Category Archives: Historical Fiction

The Rake Gets Ravished by Sophie Jordan

The owner of London’s most popular gaming hell, wealthy and powerful Silas Masters is feared by men and desired by women—except Mercy Kittinger. When the blackguard wins her family home in a game of cards, Mercy steals into Silas’s rooms, intent on destroying the proof. But things don’t go to plan. Caught in the act, Mercy must be bold to save herself… even if it means seducing the dangerous rogue and then disappearing with the dawn, debt voucher in hand. Safe at home and determined to settle back into her quiet, uneventful life, Mercy burns at … Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Child neglect

The Duke Goes Down by Sophie Jordan

Peregrine Butler’s privileged blue-blooded world is rocked to the core when it is revealed he was born before his parents’ marriage and, therefore, is not the legal heir to the dukedom. Facing ruin, Perry must use his charm and good looks to win an heiress—all the while, ignoring his fascination with the one interfering and alluring chit who is intent on sabotaging his efforts. Everyone knows Imogen Bates, the virtuous daughter of the senile vicar. She can write a sermon in a day and spot a rogue in a second, so she sees right through Perry’s seductive façade. But… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Death of a parent recounted

Heiress for Hire by Madeline Hunter

Minerva Hepplewhite has learned the hard way how to take care of herself. When an intruder breaks into her home, she doesn’t swoon or simper. Instead, she wallops the rogue over the head and ties him up—only to realize he is Chase Radnor, the man who nearly got her convicted of her late husband’s murder. Now, he’s insisting that Minerva has inherited a fortune from his uncle, a wealthy Duke. Only one thing could surprise her more: her sudden attraction to this exasperating man. Chase can’t decide whether Minerva is a wronged woman or a femme fatale. Either way… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment
  • Domestic violence recounted

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Catherine feels trapped. Her father is determined to marry her off to a rich man–any rich man, no matter how awful. But by wit, trickery, and luck, Catherine manages to send several would-be husbands packing. Then a shaggy-bearded suitor from the north comes to call–by far the oldest, ugliest, most revolting suitor of them all. Unfortunately, he is also the richest. Can a sharp-tongued, clever young maiden with a mind of her own actually lose the battle against an ill-mannered, piglike lord and a greedy toad of a father? Not if Catherine has anything to say about it!

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned (secondary characters)
  • Miscarriage & death during childbirth
  • Hanging mentioned
  • Death from a knife wound mentioned
  • Animal attack (secondary character, dog)

The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding by Lydia Kang

Brooklyn, 1942. War rages overseas as brother and sister Will and Maggie Scripps contribute to the war effort stateside. Ambitious Will secretly scouts for the Manhattan Project while grief-stricken Maggie works at the Navy Yard, writing letters to her dead mother between shifts. But the siblings’ quiet lives change when they discover a beautiful woman hiding under their back stairs. This stranger harbours an obsession with poisons, an affection for fine things, and a singular talent for killing small creatures. As she draws Will and Maggie deeper into her mysterious past…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Depression & anxiety
  • Suicide & attempted suicide
  • Murder

Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang

New York City, 1899. Tillie Pembroke’s sister lies dead, her body drained of blood and with two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker’s new novel, Dracula, has just been published, and Tillie’s imagination leaps to the impossible: the murderer is a vampire. But it can’t be—can it? A ravenous reader and researcher, Tillie has something of an addiction to truth, and she won’t rest until she unravels the mystery of her sister’s death. Unfortunately, Tillie’s addicted to more than just truth; to ease the pain from a recent injury, she’s taking more and more laudanum and some in her…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Drug abuse
  • Murder

So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow

North Carolina, 1863. As the American Civil War rages on, the Freedmen’s Colony of Roanoke Island is blossoming, a haven for the recently emancipated. Black people have begun building a community of their own, a refuge from the shadow of the old life. It is where the March family has finally been able to safely put down roots with four young daughters: Meg, a teacher who longs to find love and start a family of her own. Jo, a writer whose words are too powerful to be contained. Beth, a talented seamstress searching for a higher purpose. Amy, a dancer eager to explore… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery (theme)
  • Racism
  • Chronic illness
  • Gun violence
  • American Civil War

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness is the thrilling tale of Marlow, a seaman and wanderer recounting his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Kurtz. Traveling upriver into the heart of the African continent, he gradually becomes obsessed by this enigmatic, wraith-like figure. Marlow’s discovery of how Kurtz has gained his position of power over the local people involves him in a radical questioning, not only of his own nature and values, but of those that underpin Western civilization itself.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic racism & racial slurs
  • Slavery including death of slaves from exhaustion and malnourishment
  • Gun, cannon & arrow violence

Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig

Verona, Italy. Seventeen-year-old aspiring artist Romeo dreams of a quiet life with someone who loves him just as he is. But as the heir to the Montague family, he is expected to give up his womanly artistic pursuits and uphold the family honor–particularly in their centuries-old blood feud with a rival family, the Capulets. Worse still, he is also expected to marry a well-bred girl approved by his parents and produce heirs. But the more Romeo is forced to mingle with eligible maidens, the harder it is to keep his deepest secret: He only feels attracted to other boys. In an attempt to… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Poisoning

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo

Beverly Tapinski has run away from home plenty of times, but that was when she was just a kid. By now, she figures, it’s not running away. It’s leaving. Determined to make it on her own, Beverly finds a job and a place to live and tries to forget about her dog, Buddy, now buried underneath the orange trees back home; her friend Raymie, whom she left without a word; and her mom, Rhonda, who has never cared about anyone but herself. Beverly doesn’t want to depend on anyone, and she definitely doesn’t want anyone to depend on her. But despite her best efforts, she can’t… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abandonment
  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Smoking mentioned
  • Bullying
  • Animal death (pet dog)