I’m so excited to kick off this year’s Best of the Best! Over the next week or so, I’m going to share my favorite reads of 2023. I read a little over 300 books this year, and there were 20 historical romances that really stood out. I’m a sucker for a swoon-worthy romance, and I was fortunate to read a bunch of great ones this year. Let’s take a look!
I listed all books in alphabetical order by title. Also, this post contains affiliate links, including Amazon, and I may earn a small commission, at no cost to you, if you purchase through my links.
1. Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa
Series: The Luna Sisters #1
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: April 4, 2023
Publisher: Berkley Books
Synopsis: Ana María Luna Valdés has strived to be the perfect daughter, the perfect niece, and the perfect representative of the powerful Luna familia. So, when Ana María is secretly sent to London with her sisters to seek refuge during the French occupation of Mexico, she experiences her first taste of freedom far from the judgmental eyes of her domineering father. If only she could ignore the piercing looks she receives across ballroom floors from the austere Mr. Fox.
Gideon Fox elevated himself from the London gutters by chasing his burning desire for more: more opportunities, more choices. For everyone. Now as a member of Parliament, Gideon’s on the cusp of securing the votes he needs to put forth a measure to abolish the Atlantic slave trade once and for all–a cause that is close to his heart as the grandson of a formerly enslaved woman. The charmingly vexing Ana María is a distraction he must ignore.
But when Ana María finds herself in the crosshairs of a nefarious nobleman with his own political agenda, Gideon knows he must offer his hand as protection…but will this Mexican heiress win his heart as well?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
2. The Beast and the Bookseller by Eva Devon
Page Length: 150
Publication Date: May 29, 2023
Publisher: Entangled
Synopsis: All of London gossips about the Duke of Montrose. A recluse. Inflicted with a terrible disease. A gargoyle with a terrible temper. But he’s also the most important patron of the centuries-old book shop that belongs to Miss Elizabeth Sharpe’s family. Now she’s been charged with delivering books to the Gargoyle of London herself—or risk their shop falling into ruin. But surely a duke can’t be that ghastly…
Garrett Maximilian doesn’t give a tinker’s damn what society says about him. Most of them are sycophants, bowing and scraping in his presence. But not this proud, redheaded spitfire of a woman standing before him. In fact, nothing makes him feel more alive than Miss Elizabeth tartly criticizing his books. Perhaps he just needs a plan to keep her close…
The duke’s glower doesn’t terrify Elizabeth as much as it fascinates her. And worse, he looks at her with a dark hunger that should make her shake with fear—not desire. But Elizabeth’s father has sinister plans in store for his daughter…and this beastly duke might be her only salvation.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
3. Bookshop Cinderella by Laura Lee Guhrke
Series: Scandal at the Savoy #1
Page Length: 336
Publication Date: June 20, 2023
Publisher: Forever
Synopsis: Evie Harlow runs a quaint little bookshop in London, which is the biggest adventure an unmarried woman with no prospects could hope for. Until Maximillian Shaw, Duke of Westbourne, saunters into her shop with a proposition: to win a bet with his friends, he’ll turn her into the diamond of the season. The duke might be devilishly attractive, but Evie has no intention of accepting his ludicrous offer. When disaster strikes her shop, however, she’s left with little choice but to let herself be whisked into his high-society world.
Always happy to help a lady in distress, Max thinks he’s saving Evie from her dull spinster’s life. He’ll help her find a husband and congratulate himself on a job well done. But as shy Evie becomes the shining star he always knew she could be, she somehow steals his heart. And when her reputation is threatened, can Max convince her to choose a glittering, aristocratic life with him over the cozy comfort of her bookshop?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
4. Claimed by the Viking Chief by Sarah Rodi
Page Length: 288
Publication Date: May 23, 2023
Publisher: Harlequin Historical
Synopsis: She can be his lover…
…but never his wife!
Forced into servitude, Wren is quietly miserable…until Jarl Knud arrives at her settlement, seeking an alliance through marriage. Despite their initial sizzling attraction, Wren despises everything the jarl represents—and he needs a high-status bride to save his people, not a servant like her. As Wren uncovers the man beneath the fierce Viking chief, she’s tempted to claim one forbidden night of passion…but will it ever be enough?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
5. Curled Up With an Earl by Amy Rose Bennett
Series: The Byronic Book Club #2
Page Length: 368
Publication Date: Feb. 7, 2023
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Synopsis: Miss Lucy Bertram is content to spend her days writing scientific articles or curling up with a Gothic romance novel. Indeed, she’d rather stick a hatpin in her eye than attend a ball. But when her father, the eccentric botanist Sir Oswald, insists she accept the suit of a wealthy but stiffer-than-a-poker industrialist to save the family from penury, Lucy decides to act. She’s certain her disowned brother, Monty, will take her side. But first she must find him in St. Giles’s cutthroat rookeries.
