Under The Covers: Ten Historical Romance Novels I’m Ready To Fall In Love With In 2019

Under The Covers is a regular feature of Pop! Goes The Reader in which I review and feature novels in the adult romance genre.

After sharing a list of Eight Non-Fiction Books I Can’t Wait To Read In 2019 last week, I thought it might be nice to talk a little about another genre I absolutely adore but rarely have an opportunity to cover here on Pop! Goes The Reader – Historical Romance! I’ve been an ardent romance reader for as long as I can remember. Books by Tessa Dare, Jennifer Ashley, Zoe Archer, Manda Collins, Sarah MacLean and Courtney Milan have helped me through some of the most difficult moments of my life, comforted as I was by the unconditional love shared between two characters and the reliable promise of a happy ending.

I’ve always struggled with whether or not adult romance has a place on Pop! Goes The Reader, a blog that predominantly covers middle grade and young adult fiction. That said, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about longevity in blogging after five years in this community, it’s this: Find what makes you happy. From the beginning, my goal has always been to make Pop! Goes The Reader a space of positivity and inclusion for everyone and somewhere readers can find a small slice of joy. But how can I expect others to find joy in what I create if I can’t find it there myself? Limiting the scope of what I’m able to talk about here is a recipe for disaster. I love books of all shapes, sizes, and genres, and while I have no intention of moving the focus of Pop! Goes The Reader away from children’s literature, there’s no reason I can’t talk about other books I love, too!

With that in mind, I couldn’t be more excited to introduce a new feature here on Pop! Goes The Reader, Under The Covers, meant to focus entirely on adult romance novels! More specifically, today I’ll be sharing ten historical romance novels I’m ready to fall in love with in 2019. I’m admittedly much less familiar with all of the new and upcoming releases in the historical romance and contemporary romance genres, so if there’s a book in these categories that you’re looking forward to, please let me know in the comments – I would love to hear from you!

Publication Date January 29th 2019 by Avon
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Lady Evina Maclean has heard much about Rory Buchanan’s skill as a healer. What she hasn’t heard is how good the brawny Highlander looks bathing in a waterfall. But Evina can’t afford the distraction, for her ailing father urgently needs care. Only when she’s rendered Buchanan unconscious and dragged him back to her family’s castle does the truth emerge — it’s not Rory she’s kidnapped but his brother Conran.

Other ladies try to ensnare Conran with flattery. Evina hits him over the head with the hilt of her sword to save her kin — and Conran likes the spirited redhead all the more for it. He’s learned enough from his brother to heal Evina’s father, but there are other dangers swirling around the Maclean clan. And while the beautiful, independent lady has sworn not to marry, this wrong Highlander may be just the right man for her.




Publication Date January 29th 2019 by Avon
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Dear Lady Truelove…

My twin brother and I need a new mother, though Papa insists he’ll never marry again. Must be nice, brainy, and fond of cats…

Lady Truelove may be London’s most famous advice columnist, but James St. Clair, the Earl of Kenyon, knows his wild young sons need a tutor, not a new mother. They need a man tough enough to make his hellions tow the line, and James is determined to find one.

Miss Amanda Leighton, former schoolteacher and governess, knows she has all the qualifications to be a tutor. And while female tutors are unheard of, Amanda isn’t about to lose the chance at her dream job because of pesky details like that. If Lord Kenyon insists on hiring a man, then she has only one option…

Jamie isn’t sure what to make of his new employee, until he realizes the shocking truth—beneath the ill-fitting suits, his boys’ tutor is a woman. An unconventional, outspoken, thoroughly intriguing woman. Despite Amanda’s deception, he can’t dismiss her when his boys are learning so much. Yet Jamie, too, is learning surprising lessons — about desire, seduction, and passionate second chances…




Publication Date January 29th 2019 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
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Former outlaw Clay Colby is abuzz with his mail order bride’s expected arrival. He’s fought long and hard to drag Devil’s Crossing out of lawlessness…so when his homestead is set ablaze by a bitter rival, he’s heartbroken. There’s no woman in the world who’d stand by him now.

But Talley Shannon is no ordinary woman.

After escaping the psychiatric hospital in which she was wrongfully detained, Tally only wants someone to protect her and the little girl under her care. She doesn’t mind that Clay’s home is dang near burned to the ground — not when he makes her feel so safe. So cherished. But it’s only a matter of time before the ghosts of her past come calling…and her loving cowboy must defend his new bride — and the family they built together — to his very last breath.




Publication Date February 26th 2019 by St. Martin’s Paperbacks
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Happily-Ever-After
London socialite Amelia-Rose Baxter is nobody’s fool. Her parents may want her to catch a title, but she will never change who she is for the promise of marriage. Her husband will be a man who can appreciate her sharp mind as well as her body. A sophisticated man who loves life in London. A man who considers her his equal — and won’t try to tame her wild heart…

In The Highlands
Rough, rugged Highlander Niall MacTaggert and his brothers know the rules: the eldest must marry or lose the ancestral estate, period. But Niall’s eldest brother just isn’t interested in the lady his mother selected. Is it because Amelia-Rose is just too…Free-spirited? Yes. Brazen? Aye. Surely Niall can find a way to soften up the whip-smart lass and make her the perfect match for his brother for the sake of the family.

Just Got A Whole Lot Hotter
Instead it’s Niall who tempts Amelia-Rose, despite her reservations about barbarian Highlanders. Niall finds the lass nigh irresistible as well, but he won’t make the mistake his father did in marrying an Englishwoman who doesn’t like the Highlands. Does he have what it takes to win her heart? There is only one way to find out…




Publication Date March 26th 2019 by Avon
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Rebellion drove Mercy Rutherford to Scotland to escape the possessive grip of her fiancé. But it’s fate that lands her in the crumbling highlands castle of Ross Caithart. A dreamer with visions of inventing airships, he’s most certainly mad. Handsome beyond words, he’s also causing an irresistible flutter in her stomach beyond reason. When Gregory arrives to see their arranged marriage to its bitter end, Mercy desperately turns to Ross with an offer of her fortune — and her hand in marriage.

