have you read a good historical romance novel lately?

Question

I'm looking for a good historical romance novel to read. I've read authors like Johanna Lindsey, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, etc. but I'm looking for some new authors. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I read a book called "Heart's Surrender" by F. Rosanne Bittner when I was a very young adolescent (even though I was reading college level, so rest assured, it's romance, but I don't recall it being "fluff" or I wouldn't have read it). It was published in the late 80's and around the same time as some of Joanna Lindsey's books.

It's the love story of a young girl (14) who falls in love with a young Cherokee boy.. and the story takes you all the way through their lives as it educates you (in an emotional way, as opposed to a logical way) about the Trail of Tears and the rough ways that the American Indians had to endure during that awful period in American history.

I warn you that it's not for the faint-hearted- these characters go through some pretty hellish experiences. Bittner's portrayal of the mistreatment of the Indians seems quite accurate, according to what I have learned from my Shawnee and Blackfoot grandparents.

I stopped reading romances after about 5 of them, but this one stood out among some fiction I've read of other genres as well. I've remembered it for 15 years now and who-knows-how-many-books later.

Here's an amazon link to it, but disregard some of the customer reviews, as it seems some people were more concerned with nooky and fantasy than actual learning something in the context of a beautiful story.

I hope you like it!

Answer 2

Have you read Valerie Sherwood? She was a wonderful historical romance writer who stopped writing about 20 years ago. Check your library or used book store for copies of her books.

Jude Deveraux is very good, too.

I can't think of a particular historical romance by Nora Roberts, but since she publishes about 2-3 a year, she's bound to have one, and she's a very entertaining read.

Answer 3

This might not be quite what you're looking for, but have you tried Philippa Gregory? I really enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin Queen. She's written a few series (I know of the Wideacre Trilogy), but the first two are my favorites.

She wrote another about the same time frame as the first two I listed called The Queen's Fool, which I read most of, but had to skim, as I sold the book almost as quickly as I purchased it (on-line bookseller.)

Answer 4

They don't get much better than Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. There's all the swashes you can buckle, leaping through the Highland heather, time travel, (this isn't a weird sci-fi story, but she unknowingly steps between some stones (something like Stonehenge)
and is transported back a couple of hundred years. It really is a wonderful story, lots of historical action and suspense and lots of pretty hot romance!
Recommended highly.

Answer 5

I like Stephenie Laurens. She does historical fiction. And also LaVyrle Spencer writes historical romance. Both are good writers.

Answer 6

You might like "The Witch of Cologne" by Tobsha Learner.

From Publishers Weekly
In a sensuous 17th-century saga set in German Catholic Cologne, Learner (Quiver) transports readers to a time when studying the ancient Kabbalah could prove deadly for a young Jewish midwife. Ruth bas Elazar Saul is the headstrong daughter of the chief rabbi of Deutz, Cologne's Jewish ghetto. She undertakes the forbidden course of mystical study, her Sephardic mother's legacy, before absconding to Amsterdam to escape an arranged marriage. There, Ruth acquires the contemporary midwifery skills she will combine with her sacred learning, and upon her return to Cologne she delivers wealthy burghers' babies using new lifesaving methods, earning a reputation for more than medical genius. Word of her skills travels quickly, and as the Spanish Inquisition stretches its tentacles to the Rhineland, Ruth is arrested for sorcery by the sadistic archbishop Carlos Vicente Solitario, whose persecution of her is fueled by a stymied youthful obsession with her mother. Ruth's keen intelligence and bravery in prison win her an ally, Canon Detlef von Tennen, who falls passionately in love with the "Jewess." The two marry, and Learner has readers rooting for the survival of their unlikely alliance. This steamy, riveting page-turner is also a paean to the triumph of a woman's spirit. (Aug.)
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Answer 7

Anne Rinadi writes great Historical fiction but its YA if that matters.