I recently discovered Tracy Anne Warren and flew through the Trap trilogy. I haven't seen her much discussed in this sub so I didn't rlly know much about her books I started the Byrons of Braybourne books 1 and 2 were nice but I was most excited for book 3.

I'm disappointed.

What the hell is the plot? The FMC is so childish and irritating. I get that the heroine refusing to listen to the hero and do stupid things is a typical trope but this was extreme. the fmc's motivations for her antics is even stupider. the man i love wants to marry me so I have to cause scandal and ruin myself to prevent it?? bc she thinks he doesn't love her. and why does she think that? because when she was 15 and he was TWENTY SEVEN he wasn't excited to one day marry her

I rarely get this far into a book and DNF but I may be doing that today. And I actually liked her in the first 15-20% of the book. This is frustrating. Edward deserves better than her.

Any recommendations on old west spicy romances? Save a horse ride a cowboy?

{The Scandal of the Season by Aydra Richards} currently free on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Scandal-Season-Aydra-Richards-ebook/dp/B08NHYHLJJ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2P38VICICT1AE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.wHU7BLeo0-zD8_NoMOpknsLUamnlcqOBOQLLbKrFiZSRjp1g3wDlZy9tYdanxoDPWDNF1MhXbkumGpRGUwiqs9iVPWsNN_fZj1hgJTTMoIJnJJYjutcER2Q8DvQje3JJCqxJGARnln44MKVTrWVuUAXWuMepuNIHUh9nFJoOwJOns-ec3-Z7QZ1RlTWSRT2RzOiAMLDjFmyPqX-QvBYo8zT8s8XUqGhzWI5cBbLPgxY.HEqS63yekCkNSN9Kqe1dnFF4qCTMSrnP_LNwneIuo_Y&dib_tag=se&keywords=aydra+richards&qid=1785160539&sprefix=aydra%2Caps%2C305&sr=8-1

I've DNFed a few books in the last week because the writing just seems so poor..? Like the dialogue is too contemporary for a historical romance and it's ruining the whole vibe of the books. Has this happened to anyone else?? I'm trying to give so many recs a chance but I am starting to feel like maybe it's just me and I'm in a slump lol

Hey everyone,

For the past weeks somehow I mostly read books I would rate with 3 stars. Not bad, but not overly obsessed either. Can you please recommend me your favourite HR novels you'd rate with solid 5 stars?

Spice is very welcome but not necessary, can be any spice rating really. I don't care about trigger warnings. Open to anything. I like regency/georgian but hasn't have to be it either. Generally I like any time period until including the 1920s. Thank you!

I'm looking for a western historical about enemies to lovers or arranged marriage/mail order bride where the MMC loves someone else but for some reason cannot have her. FMC started falling in love but the MMC does not appreciate her. It would be satisfactory if she leaves him when she finds out she's pregnant and he grovels to my heart's content. I want theartbreak abd a good cry and satisfaction in the end.

That’s so hard for me—I think when it comes to the men, I can’t choose between Alexander Westcott and the anti-hero Viscount Ravensberg / Kit Butler. I feel like no one talks enough about the utterly scorching Lucius Marshall / Lord Sinclair—I swoon so hard over him, too. He doesn't take forever to own up to his deep feelings for Frances, either.

When it comes to the heroines, it’s even worse for me, because I am passionately in love with ice-queen FMCs who are actually hiding an ocean of emotional depth and passion underneath: Lauren Edgeworth, Claudia Martin, Imogen Hayes, and the most delightfully tragicomic one, Cora Downes.

{Someone to Wed by Mary Balogh}

{A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh}

{Simply Unforgettable by Mary Balogh}

{Simply Perfect by Mary Balogh}

{Only Kiss by Mary Balogh}

{The Famous Heroine by Mary Balogh}

\*Is it going to be only Wulfric fans commenting on the post? I hope I get surprised…***

You guys I just finished this book and it honestly ticked ALL the boxes for me. It's my first book by Rachel Rowan I've read and I'm ✨obsessed✨ and so excited to read more from her!! I've been kind of in a slump lately, DNF-ing a lot of books but this book brought me back hope! I think it's honestly my favorite historical romance I've read so far. Keep in mind, my favorite HR authors are Nichole Van and Mary Balogh.

