May 2023 New Releases in Historical Romance Books

The Spinster and Mr. Scott by Jennifer Haymore (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Highland Knights series. This book is an updated edition of Highland Heat (2015). This story takes place at the same timeframe as the prequel. Lady Grace, daughter of an earl and a spinster, has escorted her sister Claire to the battlefield to search for Claire’s husband. While there, Grace has made herself useful by caring for the wounded soldiers. She meets Duncan, one of her brother-in-law’s sergeants and forms a connection with him. Despite the social class differences between them, they converse easily and quickly fall in love. This was a relatively quick story to read with things progressing pretty predictably until we head into treacherous territory with a disapproving father and an insurgent group the men are investigating.

Advance ebook provided by Jennifer Haymore via NetGalley.

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Earls Rush In by Jennifer Haymore (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Charlotte is about to accept a proposal to a man she doesn’t love in order to save herself and her sister from being thrown out of her uncle and aunt’s care. The man in question seems harmless enough, but Charlotte’s brother’s longtime friend Finn believes the man a villain and rescues Charlotte by kidnapping her in a carriage. Finn has taken it on himself to watch out for Charlotte after the death of her older brother, but the reader knows that he’s been pining for her for ages and does not believe himself worthy. He’s actually hiding the truth surrounding her brother’s death and we learn about it in bits and pieces throughout the book. Finn and Charlotte get stranded in a snowstorm and find shelter at an inn where they pretend to be married to protect her reputation. While there, they grow closer and Charlotte realizes that she is attracted to Finn. He has the lowest self-esteem imaginable and is still hiding secrets about her brother’s death, so he feels he’s unworthy of her, and decides to help her find a suitable husband. They eventually are able to leave the inn and are back in London, but that villainous suitor is still hanging around causing trouble. Lots going on in this book and will definitely keep the pages turning.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

Scandalizing the Scoundrel by Charlie Lane (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 9 of the Wicked Widows League series and related to the Cavendish Family series. Freddy is a quiet unassuming widowed viscountess with two young daughters. When she decides that she would like to become a bit more wicked, she decides on having a tryst with the ever-so-handsome horseman, Grant, from her cousin’s circus. Grant has been secretly pining for Freddy for awhile now and has been resisting her since he knows he could easily fall in love. He’s worried about getting too attached since his performing could be dangerous and decrease his lifespan. Meanwhile Freddy has no interest in emotional entanglements or marriage since she does not want her children to suffer through the loss of another father. Both are clear that they don’t want anything more from each other, but it’s obvious that they care for each other a great deal, and their problems could easily be solved by Grant giving him his stuntwork (or at least cutting back). This was a fun addition to the Cavendish stories and it’s always nice to see a seemingly demure lady find joy.

Advance ebook provided by Charlie Lane.

Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes (2023)

Historical romance. Georgian-era England. This is the book adaptation of the Netflix series that takes place in the Bridgerton universe. If you’ve watched the six episode series, you’ll see the plot of the book follows much of the same, with a few tweaks to make it work as a book. There are also components of the series that are omitted from the book and a few bonus perspectives (like whole chapters of Brimsley’s POV, the Queen’s man, and conversations he has with Reynolds, the King’s man). This book reminded me that Julia Quinn’s historical romance books fall on the light and funny side of the genre and the book overall was not tear-inducing the way that the Netflix series was. Much of the dialogue is the same as the series, with a lot less emotional punch without the facial expressions of the very talented actors from the series.

For the romance novel aspect, we follow Princess Charlotte and her journey to an arranged marriage with the King of England. While trying to escape the wedding, there’s a meet-cute in the garden where he declares himself “just George”, and then follow the trials of a husband who deposits his new bride in her own house while he runs away to a different one. We get a bunch of eavesdropping-miscommunication here with George keeping secrets for the first half of the book and these two spending much time apart and in isolation. The book throws in the sub-plot surrounding Agatha Danbury, a newly elevated lady who is widowed and subsequently courted within the same book. (The book ignores a certain sideplot where she has a tryst with a lord on the Netflix series)

