April 2023 New Releases in Historical Romance Books

Romancing the Heiress by Darcy Burke (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Lords in Love series. Leah is back in Marrywell for the annual matchmaking festival as a companion to a young debutante in search of a husband. Of course Leah is still enamored with her childhood friend Phineas, who is considering marrying an heiress to save his secretly impoverished estate. This one is a relatively quick read, with somewhat tragic backstories for everyone involved: Leah had an abusive childhood so she was desperate to escape the village of Marrywell; Phineas had a gambling father who left the estate in dire financial condition; and even the young debutante who is not at all who we’re concerned with has an overbearing managing mother. However, the attraction between Leah and Phineas was a delight to read and their shared history made for a stronger connection. And we get to see the couple from Book 1 of the series again for the festival.

Advance ebook provided by Darcy Burke via NetGalley.

Rogue Awakening by Cara Maxwell (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Wicked Widows’ League series. Sylvia is recently out of mourning for her much older husband of a decade and is ready to join the wicked widows. She’s at a ball looking for a gentleman to take to bed and settles on her younger brother’s best friend, Jasper, who has recently returned to England. Jasper has been in love with Sylvia for years and is hoping that this is the beginning of a courtship and marriage, but Sylvia doesn’t want to give up her freedom. This is a novella-length book that is a pretty quick and steamy read and the conflict does ultimately get wrapped up in short order. I love mixing in shorter reads in between longer more epic angsty ones.

Advance ebook provided by Cara Maxwell via BookSprout.

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Surrendering to the Duke by Stevie Sparks (2023)

Historical romance. Interwar-era England. Book 1 of the Lords of Desire series. Content warnings galore on this one for violence, post-war substance abuse, and history of sexual assault. We have a duke’s widow, Emmaline, living with her late husband’s family with her young daughter, with a history of abuse at the hand of her uncle who raised her after she was orphaned at the age of 3. Michael, her late husband’s younger brother, and now duke, is back at home after completing his war-related duties after the Great War. His mother suggests that he marries Emmaline to provide her with more children and provide the dukedom with an heir. Of course Michael had been in love with Emmaline since he first saw her, but has had extreme guilt over coveting his brother’s wife. These two embark on a courtship of convenience with the possible goal of marriage, but both have secrets and traumas that may prevent them from living happily ever after. Loads of drama in this book and all the angst. Excellent read!

Advance ebook provided by Stevie Sparks.

Return to Satterthwaite Court by Mimi Matthews (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Somerset Stories series. Take the son of the couple from Book 1 and the daughter of the couple from Book 2, throw them together, and you get Book 3. Kate and Charles have a chance meeting in a London street when Charles rescues a stray dog (much like his mother) and Kate finds herself completely enthralled and ready to pursue him. Kate is uninterested in any of the other gentlemen she’s met this year and Charles is newly returned from serving in the Navy. The romance here is pretty straightforward and we get to revisit the families we loved from the previous books. Plus, there’s a nice setup for Book 4, which comes out later this year.

Advance ebook provided by Perfectly Proper Press via NetGalley.

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To Swoon and to Spar by Martha Waters (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Regency Vows series. Viscount Penvale (older brother to Diana, from Book 2) finally has the opportunity to purchase his family’s estate back from his uncle, but he needs to marry his uncle’s ward, Jane, as part of the deal. Jane is socially awkward and kind of sharp, so Penvale’s group of happily married friends are all skeptical of the union. After the arranged marriage takes place and Penvale and Jane are back at the estate, she starts to enact her plan of haunting the castle to drive Penvale away. Jane thinks that he’ll just go back to his life in London, leaving her alone in the seaside as she desires. This one is definitely a slow-burn towards friendship and then love, with lots of humor as Penvale figures out pretty quickly that Jane is the culprit of the haunting. And we get to see everyone back together for a house party towards the end of the book. Since I read an advanced copy of this book, there wasn’t a sneak peak of the next book that the author is working on. I’m hoping that we will finally get the romance between Sophie and West (the older brother of James from Book 1), which has been strongly hinted at through the course of four books. I was absolutely delighted by all four books in this series and looking forward to reading anything that Martha Waters writes in the future!

