New Releases from February 2024 – Historical Romance Books and a Few Contemporary Romance

The Duke’s Unexpected Love by Alexa Aston (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Strongs of Shadowcrest series. We start with a tragic prologue for James, who is a duke’s heir that gets abducted by sailors and forced onto a ship with limited memory of who he is. Many years later, we find that he’s the captain of a ship for a prosperous shipping line and recently landed in England for his next assignment. A drunkard who turns out to be his childhood tutor recognizes him in a tavern and insists that he’s a lord. James is pretty much shocked and surprised, but when he visits the duke’s household, he’s instantly recognized as the missing son of the duke. Meanwhile, Sophie, the owner of the shipping company is recently widowed and considering propositioning the handsome James for an affair, not knowing his newfound status or identity. James has bigger ideas (like marriage) and is actually trying to keep this all secret because he wants Sophie to accept him as a man, rather than a title. Add in the fact that James as a gaggle of sisters and cousins soon-to-debut, and we’ve got the beginnings of an interesting series.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

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The Duke’s All That by Christina Britton (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Synneful Spinsters series. Seraphina is living in the Isle of Synne with her two sisters running the circulating library on the island. She’s got a mysterious past and a bit defensive and skittish. Turns out she was married many years ago, betrayed by her love, sent to an asylum, and then ran away with her sisters to protect them from their father. Her security is disrupted when her long-lost husband Iain shows up on the Isle to demand a divorce from Seraphina. He believes that he was betrayed by her all those years ago, then believed she was dead, and only just learned that she was alive. And now that he’s a duke, he’ll need to marry again in the future and need to be free and clear to do so. He doesn’t tell Seraphina that he’s a duke, just in case she has aspirations of being a duchess, but they do set off on a road trip to get that divorce. Along the way, they do actually start to talk to each other about what went wrong all those years ago and realize that they were both told lies by her father. He’s interested in making the marriage real, but she refuses and wants to go back to her quiet life with her sisters. It’s all a huge mess, made worse by the fact that Iain is still secretly a duke.

Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley.

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The Duchess Takes a Lover by Jillian Eaton (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Ladies of Seduction series. Lonely and abandoned duchess, Mara, is rumored to be planning on taking a lover this season, much to the anger and dismay of her husband Ambrose. He comes back to the castle where he left her alone to confront her on the issue and finds a stern and outspoken wife instead of the meek and quiet woman he’d known before. We get to see bits of flashbacks to their courtship, knowing that Ambrose purposely sought to marry a woman he would not love so that he can stay in control of his placid emotions. But of course, he’s been in love with her this whole time without realizing it and he’s intensely jealous of the idea that she might take another lover. Both of these people are unwilling to risk their own emotions due to past trauma and heartache, but it’s clear that they actually just want each other and not anyone else.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

The True Heir by Merry Farmer (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 6 of the Secrets of Nedworth Hall series. This book will make the most sense after reading the rest of the series because it has to do with the overarching mystery of a secret heir to a fortune. Millie is a farmer’s daughter who has been sponsored by a countess to attend the house party as a lady’s maid. A brief introduction to a helpful David has her believing that he’s a valet, but it is soon apparent that he’s a duke and very much out of her league. David is kind and thoughtful and really has very little tolerance for the chaos and mayhem of the house party. He’s disappointed to find that the only woman he’s drawn to (Millie) is a lady’s maid and very much below his station. However, we find out pretty quickly that they’re better suited than they think and we get to see a lot of secrets revealed in this story. Quick read and nice way to tie up the whole series.

Advance ebook provided by Merry Farmer via BookSprout

How Not to Hate a Duke by Jennifer Haymore (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Georgiana is a wealthy merchant’s daughter completely tired of the fortune hunters seeking her attention. She’s convinced by her good friend to attend a house party in the country to avoid some of those terrible suitors. Meanwhile, a certain dastardly duke is also invited to the same house party. Theo has recently inherited the title from his depraved father but is believed to be of the same ilk, leaving him emotionally exhausted by all the hatred by his neighbors and tenants. It doesn’t help that Georgiana’s family is the main opponent to Theo’s endeavors due to a long-standing family rivalry. When Georgiana and Theo realize they’re at the same house party, they first try to avoid each other, and then end up antagonizing (and then flirting with) each other. But you know that open communication does wonders, so they start to actually get along (and maybe even fall in love). The drama with Georgiana’s family is still looming though and Theo has a lot of work to do to fix his reputation on his estate.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood (2024)