The Earl of Morton has a reputation for being a daredevil eccentric, but even he is hesitant to engage in such a rash proposition — no matter how utterly beguiled he is by the wildly independent American heiress. And yet, with so much at stake, how can he possibly say no? But when their unconventional union grows into a passionate and inseparable love, more than Gregory’s obsession threatens them. Now, Ross and Mercy will have to risk more than their hearts to save it.




Publication Date March 26th 2019 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
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Wealthy Englishwoman Lady Elizabeth Baylor longs for adventure. She leaves for America full of hope, only to lose everything to a villain hiding treachery behind his smile. Lost in this strange and lawless land, Elizabeth vows to track down the man who did her wrong…but she can’t do it alone. What she needs is someone hardened by the west and unflinching toward its dangers: notorious bounty hunter Logan Best.

Ill-mannered and seemingly ruthless, Logan exorcises his dark past by throwing himself into his vengeful profession ― hunting wanted men. There’s nothing about the pampered Englishwoman that should call to him, and yet as their adventure takes them across the wild and treacherous west, he realizes he’ll do anything to keep her safe…and defend his Lady to his final breath.




Publication Date March 26th 2019 by Loveswept
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What’s an earl to do?
The Earl of Argyle has died suddenly, leaving his brother Guy Neville at a complete loss. The dull-witted second son, as his father used to call him, Guy is now responsible for the estate and his brother’s seat in the House of Lords. Shamed by an inability to read or write, his distress is multiplied by an inquiry from a dyed-in-the-wool bluestocking who wishes to use the Argyle library and study a rare plant on the estate. Guy’s first instinct is to decline her request — until he catches a glimpse of Miss Abigail Pinehurst.

How’s a girl to behave?
Abigail cares for only one thing: plants. She is unconcerned about how she looks, what she wears, or the impression she makes on men. An orphan who turned to books for solace in a miserly, cruel institution, she now makes her living illustrating the greenery she adores. Lord Argyle, in fact, with his uncanny memory and chiseled features, is the first man to capture her attention — a ridiculous distraction since he is so far above her station. But her unreasonable heart has a mind of its own.




Publication Date April 2nd 2019 by Forever
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Duncan Wentworth tried his hand at rescuing a damsel in distress once long ago, and he’s vowed he’ll never make that mistake again. Nonetheless, when he comes across Matilda Wakefield in the poacher-infested and far-from-enchanted woods of his estate, decency compels him to offer aid to a lady fallen on hard times. Matilda is whip-smart, she can read Duncan’s horrible penmanship, and when she wears his reading glasses, all Duncan can think about is naughty Latin poetry.

Matilda cannot entrust her secrets to Duncan without embroiling him in the problems that sent her fleeing from London, but neither can she ignore a man who’s honorable, a brilliant chess player, and maddeningly kissable. She needs to stay one step ahead of the enemies pursuing her, though she longs to fall into Duncan’s arms. Duncan swears he has traded in his shining armor for a country gentleman’s muddy boots, but to win the fair maid, he’ll have to ride into battle one more time.




Publication Date April 30th 2019 by Zebra
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For James Trent, Lord Huntington, there’s no escaping the question that labeled him The Murdering Marquess: was his wife’s death a tragic accident or a cold-blooded crime? He’s avoided London’s gossipmongers since that terrible night, as guardian to his younger siblings on his Essex estate. But trouble finds him when a veiled temptress with secrets of her own falls — quite literally — into his arms.

Caroline Lawrence doesn’t need a man to rescue her – the aspiring journalist anonymously advocates for women’s rights in a radical London newspaper column. But when a suffragist’s soapbox speech turns to pandemonium, Caroline is knocked on the head and reawakens in Trent Hall — with the notorious lord of the manor irresistibly close. If there is any truth to his tarnished past, she should denounce him with her powerful pen. Yet love has a way of revealing a man’s true character…




Publication Date July 30th 2019 by Avon
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Ready.

Raised in the countryside by her overprotective uncle, Miss Mina Penny’s dream of a triumphant London season is finally here. She determined her perfect match long ago: Rafe Bentley, the wickedest rake of them all. There’s only one very large, very unyielding obstacle: Rafe’s brother Andrew, the reclusive Duke of Thorndale.

Aim.

This was supposed to be simple. Duke goes to London. Duke selects suitable bride. Love match? Not a chance. But when Andrew meets Mina, she complicates everything. How can a lady armed with such beauty and brains fall for his irresponsible degenerate of a brother? Andrew vows to save her from heartbreak and ruin, no matter the cost.

Desire!

But Mina is no damsel in distress. She’s daring, intuitive, passionate…and halfway to melting Andrew’s cold heart. And although Mina thought she knew exactly what she wanted, one breathtakingly seductive kiss from Andrew changes everything. Now Mina must decide between long-held dreams and dangerous new desires. Could her true destiny lie in the arms of a duke?

2 Responses

  1. Really loved this list! I also like to read Historical Romance, particularly when I’m not in the best mood. So excited for this new feauture.

    Can you do a recommendantions post of your favorite Historical Romance? Thank you and keep up the AWESOME. Your blog is one that I come to regularly for recs.

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Hi! I’m Jen! I’m a thirty-something introvert who loves nothing more than the cozy comfort of home and snuggling my two rescue cats, Pepper and Pancakes. I also enjoy running, jigsaw puzzles, baking and everything Disney. Few things bring me more joy than helping a reader find the right book for them!

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