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32 Historical Romance Series to Binge-Read after 'Bridgerton'
Marriages of convenience, high-society scandal sheets, and fully clothed flirtation...yes, we must be talking about historical romances!
Whether you're just dipping a toe into this subset of love stories after bingeing the entire Netflix Bridgerton adaptation or you're a longtime reader of old-timey tales, there's never an end to series that will seduce you. And don't let their covers fool you; today's historicals tend to come with a wallop of modern sexiness.
Below, we've gathered up the first book of 32 highly rated romance series for your perusing pleasure. Be sure to add the titles that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf!
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Do you have a favorite historical romance series? Let's talk books in the comments below!
Comments Showing 1-50 of 53 (53 new)
Stacy Reid's books are great - I absolutely second the Wedded by Scandal series recommendation. Also, you can't go wrong with almost anything by Lisa Klepyas or Tessa Dare. I would also recommend Grace Callaway and KJ Jackson!
Oh, I absolutely love all of these. I also recommend the Scandals and Spies series by Leighann Dobbs!
I fell in love with historical romance decades ago after reading The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Currently a keen reader of anything by Stephanie Laurens or Mary Balogh.
My first Historical romance was a book by Johanna Lindsey , can't remember which one , I've read and reread all of them in the years since . The Malory family would make for a fantastic tv series . And of course Stephanie Laurens with the Cynster family and yes Janet you're absolutely right The Bedwyn family from Mary Balogh would also be a bingewatch series . And not to forget any series by Eloisa James and Elizabeth Hoyt and Julie Garwood and Lorraine Heath and Loretta Chase and ... well I could go on and on :)
Sorry to not see Samantha Kane's Brothers in Arms series here. Regency stories with a MMF twist.
As it is not an exhaustive list, I would love to add Emma V Leech’s Girls who dare series, Elisa Braden’s Rescued From Ruin series, Annabelle Anders’s Cocky Gents and others, Kerrigan Byrne many series ...
Where is Outlander????Seriously. I know it can be characterized in any number of ways, but surely Historical Romance is one of them.
I also love Stephanie Laurens and Sabrina Jeffries.
Surprised not to see Mary Balogh represented on this list by the Bedwyn series, or the Simply series, or the Survivor series, or the . . . etc. Thoroughly enjoyed all of these and highly recommend them. Agree the list has great diversity.
Romance covers such broad interests. I would love to see historical romances broken into a separate category for those of us who read them and vote for them in year-end awards. (Historical Mysteries should be split into a separate category also.) Many of us who read those genres feel left out. I'm glad to see that Bridgerton has increased readership for Historical Romance. Perhaps we will see more respect for the genres we love!
Mary Balogh and Grace Burrowes should definitely be included!
Glad to see Rose Lerner on your list! A few other authors whose historicals are also intended for the more historically and feminist-minded reader:Erin Satie (No Better Angels series)
Joanna Chambers (Capital Wolves duet; Enlightenment series)
Cecilia Grant (Blackshear Family series)
Elizabeth Kingston (Welsh Blades series)
Elizabeth Essex (Reckless Brides series)
I would've picked a completely different Lisa Kleypas series. Either the Wallflowers or the Hathaways. Also missing is the Effington series by Victoria Alexander, the Bar Cynster series from Stephanie Laurens, and the series from Elizabeth Boyle that had titles that play on nursery rhymes.
What about Georgette Heyer?!I know, her books are older but they are more or less the mastercopy of all those historical romance books out there.
My favorite is the Alastair-Audley Tetralogy Series.
What about Mry Balogh ? The Westcotts are a wonderfullll series.
Julie Anne Long's Pennyroyal Green series, Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane, Loretta Chase's Carsington Series. All old favorites.
So glad to see Cat Sebastian on here--a master of the MM historical!
Pamela wrote: "Romance covers such broad interests. I would love to see historical romances broken into a separate category for those of us who read them and vote for them in year-end awards. (Historical Mysterie..."I second that. I'd like to be able to vote for HR as a separate category too.
Monique wrote: "The Bedwyn family from Mary Balogh would also be a bingewatch series ."Absolutely. Wouldn't it make a great series???
love that courtney milan is included here. she's one of the best historical romance writers nowadays, her brothers sinister series introduced me to the genre and it remains one of my favorites. the countess conspiracy in particular is my go to comfort read 🥺 i can't recommend it enough
A.S. wrote: "Where is Outlander????Seriously. I know it can be characterized in any number of ways, but surely Historical Romance is one of them."
I completely agree with you!!!
I agree with everyone saying Mary Balogh's Bedwyn series would be fantastic on-screen and her Westcott series would be wonderful!
fiamma wrote: "love that courtney milan is included here. she's one of the best historical romance writers nowadays, her brothers sinister series introduced me to the genre and it remains one of my favorites. the..."Absolutely. She is a super intelligent historically accurate writer. Very refreshing for those of us (all of us!!) who love historical romance but have brains.
Am I reading it right or there's no Lorraine Heath is this list??