A covert agent for the Crown, William Lockhart, the Earl of Kyle, is on the hunt for a ruthless killer determined to destroy the Linnean Society. Sir Oswald, a botanical poisons expert, is the prime suspect. Posing as a groom in the baronet’s household, it shouldn’t take Will long to unearth the evidence Scotland Yard needs. If only the beguiling Miss Bertram wasn’t so damn distracting…
As an unexpected but undeniable passion flares between Lucy and Will, confidences are exchanged and dark secrets come to light. But will a murderer, determined to stay hidden, destroy their chances of finding a happy-ever-after?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
6. The Duke’s Dark Secret by Courtney McCaskill
Series: The Astley Chronicles
Page Length: 340
Publication Date: Nov. 9, 2023
Publisher: Hazel Grove Books
Synopsis: Secrets, Lies, and a Lock Ever since her father’s unexpected death, Cecilia Chenoweth has felt like the heroine of a bad Gothic novel. In addition to leaving her alone and destitute, her father made a deathbed confession that it was no mere fever that took her mother’s life some twenty years ago. Then he pressed a sinister key into her hands, bidding her to go forth and uncover the truth. If only she knew where to find the lock that will open to the mysterious key…
Cold, Bold, and Dangerous to Know There is one man who recognizes the black key bearing the emblem of a Marcus Latimer, the newly minted Duke of Trevissick. Now that his abusive father is rotting in hell where he belongs, Marcus is eager for his life to stop resembling a bad Gothic novel. No one would ever have thought to pair the dangerously handsome duke with the meek little rector’s daughter. But as he helps Cecilia on her quest, Marcus discovers a well of passion hiding behind her sloe eyes that may just be a match for his own.
Two Hearts on a Perilous Path But Cecilia’s search for the truth about her mother’s death unearths dark secrets from Marcus’s past, secrets that will destroy the new life he has built for his beloved sister and condemn one of the few people he cares about to death. What will he do when he is forced to choose between loyalty… and love?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
7. Earls Rush In by Jennifer Haymore
Page Length: 250
Publication Date: May 8, 2023
Publisher: Entangled
Synopsis: The beloved “sunshine” of the ton, Miss Charlotte Chapman, is trapped in the carriage with an utter madman. There’s simply no other explanation for it. Why else would the rough, reclusive Earl of Trevelyan—her deceased brother’s most beloved friend—sweep her away during a terrible snowstorm without explanation? All she knows is that his rather boorish behavior somehow involves her pending betrothal…
Trevelyan has a reputation for being something of a beast in society’s circles, but nothing—nothing—will stop him from rescuing Charlotte from her disastrous engagement. He promised his best friend that she and her sister would be looked after. Of course, the earl can only protect her from the blackguard who’s trying to marry her. Protecting her from himself is quite another matter…
Now, thanks to their upended carriage, they’re stranded at a country inn—which has only one room left. And all it takes is one kiss to unlock the simmering desires they’ve never admitted…and a heartbreaking secret that could shatter Charlotte into a million pieces.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
8. The Heiress at Sea by Christi Caldwell
Page Length: 331
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Publisher: Montlake
Synopsis: Perpetually unattached Lady Cassia McQuoid has accepted her fate as a spinster. But how can she be expected to lead a life confined to drawing rooms and royal balls when there’s a vast, exciting world to explore? Cassia can find but one solution: she masquerades as a thrill-seeking lad and stows away on a ship bound for open waters. Adventure awaits. So does notorious privateer Nathaniel Ellsby.
Nathaniel doesn’t want to be the Duke of Roxburghe. Instead, the second-born son relishes his freedom to do as he pleases: pursuing enemy ships in service of the war effort. But when his older brother dies, Nathaniel embarks on one last mission before he fulfills his ducal duties with an arranged marriage. That’s the intention, at least—until he discovers that his woefully green deckhand is a fetching but vulnerable woman in disguise.
