25 Historical Romance Books I Read In 2026
Historical romance is often misunderstood as escapism, but to me, it is a powerful lens through which women’s desires, limitations, and courage are explored. As a woman, reading these stories has shown me how love has always been an act of resistance—especially when choice was scarce. From Regency ballrooms to wartime separations, these novels give voice to women who refused to be invisible. This genre is significant because it preserves women’s emotional history, reminding us that romance has always been entwined with resilience. The books in this list honor that legacy.
1. The Secret Midwife
London, 1995: Emilia realizes it’s time to share her story when a news program on the 50th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation asks for information on the identity of a midwife who saved hundreds of lives.
Occupied Poland, 1942: Emilia is granted some liberties as a midwife despite the ongoing presence of German soldiers in her community; the most priceless of them is riding her bike past Nazi checkpoints to the houses of pregnant mothers while on her rounds. However, Emilia has a secret: she has been working for the resistance and visiting the hidden Jewish moms for years—until she is betrayed.
Emilia is suddenly surrounded by terror and hopelessness as an Auschwitz prisoner. She realizes she has a chance to give the expectant women of Auschwitz a tiny ray of hope when she is sent to work as a midwife in the camp.
She devises a risky scheme with the help of an innocent misfit named Lena and a courageous imprisoned doctor named Aleksy. A scheme that, if uncovered, may result in a destiny far worse than death, but if carried out covertly, could save countless lives…
2. The Night Guests
Omaha, Nebraska, 1903.
After her father passed away too soon, Nina Wilson, who was formerly a well-known member of Omaha’s upper class, is now drowning in debt and shame. Her mother is unable to manage the home due to her overwhelming sadness, her engagement has been called off, and her family’s magnificent estate has deteriorated.
Nina invites Leroy Marshall, an enigmatic medium, into their house in an effort to help her bereaved mother find closure. However, Leroy Marshall’s magnetism, which is equally seductive and repulsive, greatly unnerves Nina. Something supernatural in the home itself seemed to have been awakened by the man’s presence, and it is now emerging from the shadows and refusing to go.
3. Secrets of a Runaway Bride
Bowman, Valerie
At last, Miss Annie Andrews can wed the man she loves. Nothing can stop her flight to Gretna Green while her overly protective sister is away on her honeymoon—that is, until the wrong man kidnaps her.
The Earl of Ashbourne, Jordan Holloway, had no idea that his closest friend’s sister-in-law would be so challenging when he pledged to take care of her.
However, he finds that the alluring beauty is capable of resisting when he whisks her away to his country home to stop her from running away. To exacerbate the situation, he is forced to act as an honorable defender when his true desire is to flee with her.
4. In the Midst of Winter
Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his sixties, strikes the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, during the largest snowstorm in Brooklyn history. What initially appears to be a minor annoyance takes a more serious turn when Evelyn visits his home in need of assistance. The professor is at a loss and turns to his Chilean tenant, Lucia Maraz, for guidance.
As these three lives come together, Richard and Lucia will find unexpected, long-overdue love, and each will learn the truth about how the catastrophes they have seen have molded them. Here, Allende revisits themes that have driven some of her best work: the necessity of love, political injustice, and the art of survival.
5. Wuthering Heights
One of the most potent and enduring books in English literature, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a terrifying masterpiece of love, passion, and retribution. It portrays the turbulent tale of Heathcliff, a foundling driven by passion and retaliation, and Catherine Earnshaw, whose love for him transcends all social and moral boundaries, set against the desolate splendor of the Yorkshire moors.
Brontë creates a story that examines the terrible force of love and the relentless hold of the past through its turbulent emotions and profound psychological depth. Wuthering Heights is a unique work of poetry and gothic literature, a wild, untamed portrayal of the human heart at war with itself.
