Slow Burning Historicals

It might take some time, but these all end with a bang! Wink

Generally speaking, slow burns (looking at YOU Mariana Zapata, whose entire backlist I’ve read despite this) are frustrating to me as a reader. However… they can also be the most uniquely satisfying stories. Maybe they’re frustrating me for a reason! Maybe I’ve fallen into their trap! Maybe I like being narratively edged! This is a no judgement zone. Here are three of my favorite historical editions of the slow burn format.

The Marquis Who Mustn't by Courtney Milan. Though I’m sitting on my hands waiting very impatiently for the next Worth Saga book, I can’t exactly be mad that Courtney Milan has seemed to abandon that chronology for the excellent Wedgeford Trials series, which are excellent.

In this one, there’s FRAUD and there’s PINING and there’s EMERGENCY MEDICINE and a FAKE but maybe not fake ENGAGEMENT! It’s my favorite of the bunch even if that’s saying something because this is a really excellent series. So we’ve got Naomi, who really wants to take ambulance classes (emergency medicine), but she’s been turned away again and again for being a too young single woman. So after her latest attempt to register for classes is rebuffed, she’s desperate, and she grabs this random Chinese nobleman she just met and is like “he’s my fiancé and he says actually it’s fine” and the nobleman is like “yep” and the ambulance class is like “fine, if a MAN says so.”

Kai, the Chinese nobleman, isn’t actually lying though. It turns out he spent time in Wedgeford when he was younger, with a con man father, and at one time as children they were engaged by their parents. Not that he plans to hold Naomi to that, because he’s got a whole plan that involves pottery and using a new fraud to pay back the victims of his father’s fraud back in the day and there’s NO TIME for pretty girls who want to save lives.

Or… is there? Kai is SO martyr complex-y, Naomi is so bright and delightful, and though it takes a long time for them to give into the very obvious chemistry between them, when it finally happens it feels like a sexy sigh of relief.

How hot? 🔥🔥🔥

My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne. Jess Whitby was raised on the streets as the best pickpocket of all time, and though her dad finally has money from his shipping business, it all might go away because he’s been falsely accused of selling secrets to Napoleon. So she’s gotta go back to her crime roots to clear his name.

Unfortunately, the man seeking answers about the whole Napoleon secrets thing is Captain Sebastian Kennett, who might actually be the traitor HIMSELF, and after he unwittingly rescues Jess during one of her early investigatory attempts, they’re stuck together. Unless he stops getting mad about her climbing up buildings and making deals with scary crime bosses, which seems unlikely.

These two are a very funny pairing because Jess is near feral when she has a goal and Sebastian is all stuffy and Righteous, but they’re also extremely hot for each other despite it taking them forever to admit it. What will happen first… will they get it together, or will they get each other killed? I guess you’ll have to read to find out!

How hot? 🔥🔥

How the Marquess Was Won by Julie Anne Long. Julian Spenser, Marquess Dryden, is on a mission. His rakish, irresponsible father left behind more than just debts… he also left behind a boatload of scandal and the family’s reputation in shreds. So Julian takes it upon himself to right these wrongs, making only the coldest, most reasonable decisions about everything to restore the family name and coffers. He even has his eyes on the prize… an heiress bride with herself an impeccable reputation.

Except then he meets said hopeful bride’s paid companion, a school teacher lacking the blue blood he so desires named Phoebe Vale. Phoebe might not be rich or important, but she’s also the first person in a long time to crack the ice around Julian’s facade, and now it might be too late to retreat. But Phoebe won’t settle simply for the passion she’s unleashed (however unwittingly). She wants everything, or nothing.

But can Julian and his pride let her in before he loses her for good?

Bonus: there’s a slightly evil (or simply badly behaved) cat that’s deeply involved in the story, often to hilarious degrees.

How hot? 🔥🔥🔥

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Next week, I’ll be sharing my interview with Charlotte Stein (!!!! I know!!!!).

What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!

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