16 Best Historical Romance Books

Stammering heiress Evie Jenner offers notorious rake Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent, a marriage of convenience—her fortune in exchange for protection from her ruthless relatives. Their pragmatic bargain soon becomes a passionate battle of wills that neither expected to lose.

Jessica Trent goes to Paris to rescue her foolish brother from Sebastian Ballister, Marquess of Dain, only to discover Dain is as dangerous as his reputation. Their war of wills makes the romance as fierce as the attraction.

Former World War II combat nurse Claire Randall steps through a circle of standing stones in the Scottish Highlands and lands in 1743, where clan politics, Jacobite unrest, and a forced marriage to Jamie Fraser change her loyalties and life forever.

Christian Langland, the brilliant and scandalous Duke of Jervaulx, is locked in an asylum after a stroke leaves him unable to speak. Quaker mathematician Maddy Timms sees the mind still working behind his broken words and risks her faith to help him reclaim his life.

Scholarly Minerva Highwood will do anything to present her fossil discovery in Edinburgh, even propose a sham elopement to notorious rake Colin Sandhurst. One madcap week of coaching inns, highwaymen, and shared beds turns an outrageous bargain into unexpected intimacy.

In 1879, Oxford scholarship student Annabelle Archer must recruit influential men to support women's suffrage. Her target, the Duke of Montgomery, opposes her cause, but their growing attraction complicates a contest shaped by politics, class, and his determination to secure a suitable marriage.

Tired of being the perfect wallflower, Lady Calpurnia Hartwell makes a list of nine scandalous things she has never been allowed to do. To complete it she enlists Gabriel St John, the infamous Marquess of Ralston, and their rule breaking adventure turns into something far riskier than gossip.

Fleeing an arranged marriage in Chicago, dressmaker Olivia Sterling heads for the Black town of Henry Adams, Kansas. When her train is robbed by outlaw Neil July, their explosive encounter sets up a reunion years later—she as mayor, he still wanted—where love must battle law and loyalty.

Michael Stirling falls for Francesca Bridgerton at the worst possible moment and spends years burying it. After loss reshapes both their lives, friendship and desire become impossible to ignore.

In the secluded village of Spindle Cove, Susanna Finch has built a retreat for unconventional ladies. When wounded war hero Bram, the new Earl of Rycliff, arrives to raise a militia, their clash over the town's future quickly turns into something far more explosive.

During the Civil War, former slave Elle Burns goes undercover for the Union and crosses paths with Malcolm McCall, a white detective posing as a Confederate soldier. Their mission, and growing attraction, could change the war and destroy them both.

Princess Ai Li flees an arranged marriage in Tang Dynasty China and seeks help from Ryam, a foreign swordsman. Their journey brings danger and attraction, while her obligations to her family complicate the trust growing between them.

After heartbreak, Lucy Muchelney takes a translation job at a countess's home and falls for her employer while working on a groundbreaking French astronomy text. Science, sabotage, and desire soon become tangled together.

Formerly enslaved Hester Wyatt now hides runaways for Michigan’s Underground Railroad. When she’s asked to shelter the legendary “Black Daniel,” wounded conductor Galen Vachon, their uneasy partnership turns into a dangerous love hunted by slave catchers and traitors.

After losing her freedom and infant son, Patience Jordan gains a position as his nanny through a secret society's help. Working for the child's guardian, Duke Busick Strathmore, she must conceal her identity while confronting enemies and unexpected attraction.

Quiet wallflower Minerva Lane has hidden from society since a scandal forced her to change her name. When the Duke of Clermont notices her, their wary attraction threatens to uncover both of their carefully guarded secrets.