6. The Duke Who Ruined Christmas
Adelia Fox, an American heiress, is certain that the haughty and conceited Duke of Marchingham is a heartless monster. For the third consecutive year, why would he not permit his sisters to visit her in New York City during the Christmas season? Luckily, Addy has come up with an ingenious solution. She will just go to her buddies if they are unable to come to her.
The Duke of Marchingham, Lionel Hawthorne, is making every effort to maintain his crumbling lands and ensure that his misbehaving sisters find suitable marriages. Letty and Lila’s valiant trip to New York City is the last thing he needs.
You never know what kind of trouble a legendary hoyden like the awful Miss Fox might get them into. It is both realistic and necessary for him to decline their request. Rather, he leaves them with his uncle and aunt while he stays in Yorkshire.
When Addy gets there in the middle of a snowstorm, she discovers that her closest pals are not at Marchingham Hall as she had assumed. Rather, the only person living there is their despotic brother.
She is stranded with the cold and disdainful duke in a dilapidated manor mansion devoid of even the slightest sense of Yuletide due to the quickly building snow. To exacerbate the situation, the duke is incredibly attractive—that is, when he isn’t scowling at her.
Lion finds his predicament unbelievable. It’s bad enough that he has to put up with Miss Fox’s questionable influence on his sisters from a distance. He’s snowed in with the hellion now. The miserable chit is just as ridiculous and inappropriate as he had expected. So why can’t he quit picturing what it would be like to embrace her and kiss that stubborn mouth?
7. The Women of Arlington Hall
1947: Catherine “Cat” Killeen, an adventurous Radcliffe graduate, cancels her wedding and upends a destiny that no longer fits her. Hungry for a challenge, Cat travels to Virginia to work on a top-secret military project at her professor’s request. Cat is already ahead of the game as a cryptoanalysis student, helping to identify Soviet spies who have entered the United States.
Cat becomes friends with her peers and is respected by her superiors after joining the “government girls” at Arlington Hall. Then, on a night out in Washington, DC, Cat meets Jonathan Dardis, her conceited and affluent Harvard competitor and recently hired FBI agent.
What Cat and Jonathan have in common is a desire to compete and an increasingly intense attraction. Additionally, they share a crucial objective for America. They are delving further into the shadows of espionage together.
8. The Last Secret of Lily Adams
Lily Adams, the cherished image of all-American purity, was one of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s heyday. Even those closest to her couldn’t figure out why she abruptly disappeared from the public eye.
Carolyn Prior, Lily’s granddaughter, finds it difficult to comprehend a woman she loved but never truly knew as Lily passes away seventy years later. Carolyn then finds a letter from her grandma while sorting through the mementos of a once-glamorous job.
It’s a story that starts and finishes with superstar Stella Lane, Lily’s fiercest rival on the big screen—a bombshell who was brutally murdered—and the shaky admission of a secret life.
Carolyn’s life collides with Lily’s in the most startling manner as she discovers her grandmother’s link to the infamous unsolved murder. Carolyn must also determine how much she is ready to risk in order to discover the truth with each startling new revelation.
9. Mail-Order Holiday Brides
Jillian Hart’s “Home for Christmas”
Christina Eberlee is desperate for the safe haven that the Montana man whose bridal ad she responded to promised her. However, she is unable to forget the attractive marshal who assists her along the trip. Christina might find her true calling if she deviated from her intended course.
Janet Tronstad’s Snowflakes for Dry Creek
“Maybe you could marry her.” Similar to the mail-order bride Gabe Stone’s brother sent for and later abandoned, Gabe Stone’s niece and nephew yearn for a mother. However, in fulfilling the children’s Christmas wishes, Gabe and Annabelle could find that love is the most valuable holiday gift.
10. Something Wonderful
In this sensual and poignant story of a turbulent marriage facing its final test, Judith McNaught “not only spins dreams but makes them come true” (RT Book Reviews). Jordan Townsende, the wealthy and influential Duke of Hawthorne, and innocent country girl Alexandra Lawrence have always had a tumultuous relationship.