Nathaniel’s new mission is to protect Cassia from the perils of the sea, both above and below the water, by sharing the close confines of the captain’s quarters. As roiling emotions turn to love, Nathaniel and Cassia realize the greatest risks—to the Crown, to their futures, and to the heart—still lie ahead.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
9. The Heiress Swap by Maddison Michaels
Page Length: 386
Publication Date: July 25, 2023
Publisher: Entangled
Synopsis: Evie Jenkins didn’t know what she was thinking by agreeing to switch places with her American heiress cousin. After all, she’s naught but a poor―and usually quite sensible ―companion. All she has to do is spend six weeks among London society, pretending to be an heiress…and ensure that absolutely under no circumstances does she accept any proposals of marriage.
When his cousin declares himself in love with a new woman visiting from the States, Alexander Trenton―the sixth Duke of Hargrave―is determined to prove that the young lady in question is just another American “Dollar Princess” desperate for an English title. She seems innocent enough, but Alex is determined to expose her…by thoroughly seducing the lovely and fiercely intelligent heiress himself .
What he assumed would be just one simple kiss erupts into something wild, uncontrollable, and much too public. Now the duke must save her reputation with a betrothal…little knowing that his charming Princess harbors a secret that would certainly ruin them both.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
10. Her Unforgettable Knight by Melissa Oliver
Series: Protectors of the Crown #3
Page Length: 288
Publication Date: May 23, 2023
Publisher: Harlequin Historical
Synopsis: She never forgot him…
Can she ever forgive him?
Marguerite never expected to see Savaric again—let alone to have to help him when she finds him outnumbered in a fight. He’s the brooding knight she fell for two years ago…until he left her unexpectedly. Now Marguerite is a hardened spy and wary of trusting him again. But how long can she resist their connection when they must work together to protect the Crown?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
11. Highland Beast by Heather McCollum
Series: Sons of Sinclair #4
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Synopsis: Bàs Sinclair is the cold and brutal hand—and sword—of justice across the Highlands. He has one destiny: to bring fear into the hearts of guilty men. But when he is called to execute a midwife for her crimes, he cannot raise his weapon. For Bàs already knows this lovely, part-wild creature. After all, she gave him his first and only kiss…
Shana Drummond will do anything to protect her beloved sister. Now her cruel, merciless brother-in-law has called upon Bàs to have Shana killed for crimes she didn’t commit. She can’t reconcile the cold, lethal warrior before her with the gentle one she met—nay, kissed—only days before.
But mercy from Bàs can only lead to one thing: war among the clans. A war that will test allegiances, tear families apart, and challenge everything Bàs knows about himself and his heart. Because once this Highlander knows love, nothing will stop him from keeping Shana safe…even if it means destroying his own destiny.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
12. A Highland Rogue to Ruin by E. Elizabeth Watson
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: Aug. 23, 2023
Publisher: Entangled Pub.
Synopsis: Known as the “Demon of the Seas,” Tormund MacLeod only wants vengeance for his brother’s murder. At this year’s Lughnasadh festival, the vicious and unyielding Laird of the powerful MacDonald clan will know the bite of his sword. But the festival offers many distractions—including a fair and bonny masked vixen whose touch disarms Tormund, body and soul. And och, like the cursed MacLeod he is, he wants what he shouldn’t have…
Lady Brighde MacDonald might understand her brother’s overprotectiveness—but she doesn’t have to like it. What she needs is the reckless freedom in the arms of an imposing, rough, and sweet-talking Highlander. Only too late, they both recognize that they’re enemies. She’s the sister of the man Tormund wants dead. And he is the brutish blackguard of the clans…
Now their tryst could mean war. Brighde would see a truce, but it means she must convince her brother and the man she loves to lay down their swords. But Tormund hides a long-buried secret that could destroy both clans.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
13. The Knight’s Substitute Bride by Melissa Oliver
Series: Brothers and Rivals #2
Page Length: 288
Publication Date: Nov. 28, 2023
Publisher: Harlequin
Synopsis: Could the wrong bride…
Be right for him after all?
