Is historical romance in trouble? The romance community on Threads thinks so, with several authors revealing that their publishers have asked them to switch to contemporary settings. I hope it’s not true, or things turn around, because many of the best romances today are historicals. From Liana de la Rosa’s series about the Luna sisters, three Mexican women in Victorian London, to Cat Sebastian’s books about queer men working at a New York City newspaper in the 1950s, historical romances are conquering new territories with intelligence, wit, and warmth. And if you like stories about 19th-century England, we’ve got those, too, often addressing contemporary issues through the lens of history in a way that’s both revealing and satisfying. Whether you’re a longtime fan or a curious reader looking for a way into the genre, here are some recent histroms that have received starred reviews.
Something Extraordinary by Alexis Hall (Montlake Romance, Dec. 17): Sir Horley Comewithers is gay and Arabella Tarleton isn’t interested in romance at all. But they’re friends, and she wants to save him from a loveless marriage, so she kidnaps him to Gretna Green for an elopement. Hall finds a way to a happily-ever-after for these two, “nudg[ing] romance into new territory,” as our review says. “For example, though the story includes multiple steamy intimate scenes, none of them are between the hero and heroine, which everyone involved is very happy about.”
A Tempest of Desire by Lorraine Heath (Avon/HarperCollins, Dec. 24): Heath is known for some out-there setups: Would you believe that in The Earl Takes All, one of a pair of identical twins dies while they’re traveling in Africa, and his brother takes his place at home so the dead man’s pregnant wife won’t be traumatized? Bring it on. In her latest, London’s most notorious courtesan washes up on a private island when her hot air balloon collapses in a storm—and who should be staying on that island but a viscount recovering from a railway accident. Our review calls it “a heartfelt and high-flying Victorian romance.”
A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera (Canary Street, Feb. 4): The first two books in Herrera’s Las Leonas series—about three Caribbean women who head to Paris for the 1889 Exposition Universelle—were both included in Kirkus’ lists of the best romances of the year. This final installment follows Aurora Montalban Wright, a doctor running a secret women’s clinic in Paris, and Apollo César Sinclair Robles, an Afro-Latine man who’s unexpectedly become the Duke of Annan, as they start with sex and wind up with love. “Bursting with passion,” the book “is a masterclass in romance writing and plotting,” according to our review.
The Beast Takes a Bride by Julie Anne Long (Avon/HarperCollins, Oct. 22): Long has created the perfect backdrop for romance with her Palace of Rogues series, centering on a highly respectable boardinghouse in London’s less-than-respectable docklands area. All sorts of people have fallen in love there, from aristocrats to opera singers to…Americans (shudder). In this latest volume, a husband and wife who’ve been estranged since he saw her kissing another man on their wedding day find their way back to each other after he returns to London intending to ship her to New York. “A keeper,” says our review, “fusing the beauties of historical romance with present-day ideas of individual happiness.”
Laurie Muchnick is the fiction editor.
