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Time travel and enjoy a swoon-worthy rogue with these great historical fiction romance books for Valentine’s Day!
Are you a fan of Claire and Jamie Fraser? Do you enjoy roguish dukes or dangerous outlaws? Whether you’re a fan of the steamy or like it clean– I have something for everyone to capture the romance of the day. Enjoy this list of historical romance books to keep you company this Valentine’s Day!
Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught
Judith McNaught is one of the original queens of the historical romance genre! And don’t let the stigma of weak damsels in distress get you down for this author– because she epitomizes the fact that strong women can enjoy this genre as well. She was the first female executive producer at a CBS radio station after all. She also worked as a controller for a major trucking company and as an assistant director for a film crew. And yet, she loves romance books- both writing them and reading them!
Almost Heaven takes you from the drawing rooms of London to the wilds of the Scottish Highlands.
Elizabeth Cameron, the Countess of Havenhurst, possesses a rare gentleness and fierce courage to match her exquisite beauty. However, a scandal erupts when someone discovers her in the arms of Ian Thornton, a notorious gambler and social outcast. The fallout instantly shatters her reputation.
Initially, Elizabeth presents a perfect facade to society, but she may not be all she seems. As their story unfolds, Ian embarks on a voyage to her heart—a journey fraught with intrigue, scandal, and intense passion. Consequently, these rising stakes force Elizabeth to question Ian’s true motives. She must decide: does he remain a ruthless fortune hunter, or does he hide a genuine love behind his notorious reputation? Ultimately, Publishers Weekly notes that “well-developed main characters with a compelling mutual attraction give strength and charm to this romance,” ensuring you won’t be able to put this book down.
Years by LaVyrle Spencer
LaVyrle Spencer is another legend in the historical romance genre. The Romance Writers Hall of Fame inducted Spencer in 1988.
Spencer’s career reached staggering heights. Spencer has landed twelve of her novels on the New York Times bestseller list. Furthermore, her storytelling prowess has captured the attention of Hollywood, leading filmmakers to adapt several of her stories into major motion pictures.
Beyond her commercial success, she also dominates the awards circuit. To date, she has secured five RITA Awards from the Romance Writers of America—the highest honor a romance writer can receive. Most notably, four of those prestigious awards recognize her mastery specifically within the historical romance category.
Spencer crafts stories around realistic characters and stories that focus on families rather than just the relationship between the couple.
In Years, Spencer tells a World War I story about a school teacher who grows to womanhood in the arms of a man who’d given up on love.
Something Like Love by Beverly Jenkins
Beverly Jenkins is a historical romance writer who writes in a particular niche about early 19th century African-American life. (You may have seen me write about her in my Black Historical Fiction Authors article.) Jenkins focuses on this era specifically because society so often overlooks this vital chapter of African-American history.
The African American Literature Book Club voted Jenkins to their Top 50 Favorite African-American writers of the 20th century. She also won the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award as well as many others.
In Something Like Love, Jenkins tells a story about the potential for change. Can someone change, or are they predestined to remain as they are?
Desperate to escape an arranged marriage, Olivia Sterling flees Chicago and heads west. She dreams of setting up her own seamstress shop in Henry Adams, a small all-Black town in Kansas. However, her plans are derailed when her train is robbed by Neil July and his notorious band of outlaws.
Neil is enchanted by the headstrong and lovely Olivia. No woman has ever set his blood on fire before, and he suspects no other woman ever will. When they meet again, Olivia is the town’s newly elected mayor and Neil is still the wanted outlaw. With bounty hunters on his trail, he would be wise not to linger, yet he can’t seem to leave her. Will Neil be able to convince Olivia to ride off into the sunset with him? Or will he finally lay down his guns for love?
Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin
Jeannie Lin is a newer voice on the scene. However, that in no way diminishes her power!Butterfly Swords was her debut novel, and right out of the gate it won her a Golden Heart Award! USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal also all featured her as one of the best Historical Romance novelists of 2011.
In Butterfly Swords, Lin weaves a story set in the Tang Dynasty, a time awash with luxury yet littered with deadly intrigues and fallen royalty. Princess Ai Li flees before her wedding.
Miles from home, with only her delicate butterfly swords for defense, she enlists the reluctant protection of a blue-eyed warrior….
Battle-scarred, embittered Ryam has always held his own life at cheap value. Ai Li’s innocent trust in him and honorable, stubborn nature make him desperate to protect her—which means not seducing the first woman he has ever truly wanted….
Come From Away by Genevieve Graham
Genevieve Graham is a newer historical fiction author on the block– publishing her first novel in 2017. However, she’s written five historical fiction books in just five years, proving herself to be a force to be reckoned with! I can’t even imagine doing all that research that quickly!
Graham focuses on Canadian history. For instance, she began by highlighting the little known area of Nova Scotia and has since expanded to write about Canada as a whole. Her books are all bestsellers and one is even already optioned to become a movie!
In Come From Away, Graham highlights a little known period of Nazi infiltration in North America.
In the fall of 1939, Grace Baker’s three brothers, sharp and proud in their uniforms, board Canadian ships headed for a faraway war. Grace stays behind, tending to the homefront and the general store that helps keep her small Nova Scotian community running. The war, everyone says, will be over before it starts.
Three years later, the fighting rages on and the harsh realities of war come closer to home when rumours swirl about “wolf packs” of German U-Boats lurking in the deep waters along the shores of East Jeddore, a stone’s throw from Grace’s window.
Then, one day, a handsome stranger ventures into the store. He claims to be a trapper come from away, and, as Grace gets to know him, she becomes enamoured by his gentle smile and thoughtful ways. But after several weeks, she discovers that Rudi, her mysterious visitor, is not the lonely outsider he appears to be. He is someone else entirely—someone not to be trusted.
When a shocking truth about her family forces Grace to question everything she has so strongly believed, she realizes that she and Rudi have more in common than she had thought. And if Grace is to have a chance at love, she must not only choose a side, but take a stand.
Set against the tumultuous years of World War II, Come from Away is a mesmerizing story about strangers, enemies, and friends—and the power of love to transcend the barriers that keep us apart.
An Unseen Attraction by K. J. Charles
K.J. Charles lives in London and is a queer historical romance novelist. She is a prolific writer with over thirty books in her repoirtoire. She has won a number of awards including both a RITA and Rainbow award.
In An Unseen Attraction, Charles depicts a slow-burning romance and a chilling mystery that binds two men together.
Lodging-house keeper Clem Talleyfer prefers a quiet life. He’s happy with his hobbies, his work—and especially with his lodger Rowley Green, who becomes a friend over their long fireside evenings together. If only neat, precise, irresistible Mr. Green were interested in more than friendship. . . .
Rowley just wants to be left alone—at least until he meets Clem, with his odd, charming ways and his glorious eyes. Two quiet men, lodging in the same house, coming to an understanding . . . it could be perfect. Then the brutally murdered corpse of another lodger is dumped on their doorstep and their peaceful life is shattered.
Now Clem and Rowley find themselves caught up in a mystery, threatened on all sides by violent men, with a deadly London fog closing in on them. If they’re to see their way through, the pair must learn to share their secrets—and their hearts.
Enjoy these historical romance books! I hope you find something to snuggle up with this Valentine’s Day!
Find more ways to spoil your inner bookworm!
Check out the Amaryllis Co. Shop, fully stocked with custom designs perfect for every book loving Amaryllis Girl! From shirts, mugs, wine glasses, and more, I have curated a shop with all of my favorites! SHOP HERE! You can also find my collection of bookish merchandise on Etsy.