Iza wrote: "Am I reading it right or there's no Lorraine Heath is this list??"She's included! (Take another look at the seventh row of books ;))
I'm astounded at how many of these I haven't read (all but one). Also, no Mary Balogh, no Diana Gabaldon, no Grace Burrowes, no Jess Michaels, no Georgette Heyer, no Deborah Harkness...Not sure GRs and I have the same ideas about historical romance.
A.S. wrote: "Where is Outlander????Seriously. I know it can be characterized in any number of ways, but surely Historical Romance is one of them."
nope, the author of Outlander considers her books historical fiction. 🤷♀️
Bringing down the duke is the best one of the list. By far!
I know it's been said in other comments but it needs saying again - why no Mary Balogh on this list?
Elm wrote: "nope, the author of Outlander considers her books historical fiction. ..."Yeah, and Anne McCaffrey insisted her Pern series was scifi, but that didn't stop folks from thinking of it as fantasy, too. :D
Siobhan wrote: "I would've picked a completely different Lisa Kleypas series. Either the Wallflowers or the Hathaways. Also missing is the Effington series by Victoria Alexander, the Bar Cynster series from Stepha..."Agree on Lisa Kleypas 100%. Also the series to showcase by Loretta Chase is The Carsingtons!! Some of her best work.
This is a good start, but any historical romance list definitely should include Anne Gracie, Mary Balogh and Nicola Cornick, plus Stephanie Laurens and Amanda Quick, as well as Eloisa James, Loretta Chase, Tessa Dare and Lisa Kleypas, who are already present. Plus, as others have mentioned, Georgette Heyer to really show how sparkling dialogue can bring historical romance alive.
Georgette Heyer has to be here as she is the queen (Jane Austen being the King;)) The heroines she writes about are smart and strong and not sure the above list is qualitative well curated...
Elodie wrote: "As it is not an exhaustive list, I would love to add Emma V Leech’s Girls who dare series, Elisa Braden’s Rescued From Ruin series, Annabelle Anders’s Cocky Gents and others, Kerrigan Byrne many se..."Elodie wrote: "As it is not an exhaustive list, I would love to add Emma V Leech’s Girls who dare series, Elisa Braden’s Rescued From Ruin series, Annabelle Anders’s Cocky Gents and others, Kerrigan Byrne many se..."
Outlander outshines all!
One shouldn't judge a book from its cover, but why do they all seem to be bodice rippers?!
Carla Kelly is my favorite. Her historical fiction is amazing and I always feel smarter when I finish one of her books. I think that only half of her books are actually about Lords and Ladies, and the other are about normal people navigating the same time period with similar but different problems.
I spy at least 10 indies which is great, but could be better. However, I really like the range of suggestions made overall.I'd love to see more of the 'non traditional' HR being recommended regularly, give us more that is not Regency/Victorian/Gilded/Post Civil War/Dukes/Earls/Ladies/Marriage Marts/Rich people/Socialites etc. Give us more 'common' folks, more pre Regency, more outside of the US and the UK, more early to mid 20th century pretty please. There is a ton of it out there that I've added to my TBR now that after long years of reading romance, I have finally been converted to historicals.
How about Barbara Cartland? She is from another century but still!Has anyone heard of her?
What about O'Connell, Ellen ? I mean Dancing on coals ... wow
no jennifer ashley? both her regency pirates and mackenzies and mcbrides series are major historical romance staples to me. and i feel like loretta would've been much better represented as the hr GIANT that she is by recommending one of the carsington books, or something from her scoundrels series.
Yes yes yes!! Everyone read "To Have and To Hoax" by Martha Waters!!
Definitely check out Eloisa James and her Wilde series!
I love Beverly Jenkins books! I'm excited to try Alyssa Cole, too, thanks for including them!
I love all of Cat Sebastian and KJ Charles books, not just the series listed!
Christine wrote: "Surprised not to see Mary Balogh represented on this list by the Bedwyn series, or the Simply series, or the Survivor series, or the . . . etc. Thoroughly enjoyed all of these and highly recommend ..."Amen to that. The Bedwyns has a lot of the humor--the antics of a large, crazy yet loving family & the repartee between the hero/heroine--of the Julia Quinn Bridgerton series (the actual books NOT the Netflix series). So if you like a hr series that has humor & a lot of crazy family dynamics along with the main love story then the this series by Mary Balogh would be a good series. This family is insane but they all love each other :-)
The Survior series by her is also great but it is a more serious series. It focuses on the love stories of survivors of the Napoleonic Wars (thus the name The Survivors :-) ). So there are lot of issues dealing with war and the aftermath & issues of PTSD.
The Simply series by her is great also but it focuses on a group of friends that are associated with a girl's school. It's not as ROFLOL like the Bedwyns. It primarily focuses on the dynamic between friends.
Definitely added a few new historic romance books to our TBR list and can't wait to read them next month! 📚
I agree with most of these and support the comments that Mary Balogh and Victoria Alexander should be included.
Ceece, I agree. The diversity in the list is good.