Advance ebook provided by Atria Books via NetGalley.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Scandal by Alivia Fleur (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Tales from Honeysuckle Street series. Childhood friends and neighbors Iris and Hamish are separated when Hamish suddenly becomes the heir to an earldom, losing his mother and older brother in a carriage accident. When Hamish returns to town twelve years later, he’s been instructed by his father to find a suitable wife, but he plans to thwart his father’s plans and create a scandal instead. Meanwhile, Iris has been assisting with her father’s merchant company, traveling the world, and learning the business for the past decade. However, her father’s mental state has been declining for many years and Iris has been keeping it secret. As Hamish and Iris reunite, they have to deal with her heartbreak after he left, their differences in social station, and her need to stay proper so that the board of directors will approve of her joining the leadership of her father’s company. It’s a huge mess competing interests and Hamish is mostly an idiot throughout the book. I did enjoy reading about all of the quirky neighbors on the street and am looking forward to reading more from this series.

Advance ebook provided by Alivia Fleur via NetGalley.

Two Scandals and a Scot by Tracy Sumner (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Duchess Society series. Theo runs away from her pre-wedding ball when her fiancee’s pregnant mistress shows up. Of course, she gets into the carriage of Dash, the friend she helped learn to read and write so that he could publish his book of gambling cheats. When he realizes that she’s run away from her duke of a brother-in-law’s house, he chases after her. Of course they cause an even bigger scandal when they’re at an inn on the road and pretty much forced to marry when Theo’s family catches up to them. Since the two are friends who are very much attracted to each other, Theo proposes that they stay friends with their own independence, not to fall prey to the obsessive love that surrounds the other couples in their social sphere (basically all the other couples from past books of the series). Bargain made, they go onto marry and settle into their new life a bit, trying so very hard not to involve their emotions. Which goes exactly how you’d expect it to go if you’re a frequent romance reader. I really enjoyed this book and learning more about Dash’s background, how he basically worships Theo, and her strength and stubbornness that most people underestimate. Another great addition to the series!

Advance ebook provided by Tracy Sumner and Wolf Publishing via NetGalley.

Defying the Earl by Erica Ridley (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Lords in Love series. Titus is the grumpiest earl you ever did meet, eschewing all social niceties and events. He’s tasked by his godmother to take on a twenty-year old ward and comes to the Marrywell festival to meet her. But before he can do that, he’s kissed a stranger behind the potted plants at the assembly, and is aghast to realize that he’s kissed his ward Matilda. She’s out of mourning from her parents, nearly reaching her majority and inheritance, and wants to socialize and make friends with people. This one is very much a grumpy-sunshine story, with tragic backstories for both Titus and Matilda, but they differ greatly in how they’ve moved from their respective tragedies. Another fun and quick read from this series!

Advance ebook provided by Erica Ridley via NetGalley.

The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Lover by Cassandra Morann (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. The author has said that this will be Book 1 of a series involving the Marston family, but no official series title is available right now. We start at a ball at the Viscount Marston’s London home, where Samira is a young woman crashing a ball to steal loose cash and trinkets from the lord’s study. Rowan, the viscount, dislikes balls and soirees but is captivated by Samira’s appearance, so he follows her to his own study. After stealing a kiss from her, he calls her out on her thievery and lets her go. The next day, Rowan calls upon Samira at her home to ask for her assistance in stealing incriminating letters away from a slimy earl. Since Samira has her own grudge against that earl, she agrees. The story continually deals with Rowan and Samira’s attraction for each other, his need to uphold his duties, and her insistence to never become a man’s mistress. Both characters need to open themselves to trust each other and their intentions, and they’re both terribly stubborn. I especially liked learning about Samira’s backstory and how she grew to be so skeptical of the men of society. It’s interesting to see the family dynamics of their respective families and how the stage is set for future books in the series.

Advance ebook provided by Cassandra Morann.