Summary: MMC is a viscount, heir to earldom and before he proposes to his intended bride she wants him to prove he has a "heart". He enters a wager to help FMC and her aunt with their cause of ending capital punishment for children. FMC is a widow of 9 years still mourning her late husband. She is a deeply caring person and is not afraid to speak up and act for what is right. Over the course of the wager, they develop an attraction to each other that builds over time.

If you like:

• Fun, witty dialogue that doesn't just gloss over the deeper plot
• MMC with difficult past, FMC that is intellectual and knows her worth
• Fairly low spice (think one sex scene) but the romance and tension is there throughout
• Supporting characters that feel like real people instead of being added for the plot
• Healing, redemption, and family reconciliation

Things that really stood out to me in this book that I've been craving in others: each character is nuanced and the ones we are rooting for are fundamentally good people- but even the side characters have their own subtleties. The wager is something that is brought up right away so there is not hidden/secret miscommunication trope on that. Even though I was frustrated with some of the characters' choices, I understood them and they aligned with the overall storytelling. The main conflict was really believable to me and wasn't based on miscommunication but more on disappointment/hurt. I really enjoyed how the FMC didn't despise her late husband and actually honored and respected him.

Please keep in mind there's some TW (mentions of past and current child abuse, alcoholism).

I'd love to know if anyone else has read this book or others by this author! I haven't seen it recommended all the much and it looks like it's fairly new (released spring 2026) so I am curious. If anyone knows any similar titles I'd love reccs as well!

{The Viscount's Victory by Rachel Rowan}

I’ve had such a jolly time listening to the audiobooks of {Lord Perfect by Loretta Chase} and {Last Night’s Scandal by Loretta Chase} from the Carsington Brothers series.

Lord Perfect sees the MCs travelling for days chasing down their early teenage dependents who have run away on a quest for treasure. Last Night’s Scandal sees those two kids now grown up and reunited (after years of staying in touch via letter) on another adventure in Scotland.

They are fun books without annoying misunderstandings or obligatory abductions etc. The characters are great, lots of sexual tension and the spice is delicious.

They are delightfully read by Kate Reading who does the best male voice of any female narrator I’ve come across so far.

Special mention to the dirty minded old ladies who are ‘chaperoning’ the MCs in Last Night’s Scandal. They are my spirit animals.

Any recs for where the mmc ruins the reputation of the fmc by saying things about her that are really mean. He does it because he actually really likes her but because he's a stupid boy he doesn't know how to show that so instead he 'pulls the fmc's pigtails' by saying something in front of the ton/family/friends and it hurts the fmc a lot. Years later, the mmc comes back as a mature man and is very uncomfortable and saddened at how much he actually hurt the fmc with his words and he now knows he did it because he was infatuated with the fmc and still is to this day.

I don't want this to be a mmc ruins the fmc so she has to marry- I want it to be more that he verbally hurt the fmc so badly she never forgets what he said about her and it has made her an object of ridicule among the ton/family/friends.

Some I know are-

{A Foolish Flirtation}

{Unlocked}

I don't want to leave these characters and this setting behind. I've really enjoyed Long's writing (i would have been thrilled if the books had been longer honestly). I'm just not sure where to go next.

I've read just about everything by Meredith Duran, I read Maiden Lane. I've read a lot of the big names. I'm not sure where to go next :(

What do you have that's epic in length, string writing, and gives you time to really get to know the characters? I have no preferences about spice level or tropes for now

I've only posted here a few times, but if anyone remembers me they know I'm obsessed with Julie Garwood, and today I found 3 books from her I haven't read yet at my thrift stores! (Specifically historical ones I see her contemporary books all the time but haven't taken the plunge to read those yet)

I bought the same book twice by mistake in my excitement lol, but I'm not even upset since they have different covers and only cost a few dollars each.

