but Joanna thinks that he suspects her of stealing it. There’s lots of discussion of the roles of women and what constitutes a good match in society, and Joanna enlightening James on the intellect and goals of women. Add in James’ dislike for society, the perfect lady he’s half-heartedly courting, his all-too-knowing aunt, plus a cousin making her debut, and we’ve got lots of moving pieces in this story. The flirtatious banter was great, even when both characters don’t even realize they’re flirting or genuinely enjoying each other’s company. Looking forward to reading about the rest of the Mabry clan in future books.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

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Music for the Duke by Alexa Aston (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Suddenly a Duke series. Tragic prologue for Fia where she’s a six-year old girl being tormented by her cousin and heir to her father’s earldom. Many years later, we see a shocking and tragic demise of Henry’s grandfather and father within the same day, making him a duke. A year after that, they both somehow make friends with the now-married duke and duchess from Book 1 of the series, who assist in getting Fia out of her cousin’s house and assist Henry in wooing the girl. Fia was treated horribly by her cousin after her parents’ deaths, first by refusing her debut into society, then by moving her into the attic like a servant, and farming her out for music lessons where he collects the fees and she sees none of it. It’s a rough life for Fia, and when we think she’ll appreciate being courted by a duke, she’s fearful of scandal and would rather live independently and rely on her skills as a musician to survive. It’s a pretty short read with only a tiny bit of angst. But there are way too many dukes and duchesses floating around here, so it can be hard to keep up with who’s being referenced at any given moment. Still a perfectly pleasant read.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

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Mr. West and The Widow by Sophie Barnes (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Brazen Beauties series. Another emotionally damaged widow here with a scarred and emotionally damaged gentleman. Mr. West, Colin, is on his way home to his estate but waylaid by a storm and seeks shelter at a nearby manor house. There, he meets Victoria, who has been widowed a year and in a floundering mess of debt with an unproductive piece of land. She is also terribly shy and skittish around him. He thinks it’s because of his scarred appearance, but really, she’s attracted to him and doesn’t know what to do with all of these new emotions. It turns out the Victoria is the younger sister of Colin’s friend who died at war and now he feels even more of a moral obligation to help her with her financial affairs. He invites her to his estate to tutor her on land management and also brings his friends (and their wives that they acquired in the last two books) to keep things proper. It’s a slow burn situation with both emotionally vulnerable characters interpreting the worst of the other’s actions. But when they finally talk it out, it’s a wonderful connection. And then Victoria ends up being stronger and more courageous than she expected.

Advance ebook provided by Sophie Barnes via NetGalley.

Taming the Rake by Erica Ridley (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Lords in Love series. Gladys the wallflower is at the Marrywell Matchmaking Festival for the fourth time and needs to find a marriage match before her dowry is given to her delightful younger sister. She finds herself kissed in a garden and expected a proposal from the handsome gentleman, but he never shows up, and she was spotted in a disheveled state, so now she’s publicly ruined as well. Her family cuts her off completely and she has to survive on her own. Five years later, she returns to Marrywell to find the man who ruined her and seek revenge. But he’s a lot less rakish than he seemed before and Gladys is at risk of falling in love. I really enjoyed Gladys’ transformation to a confident woman and the development of her relationship with Reuben.

Advance ebook provided by Erica Ridley via NetGalley.

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller (2023)

Historical romance. 1870s Vienna. Standalone novel. Maria is the owner/manager of a flailing hotel in Vienna. After her mother’s mismanagement and an economic downturn, Maria hopes to rebuild the hotel to its previous grandeur. Meanwhile, Eli is an American in town looking for clues on some smuggled codes sent from the hotel’s address. And while he’s there, he saves Maria from certain death multiple times. It was slow start for me, but once these two team up to find her assailant and give into their attraction, I couldn’t put it down. It’s amazing that these two very serious people are able to smile and find joy and humor with each other. Plus Maria’s complicated family history comes into play at multiple points of the story, making things delightfully interesting.

