The Dragon's Bride by Jo Beverley is $2.99 right now. This is a historical romance that's an intersection of two of Beverley's series (Three Heroes and The Company of Rogues). Readers are very divided on this book – some loved it and some couldn't finish it at all. I like the first line of this review from Elis M: Con Somerford, Earl of Wyvern, is the heir to a long line of wacko, pervy nut jobs. I think I just heard RedHeadedGirl yell, “SOLD!”
Con Somerford, the new Earl of Wyvern, returns to his fortress on the cliffs of Dover to find a woman from his past waiting for him—pistol in hand.
Susan Kerslake, the new housekeeper at Crag Wyvern, was drawn back to Con's home by rumors of hidden gold and to help her family's smuggling operation. The magic they once shared was destroyed by youthful arrogance and innocence.
The years at war have hardened him, and the years at home have softened her…but can time teach them both to seize the passion that comes along only once—or twice—in a lifetime?
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo
RECOMMENDED: His at Night by Sherry Thomas is $3.99, along with several of her other books.
This book won the RITA® in 2011 for Best Historical. Our RITA® Reader Challenge reviewers graded this book an A and a B, which I averaged out to a B+.
His at Night was also a Sizzling Book Club pick, and if you like historicals where the hero pretends to be really dumb for secretive and good reasons and there's arranged marriages as well, behold a heaping portion of your catnip. I loved this book. It gave me all the emo feels and Good Book Sighs.
Elissande Edgerton is a desperate woman, a virtual prisoner in the home of her tyrannical uncle. Only through marriage can she claim the freedom she craves. But how to catch the perfect man?Lord Vere is used to baiting irresistible traps.
As a secret agent for the government, he’s tracked down some of the most devious criminals in London, all the while maintaining his cover as one of Society’s most harmless—and idiotic—bachelors. But nothing can prepare him for the scandal of being ensnared by Elissande.
Forced into a marriage of convenience, Elissande and Vere are each about to discover that they’re not the only one with a hidden agenda.
With seduction their only weapon—and a dark secret from the past endangering both their lives—can they learn to trust each other even as they surrender to a passion that won’t be denied?
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo
The Admiral's Penniless Bride by Carla Kelly is $2.99 right now – along with many other Carla Kelly books. Kelly's books are a unique kind of historical, and they're wonderfully immersive. SLURP into the book you go.
Some readers on GR really liked the older hero/younger heroine pairing, and the consideration of the hero in particular. If you like old-style Regency, you might like this, or one of Kelly's other books. There are MANY. Like the number of exclamation points in a relatively short cover blurb.
Sally Paul is down to her last penny.
As she spends it on a cup of tea–to stave off being at the mercy of the workhouse–the last thing she expects is an offer of marriage…from a complete stranger!
Admiral Sir Charles Bright's seafaring days are over–and according to society, that must mean he's in need of a wife!
Discovering Sally's in need of a home, he offers a solution…. They marry in haste–but will they enjoy their wedding night at leisure?
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo
Desire in the Sun by Karen Robards is .99c. This is a reissue of a book originally published in 2006 by Avon. This book has a 3.8 average on GR, and there are a bunch of thoughtful reviews about the hero and the setting. Have you read this one?
Joss San Pietro was raised a gentleman but was cruelly betrayed.
Held captive and enslaved, the proud man's fate now rests in the gentle hands of an extraordinary lady—Lilah Remy, a beautiful pampered daughter of privilege.
For a strange destiny has cast them together on tempestuous seas, and shipwrecked and alone they must courageously face desperate trials and dangerous truths—and a bold, forbidden love that can only blossom in paradise.
Just FYI, DESIRE IN THE SUN was originally published in the ‘90s. The Avon 2006 copy was a reissue.
Unless it’s a typo B&N is offering “The Dragon’s Bride” for $12.99. I’m guessing that will change so I’ll check back later. So many fun ways to spend my eBook pricing settlement check from B&N!
I love Sherry Thomas. That is all.