The Lady Knows Best by Susanna Craig (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Goode’s Guide to Misconduct series. Daphne stumbles onto a meeting of the anonymous writers of a forward-thinking women’s magazine and somehow gets assigned the task of writing a reply to a young lady asking what to do after catching her arranged fiancee with another woman. Miles, a terribly rakish viscount, ends up the victim of the advice column when his fiancee calls off the engagement. He realizes that Daphne is the anonymous authoress and blackmails her into finding him a suitable replacement or else he’ll expose her writing. Meanwhile, her mentor at the magazine encourages her to write an essay about troublesome rakes and use the attentions of the viscount as research. Daphne offers herself up for marriage, mostly to gather research about Miles until he calls it off, but also because she’s attracted to him anyway. Over the course of the book, we find that Miles is more than what he seems and we’re just waiting for Daphne to realize it too. It’s a fun set up for a series and also a nice callback to Daphne’s older siblings who are the main characters of some of Craig’s previous books.

Advance ebook provided by Kensington Books via NetGalley.

How Not to Marry a Duke by Tina Gabrielle (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Daring Ladies series. We follow the duke friend from Book 1 here about a year after that book ends into the country where he is working on his inventions. The Duke of Warwick (known to his sweet godmother as Daniel) is not your typical duke: he’s socially inept and awkward and focuses mostly on his passion for science and technology. While hiding in the country to escape the bustle of town and the matchmaking efforts of his godmother, he meets his new neighbor Adeline, who has her own problems. Adeline is the banished half-sister of an earl who is in the country to work as the village healer; however, her brother has tried to arrange her marriage to a moneylender to pay off his debts. When Warwick overhears the argument between Adeline and her brother, he steps in and says that she cannot marry another because they are courting. We start a fake courtship here so that Warwick can avoid his godmother’s pressure to marry and so that Adeline can avoid her brother’s arranged betrothal. Both characters are pre-occupied with their own individual goals and not looking to marry, especially not to each other. Of course, as they spend more time with each other, they learn to appreciate each other’s strengths, even if typically dismissed by society. I especially loved how Warwick was supportive of Adeline’s work as a healer. The romance built up slowly in this book, but the respect they had for each other was a strong foundation for their partnership.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction by Eva Leigh (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Last Chance Scoundrels series. It’s been nearly a year since Dom abandoned Willa at the altar, and his friends and her brothers Kieran and Finn have conspired to bring them both the same isolated island house party in Scotland. Dom and Willa have to finally talk out their issues if they have any hope of moving on. We quickly see that while they were courting and engaged, each were playing a bit of a role and enjoyed the shock value of the other person’s status, rather than the person they truly were. From dockworker to wealthy son of a shipping magnate, Dom has been considered an outsider to the aristocracy. Willa, daughter of an earl, has been brash and outrageous, and delighted in shocking the ton with her brutish suitor. Likewise, Dom viewed Willa as an unattainable prize, who he first felt proud to court, and then felt guilty that he was so far below her standing… ultimately leading to his abandonment. Now that they’re in the same place again, they start to realize that they treated each other superficially in their courtship and engagement and a marriage at that time would have been unhappy. But the spark and attraction continues to exist between them and now that they’re being more honest with each other, they’re starting to give into those desires, even if they’re not quite willing to risk their hearts yet.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

How to Best a Marquess by Janna MacGregor (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Widow Rules series. The prologue consists of a very charming proposal from Julian to Beth, but things didn’t quite turn out the way they expected. Eight years later, Beth is now one of three widows of a duke’s younger brother, and was not in fact married to the scoundrel at all. In a quest to recover her lost dowry and get away from her older brother’s influence, she seeks out the destitute Julian, now a marquess, for assistance, offering him half the money in payment. We follow with a road trip and second chance romance, though Beth is adamant that she never marry and she knows that her reputation will be detrimental to the honorable Julian’s reputation. Julian however just wants to convince Beth that he’s sorry for walking away all those years ago when her brother denied his proposal and that he’s still in love with her. I mostly empathized with poor Julian there who just can’t catch a break. And of course all of those road trip adventures are a fun read as well.

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