However, free-spirited Alexandra is caught up in a complex web of jealousy, retaliation, and intense passion when she is drawn into the endlessly fascinating world of London society.
However, beneath her husband’s icy, arrogant exterior lies a sensitive, lively, passionate guy—the man Alexandra wed. She will now struggle for both his life and the passionate connection that only they can have.
11. The Duke Under the Mistletoe
She had no desire to marry. Not quite yet. And most definitely not to a snobby, icy aristocracy.
Her mother, however, had different ideas.
She is now a duchess and will spend Christmas by herself at the dilapidated country manor of her new husband.There is only one issue.Unexpectedly, he has chosen to accompany her.
Despite being from one of the most prestigious families in England, he has a century’s worth of debt.Getting an affluent wife was his only chance.But he still has work to do,as he needs a successor.Additionally, there is only one way to obtain one.
12. A Forced Marriage with a Beast
The chilly Duke of Rilenwood, Simon Riley, and Lady Scarlett Vance are forced into an abrupt marriage by a moonlit scandal, and neither anticipates anything but pain. He is the Frost Duke, damaged by betrayal and resolved never to trust again; she is society’s perfect beauty with a mind she must conceal.
However, the barriers between them start to crumble as their reluctant closeness uncovers similar passions, particularly for the stars they both secretly adore. However, the past jeopardizes what they are creating, old foes reappear, and rumors turn nasty.
Can a ferocious duke learn to love again from a disgraced beauty, or will their delicate chance at happiness be destroyed by the wounds that shaped them?
13. The Woman Who Saved His Christmas
With a crying infant strapped to her front and a luggage in each hand, Isabelle Heart walked down the aisle while the other train passengers narrowed their eyes. She repeatedly prayed that everything would work out. She told herself, “We’ll be at our new home soon.” My future husband will assist us.
However, he didn’t show up at the train station.Cameron Mercer had learned the definition of the word “unbearable” from the encounter. He had thought he was strong enough to survive any ordeal until that night.
He had been a devout man back then. However, that was untrue. Now he was aware of that.Given how much they remind him of what he has lost, he is unable to allow them into his life.
14. A Duchess Snowbound
Duke Arthur is in a difficult situation. He has to get married right away or lose his inheritance. Thus, he refuses to go without a wife when his prospective bride disappears hours before their marriage.
Maisie never thought she would replace her sister at the altar. least of all with the cold, austere Duke she had unintentionally argued with earlier in the evening. However, she agrees in order to preserve her family’s reputation.
They promise to maintain this marriage’s purity. However, Maisie’s heart melts for Arthur—the husband she can never really claim as her own—as they traverse Scotland’s icy roads in pursuit of her sister.
15. Bound to the Blind Duke
Joan’s primary objective while stranded in the countryside is to assist the local kids. She needs a monster Duke’s assistance to accomplish that. who asks for something in exchange…
Duke Laurence needs someone he can trust with his accounts after an accident renders him temporarily blind. And it appears like the ideal choice is the audacious spitfire who barges into his gloomy mansion.
The agreement is straightforward: his resources in exchange for her vision. However, the longer she remains at his side, the real price of their agreement is revealed. Because it’s easy to be his eyes. It’s definitely not resisting the draw between them.
16. The First Witch of Boston
Bay Colony, Massachusetts, 1646. In order to establish a life in the New World, Thomas and Margaret Jones travel from England. Despite having different temperaments, cautious Thomas and fiery Margaret, a healer, are united by a decades-long love. Their new beginning, with a child on the way, is full of blessings.
However, attractive appearances conceal malevolent intent in this strict Puritan town. Margaret’s audacious and unreserved demeanor is mocked, and inappropriate actions or remarks are viewed with distrust.
Margaret is soon viewed as a shrewd woman rather than a compassionate caregiver. And even Margaret and her husband’s shared loyalty is in jeopardy when personal tragedies, religious frenzy, and fear of the unknown turn most against her.