Paranormal romance. Standalone novel. Misery is the daughter of a powerful Vampyre councilman often used as a political pawn. The latest ordinance from her father is to marry the Were Alpha leader Lowe to form an alliance and prevent all-out war. She’s totally apprehensive of the whole thing, but she believes that Lowe is the key to finding her missing best friend. Of course, she thinks that Lowe hates her and is disgusted by her scent, but we’re guessing that Lowe thinks Misery smells just peachy and is trying to avoid getting his heart broken. We get all sorts of interesting political drama and maneuvering with this book, plus a slow build of trust and friendship for Misery and Lowe. Add in some phermonal mating glands, feeding lust, and knotting, and we end up with Hazelwood’s spiciest traditionally published novel to date.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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In Want of a Viscount by Lorraine Heath (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Chessmen series. Leonora is an American inventor in England with her family seeking investors in her writing machine, although her crass overbearing mother is seeking a titled husband for Leonora. She sneaks off to a ladies’ club and asks for a kiss. The club owner seems to be short-staffed in the gentlemen escort department and asks his own titled brother, Rook, to see to the kissing. Rook and Leonora don’t exchange names, but do exchange a kiss, leaving Leonora passed out from absinthe and Rook wondering what he did wrong. And of course, they cross paths later when Rook turns out to be a potential investor in the company. They flirt, they dance, they can’t seem to stay away from each other. And Rook is the only man (aside from her father) who has ever appreciated Leonora’s curiosity for machinery. However, Rook is not interested in marriage and basically a very controlled man who denies himself lustful indulgences due to his own father’s scandalous behavior. These two are fairly slow to realize they’re perfect for each other, but it’s a fun read along the way.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

The Fake February Rake by Charlie Lane (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Rake Review series. Hades is a respectable doctor in London, until his greatcoat goes missing and is sighted on a man escorting women away at night time. This all gets reported upon in the gossip columns, ruining Hades’ reputation and causing his patients to seek medical care elsewhere. He’s out to confront the coat thief and reclaim his coat and finds Lady Ophelia wearing it to escort women away from their abusive situations and guide them to safety. They argue a bit and he eventually reports her actions to her father; who suggests that they marry each other to restore the good doctor’s reputation. Ophelia refuses at first since she’s totally untrusting of men, but he decides he’ll convince her to come around. As they spend more time together, she starts to see that Hades is not at all like the other men in her acquaintance and starts to admire him. In turn, he supports her acts in rescuing women in horrible conditions and admires her even more because of it. The romance here is relatively straightforward, with both parties communicating pretty directly about their stance and objectives.

Advance ebook provided by Charlie Lane.

Never Woo the Wrong Lady by Charlie Lane (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Gentleman’s Guide to Courtship series. A duke with eight sisters is intent on marrying them off in short order, but those of marriageable age are uninterested in the task. This is mostly because they’re busy running a lending library of naughty books that their mother owned before she died. Andromeda believes herself to be safe from the task because of her secret fake fiancee who is actually a rare book supplier. Except that her brother’s friend Tristan is seeking a wife and has singled Andromeda out as his desired partner, regardless of her absent fiancee. Tristan is the older illegitimate son of an earl who now has guardianship of his thirteen-year old lordling brother, but the boy’s aunt continues to threaten the status of that guardianship. He needs a respectable wife to provide a maternal influence on the wayward teen and hopes that a duke’s sister will provide it. We have instant sparks between Tristan and Andromeda, despite her denials and reluctance. She’s mostly worried that her secret project will come to light and cause a scandal, especially since Tristan is a clever newspaperman. However, Tristan is oh so attentive to Andromeda and is very good at convincing her that they make good partners. This was a really great introduction to this series and I loved seeing their two families integrate together.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Hoopla.

Mortgage of Convenience by Dani McLean (2024)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Ghostwriter Bee is secretly working on her own novel but has hit a creative block and moved back to her hometown. On an impromptu trip to the bank with her brother’s best friend Sebastian, she offers herself up to him as a co-owner of the house he wants to buy so that he can qualify for the loan. She’s got a long-time crush on him, but can totally handle being a quiet unobtrusive housemate. Except that Sebastian also has a crush on Bee and doesn’t stand for her hiding in her room all day long. He tries very hard to break her out of her comfort zone, including maybe starting a physical relationship, which he wants to be the real deal and she wants to keep secret in case it doesn’t work out. Bee has a lot of growing to do within this book to get to the “settled down” phase that Sebastian is looking for. Flirty, steamy, funny story with Sebastian being the most supportive partner ever.

Advance ebook provided by Dani McLean via NetGalley.

The Earl’s Red Hot Wedding by Barbara Russell (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Victorian Outcasts series. Brandon and Emily meet as young adults on the train and quickly form a bond when they’re both injured in a tragic train accident. Despite promising to keep in touch, they’ve lost contact with each other for many years. Ten years after the accident, Emily is London with her aunt and cousin seeking employment as a governess, but is having difficulty doing so with her fear of carriages and enclosed spaces. Meanwhile Brandon has been the hermit earl for all these years, battling back pain from his train injuries as well as an opium addiction. When they finally cross paths again after all those years, Brandon seeks to make amends and recover their friendship. He soon learns that Emily’s aunt is about to steal her inheritance and proposes a quick marriage of convenience to save it. It’s a mad dash to Scotland to elope, further complicated by Emily’s fear of the train, but Brandon is determined to protect and soothe Emily along the way. I enjoyed reading about these two who are bound by tragedy, reconnect after all these years, and thwart their villains along the way to falling in love.

