Six historical romances set outside 19th-century England

Because there's more to life than Rotten Row

I’ve read quite a lot of historical romance. It’s what got me into romance in the first place and my apartment is littered with piles of mass-market paperbacks promising balls, gaming hells owned by mysterious men, and bespectacled wallflowers. I love so many of its tropes and authors. But what I don’t love is that the vast majority of historical romance titles are set in either Regency or Victorian England. Occasionally, an author will go rogue and dare to go Georgian but there’s so much history to explore beyond what’s currently on offer. One of my romance reading goals for this year was to discover more historical romance titles set in less commonly seen places and times and I think I’ve made some headway, although I would love more recommendations, especially for titles set outside the US and UK.

I’m always interested in titles that break new ground in the genre and as a lifelong history nerd, I love anything that gives me a new historical tidbit or a peek into another place and time. Of course, historical romance operates by its own set of rules but I can usually tell when the authors have done some extra research. (Fellow history nerds unite!) I long to see more of this in the genre in the future and I’m really hopeful that as historical romance becomes more diverse in whose stories it tells, it’ll continue to expand its range beyond the English drawing rooms and manor houses that it’s so familiar with.

Here are six titles (including three series) that I’d heartily recommend:

Fly Me to the Moon series by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner

This series centered around a fictionalized version of the 1960’s space program is an expertly blended cocktail of romance, science, and history. Barry and Turner bring nuanced character development, delightful historical details like a progressive dinner party, and thoughtful depictions of women fighting for their own kind of independence that still feel time period-accurate. I would recommend reading book one, Star Dust, first to get an introduction to the cast of characters and then either proceeding to the three holiday novellas, if you’re a seasonal reader, or to book two, Earth Bound, which is my hands-down favorite of the series. (Open door, high steam.)

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller

Easily one of my top romances of 2023, this takes place during ball season in 1870’s Vienna and features a romance between a hotelkeeper trying to restore her family’s hotel to its former glamour and an undercover US Treasury agent. There are gowns! Assignations in linen closets! Political intrigue! A deeply sincere virgin hero who purchases erotic books to better educate himself! But perhaps the thing I adored most about this is its specificity, from its distinctive hero and heroine to its heroine’s layered and ultimately quite emotional relationship with her mother to its fizzy sense of humor. I could never mistake this book and these characters for any other and like Biller’s first two books, I have a feeling I’ll be recommending it for years. (Open door, high steam.)

To Catch A Raven by Beverly Jenkins

Everything that Jenkins, a legend of the historical romance genre, writes feels so satisfying. I feel like I’m in capable hands every time I pick up one of her books, ready to be swept up in a compelling story with competent, deeply appealing main characters and fascinating pieces of history. The third installment in her Women Who Dare series centers around a grifter heroine and deeply honorable hero who have to fake being married in order to steal back a copy of the Declaration of Independence. I really loved the chemistry between the leads in this one, particularly the way the hero takes care of the heroine but always respects her strength. Writing this was also the perfect reminder that I need to get to her Destiny and Old West trilogies soon.

Pingkang Li Mysteries series by Jeannie Lin

Full disclosure here: I’ve only read the last two in this series because I haven’t been able to find the rest of them in a non-digital format but they’re so good that I feel confident recommending the whole series. (Rest assured that I am on the hunt for them every time I go into a used bookstore.) They’re part mystery, part swoony romance, set in Tang Dynasty China and Lin skillfully balances action with the deep emotional connections being forged between the main characters. There’s a wonderful clarity and elegance to her prose that captures a great depth of feeling without ever being overwrought and she’s another author I want to seek out more in 2024. (Open door, moderate steam.)

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

An almost unbearably tender friends-to-lovers queer romance set at a New York City newspaper in the 1950’s. It's clear-eyed about the dangers that the queer community faced in the 1950's but also soft and hopeful and warm in a way that feels like a balm. If you like a slow burn or a romance deeply rooted in friendship and caring, look no further. I love a book that feels vulnerable, like you’re living and breathing and hoping so desperately along with the characters, and this lays Nick and Andy’s hearts wide open there on the page. But there’s a great deal of strength in that vulnerability too, and in these characters fighting for a life that makes them happy, and the combination is magical. (Open door, moderate steam.)

The Fifth Avenue Rebels series by Joanna Shupe

Shupe is my go-to author for Gilded Age drama and characters with electric chemistry and her most recent series about four scandalous members of New York society is such a treat. Note that I would highly recommend skipping book one, The Heiress Hunt—you’ll get all the backstory you need in book two and the central couple of book one made me want to tear my hair out—but the rest of the series is pure dramatic fun that plays with and deepens some classic historical romance tropes. I’d especially recommend book two, The Lady Gets Lucky. It’s a romance between a charming scoundrel and a shy heiress, both longing for someone to see them for who they really are, and one of my favorites of 2022. (Open door, high steam.)

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Currently reading: A Very Lively Murder by Katy Watson, the second in the Three Dahlias series, about three actresses who’ve all played the same fictional detective banding together to solve a murder on set. What I enjoy so much about this series is how it both captures the delights of and gently satirizes classic 1930’s Golden Age mysteries.

What’s bringing me joy lately:

• Some excellent pizza, both from Norma in Murray Hill and the new L’Industrie in the West Village.

• My first-ever trip to the Village Vanguard to hear their big band play.

• I’m ready to start querying my book! Naturally, this is also terrifying but I’m trying to focus on the joy of having written something I’m proud of and all the work I’ve put into it. (It’s an irritated-to-lovers celebrity romance set behind the scenes of a reality dating show, in case you’re curious, and I had entirely too much fun writing it.)