For the sake of his family name, Lord Robert must marry to seal an alliance with an Irish clan. Only, the woman at the altar isn’t who he was promised! Instead, it’s her sister, Lady Mairenn! The sharp-tongued Irish beauty is as reluctant to wed as Robert, but as friction turns to fire between them, she’s further derailing Robert’s plans for this purely pragmatic arrangement…
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
14. A Lady’s Rules for Ruin by Jennifer Haymore
Series: The Lions and the Lilies #2
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: Nov. 28, 2023
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Synopsis: She’s found the perfect plan to avoid marriage…
Miss Frances Cherrington has long been criticized as independent and prickly. And she’s fine with it. Truth be told, she’d prefer to be a spinster—damn her family’s desires. But it’s a conversation with the devilishly handsome yet highly infuriating Earl of Winthrop that inspires the perfect escape from her nuptial troubles. Frances could ensure that no one will marry her—by happily ruining her own reputation…
The Earl of Winthrop knows more about ruin than anyone suspects. He’s just uncovered a secret that would tear his name—and everything he’s worked for—to the ground. Certainly, marriage is out of the question…to say nothing of his growing attraction to the forthright and delectable Miss Cherrington.
Though all London is abuzz with Frances’s “disgrace,” she’s determined to use her freedom however she sees fit. Even if it means spending more time with a man who sets her body on fire. But when Frances’s misdeeds catch up to her, the ruinous disaster she finds herself in blazes out of control, taking all of her options with it.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
15. Never Wager with a Wallflower by Virginia Heath
Series: The Merriwell Sisters #3
Page Length: 320
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
Publisher: St. Martin’s
Synopsis: The third and final delightful installment in the Merriwell Sister’s Regency rom-com series.
Miss Venus Merriwell has been waiting for her prince to come since the tender age of fourteen. She wants a man who is selfless, academic like her, and free from all the wretched vices her gambler father enjoyed far too much before he left the Merriwell sisters practically destitute. Unfortunately, after a slew of romantic disappointments, there is still no sign of that prince at twenty-three and the only one true love of her life is the bursting-at-the-seams orphanage in Covent Garden that she works tirelessly for. An orphanage that desperately needs to expand into the empty building next door.
For Galahad Sinclair, gambling isn’t just his life, it’s in his blood. He grew up and learned the trade at his grandfather’s knee in a tavern on the far away banks of the Hudson in New York. But when fate took all that away and dragged him across the sea to London, it made sense to set up shop here. He’s spent five years making a success out of his gaming hell in the sleazy docks of the East End. Enough that he can finally afford to buy the pleasure palace of his dreams—and where better than in the capital’s sinful heart, Covent Garden? The only fly in his ointment is the perfect building he’s just bought to put it in also happens to be right next door to the orphanage run by his cousin’s wife’s youngest sister. A pious, disapproving and unsettling siren he has avoided like the plague since she flattened him five years ago…
While Venus and Galahad lock horns over practically everything, and while her malevolent orphans do their darndest to sabotage his lifelong dream, can either of them take the ultimate gamble—and learn to love thy neighbor?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
16. One Duke Down by Anna Bennett
Author:
Series: Rogues to Lovers #2
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: Jan. 24, 2023
Publisher: St. Martin’s Pub
Synopsis: A FISHERMAN’S DAUGHTER
Miss Poppy Summers is determined to keep her family’s fishing business afloat. Her poor widowed father has fallen ill, and her foolhardy brother has moved to London, leaving her precious little time to read or pursue her own dreams. But she’ll do anything for her family, so she cheerfully spends mornings in her rowboat, casting her nets. The very last thing Poppy expects or wants to find tangled in them is a dangerously attractive man. Especially one with a head wound—who’s convinced he’s a duke.
AND A DUKE OUT OF WATER
Andrew Keane is the Duke of Hawking, but he’s having the devil of a time convincing his wary, fiery-haired rescuer of that fact. The truth is he came to the seaside resort of Bellehaven Bay to escape his life in London. Unfortunately, someone in Bellehaven wants to kill him—and he intends to find out who. He implores Poppy to tend to his injuries and hide him on her beach, reasoning it will be easier to find his attacker if that man assumes Keane is already dead. She wants no part of the scheme but can’t refuse the generous sum he offers in exchange for food and shelter while he recovers. It’s a mutually beneficial business arrangement…nothing more.
