Top Five Reads of January 2024 – Historical Romance Books and More

Always Remember by Mary Balogh (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Ravenswood series. Ben Ellis is the illegitimate son of an earl who was raised in the earl’s family home after the death of his mother. While Ben has always been embraced as part of the family, he has had a sense of otherness about him. After a big family scandal, he went with his younger brother Devlin to war, where he met and married the woman carrying his child. After she died of illness, he came home as a single father to a young girl. Now that Ben has settled into his own seaside home, he’s considering remarrying, but is indecisive about which woman to court. He’s hoping that a visit to his family’s home for the summer will help him to make a decision. While he’s there, he meets Lady Jennifer again, the sister of a duke who had married his own sister. Jennifer is disabled after a childhood illness and gives off a cheery disposition. However, a chance conversation between Ben and Jennifer has both of them spilling their secrets to a near-stranger and becoming friends because of it. This book is a delightful slow build of friendship, trust, and love, despite their differences in social station. We get to see Ben be a doting father to his child and see the child grow attached to Jennifer as well. If you’re a fan of quiet slow-burn romances, this one is another great book from Mary Balogh.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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If the Duke Dares by Darcy Burke (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Rogue Rules series. Persephone is being forced into an arranged marriage she doesn’t want after her sister is ruined by a rogue and she runs away from her parents on the journey to meet the prospective groom. She actually ends up meeting the duke while she’s busy pretending to be a widow at an inn, but he doesn’t know who she is. At some point, our duke Acton realizes that his supposed bride is out on the road alone, so he goes to find her and protect her. While they both agree that they aren’t interested in marrying each other, they start a slow and tentative friendship. Persephone learns that Acton is not as terrible as his reputation and Acton learns that he should learn to treat women better. We get some more of Acton’s backstory regarding his relationship with his estranged mother and sisters, which is really interesting to learn. I liked seeing how these two started to trust each other and then to enjoy each other’s company. Definitely a slow-burn romance here, with Acton showing lots of character growth.

Advance ebook provided by Darcy Burke.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming (2021)

Paranormal Fantasy Romance. Book 1 of the Mead Mishaps series. This book was the funniest thing I’ve read so far this year and it was an absolute delight. Cinnamon is a spice farmer leading a simple life in her quiet country village. Stumbling home drunk one night, she somehow saves a demon and frees him from a spell. Now, the dark and handsome demon Fallon needs her help in a mission to destroy a fake goddess who has imprisoned all the demons. Cinnamon is extremely hesitant for any sort of quest or adventure since her sister was snatched by a water monster years ago, but he threatens her family, so off she goes. Cinnamon and Fallon spend a whole lot of time together and of course grow closer as they spend their dangerous journey together. Along the way, they pick up more allies to join the fight against the fake goddess. This book was chaos and adventure and flirty fun the whole way through.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Hoopla.

Some Like It Scandalous by Maya Rodale (2019)

Historical romance. Gilded Age New York. Book 2 of the Gilded Age Girls Club series. Daisy and Theo are lifelong enemies after he creates a cruel nickname for her as young teenagers. However, they’re forced together in an arranged engagement as Theo fails to live up to his steel magnate father’s expectations and Daisy’s family may soon be under scrutiny with her father’s investment company. Since these two are not actually interested in marrying each other, they decide to fake an engagement to relieve the pressure from their parents while they pursue other projects. Daisy is a chemist and has been developing a complexion balm that she hopes to sell and support herself. Theo is aimless and doesn’t really have much going for him except his charm and looks. Somehow, they end up teaming up on Daisy’s product and their strengths really do complement each other. Plus, as they spend more time together, they actually start to get to know one another and become friends (and maybe more). This was a fun slow-burn sort of romance with Theo being the one to prove his worth and give his full support to Daisy’s invention.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas (2012)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Fitzhugh Trilogy series. Millie and Fitz have been married platonically for eight years and soon to embark on their agreement to try to have children. Except that Fitz is distracted and excited by the fact that his first love is recently widowed and on her way back to England. This book is told over two timelines, showing the progress through Millie and Fitz’ eight year marriage and showing their present day friendship. Fitz had inherited an impoverished earldom, necessitating his marriage to a wealthy heiress even though he had hopes of marrying someone else. Millie has been in love with Fitz for all this time, but she has not given him any clues about her feelings and maintained quiet dignity and strength while he has been heartbroken over his lost love. However, over the years, we get to see Fitz become a strong and steady presence in Millie’s life and ever-so-slowly becoming her closest friend. This whole book is the slowest of slow burns and heartbreaking in all the best ways.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.