Top Five Reads of March 2025 – Historical Romance Books

To All the Earls I’ve Loved Before by Fenna Edgewood (2021)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Gardner Girls series. Widowed Gwendolen is in a whole heap of trouble, being threatened by one man and being evicted by another. Luckily, a duke named Angel is ready to save the day by proposing a marriage of convenience. He’s the ultimate himbo character with a bit of a carefree foolish demeanor, but his protective instincts are spot on. He’s basically the best sort of man, offering his name and home and all his worldly resources to protect Gwendolen and her five-year-old son. Even though they’ve agreed on a marriage in name only, it’s so easy for these two to fall in love and desire more from each other. Lots of twists and turns here with the villain of Gwendolen’s story and how more information is revealed as the story proceeds. Loved this one.

Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Hoopla. Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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The Lady Sparks a Flame by Elizabeth Everett (2025)

Historical Romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Damsels of Discovery series. Combine an emotionally traumatized exiled scientist with an upbeat and fairly emotionally happy kind of guy, and we get this absolute gem of a book. Phoebe is back in the country to deal with her late father’s estate, after having been exiled off to America for inventing a bomb that killed someone. She’s all sorts of detached and cold to everyone around her, and we learn that it’s because of her horribly abusive father. Somehow, the wealthy shop owner and newspaper owner Sam gets involved in her affairs, first by offering to buy her house and second by trying to court her sister. Sam’s just trying to improve his overall station in life and thinks a titled wife is the way to do it. But of course, Sam is more interested in Phoebe than anything else and wants to soothe all of her hurts. Tons of emotional angst here as we dig up all of Phoebe’s traumas and come to some resolution. Excellent read.

Advance ebook provided by Berkley via NetGalley. Advance audiobook provided by Penguin Random House Audio.

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The Trouble with Anna by Rachel Griffiths (2025)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. I almost missed out on reading this book because I did not realize it was a historical romance. The cover design is fresh and fun but kind of confusing for which genre the book belongs in. Anyway, we have Anna, a socially awkward daughter of an earl who lives with her maternal grandfather and pretty much hates going to balls and parties. And then her grandfather dies and turns out he only leaves her the house, horses, and stables if she marries the earl next door. Julian is doing his best to do his duty and fulfill his obligation but he certainly does not want to marry Anna and thinks that the whole thing is a trap. But then he actually spends time with her and is honestly intrigued and a little bit smitten. And he’s terrible at communicating and she thinks he’s just courting her for duty-bound reasons, even though he kisses her every chance he gets. It’s basically all chaos in a book with an inheritance clause, a somewhat arranged match, and lack of communication. I enjoyed this book a lot and couldn’t wait to see how they resolved their issues.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Topaz by Beverly Jenkins (1997)

Historical romance. Post-Civil War Old West America. Standalone novel. I love the chaos and villainy of a Beverly Jenkins book. Katherine is a newspaper woman who’s investigating a stock fraud crime, gets caught, and needs rescuing by Dix. He’s a deputy marshall who was originally looking for Katherine’s father for his crimes, but then the old swindler promises Katherine’s hand in marriage to Dix since that’s the only thing he has of value. We start pretty early with an arranged marriage for Katherine and Dix and the slow wagon trail to Indian territory as they make their way to Dix’s home, while avoiding the crooks that are after Katherine. It’s danger around every corner and a slow burn romance rolled into one. So much happening in this book and I loved all of it.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese (2022)

Contemporary romance. Book 1 of the Wilmot Sisters series. Everyone gets off on the wrong foot here when autistic Bea and anxious Jamie are pushed towards each other at a party. He basically says the wrong thing all the time, coming off as an arrogant jerk when he’s really just tongue-tied, and Bea is the ultimate klutz that night spilling drinks on Jamie multiple times. Despite the horrible meet-disaster, their meddling friends and family trick them into a date. So Bea proposes they fake-date and then break up as revenge for the meddling friend group. And of course, in the time they spend together, they realize they’re a perfect fit. This book had so much cute witty banter, plenty of steam, and I loved how Bea and Jamie understood each other so well once they opened up to each other.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.