Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
formerly hosted at The Broke and the Bookish
Happy Tuesday, Wormies! It’s been a while since I did a Top Ten Tuesday post! I’m trying to be good this month and post more!
I’ve been pretty active on Bookstagram and one of my bookish friends there just started reading historical romance! This got me thinking about historical romance books that I highly recommend that you read! I am not including the old bodice rippers since that will be on another list!
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
One of my favorite books is Dreaming You written by one of my favorite authors Lisa Kleypas! If you want to dip your toes into Lisa Kleypas, I highly recommend this book! This book has been on a lot of top 10 lists and it features one of the best heroes (and my favorite!) in romance – Craven! Not only that, Julia Quinn’s Romancing Mr. Bridgerton has a scene where the heroine, Penelope is reading the book Matilda written by the heroine in Dreaming of You, Sarah Fielding!
Secret Ways by Kat Martin
The very first modern historical romance I read was Secret Ways and I haven’t looked back! This is another amazing historical romance standalone that features a heroine who is a daughter of a demimonde and an aristocratic hero in disguise as a horse trainer in her stables trying to find a traitor!
His Forbidden Touch by Shelly Thacker
His Forbidden Touch is one of my favorite historical romance set in a fictional kingdom. This is also an enemies-to-lovers romance and it absolutely checks all my boxes! The heroine is a princess who is betrothed to the evil prince of a neighboring and warring country. The hero is a disgraced knight who is tasked to take her safely to her betrothed. Of course, they fall in love during the trip! Yes, it’s also a close proximity romance. There is also a cute puppy!
A Battle for Love by Cynthia Wright
One of my favorite historical romances is A Battle for Love where the hero and heroine are manipulated by the King of France’s mistress! The hero, an English Earl, goes to France in disguise and falls for the heroine a widowed Frenchwoman! She also falls for the Earl masquerading as a penniless artist and runs away with him before she finds out his true identity!
Lions and Lace by Meagan McKinney
Lions and Lace is the first book I read set in the Gilded Age in New York! Now, we have a bunch of books set in this era, but back then, this was it (the sequel is a Western romance). The hero is an Irishman who has become rich investing in the stock exchange and want acceptance by the Four Hundred for his younger sister! He blackmails the heroine (there are things that happen here leading to the blackmail) and arranges a marriage with her. This is one of my favorite historicals and I reread it all the time!
In Bed with the Devil by Lorraine Heath
In Bed with the Devil is the first in a spectacular series, which resulted in a couple of spin-off series, that is based on Oliver Twist! The heroine finds out that her best friend is being abused by her husband so she approaches the notorious Devil Earl and makes a proposition. I love this book and this whole series!
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean
Spoiler alert! This is the 4th book in the Rule of Scoundrels series and I highly recommend that you read it in order because there is a huge spoiler! So, I’m seriously not going to say more but I HIGHLY recommend this book!
Taken by the Duke by Jess Michaels
Taken by the Duke is an erotic historical romance and is a Romeo and Juliet retelling! I absolutely love this book and I think this is one of the best Jess Michaels book ever! The heroine is kidnapped by her brother’s enemy! The heroine’s brother was running away with the hero’s younger sister and there was an accident ending in the sister’s death! As an act of revenge, the Duke kidnaps the sister and plans to ruin her – until he falls in love with her.
How to Woo a Reluctant Lady by Sabrina Jeffries
This is the third book in the series and I also recommend reading the series in order because there is a mystery that will be solved by the end of the series. However, you can always jump in and start this book. It’s another enemies-to-lovers romance with the hero is a friend of the heroine’s brother! These are two of my favorite tropes and I love this book so much!
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
I finally read The Duke and I last year and it is absolutely AMAZING! Also, I recommend that you read this series because it has been optioned by Netflix! Yay! Anyway, this is an awesome start to the series that introduced the Bridgertons! I recommend the special edition that includes the second epilogue because it is absolutely the cherry on top of the whole book!
Have you read any of the books on my list?
What are your favorite historical romance reads NOT on this list?
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Loretta Chase – Lord of Scoundrels. Jennifer Ashley – The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. Lisa Kleypas – Mine Till Midnight and Secrets of a Summer Night. Maire Claremont – The Dark Affair. Sophie Barnes – How Miss Rutherford Got Her Groove Back. Victoria Alexander – His Mistress by Christmas.
Oh fabulous! Definitely read and love Lisa Kleypas and Julia Quinn. Some of these authors I had never heard of though, shame on me. I also love Mary Balogh, pretty much anything by her but her Bedwyn series is first in my heart. Yes, she gets a tad repetitive in some of her books but when she’s on her game? She is the best!
I haven’t read any of the books listed in your TTT post this week, but many of them look really good!
Here’s a link to my TTT post for this week:
http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2019/06/top-ten-tuesday-books-from-my-favorite.html
I tend to read a lot more contemporary romance than historical, so I was very appreciative of this list! I just got downloaded the ebook of Taken by the Duke from my library, since it sounds exactly like the sort of thing I enjoy!
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