Advance ebook provided by St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

The Prospector’s Only Prospect by Dani Collins (2023)

Historical romance. Pre-Civil War America. Standalone novel. Divorced and disgraced with nowhere to go, Marigold sets off to marry a stranger. Her sister had been set to be a mail order bride, but found another suitor, so Marigold takes her place and travels west. When she arrives, Virgil is angry to find a stranger instead of his bride, but takes her home with him anyway to keep house and care for his three children. They bicker and argue, but it’s clear that Marigold is good with the kids and adapts well to her primitive surroundings. It’s definitely a slow burn romance with lots of missteps (mostly from Virgil), but the writing is refreshingly humorous and you’ll appreciate the competence from both parties and willingness to work together. I had a great time reading this book and can’t wait to see more from this author in this setting.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley. Print book provided by Entangled Publishing.

A Kiss in the Moonlight by Cathy Maxwell (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Gambler’s Daughters series. Three sisters in Ireland are at the mercy of their cousin who wants to marry them off to the most convenient person. Middle sister Dara has a plan though; send the oldest, Gwendolyn, to gamble and win enough money for the three of them (plus their great aunt) to go to London and find titled husbands. Sounds easy enough. Through a couple of chapters told from Gwendolyn and an investigator named Steele’s points of view, we see how the money is won, and the women are on their way. Dara wants the best for her sisters, so sometimes she comes across as managing and stringent, much to her younger sister Elise’s dismay. She tries to warn off Elise’s suitor, Michael since he’s not titled, and she’s agonizingly attracted to him herself. Dara feels less beautiful than her sisters and knows that she doesn’t really have a chance with him. She’s focused on making sure her sisters have good matches and they can escape their terrible cousin. Meanwhile Michael is investigating an embezzlement scheme, but the plot there is only shallowly discussed. At some point, Dara finds herself in a compromising situation and Michael is the one to rescue her, which causes a rift between Dara and Elise. The romance between these two didn’t feel developed enough for them to have fallen in love so quickly, especially after all the bickering and arguing they did from the start. I am curious to see how the stories for the other sisters works out though.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

Yours Truly, The Duke by Amelia Grey (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Say I Do series. We start here with one of the silliest reasons for a marriage of convenience, which is an inheritance-related reason. Our duke Wyatt has just been informed that he needs to marry within 7 days to keep the property that his grandmother left for him. Not to worry though, his solicitor has already found him a bride: Fredericka is in a custody battle with her cousin over the guardianship of her sister’s orphaned children and needs a husband to bolster her cause. When the duke shows up at her house to offer marriage, she’s stunned and would rather have had more time to consider the proposal, but they’re on a time crunch, so she accepts. Along the way, we find that Fredericka is the strict caregiver and expecting proper behavior from the children (but mostly so she doesn’t get the kids taken away from her) and Wyatt is the one who wants to see the kids rambunctiously playing. These two are constantly bickering from their opposing views on childrearing, plus misinterpreting each other’s words anytime they’re speaking. It was a fun book to read and I’ll definitely be reading more from this author.

Advance ebook provided by St Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

What Happens in the Ballroom by Sabrina Jeffries (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Designing Debutantes series. Widowed Eliza knows that her late husband who died in battle was a waste of space, but we really hit it home here in this book. Nathaniel, an earl, and her husband’s best friend has tasked Eliza and her sisters with polishing up his young widowed ward for the marriage mart. However, we suspect early on that the ward (and her two year old son) are not exactly as they seem and may be holding onto some major secrets there. The romance part of the story was relatively uncomplicated, with Eliza and Nathaniel falling easily into lust, embraces, and an affair. The main issue is that Nathaniel is keeping secrets and Eliza is unwilling to trust a man, after being treated poorly by both her father and her late husband. Overall an enjoyable book, even if you were able to guess those secrets for yourself.

Advance ebook provided by Kensington Books via NetGalley.

The Scandalous Ladies of London: The Countess by Sophie Jordan (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Scandalous Ladies of London series. Miserably married countess Gertrude (Tru) is launching her daughter into the Marriage Mart this year, but her scapegrace estranged husband is willing to sell her off to the highest bidder. A wealthy inn and hotel-owner Jasper is looking to marry a titled and distinguished lady, so entertains the thought of courting the young debutante, until he meets her mother and is drawn to her instead. Loads of drama and the introduction of a female friend group consisting of a miserably married duchess, her courtesan-turned-marchioness stepmother, and Tru’s spinster younger sister, who I’m betting will all have their own books later in the series. This book isn’t too complicated on external plot, just dealing with a prim and proper countess denying her desires and feelings and guilt over wanting her daughter’s suitor. And the villainous husband of hers.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley. Advance print book provided by Avon Books.