17. A Bride Till Christmas
When Beatrice Hamilton’s family is in danger of going bankrupt, she makes the most audacious move of her life by making a startling proposal to the Earl of Athenwood. Beatrice has no choice but to present herself as the perfect wife to a desperate aristocrat who is running out of time because her late father’s debts are endangering her mother and sister.
Equipped with brains, tenacity, and a gift for estate management, she defies all social norms in order to save the ones she cares about the most.James Alford, Earl of Athenwood, has fifteen days until Christmas to get married or risk losing the inheritance that could keep his estate intact.
He has vowed never to put his heart in danger again since he is haunted by the untimely demise of his first love. A sensible union seemed ideal—until Beatrice’s calm firmness, astute intellect, and mutual appreciation of poetry start to soothe his distraught spirit.
Family plots, envious rivals, and covert objectives close in as Christmas draws near, endangering everything they’ve created. Can two broken hearts make it through this uncertain time and learn that love can flourish in even the most calculated marriage?
18. The Dark One
Rosalind Rutherford is well aware of the controversy she creates when she tries to woo the infamous Armond Wulf; in fact, she is relying on it as a way to get away from her cruel stepbrother. Sadly, Lord Wulf’s better judgment wins out, but not before he offers Rosalind a tantalizing taste of what she’s been missing. Rosalind is aware that she must take advantage of the chance to save Armond from a terrible fate while altering her own.
Armond is unable to ignore the Rutherford woman any more than his ancestor was able to withstand the temptress who cursed the Wulf men with a horrifying metamorphosis that is triggered by love and happens when the full moon appears.
Armond must now wed Rosalind in order to preserve both his independence and her reputation. However, he promises that she will never have his heart, even though they may enjoy the delights of the marriage bed.
However, Armond finds it more and more difficult to suppress his affections for his new wife as odd and enigmatic happenings push them closer in both body and soul. Particularly when the light of a full moon makes the reality of unquenchable desire—and imminent danger—burn brighter than ever.
19. The Four Winds
Texas in 1921. A period of plenty. America is on the verge of a new and hopeful period, the Great War is finished, and the land is abundant. However, Elsa Wolcott’s future appears gloomy because she is considered too old to get married in a time when marriage is the only option available to women. Up until the evening when she meets Rafe Martinelli and makes the decision to turn her life around.
Marriage to a man she hardly knows is her only honorable option with her reputation in ruins.By 1934, the Great Plains had been devastated by drought and millions of people were unemployed. As crops fail, water dries up, and the soil splits apart, farmers struggle to maintain their land and means of subsistence. The plains are constantly being swept by dust storms.
Every day is a difficult struggle against nature and a struggle to keep her children alive on the Martinelli farm, where everything is dying, even Elsa’s shaky marriage.
20. The Viscount Who Loved Me
THE STORY OF ANTHONY
The gossip columnists are mistaken this time. Anthony Bridgerton, the most elusive bachelor in London, has selected a wife in addition to being married! Kate Sheffield, his intended’s elder sister and the most intrusive woman to ever grace a London ballroom, is the only barrier. When Anthony closes his eyes at night, Kate is the woman haunting his more sensual fantasies, but the lively schemer is driving him insane with her resolve to end the engagement.
Kate is adamant that Anthony Bridgerton is the most evil outlaw of them all and that repentant rakes do not make the best spouses, despite what the general public believes.
Although Kate is adamant about keeping her sister safe, she worries that her own heart is weak. She becomes terrified that she might not be able to stop the disgusting rake herself when Anthony’s lips meet hers.
21. Holiday Hearts
A BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS
Before Madeleine Langston became the Courier’s publisher, ace reporter Jack Riley was passionate about his work. Even though Jack is determined to stay away from the ideal blonde ice queen as much as possible, she is a frightening presence in the newsroom and an alluring diversion. However, Jack finds himself at the focus of Madeleine’s attention after a fortuitous encounter with a stranger turns him from a shabby journalist into a dapper Texan in a tux.