Do you need to read this book if you’ve watched the series? No, the plot elements are the same. However, it’s nice to read about some of the internal thoughts characters have. And basically, I’m just here for the Brimsley chapters. His thoughts and fears of everything he does being a hangable offense are hilarious.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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The Last Lord Standing by Diana Lloyd (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the What Happens in the Ballroom series. Headstrong daughter of an earl, Libby, dances with a stranger at her birthday ball. Kerr, the second son of a second son, is somehow tasked by three of his friends to keep Libby distracted from other suitors while they’re considering her as a potential bride. Kerr and Libby soon form a friendship of sorts and spend more time together. This one is another story from Lloyd that has lots going on in a short amount of time, but what stands out here is Kerr’s instant attraction to and respect for Libby, and Libby’s strength and independence. Despite all the chaos and drama surrounding them, I appreciated the connection between the two and their lively relationship.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Marleigh Sisters series. Lila is the illegitimate daughter of an earl, estranged from her sisters, and lived with her father’s first wife after her own parents passed away. She runs a somewhat successful salon in London, offering gaming and entertainments. She’s accused of being Ivor’s father’s mistress and told to stay away from the old man. She’s never been anyone’s mistress, but Ivor seems to think the worst in her. We have some added mystery to the story when a former servant comes to Lila asking for help with a man who is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and Ivor is somehow involved because it was his young cousin who was attacked. Honestly, the mystery-solving part was the most interesting. The romance seemed to come out of nowhere even though the attraction was obvious from the start and didn’t particularly feel genuine. I suppose we’ll learn more about those estranged sisters in future books, but I didn’t get the feeling this would be a tight-knit series. And while I don’t usually comment on book titles, I don’t actually see the connection between the title and the plot of the book here.

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

The Countess and the Casanova by Ginny B. Moore (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Flower Sisters series. We detour away from the Flower sisters themselves in this book and follow Alex’s best friend Henry and his intermittent friendship with Ellie. This book is told in two timelines, with the present day adventure that Henry and Ellie are taking to Italy and intermittent flashbacks to the times they’ve spent together at his mother’s annual Christmas balls. Henry is known for being a dissolute rake, but really, he suffers from insecurities related to his periods of darkness and his slowness of reading and writing. He hides this part of himself and carries on a facade of fun-loving charm. Ellie is slightly awkward and curvy and overlooked by almost all gentlemen; she eventually marries an elderly earl that her father arranges for her and is soon widowed after a miserable marriage. The widowed Ellie has a bit more freedom, so she attends art lectures and desires adventure. Henry arranges a trip for her to see Italy, but they need to pretend to be married to travel together. This book had all sorts of painful pining and longing on both sides here and it was such an interesting way to tell the story and unravel Henry’s past actions. Such a good book!

Advance ebook provided by Ginny B. Moore.

Four Weddings and a Duke by Michelle McLean (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Socially awkward duke turns a socially awkward wallflower into a duchess. Alex, second son of a duke, never expected to inherit and would rather be working on his experiments in botany. However, he knows that he will have to pick between three sisters to fulfill the agreement that his father made with their father. Lavinia is the often-overlooked and shy middle sister who would rather read and hide behind potted plants than dance. When Alex comes to call on the sisters, he chooses Lavinia as his bride instead of the other more socially outgoing sisters. From there, Lavinia is doing her best to arrange their social calendar to the duke’s benefit, while Alex is wondering why he is being dragged to all of his events when he should be working. Add in a possibly nefarious rival and work partner who disparages Alex spending time with his new wife, and we have our befuddled duke doing and saying all the wrong things. I was definitely feeling most of Lavinia’s heartbreak throughout this book as she is trying so very hard to be a good wife and duchess to Alex. I really enjoyed this book!

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

His Study in Scandal by Megan Frampton (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the School for Scoundrels series. Alexandra is a widowed duchess out of mourning, seeking to take charge of her life by tearing up her mourning gowns, shopping at a modiste her late husband did not approve of, and enjoying a night of pleasure at a hedonistic garden with a handsome stranger. Theo is a wealthy businessman who has just made a deal to marry a duke’s sister but plans to spend one last night at the pleasure gardens before officially meeting her. Theo and Alexandra meet there and spend a steamy night together before parting ways. Complications arise when they realize that Theo has been intended for Alexandra’s daughter, as a way for her stepson, the new duke, to cover the debts that he’s incurred in the last two years. With the brimming attraction between Theo and Alexandra, it’s obvious he cannot marry her daughter, but they need to figure out a way to extricate themselves from this delicate situation or else Alexandra’s stepson will ruin Theo’s business prospects and leave Alexandra and her daughter destitute. With an fun little plot twist of how the daughter gets herself out of the bind.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.