ARE ABOUT TO MAKE WAVES
Under Poppy’s care, Keane regains his strength—and a sense of purpose. As they work together to solve the puzzle of his would-be murderer, he’s dazzled by her rapier wit and adventurous spirit; she’s intrigued by his mysterious air and protective streak. Though Poppy’s past gives her every reason to mistrust someone like Keane, the seawalls around her heart crumble in the storm of their passion. But when clues hint at the prime suspect in Keane’s attempted murder, Poppy must decide where her loyalties lie. Torn between the world she’s always known and the one she’s always dreamed of, she’ll need true love for a shot at her fairytale ending.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
17. Say Yes to the Princess by Charis Michaels
Series: Hidden Royals #1
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: July 11, 2023
Publisher: Avon
Synopsis: A hidden princess…
Princess Regine Elise Adelaide d’Orleans is no longer a princess, but she’s also no commoner. She’s obscure French royalty, exiled to England in the aftermath of the revolution. She lives as a glorified houseguest of the British Royal family, guarded and gilded, but also trapped.
The cynical outcast…
Mr. Killian Crewes serves as the “Royal Fixer” in St. James’s Palace, making messy situations disappear. As the second son of an earl, cleaning up indiscretions was hardly Killian’s goal in life, but his mother’s notoriety makes him less of a peer, and more a member of staff.
A royal scandal…
When Princess Elise spots her long-lost brother in a crowded market, she’s determined to find him. But her search puts the palace in an uncomfortable position, and they hire Killian to seduce the princess to distract her from meddling. Except, no one anticipated that Killian would be the one seduced instead. Now he’s risking everything for the lonely princess–his job, her reputation, and both of their hearts.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
18. A Spinster’s Guide to Danger and Dukes by Manda Collins
Series: A Lady’s Guide #3
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: March 28, 2023
Publisher: Forever
Synopsis: Miss Poppy Delamare has been living a lie. To escape an odious betrothal, she hid as the quiet and unassuming Flora Deaver, secretary to London’s most infamous female crime reporter. When her beloved younger sister is accused of murder, however, Poppy returns home to keep her sibling from the hangman’s noose.
But a collision with the most unexpected—and unwelcome—of travel companions interrupts her journey. To her surprise, the arrogant, albeit handsome, Duke of Langham offers to help clear her sister’s name . . . in exchange for a favor of his own.
Despite his rakish reputation, Joshua Fielding, the Duke of Langham, has no intention of abandoning a lady—or ladies—in need. A fake betrothal will benefit both him and Poppy. Langham will have protection from the society misses flocking to his grandmother’s birthday celebration, and Poppy will have the power of the dukedom when proving her sister’s innocence.
Only the longer the ruse goes on, the less pretend the engagement feels, until neither are acting at all. But before Langham can propose in truth, their search reveals a tangled web of lies and betrayals leading back to his own family. With time running out to save Poppy’s sister, can Poppy and Langham find the true murderer before the curtains fall?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
19. The Viscount’s Daring Miss by Lotte R. James
Page Length: 278
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Publisher: Harlequin Historical
Synopsis: Rivalry leads to passion in 1830s England
May the best viscount or miss…
…Win!
When her best friend and employer is injured, groom Roberta “Bobby” Kinsley feels compelled to help him. She agrees to step into the saddle and compete in an endurance horse race to help secure his ancestral home. Yet the minute that Bobby comes face-to-face with her opponent—arrogant yet infuriatingly charismatic Lawrence, Viscount Hayes—it’s clear that it won’t just be the competition that has her heart racing!
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
20. The Wolf and the Wildflower by Stacy Reid
Publication Date: Feb. 27, 2023
Publisher: Entangled
Synopsis: London is buzzing with the news that James Winters, the Duke of Wulverton—thought lost at sea a decade ago—survived in the harsh wilderness of the Yukon. Now he’s been returned to his family, his responsibilities, and a nightmarish world of artifice and noise. He has three weeks to become a refined, elegant duke for the Queen…or doom the entire family to ruin and scandal.
Promising psychologist Jules Southby knows a lot about disguises. She’s secretly been living as a boy since birth, enjoying the freedoms of men and knowing little about how to behave like a woman. When she meets the alluring duke, she’s unprepared for his raw, masculine beauty and icy intelligence…or that he can see through her darkest secret.
Jules has very little time to transform the duke into a true semblance of an English gentleman. Yet his very presence seems to unravel her in every way. Their attraction is stark and achingly real—and forbidden. But loving the lost duke would mean losing every sacrifice she’s made to earn her freedom…
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
I really enjoyed seeing what historical romance books you loved. I haven’t heard of any of these before today, but a lot of them sound quite good. I will have to add some of these to my TBR so I can check them out.
Thanks, Sarah! I hope you enjoy the ones you picked! 🙂