Trope Round-Up: Historical Romance Books Featuring Revenge

Slightly Tempted by Mary Balogh (2004)

Morgan Bedwyn is the youngest Bedwyn and has just had her coming out to society. She has followed some friends (and a potential suitor) to Brussels in anticipation of an upcoming battle against the French. Gervase, Earl of Rosthorn, has been exiled out of England for the past nine years and spots Morgan at a ball. Knowing that she’s the youngest sister of the Duke of Bewcastle, he sets out to dance with her and take revenge on the Duke. He tries flattery and charm and she isn’t falling for it. A battle breaks out and Morgan’s brother Alleyne has gone missing; Morgan’s chaperones go back to England without her while she waits to find out what has happened to Alleyne. Gervase becomes her friend in this tumultuous time, but are there’s still that feeling that he’s seeking revenge. The history that Gervase has with Morgan’s brother is actually really intriguing to learn about, and is another step towards humanizing our favorite overbearing duke.

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The Madness of Viscount Atherbourne by Elisa Braden (2015)

Lucien seeks revenge against the man who caused his sister’s suicide and killed his brother in a duel, so he sets out to seduce and ruin that man’s sister. He successfully compromises Victoria at a ball, proceeds to marry her, and then ban her from speaking to her brother ever again.

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Make Mine a Marquess by Tina Gabrielle (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Daring Ladies series. The newly returned Marquess of Landon is out for revenge against his cousin, who seems to have orchestrated the shipwreck that left him for dead five years ago. The gross cousin spends money recklessly and is draining the estate’s funds, while also neglecting the tenants and estate repairs. Landon hopes to find evidence of his cousin’s guilt while also seducing the man’s fiancee to add further injury. Phoebe is mostly the innocent victim here, but she was apathetic enough to become engaged to the villain of the story because she wanted to avoid any type of desire or passion. However, all those repressed feelings flare back to life when she meets Landon and is instantly intrigued and attracted to him. She tries and fails to stay away from him and sees that he really is an upstanding guy, for the most part, but she doesn’t yet know that she’s being used for revenge. This was your fairly typical revenge love story and it’ll take a bit of groveling on Landon’s part to get the girl.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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What I Did For a Duke by Julie Anne Long (2011)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Pennyroyal Green series. Serious and stern duke Alex catches Ian Eversea in bed with his fiance, so he decides to take his revenge by seducing and abandoning Ian’s sister, Genevieve. Except Genevieve is both too clever and too preoccupied to fall prey to Alex’s games. She’s spent the past few years in love with her good friend Harry, who she was hoping would propose to her during the house party her parents are hosting. Except that he tells her that he’s planning to propose to another woman. She puts up a calm facade but is most definitely heartbroken. When Alex shows up to the house party, Genevieve obeys her mother’s wishes to spend time with him, but she’s not interested in the much older man at all. Until they actually start talking to each other and getting to know each other and realize that it’s nice to talk to someone at the same intellectual level. And while Genevieve never becomes a victim to Alex’s revenge, she does end up attracted to him and conflicted about her feelings. Alex is also realizing that he’s his own victim as well, falling in love with Genevieve when she’s in love with someone else. A big huge muddle, but very entertaining to read.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Bad Luck Bride by Janna MacGregor (2017)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Cavensham Heiresses series. Alex is out to avenge his sister’s death by buying up a certain lord’s debts and having him jilt his fiancee. To save the fiancee Claire from ruin, he proposes to her himself. Claire has her own problems and is known for having a curse around her due to the losses of previous fiances to death, disease, and dismemberment. She’s wary of losing yet another one and feels pressured to go through with the marriage to Alex. She also has trauma and fears related to the death of her parents as a child and she tries to hide her unease from Alex to prevent him from thinking she’s insane. Alex meanwhile is still dealing with his vengeance plot and keeping that a secret from Claire. It’s a big huge mess of people hiding things from each other and waiting for it all to blow up. This story went a little longer than it probably needed to, but it was a good introduction to all the other key players in the series: Claire’s cousins and Alex’s surviving sister.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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.

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All Duke and Bothered by Mariah Stone (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Dukes and Secrets series. New duke Preston wants revenge on his brother’s killer, so he arranges himself in a position to marry Penelope, the young lady that he believes led on his brother and whose father hired ruffians to beat him. She doesn’t know about her father’s misdeeds and is horrified at having to marry Preston, who openly disdains Penelope. Preston believed that Penelope was a shallow flirt who was interested in his brother’s money, but really, she just thought they were friends and liked to talk about art together. Penelope was not interested in marriage at all and wanted to work on her painting. As Preston starts to see that he was mistaken about Penelope’s true personality, he feels guilty for misjudging the situation with his brother and also guilty for marrying Penelope. He’s still preoccupied with getting revenge on Penelope’s father though, and she’s disappointed that he is clearly choosing revenge over the possibility of love and happiness. It’s all a muddle until Preston can share his secrets with Penelope and let go of his quest for vengeance.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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Beguiling the Beauty by Sherry Thomas (2012)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Fitzhugh Trilogy series. Young duke Christian has been infatuated with the beautiful Venetia from afar when he first sets eyes on her. After many years of this obsession, he says some terribly disparaging things about her at a scientific lecture in America, not realizing that she’s in the audience. Venetia is a widow twice-over, enjoying her unmarried life, and was in America to chaperone her younger sister. After hearing Christian’s assault on her character, she’s both outraged and despondent. Under the protection of a veiled hat, she encounters Christian again on their ship going back to England and she aims to seduce him and then break his heart. It all goes wrong when she actually falls in love with him, but also cannot reveal her true identity. It’s an emotional and angsty journey for them both.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.