Tag Archives: historical romance

Links: I Know the Holidays Are Over

Workspace with computer, journal, books, coffee, and glasses.

Welcome back to Wednesday Links! I had my Romance Novel + Cheese Night on Friday and it went really well! Keep your eyes peeled for a write-up soon on how it went and what the yummy pairings were. I’m still a little sick so my partner and I definitely put a pause on any Valentine’s Day celebrations. We even had a fancy dinner reservations planned, which we wound up cancelling in favor of eating chips … Continue reading Links: I Know the Holidays Are Over

Lightning Review

The Marquis Who Musn’t by Courtney Milan

The Marquis Who Mustn’t

At this point we’ve reviewed so many Courtney Milan books on this site that the reviews are kind of a foregone conclusion – you know the book is going to get a good grade, the question is just – how good? My answer for The Marquis Who Mustn’t is: Very Good, especially if you are in the mood for pure heartwarming material. Evil is vanquished. Wrongs are righted. Apologies are made. And of course, love … Continue reading The Marquis Who Musn’t by Courtney Milan

Book Review

Never Cross A Highlander by Lisa Rayne

Never Cross a Highlander

Never Cross A Highlander has a one-click cover. Black Highlander stories are rare, and I’m glad this one offered some of the adventure and steam that dreamy cover promised. The book is slow in the middle, but there are swordfights, forced proximity while camping, sex by a waterfall, a hellion heroine, and a hard-headed hero who needed his family to tell him that he was in love. Here’s the book’s description: Ailsa Connery has waited … Continue reading Never Cross A Highlander by Lisa Rayne

Ready Set Go: Best Friendships in Romance!

The Rec League - heart shaped chocolate resting on the edge of a very old book

Time again for one of the most challenging recommendation features we have: READY, SET, GO! Here are the rules: We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or element of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type. And no more than two sentences as to why. Just One. And our theme this month? Friendship in Romance. What is your favorite friendship in a romance novel? Your challenge: Name one book that you recommend … Continue reading Ready Set Go: Best Friendships in Romance!

Book Review

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris

I have a weakness for both Scottish and Caribbean characters, so when I saw that A Caribbean Heiress in Paris paired a business savvy Dominican heroine with a progressive Scottish earl, I knew I wanted to try it. And since Claudia loves historical romances, I begged her to read it with me. (Claudia here: Shana had me at hello!) Luz arrives at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris on a mission. She’s the recently orphaned … Continue reading A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera

Book Review

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

A Lady for a Duke

Midway through A Lady for a Duke, I started to panic. I was so in love with this historical romance and I worried that something would come along and ruin it. So I sighed with relief at the end of the last page. This book is pretty damn close to perfection, bitches. It works on so many levels. This is an exceptionally satisfying friends to lovers story, a queer fairy tale filled with longing and … Continue reading A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

Fat Girls in History

Featured image for Fat Girls in History

When I went looking for fat heroines in historical romance, I quickly learned to be skeptical of book covers. A main character might be plump, abundant, generously rounded, or my favorite, “a lady of healthy appetite,” but the model on the book cover will still be thin. A reader of fat histrom has to be a detective, examining each cover for clues: Is most of her body covered by a sheet? Is there a flower … Continue reading Fat Girls in History

Book Review

To Love and To Loathe by Martha Waters

To Love and to Loathe

Claudia and Shana both love historical romances, but Shana loves Milan’s prickly heroines and puns, while Claudia’s catnip is the cozy charm of Balogh’s love stories, the fewer puns the better. Shana convinced Claudia that To Love and To Loathe’s “enemies to hookup to lovers” storyline would pull us out of our reading slump. She now owes Claudia a million lemon bars because this book was a tropeopcalypse. So much potential, but so poorly executed. … Continue reading To Love and To Loathe by Martha Waters

Ready Set Go: Pining and Yearning in Romance, Oh, My!

The Rec League - heart shaped chocolate resting on the edge of a very old book

Time again for one of the most challenging recommendation features we have: READY, SET, GO! Here are the rules: We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or type of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type. And no more than two sentences as to why. Just One. And our theme this month? PINING. Pining and yearning romance, please! Could be unrequited until it’s not, or could be secretly in love but hiding … Continue reading Ready Set Go: Pining and Yearning in Romance, Oh, My!

Ready Set Go: Historical Women in Trousers!

The Rec League - heart shaped chocolate resting on the edge of a very old book

Time again for one of the most challenging recommendation features we have: READY, SET, GO! Here are the rules: We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or type of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type. And no more than two sentences as to why. Just One. And our theme this month? This month: Historical Women in Trousers! Once spotted regularly in old skool romances where the back cover copy used words … Continue reading Ready Set Go: Historical Women in Trousers!

Lightning Review

My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid

My Darling Duke

While reading My Darling Duke, I realized that as much as I rail against the popularity of magic peen as a plot device, magic cooch is not an improvement. Kitty Danvers and her group of wallflowery friends are veterans of multiple unsuccessful marriage market seasons in London. Kitty is a world-weary twenty-three, and with her hopes for a husband and children fading, she and her friends decide to be “sinful.” For Kitty, that means claiming … Continue reading My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid