Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I decided to switch it up this week and do a different topic. This week’s topic is:
Favorite Historical Romances of 2020
1. Highland Conquest by Heather McCollum
Series: Sons of Sinclair (Book 1)
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: April 28, 2020
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Synopsis: Cain Sinclair has a plan. In order to finally bring peace to his clan, he will wed the young female chief of their greatest enemy. Only problem: capturing her and forcing her back to Sinclair castle doesn’t exactly make her want to say yes. Ella Sutherland may be clever, passionate, and shockingly beautiful, but what she isn’t is willing.
Every attempt Cain makes to woo her seems to backfire on him. A gift? The kitten practically claws his eyes out. A competitive game of chess? Even when he wins, he loses. It seems the only time the two ever see eye to eye is when they’re heating up Cain’s bed. Still, the only thing Ella truly wants is the one thing he cannot offer her: freedom.
But when Cain discovers she’s been harboring a secret—one that could threaten both clans’ very existence—he’ll have to decide between peace for the Sinclairs or the woman who’s captured his heart.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
2. The Highlander’s English Bride by Vanessa Kelly
Series: Clan Kendrick (#3)
Page Length: 448
Publication Date: May 26, 2020
Publisher: Zebra
Synopsis: Lady Sabrina Bell has never been so embarrassed in her life. Not only did her new suitor fail to appear for their morning rendezvous in Hyde Park, but a thief pushed her into the Serpentine. Being rescued by a burly Highlander just adds to her humiliation. Nor is he content with rescuing her just once. Even when Sabrina travels to Edinburgh as part of King George’s entourage, Graeme Kendrick is there, interfering, exasperating, and so very tempting…
Once notorious for being the most unruly Kendrick brother, Graeme now runs dangerous missions for the King’s spymaster. Yet nothing has prepared him for Sabrina. The only child of a wealthy earl, and the pampered goddaughter of the king himself, she is stubborn, impetuous, and far too good for him. He doesn’t deserve her, but he can protect her and then send her safely back home. But the bonny Sassenach has her own ideas—and a plan for seduction that no red-blooded Highlander could resist…
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
3. A Scot to Wed by Callie Hutton
Page Length: 150
Publication Date: June 8, 2020
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Synopsis: Highlander Laird Evan MacNeil cannot believe Mistress Katie Sterling just shows up at the MacDuff castle with this faded piece of parchment laying claim to the lands he just legally inherited. Not that he really wants to be here in the lowlands, but he has responsibilities to his clan and the exasperating Katie has uprooted the remnants of her father’s clan and moved them across the country to live here. There’s no way he can leave to go back home now.
Katie has nowhere else to go and she refuses to bow down to the arrogant yet undeniably handsome Highlander. She’s had enough with men trying to control her and she is quite capable of handling herself.
Now that Evan must spar with a beautiful lass for the rights to the lands, he will fight to the end. This battle is nothing like the ones his ancestors fought with crossbows and boiling oil. They never wanted to bed the enemy.
4. Her Accidental Highlander Husband by Allison B. Hanson
Series: Clan MacKinlay
Publication Date: Sept. 28, 2020
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Synopsis: Marian Fletcher Blackley, Duchess of Endsmere, has been on the run from the English Crown for weeks since killing her abusive husband…no matter that it was self-defense. She has only one safe place to go—the MacKinlay clan in Scotland, where her sister is the laird’s wife.
War Chief Cameron MacKinlay has vowed never to marry after witnessing his widowed mother’s grief. He has his lands and his clan, and that’s enough for a good life. When one day a sprite of a lass comes running out of the forest with hounds nipping at her heels and an English bounty hunter not far behind, he feels compelled to save her by claiming the disheveled duchess is his wife. But he certainly didn’t intend to marry her for real!
And now he’ll do anything to protect her…
LINKS: Goodreads
5. All Scot and Bothered by Kerrigan Byrne
Page Length: 416
Publication Date: Sep. 29, 2020
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Synopsis: They are a dangerous duke, a fierce lord, and an infamous earl—dark, bold, brave men who know exactly what they want. And there is only one woman who can bring them to their knees…
He is first and foremost—at everything. A man who’s made his own way in the world through ruthless cunning and sheer force of will. A strong and imposing Scot who can turn on the charm but does not suffer fools. His title: Lord Chief Justice of the High Court. His name: Cassius Gerard Ramsay. His mission: To investigate the goings-on at London’s most notorious gaming hell, owned and operated by one of the most intriguing and desirable women he’s ever met.
IN THIS GAME OF LOVE, THE RULES DO NOT APPLY
Cecelia Teague was an orphan facing a rather dire future—until a secret benefactor from her mother’s scandalous past swept into her life. Sent to prestigious boarding school and later to university, Cecelia believed high society was at her fingertips…Then, from out of nowhere, she became the inheritor of a gambling establishment. Now Cecelia must live two lives: one as a proper lady who finds herself undeniably drawn to Lord Ramsay and the other as a savvy gaming hell owner trying to save her business from the very same man. He has no idea she is both women…and Cecelia would like to keep it that way. But what happens when consuming passion and escalating danger threaten to reveal the truth?
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
6. The Princess and the Rogue by Kate Bateman
Series: The Bow Street Bachelors (Book 3)
Page Length: 304
Publication Date: Dec. 29, 2020
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Synopsis: A princess in disguise is forced to live with a rogue in order to protect her from danger in this fun, sexy regency romance.
Bow Street agent Sebastien Wolff, Earl of Mowbray, doesn’t believe in love―until a passionate kiss with a beautiful stranger in a brothel forces him to reconsider. When the mysterious woman is linked to an intrigue involving a missing Russian princess, however, Seb realizes her air of innocence was too good to be true.
Princess Anastasia Denisova has been hiding in London as plain ‘Anna Brown’. With a dangerous traitor hot on her trail, her best option is to accept Wolff’s offer of protection―and accommodation―at his gambling hell. But living in such close quarters, and aiding Wolff in his Bow Street cases, fans the flames of their mutual attraction. If Anya’s true identity is revealed, does their romance stand a chance? Could a princess ever marry a rogue?
LINKS: Goodreads Amazon Book Depository
7. A Duchess a Day by Charis Michaels
Series: Awakened by a Kiss (Book 1)
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: Nov. 10, 2020
Publisher: Avon
Synopsis: An heiress with a plan…
Lady Helena Lark has spent years trying to escape her wedding to the vain and boring Duke of Lusk. She’s evaded, refused, even run away. When her family’s patience runs out, they pack her off to London to walk down the aisle. But Helena has another idea: find a more suitable bride to take her place, even if she must look for a replacement duchess every day.
A bodyguard with a job to do…
Declan Shaw, better known as “The Huntsman,” is a mercenary who can pick and choose his clientele. After his last job, escorting a young noblewoman to France, landed him in jail under false accusations, he wants nothing to do with aristocrats or women. But the law isn’t done with him, and if he agrees to babysit a duke’s errant fiancé, the payout could make his legal troubles go away.
A most unexpected alliance…
When their worlds collide, Declan realizes that containing his new client is only slightly harder than keeping his hands off her. Helena senses an ally in her handsome new bodyguard and solicits his help. Together they must escape the forces that oppose them and fight for the fairy-tale love they desire.
LINKS: Goodreads
8. Who Wants to Marry a Duke by Sabrina Jeffries
Series: Duke Dynasty
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: Aug. 25, 2020
Publisher: Zebra
Synopsis: Stepsiblings in search of the truth about their mother’s succession of beloved husbands—and their own surprising identities as eligible young nobles—are the endearing stars of this dazzling series from New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries…
A past kiss with adorably bookish Miss Olivia Norley should be barely a memory for Marlowe Drake, the Duke of Thornstock. After all, there are countless debutantes for a handsome rakehell to charm beyond a young lady whose singular passion is chemistry—of the laboratory type. But Thorn has not forgotten—or forgiven—the shocking blackmail scheme sparked by that single kiss, or the damage caused to both their names. Now Thorn’s half-brother, Grey, has hired the brilliant Miss Norley for her scientific expertise in solving a troubling family mystery. And the once-burned Thorn, suspicious of her true motives, vows to follow her every move…
For Olivia, determining whether arsenic poisoning killed Grey’s father is the pioneering experiment that could make her career—and Thorn’s constant presence is merely a distraction. But someone has explosive plans to derail her search. Soon the most unexpected discovery is the caring nature of the reputed scoundrel beside her—and the electricity it ignites between them…
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
9. Ten Things I Hate About the Duke by Loretta Chase
Series: Difficult Dukes (Book 2)
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: Dec. 1, 2020
Publisher: Avon
Synopsis: USA Today bestselling author Loretta Chase continues her Difficult Dukes series with this delightful spin on Shakespeare’s classic, The Taming of the Shrew.
This time, who’s taming whom…
Cassandra Pomfret holds strong opinions she isn’t shy about voicing. But her extremely plain speaking has caused an uproar, and her exasperated father, hoping a husband will rein her in, has ruled that her beloved sister can’t marry until Cassandra does.
Now, thanks to a certain wild-living nobleman, the last shreds of Cassandra’s reputation are about to disintegrate, taking her sister’s future and her family’s good name along with them.
The Duke of Ashmont’s looks make women swoon. His character flaws are beyond counting. He’s lost a perfectly good bride through his own carelessness. He nearly killed one of his two best friends. Still, troublemaker that he is, he knows that damaging a lady’s good name isn’t sporting.
The only way to right the wrong is to marry her…and hope she doesn’t smother him in his sleep on their wedding night.
10. Once Dishonored by Mary Jo Putney
Series: Rogues Redeemed (Book 5)
Page Length: 368
Publication Date: Sept. 29, 2020
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Synopsis: Bestselling author Mary Jo Putney’s romantic Regency-set series features soldiers, spies—and the special redemption only love can bring…
A man who has lost his honor has nothing…
London, 1816. As a Royal Navy officer, Lucas Mandeville, Lord Foxton, has fought his share of battles on the high seas, followed by long years of imprisonment. But on this night, he’d rather be on the burning deck of a ship than in a ballroom, where it is just a matter of time before someone challenges him because of what happened on the Continent.
A woman who has lost her reputation is nothing…
When dark-haired beauty Kyla Douglas arrives, a whisper of scandal ripples through the ton. The disgraced divorcee’s entrance is an act of daring. Which is exactly why Lucas asks her to dance…
A couple who stands together has everything…
Unexpectedly, Lucas offers Kyla his aid in finding the evidence to regain her good name—and her beloved young son. Together they investigate the wicked conspiracy that destroyed her life, and in the midst of danger, find a deep love that will redeem them both—if only they can live long enough to build a future together.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
I enjoyed all of these wonderful historical romances! Have you read or do you plan to read any of these? What are some of your favorite historical romances of 2020? Comment below!
Okay, how awesome is that cover for Once Dishonored? Seriously, that’s going on the TBR pile immediately. 🙂
Nice! The cover is pretty fantastic. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Adds all to my TBR.
Yessss!!!
Honestly, don’t know any 2020 historical romance that is coming.
Only those from the past
Great choices!! Highly recommend Mimi Matthews if you haven’t already read her.
I haven’t read anything by her! Which would you recommend?
Maybe start with The Matrimonial Adverrtisement. It’s the first of a series
Awesome, thanks! 🙂
I need to check these out, I quite enjoy historicl romance once in a while!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Gosh, I haven’t read a historical romance in a long time. I should give one of these try!
My TTT
They are all great, but I’m a sucker for a good historical romance! 🙂
Great topic. This is a great list for when I need a historical romance!
Thanks! 🙂
I’ve been saying for a while now that I want to read more historical romances and voila–this list appears 😀 I’ll be sure to check out some of these books and also authors. Great list!
Thanks so much! As you can tell, I’m a fan of historical romances (well, any kind of romance really lol).
Saving this. brilliant list👍
Thanks! 🙂
Ooh, I’ve got the Byrne and Bateman books coming up! Glad to see them on your list. I’m loving both series💜
Yay! I hope you love them! I’ll keep an eye out for your thoughts. 🙂
I’ve been saying for a while now that I want to read more historical romances and voila–this list appears I’ll be sure to check out some of these books and also authors. Great list Gosh, I haven’t read a historical romance in a long time. I should give one of these try. Seriously, that’s going on the TBR pile immediately.switch
Wonderful! I hope you enjoy them!! 🙂