Oh, that Carla Kelly looks so good. 🙂 I love it when the usual tropes are turned on their ear – this hero is 45, has a missing tooth, a hook for a left hand, and two meddling older sisters. I’m not sure how old the heroine is (I’m reading the free sample on Amazon), but to see a truly older hero (not one who is 27-32) is very different and refreshing. I think I need this one. LOL
Any more recommendations for historicals featuring either older heroes like this, or younger heroes with older heroines (and by older for the ladies, I mean over 30). You can only read about a 23-27 year old widow so many times marrying some 30-year-old duke before it gets dull. LOL
I’m interested to see how this plays out – he’s a retired admiral who spent 30 years in service – and what sorts of personality conflicts emerge, as regards his expectations and hers and their ways of doing things differently. 🙂
Thanks for the great links, SB Sarah!
Hey, didn’t you guys snark the Carla Kelly cover because the hero was supposed to have a hook for a left hand on one of those “the cover looks NOTHING like the characters are supposed to” cover snark entries?
I think HIS AT NIGHT might be my favorite Sherry Thomas novel, and that’s saying something.
“The Lady’s Companion” is one of the Carla Kelly’s on sale, and I read it just last week. It’s one of her really good ones, with a former thief-turned-soldier hero who wants to grow a new strain of wheat (I’m talkin’ nowhere-near-a-nobleman stuff).
As for an older hero-younger heroine, I’d suggest her “Marrying the Royal Marine.” Not quite the age difference as in “The Admiral’s Penniless Bride,” but it is an issue for the hero.
Heather S, two books I can think of with older heroines are Judith Ivory’s Sleeping Beauty – I can’t remember exactly how old Coco is but she has a 17 year old (or so) son and is also quite a bit older than the Adventure Professor hero. Also Katie MacAlister’s The Trouble With Harry in which the heroine is (gasp!) 40 and the hero is older than that and they have an awesome sex life and also it is hilarious. I wish Katie MacAlister would write more historical romance and less paranormal romance as that is my opposite of catnip (so… spray bottle?) but the Noble historicals are super fun.
@Heather S
Two romances with older heroes (40) I loved are What I did for a duke by Julie Anne Long and Lady Sofia’s Lover by Lisa Kleypas.
I don’t remember how old the hero was in Kelly’s “Miss Billings Treads the Boards” but I do remember he was balding and overweight. It’s one of her “lighter” works – I remember it as being a lot of fun to read.
One of the Pink Carnations features an older couple – The Passion of the Purple Plumeria. It’s like 11th in the series, though.
@ Heather S: My favorite older hero / younger heroine is Marrying the Royal Marine, also by Carla Kelly. The couple ends up in the middle of a war zone on the peninsula in the Napoleonic Wars. Gritty but very, very good.
I’ll second the Passion of the Plumeria as just a rollicky spy-theme novel. It does help if you have read the whole series because it makes certain parts even more poignant.
Jo Beverley, mentioned above, has one of her George series where there is an older woman, younger man pairing. And yes, it is considered somewhat scandalous. Perhaps the Demon’s Mistress? I’m currently reading her A Shocking Delight which is related to a Dragon’s Bride.
Regarding The Dragon’s Bride: I blinked at the reference to the Earl of Wyvern. See, in the cross-fictional universe in my head, Castle Wyvern was transplanted lock, stock and turret from Scotland to New York City back in the 1990s, so that billionaire David Xanatos could put it on the top of his skyscraper and thereby wake up the clan of living gargoyles sleeping on the battlements.
Clearly, some part of the mutual history has been left out of one saga or the other….
(FWIW, Gargoyles is possibly the best-written animated series of all time—and is finally available in its entirety on DVD. Worth checking out for all kinds of reasons: Scots history, Shakespearean characters, an interstellar voice cast, and two of the most complicated villains you’ve ever seen in any media.)
I love Jo Beverly, but The Dragon’s Bride is not one of my favorites. I do highly recommend The Demon’s Mistress, a novella which has a younger, suicidal hero and an older wealthy heroine. I forgot how much older she is than him, but it’s more than a year or two.