This Rec League is from Ujjawala, who is looking for what Sarah coined as “Sabrina-style romance.” You’ll see what I mean when you read the request:
I am looking for historical romances where the heroine crushes on the younger brother, but the elder brother (of course that would be our hero) interferes and there are sparks. And of course, our hero is rather grumpy.
Amanda: Though the request specifies “historical romances,” I think we’d all like recommendations across the board!
Elyse: That’s very specific.
Sarah: Alterations by Stephanie Scott ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Here are five as part of a Goodreads list.
Now what about you? Which romances fit a Sabrina-esque romance?
There’s a recentish Julia Quinn, “Because of Miss Bridgestone,” that has this dynamic.
It seems to me that I’ve read quite a few romances with this plot, but only two spring to mind right now. I’ll pop back later if I remember others. These are both contemporaries:
Jana Aston’s RIGHT (also includes brother’s best friend trope).
Willow Winters’s POSSESSIVE. She has a boyfriend, but she and boyfriend’s older brother have an unacknowledged attraction to each other—until it’s no longer unacknowledged. This book is quite dark and is part of Winters’s Merciless series, but can be read as a stand-alone.
I know I’ve read historicals like this…
Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath has this trope though I’m not sure if the brother is older or younger. The main trope is mail-order bride but still has the brothers element.
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn has this swiched up – the hero wants the younger sister but ends up with the older one.
There’s also a YA contemporary The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. It’s a lovely trilogy.
If movies count, I really recommend While You Were Sleeping (1995) – Sandra Bullock is infatuated with the younger brother but falls for the older one.
A few that come to mind:
The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden fits the plot.
The Devil Takes a Bride by Julia London has the heroine hoping to trap a lord into marriage but ends up with his older brother. Not sure she crushed on the younger brother but she likes him, at least.
Caroline Linden’s What a Gentleman Wants fits to some extent, too, although the heroine’s relationship with the younger brother is a friendly marriage of convenience.
Sort of along those lines (but maybe not really) is the Dreadful Debutante, a Regency by the great Marion Chesney. And surely there are more Regencies along this line that I’ve read but my brain can’t seem to move beyond Mira and the Marquess of Grantley this morning.
There’s a Tessa Dare that reverses it, but similar shenanigans ensue. Say Yes to the Marquess. The heroine is engaged to the older, but hasn’t seen him in years, because he’s been off for years doing no one knows what (coughspyfortheCrownstuff) and doesn’t stay in good contact and the younger brother shows up to try to corral her into marrying the brother when he comes back shortly and instead they fall in love. Younger brother is definitely a grump, and the older brother takes it in stride and gets his own book a little later (Do You Want to Start a Scandal).
In My Wildest Dreams by Christina Dodd is definitely a Sabrina-themes romance. It’s part of her governess brides series. Sophie Jordan’s While the Duke Was Sleeping is basically a historical romance novel of While You Were Sleeping.
It’s not historical, but Truth or Beard by Penny Reid kind of reminded me of Sabrina. The heroine has had a crush on one twin for years, but winds up drawn to the other twin who was her nemesis.
Tara Lain’s m/m RETURN OF THE CHAUFFEUR’S SON is a direct homage to SABRINA. I really liked that it dialed back the more problematic aspects of the movie, and I found both guys (and the wine country scenes) quite charming.
My American Duchess by Eloisa James. I remember very little about this except that it was read by a favorite narrator and has a (non-sexual) scene with a pineapple that sometimes springs to mind when I am cutting one. The brothers may be twins but the hero reads older and grumpier.
The Blacksmith’s Wife by Elisabeth Hobbes
Secret Desires of a Gentleman by Laura Lee Guhrke. Twelve years ago she was the cook’s daughter and he broke up her romance with his younger brother. Now she’s back in town to open a bakery but finds out he’s her landlord.
I second the Laura Lee Guhrke (Secret Desires of a Gentleman) and lest we forget Faro’s Daughter by Georgette Heyer.
I recommend Kristen Callihan’s Darkest London series novella, “Entwined.” It loosely follows this plotline, the heroine is engaged to one brother and ends up with the other, but this small book is so much more than that! Serious bonus catnips for a bookworm, blacksmith virgin hero (and a redhead!) and their letters back and forth with each other at the beginning of the novella are just too charming for words. Can be read as a stand-alone although i highly recommend the series.
Check out Entwined by Kristen Callihan
One of my very favorite Harlequin Presents ever, Marriage on the Rebound by Michelle Reid, has this trope. Heroine is left at the altar by the younger brother and the older bro steps in and marries her instead. It’s problematic and a little bonkers as only old-school HP can be, but I love it and it is one of my go-to comfort re-reads.
I’m not able to find Entwined on Amazon any more. I own it so it’s still on my kindle. I was looking it up to see if there’s an audio version but it’s not showing up at all on the site.
If you’re looking for a quick read, The Treasure Hunt by Mary Balogh is a novella. It is in Second Chances, a collection of 4 Mary Balogh novellas. The younger brother has a secret engagement to the h but is having second thoughts and asks his older brother to help with the situation.
After I browsed my reading notebook, I found a couple more (both contemporaries):
Kat Cantrell’s WRONG BROTHER, RIGHT MAN, a category romance published by Harlequin’s Desire line.
Rachel Van Dyken’s THE BET: a woman in a fake relationship meets her fake boyfriend’s brother and suddenly wishes she wasn’t faking it.
I really thought I’d read more books with this trope, but I discovered I had instead read quite a few with the somewhat similar theme of a man falling for his late brother’s (or late best friend’s) widow. These tend to be angsty with lots of guilt and attempted self-denial. Catnip alert!
A contemporary: Want You by Stacy Finz. The older brother has always pined for his younger brother’s on again off again girlfriend. I really loved the main story in this one, there was a secondary plot line with the younger brother (setting up his book which is next in the series) that was very meh and probably would turn some readers off (younger brother’s current girlfriend is a gold digger who becomes pregnant).
I think Juliet Marillier’s Daughter of the Forest sort of has this trope in it.
It’s an historical/ mythology set in Ireland and the heroine first falls for the younger brother but then ends up with the older brother who mistrusts her at first.
TW: sexual assault
Not a regency but Marrying Marcus by Laurey Bright was the only book of all the Harlequin novels I used to steal from my mother as a teenager that I remembered clearly enough to look it up again a few years ago. I was so happy to find it as an e-book because I too love the Sabrina trope.
I love Faro’s Daughter! It is my #1 favorite Heyer. It is kind of this trope, though the heroine is never actually infatuated with the “little brother” (in this case a nephew I think) and only appears to be interested in him as part of the oh-so-delicious enemies to lovers push and pull game with the definitely grumpy hero. The heroine is also reminiscent of the inimitable Grand Sophy in casually and competently rearranging the lives of everyone around her.
This is reaching across Audrey Hepburn movies to Roman Holiday, but a YA just came out by one of my faves Maurene Goo called Somewhere Only We Know that’s a Kpop star spending a whirlwind day with a tabloid reporter. I love her books!
Okay… I just reread Marrying Marcus by Laurey Bright and I still love the trope and the ending but without the euphoria of finding this book I remembered, I have to admit it’s a pretty average read. I guess I need someone to rewrite it. 🙂