Annual Poll Focus: Best Historical Romance NOT set in the U.K.
Last month we published the first of a series of posts leading up to AAR’s Annual Reader Poll for the best of romance published for the first time in 2015. Each post will focus on one of the Annual Poll categories (see here for last year’s winners) The first post featured the best of Romantic Suspense, and readers had a lot of great recommendations for books we should read.
Next up in this series is the Best Historical Romance NOT set in the U.K. (in other words, every place but England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).
Sherry Thomas won in last year’s poll for My Beautiful Enemy. I used the same strategy as last time, and did a series of power searches at AAR to see which non-U.K. historical romances first published in 2015 had received grades of B- or higher by AAR reviewers. This search was a bit harder than the one for Romantic Suspense, as historical romance appears under a large number of different categories in the power search function. The following titles all appeared through various combinations of categories:
- This Gun for Hire by Jo Goodman (Late 19th-century Colorado) – A-
- Mistress Firebrandby Donna Thorland (Colonial U.S. Romance, 1777 New York) – B+
- A Dance with Danger by Jeannie Lin (Tang Dynasty, 800s China) – B-
- The Midwife’s Tale by Delia Parr (1830s Pennsylvania) – B-
- Where Trust Lies by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan (early 20th century Canada) – B-
I haven’t read any of these books, but am currently reading one I’d definitely vote for, Lauren Willig’s last in the Pink Carnation series, The Lure of the Moonflower. The historical portion of the book is set in 1807 in Portugal and at long last features as heroine none other than Jane Wooliston (the Pink Carnation).
Other than that, this isn’t a category I read very frequently – unless a historical romance happens to be set in Greece or Egypt. As a result, I rarely vote in this category. This time I’d like to give it a try, and am certain I’m missing many great romances that fit this category. I asked my fellow AAR staff members for their suggestions, including both books they’ve already read in 2015, and ones they’re looking forward to for the remainder of the year, and they came up with some great suggestions, including ones actually reviewed at AAR that I missed!
Lee commented that this is a “hard category to find titles that fit. But I came up with two: Home by Morning by Kaki Warner takes place in the Midwest and Colorado and some DC thrown in too. It’s the concluding book in her Runaway Brides/Heroes of Heartbreak Creek series. And we find out what happens to all the characters in the final pages.” Lee also noted that, “the last of the Pink Carnation books, The Lure of the Moonflower by Lauren Willig, looks to be set in Portugal.”
Caroline said that “Carla Kelly has a Spanish Brand book out (U.S. Southwest).” (NOTE: A quick search of Amazon revealed that the new book by Carla Kelly is Paloma and the Horse Traders).
Maggie came up with three recommendations, noting first that she “gave The Bootleggers Daughter by Lauri Robinson a five star review on Goodreads.” Her second recommendation, also earning a five star review from her at Goodreads, is Flame Tree Road by Shona Patel, set in early 20th century India. Maggie’s final recommendation is Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist, which she gave a B+ to in a midweek mini here.
Caz commented, “I’ve given a B- to Lady Emily’s Exotic Journey by Lilian Marek which is set in Assyria and Constantinople.” Caz also wrote that, “I just finished reading The Lure of the Moonflower (Lauren Willig) andli loved it. I’ll be rating it highly, so that’s definitely one for your list.”
Lynn notes that, “A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley would actually fit the bill. I’m not sure why the review has it listed as taking place in France and UK. There are some scenes in UK, but the bulk of the book takes place in France, with the historical characters taking a roadtrip from France to Rome.”
So with five months remaining in the publishing year, those are our recommendations to date for Best Historical Romance NOT set in the U.K. I’m sure you have many more recommendations, and we’re hoping you’ll share your thoughts here.
LinnieGayl
Thanks for all the great suggestions so far!
Dangerous Secrets by Caroline Warfield takes place in Italy. It was a C read for me but plenty of reviewers have liked it.
I love these helpful pre-voting posts. I get so many book suggestions/ ideas and may even feel brave enough to vote this year.
Please do! No special qualifications required for voting. Just a love of books! :)
Absolutely! There are no qualifications for voting. We love to have as many people as possible vote.
I’m anticipating that Deanna Raybourn’s upcoming new release _A Curious Beginning_ might fit this category well, though I can’t determine the exact location for its setting yet. I really liked last year’s _Night of a Thousand Stars_, and the Middle East as a setting worked well for it.
A Curious Beginning has the most beautiful cover I’ve seen lately. It is stunning. And since it’s Deanna Raybourn, I’m certain the story will be good.
I’m really looking forward to it! And I agree, the cover is beautiful!
I absolutely can’t wait for this one. Am planning on reading it the day it’s released (well, starting). And it does look like it might fit the category. Or perhaps the best non-romance with romantic elements (or whatever we call that category).
Christina Courtenay’s historical romance are absolutely wonderful. She’s written books set in 16th Century Japan, India and Sweden with spirited heroines and gorgeous heroes.
Another author of Westerns in Liz Harris, who is British, but whose books are wonderful.
I just finished an imperfect but inspiring book set in 1857 New Orleans: Josette by Kathleen Bittner Roth (I read an ARC, but it’s out soon).
I’m not American, so don’t know that much about New Orleans in any era, but this book immersed me in a time and place more than almost any other historical romance I’ve read.
I discovered Janette Oke a fortnight ago, because I saw a picture from the television adaptation of her books on Pinterest, and thought: cool! Edwardian era Canada!
However, season two of the show looks like 2015 (the Hallmark Channel told them to modernise it because viewers weren’t intelligent enough to appreciate the early 20th!), and it’s awful.
I tried the first book, but this is VERY old-fashioned Christian romance.
I wanted to like it, but I guess if you’re a Catholic school girl from 1950 (I’m Catholic, so I get to say that!) you might like those books. Otherwise… no.
Two more American historical titles to consider that are getting very good reviews. (I haven’t read yet but will.) :
Do Not Forsake Me, Rosanne Bittner (4.65 of 34 ratings on Goodreads)
A Worthy Pursuit, Karen Witemeyer (B+ by AAR; 4.09 of 860 ratings on Goodreads)
It’s good to hear Rosanne Bittner is still writing. It’s been a long time since I read one of her books, but I recall my late uncle swearing that one of her Westerns was the best book he had ever read. :)
This Gun for Hire by Jo Goodman was by far my favorite read of the year, regardless of category, although it happens to be an American historical. In fact, if one checks AAR’s various message boards, a number of readers noted that they read this book as their first Goodman and now plan to read more of her westerns. Even those who generally don’t read westerns are likely to enjoy this book since it’s that well written, witty, and with irresistible characters.
In one of the threads, I myself mentioned that this was far and away the best book I had read this year, and, since Gabaldon’s 2014 Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (MOBY), period. I confess I do like Goodman’s westerns but she hit this particular book out of the ballpark–a bases-loaded home-run. It’s as good as a book gets IMHO.
Here are some lines from the AAR review by Mary: “”So many romances have conflict at the core of the hero/heroine relationship. This story bucks that trend. Quill and Calico have a mutual attraction from the very beginning and they are both confident enough to act on it. There is also a mutual respect that is very refreshing.”” And: “”As far as this reader is concerned, Jo Goodman can write a sequel featuring Quill and Calico and I would knock on the bookstore window at midnight to read it.”” Read her review if you haven’t already: http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=10452
Wouldn’t be great to see an American western as the best non-UK historical for a change, especially one this outstanding?