THE ST. JAMES MATTER
Elaine St. James has it all: an A-list best friend, a successful career as an exclusive Manhattan publicist, and a stunning, well-known boyfriend whom her parents admire. However, Elaine faces the possibility of spending the holidays alone after Byron ends their relationship on Christmas Eve—that is, until Tony Fiore, the guy she once loved, arrives like a ghost from Christmas past.
22. To Wed a Scandalous Beast
Whispers of Gideon Blackwell, the enigmatic Duke of Lancaster—stern, lonely, and far too dangerous for polite society—fill London’s most opulent ballrooms. During a masked party, a single careless rumor jeopardizes Lady Tabitha Harrington’s reputation. Gideon then makes a daring claim that shocks everyone and involves them both in an unexpected scandal.
The fearless and intelligent daughter of an earl, Tabitha, quickly learns that the duke’s icy control conceals a man molded by loyalty, burdened by secrets, and pursued by adversaries out to destroy him. She becomes the one person he cannot push away or afford to lose after being drawn into his world of danger and unspoken vows.
A brittle connection develops between two individuals who were never meant to be together as dangers draw near and society becomes more cunning. Can a cautious duke and a passionate woman, however, choose love above fear in a world where reputation is everything?
23. Lady Fearful
The Duke of Pelham’s final daughter to leave his home is Lady Valor Nicolet. Some daughters might jump at the chance to move into Town, but this one has been clinging to her childhood home. She even pretended to be consumptive, but she had to manufacture a miraculous recovery because it was so boring.
She is currently traveling and bringing her own suggestions for finding a husband. Finding a peaceful, unambitious baron who enjoys the countryside and collects—well, she’s not really sure what he may collect—is her goal. She simply believes that a gentleman who collects objects cannot be dangerous.
Since his parents passed away, Weston Nicolet, the heir apparent to the duke and cousin to Lady Valor, has been educated on the Cornwall coast by Lord Ledderbey. He and his servant have been harassing French frigates at night with his sloop, The Athena. He understands he needs to get Lord Ledderbey out of danger after learning that the French may land to end his escapades.
The Duke of Pelham, who has never once bothered to write to him, has gone so far as to rent him a home on Grosvenor Square, so he doesn’t have to search far for a place to live. Although Weston dislikes it, they will travel to London.
A male who frequently sets out to discover risk and a woman who wants to eliminate all danger from her life could not be more incompatible. However, it’s possible that they both have some life lessons to learn.
24. Grace
Nicholas Sinclair, a man scarred by battle and plagued by nightmares, never anticipated inheriting a dukedom. The new Duke of Blackmore has one urgent task upon returning to his ancestral house after twenty years abroad and suffering severe injuries at Trafalgar: getting married as soon as possible and having a child. But for his troubled spirit, the idea of searching London’s marriage mart for a suitable spouse is unappealing.
Reverend Shackleford can hardly believe their good fortune when his oldest daughter Grace receives an unexpected offer. Naturally, calling Grace “respectful,” “meek,” or “dutiful” necessitated a rather creative interpretation of those words—but surely the duke didn’t have to realize this right away? The Reverend had no idea that his daughter’s vivacious personality would not only win the injured duke over, but also perhaps bring disgrace down upon them all.
As Nicholas’s well-built defenses collide with Grace’s rebellious energy, both learn that love and healing can come from the most unlikely places.
25. Phantom
November 12, 1944. Souls stay in this dwelling for eternity. When I promised to love my spouse forever, I believed I had given it to him. I said a falsehood. I was unprepared for the day my ghost materialized outside my window. I couldn’t help but be intrigued by him; he was both frightening and mesmerizing. I had no intention of developing a fast-paced romance with my stalker. In particular, he is much more than that. A criminal. A mobster. The man who protects me from the Parsons Manor monster. These halls are haunted by many, but my husband is the only one I’m afraid of.