Advance ebook provided by Oliver Heber Books via BookSprout.

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle (2024)

Contemporary Romance. Standalone novel. Dahlia is in a small mountain town looking for her missing sister and enlists the help of local grumpy hermit Winston. He’s apparently skilled at survival while hiking, so he helps her through the mountains. These two are full of banter and shy flirty glances, and apparently Winston is a stealth cinnamon roll. The forced proximity of the hike and huddling in the tent for warmth turns into huddling for more than just warmth. As we get closer to possibly finding Dahlia’s sister, we get to see some crazypants out-of-nowhere plot when we we’ve just been quietly hiking through the woods thus far. Super fun and sweet and we get some third-act adventure too.

Advance ebook provided by Sourcebooks via NetGalley.

Highland Heartbreaker by Steffy Smith (2024)

Historical romance. 14th Century Scotland. Book 2 of the Highland Hearts series. We have an arranged marriage here between the son of a Scottish laird and an English lady. Everyone is apprehensive of the match, but Alex is instantly attracted to Grace when he sets eyes on her. She generally has a nervous disposition but likes how welcoming Alex and his sister are to her. When Alex’s father shows up after the wedding, things are tense because of his prejudices against the English, and Grace is also wary of Alex’s womanizing reputation. It’s pretty clear that he’s smitten with Grace though and the drama there resolves rather quickly. This book was a relatively quick read and plenty steamy.

Advance ebook provided by Steffy Smith.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein (2024)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Mabel is a ghostwriter assigned to work on the memoirs of former footballer Alfie. They have a terrible first impression, mostly because Alfie is extremely gruff and Mabel is insecure and awkward. They continue to have awkward meetings with each other, mostly due to Alfie’s complete and total lack of social skills. And then somehow, they settle on a truce of sorts, only to be photographed together and assumed to be in a relationship. They end up leaning into the rumors and starting a fake relationship with each other. Both of these people are deeply insecure about their looks and personality and really cannot believe that the other person could truly like them, so it makes for a lot of awkwardness overall. However, Alfie is a total softie and caring and protective and Mabel is embarrassingly smitten with him, even though she’s self conscious that she’s not as beautiful as his former girlfriends. We get a lot of really funny banter here with a lot of accidental lusting after each other, but the deep-seated insecurity is going to be a tough one to overcome.

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

A Collision of Stars by Georgia Stone (2024)

Contemporary Romance. Standalone novel. Humorous, grumpy-sunshine, friends-to-lovers romance. Ava is a grumpy barista who is basically just getting by and the overcharming overeager overly chatty Finn is a regular customer at the coffee shop. Ava’s looking for casual hook-ups as a way to pass the time before she goes home for some intense introverting, but her roommate/best friend is worried about her. In order to seem less lonely and pathetic, she tells her best friend that she even made a new platonic friend recently and lies that it’s Finn. After Finn catches her in the lie, he leverages it to his advantage to have Ava help him with his London bucket list. Finn seems to bounce around from continent to continent and does not seem to be good at setting down roots, but he sure is charming, in that nerdy adorkable sort of way. We get these total opposites spending time together, bantering like crazy, and slowly developing real feelings, which Ava is clearly afraid of. This book is so charming and delightful and I had so much fun reading it.

Advance ebook provided by Georgia Stone.

Betting Against the Scoundrel by Mariah Stone (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Dukes and Secrets series. Former duke Spencer is back from his involuntary stint in the Navy, now with a limp, nightmares, and lack of direction. His brother and heir Preston is irrevocably the new duke and also married to the woman Spencer had loved and wanted to marry. Although everyone is glad to see Spencer alive, he’s broody and isolated and set on revenge against the corrupt duke who sent him to sea. Meanwhile, the overlooked and ignored Joanna is attempting to rescue her own family from ruin by that same duke (and her uncle) by searching for blackmail material. She and Spencer cross paths with their common enemy, but they have opposing purposes. There’s some bickering between the two, but the attraction between them is undeniable. Although Spencer tries to seduce Joanna, he’s also unwilling to start any sort of proper courtship, even as he starts to realize he cares for her.

Advance ebook provided by Mariah Stone via BookSprout.

To Woo and to Wed by Martha Waters (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Regency Vows series. West and Sophie had been courting seven years ago, until West’s disapproving father got involved and Sophie ended up married to someone else. Not only that, but West was badly injured in a curricle race that also killed his best friend, and he’s been in a rough place ever since. Now that widowed Sophie is back in West’s social sphere, they just keep running into each other at various events. He’s pretty sure that she’s not open to another courtship, so he tries his best to keep his distance. Until Sophie proposes a fake engagement to West so that her sister would be willing marry her own suitor without fear of Sophie’s loneliness. Seeing an opportunity to spend more time with Sophie and to rile up his horrible father, West agrees. And so we have a fake engagement second chance situation where these two finally talk about what went wrong all those years ago.

Advance ebook provided by Atria Books via NetGalley.