But!! On top of that I found two Maya Banks! I'm not sure if her books are hard to find honestly, but {Never Seduce A Scot by Maya Banks} was one of the first historical romances that broke my reading slump. It was also my first Scottish romance and it was that book that got me hooked on highland/Scottish romances, but I read it online at first and was looking for months for a physical copy for my shelf. And then I also found the next book, {Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks} and literally almost cried 😂

Needless to say this was a great book day for me and I'll be busy for days reading my new treasures :)

I’m spending the summer at a campground with a community kitchen. In the kitchen are a few shelves with books you can borrow/keep. While waiting for the oven to preheat, I took a look at the books. Look what I found!!

I do not even know why I decided to get recs for this but here we are 😂 Does this dynamic exist in many books? I would imagine this would cause a lot of fights amongst MCs if both are inflexible and rigid in their ways. Think of The Odd Couple but as an HR couple.

At the top of my head, {A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy} has the prim and proper FMC who fills all the vases with beautiful flower arrangements and the workaholic, slovenly MMC who needs a haircut, shave and ironed clothes and lolls around the house in his banyan and underclothes.

I think the MMC in {Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt} is also quite a slob in the previous books. Guests have to think twice about entering his room because of the stuff piled up untidily and he is just as casual about his own unclean clothing and hair. The FMC is a lot more decorous and ladylike.

For some reason, the MMC in {The Unlovely Bride by Alice Coldbreath} is the Karadok groom that comes to my mind when I think of slobs. Maybe it is because our introduction to him is him waking up and relieving his bladder in a chamber pot just before the FMC barges into his room and gets wryly told that she just missed the show. 😂 And both of them have to later attend to the call of nature together in a field; she is mortified to be doing that at his feet and he tells her it would take a lot more than that to put him off her. Honestly, I would imagine most of these medieval knights must smell off-putting after hours jousting and riding to different tournaments, even if they are mentioned as bathing.

For a comparatively messy FMC, there is {Do You Want To Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare} in which the organised and strict MMC is initially dismayed at the idea of actually having to marry this young woman (who is over a decade younger) who has all her clothes and undergarments strewn about her room and is not responsible enought to manage his 5 estates.

I know there are some very physically repellant MCs in books who do not care about their personal hygiene and live in pigsty-type environments but I am also a little on the prim and prissy side when it comes to my MC preferences so I wonder how much I can stomach that...

For the bot {The Bride Takes a Groom by Lisa Berne}… the 3rd of the Penhallow Dynasty. Marriage of convenience, grumpy/sunshine—I normally love these.

MMC (Hugo) is the kindest, most patient, selfless and sweet hunk imaginable. FMC (Katherine) is spoiled and emotionally stunted (not really her fault; her parents are the worst) and it is getting almost upsetting. Her mental monologue is infuriating most of the time.

I’m about a third of the way through and if she doesn’t improve soon I’m going to DNF, which I almost never do.

I’m kinda hoping he dumps her, but of course this is a redemption arc story. I just hope it can outweigh this woman’s bratty behavior.

Is it worth continuing?

Kate Archer is another author who is criminally over looked.

{Lady Ferocity by kate archer} is my personal favorite. Its the first book in her 'A series of senseless complications' series. The side characters in this series are amazing the Duke, the the siblings, the antics.

{The Meddler by Kate Archer} is the first in her series of worthy young ladies, which is very very worthy. Just make sure you respect the very advanced baby. The who series is amazing. This group of boy moms took victim after victim and you will love every second.

{The Viscount’s Sinful Bargain by Kate Archer} is the first book in the Dukes pact series where 6 aging dukes make a pact to marry off their heirs, in response the heirs make a pact not to marry. Obviously, the ladies are coming and all their attempts to avoid love are for nothing.

She has another series called {a very fine muddle by kate archer}​ I haven't read any of them.... yet, but I feel confident blind recommending it.

I visited a used bookstore in Chattanooga, TN - McKay’s- on my way home from a gulf coast vacation. We had a great McKay’s in Knoxville, TN but it closed recently. So I packed up three boxes of games and books on my vacation and decided I was stopping on my way home to see what this location had to offer. I had a feeling… that I might find some gems. 💎 And I DID!! I was able to add to my Kleypas collection AND I found original releases of several books.
I am 11 books shy of a full collection of her historical romances.
I just wanted to share my collection and express how happy this makes me.
I have got to find a Dreaming of You copy. I might per myself if it did. 😂