Happy Pride Month friends!
Here on the pod, we read queer all year long (!!), but this month we’re featuring as many of our favorite queer historical romances as we possibly can…and there are soooo many excellent ones, just one newsletter or TBR episode wouldn’t do. So we’re bringing you recs all month!
We kicked off the first Friday of June with an episode on one of our new favorite sapphic historicals, An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera, which you can listen to here.
June 20th: queer histrom TBR Tuesday episode
June 23rd: Episode 2.10 on The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles
A newsletter the last week of June featuring more queer romance recs
Which brings us to the topic of today’s newsletter: book recs!! Queer historical romance novella recommendations, to be precise. It was hard to narrow down, but we tried to limit ourselves to talking about our absolute faves that you MUST read if you haven’t already.
And don’t forget to read to the end for info on a newsletter-exclusive giveaway…
Note: We’ll be adding our Pride recs all month to this Goodreads shelf, so make sure to follow/friend us over there!
Caroline’s Recs:
Monsieur X, Adriana Herrera: Originally a part of the Rake I’d Like to F… anthology, you can find Herrera’s sweet & spicy Victorian M/M novella on KU now, and you absolutely should. A painter has a super intense hookup (hello daddy kink) in Paris’s most exclusive sex club and wants more, but the masked and mysterious X wants it to be a one time thing. But there’s something familiar about the inventor sitting for his next portrait…the DRAMA. The INTRIGUE. The SEXY PAINTERS AND INVENTORS.
Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure, Courtney Milan: Do you want to read a hilarious novella that also makes you weep? Do you want to read about two elderly women wreaking havoc on a disgusting man’s life while also falling in love? Courtney Milan’s writing is always a hit for me, and in this one she takes on the struggles of being a “surplus woman” in English society, getting older and feeling invisible, and also releasing geese and Bad Christmas carolers on men who deserve it.
That Could Be Enough, Alyssa Cole: From the anthology Hamilton’s Battalion (all 3 are great!), in which Eliza Hamilton is collecting stories from everyone who knew her late husband. This is a Black, sapphic romance following Eliza’s secretary who’s taking the notes for said stories and a dressmaker who comes to tell her grandfather’s story. It’s all the Hamilton vibes plus a really adorable romance aaaaaand That Would Be Enough is stuck in my head whoops.
A Matter of Disagreement, E.E. Ottoman: Magical engineering, a fictional 18th century French society in which openly queer people exist and there are no anti-sodomy laws to worry about, and two rival scientists who can’t get through a conversation without fighting but also have the hots for each other. Literally what more could you want in a novella? OOH I KNOW: it’s also M/M and one of the heroes is trans! I’m fascinated by this world and I just know you will be too.
The Rat-Catcher’s Daughter, K.J. Charles: This is four chapters but somehow manages to pack in both an incredibly sweet romance between a trans f music hall singer and an asexual fence who dreams of running his own clock shop AND a plot between rival gangsters that Stan and Christiana get caught up in. There’s danger and drama and kidnapping and defenestration and also the most gentle, lovely romance. (CW: besides violence, please be aware there is quite a bit of misgendering & violent threats in the opening scene)
BONUS: Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk: This one’s outside the box genre-wise, but I loved it so much I’m throwing it in as a bonus! It’s a sapphic historical fantasy noir mystery about angels, demons, serial killers, and the like. It’s bonkers and does have a happy ending (more HFN than HEA, but still), and I had SO much fun with it.
Hannah’s Recs:
Undressing the Duke, Erica Ridley: Ridley is an expert at writing just the coziest, most lovely romances imaginable. Undressing the Duke is the perfect, softest example: A duke and his French valet who’ve been pining after each other for twenty years finally get their HEA. I originally read this in the Duke in a Box anthology, but it’s being independently published on June 15th!
A Thief in the Night, K.J. Charles: A lord and a highway robber walk into a bar…and immediately walk back out and go down on each other instead. Needs must. If you want a fluffy M/M novella that starts with a bang—and a robbery—this is the one for you. It felt like a shorter version of The Secret Lives of Country Gentleman, which we’re releasing an episode on later this month!
In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation, Alexandra Vasti: Hannah and Caroline recommending a Halifax hellion AGAIN?! Yes, absolutely. We are nothing if not obsessed. Margo is chaotic and hot and bi; she honestly gives big “argumentative, antithetical dream girl” energy?? The novella itself gives big “getting absolutely railed in the woods by your brother’s starchy best friend” energy. #facts
A Little Light Mischief, Cat Sebastian: This sapphic novella is about a lady’s companion and a lady’s maid stealing each other’s hearts, *maybe* stealing other things, and *definitely* doing revenge at a house party. Be gay, fall in love, do crime! It’s part of a larger and equally charming series, The Turners, which I’ll be talking more about in our queer histrom TBR Tuesday episode!
The Duke Makes Me Feel, Adriana Herrera: Of all the apothecaries in all the towns in all the world, a duke walks into hers… This story is set in Paris, i.e. the same world as the Las Léonas series! French letters, deaths of the French variety, French cuisine... I love the French! They aren’t the villains! Huzzah! Also like the full-length books, this novella features great queer rep, and the heroine, Marena, is bi. This novella was originally published in the Duke I’d Like to F… anthology!
BONUS*: The Bootlegger’s Bounty, Adriana Herrera: This novella was definitely my favorite from the Villain I’d Like to F… anthology. It features an MMF relationship that is definitely at least tangentially piratical. I didn’t know I had a going-down-on-the-large-captain-while-he-steers-a-large-boat kink, but I definitely have a going-down-on-the-large-captain-while-he-steers-the-large-boat kink. Truly, all hands and knees were on deck…
*Okay, so this one is a little bit hard to recommend because the Villain I’d Like to F… anthology is no longer for sale via eBook. HOWEVER, the authors seem to be publishing the individual novellas after some time…so there’s hope! You can still buy the paperback on Amazon.
It’s giveaway time!
As a special treat (and because Caroline wound up with an extra copy and wanted to do something fun since we loved it so much), we’re giving away a copy of An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera!
Rules & how to enter:
US & 18+ only (sorry Canadian friends; we’ll do one open to you soon!!)
you must be subscribed to the Romance Your TBR Substack
giveaway not affiliated with Canary Street Press, Adriana Herrera, or any parties other than Romance Your TBR
giveaway open now until 11:59 CST, June 20th
click to enter & fill out Google form here
We hope your Pride Month is off to a great start and that you add some queer historical romance to your TBR this (and every) month!
We have the honor to be your obedient servants,
Hannah & Caroline