Historical Romance Books Set Outside Regency England

Tang China, 758. Princess Ai Li leaves an arranged wedding with a pair of swords and turns to a battle-scarred stranger for help. The choice between allegiance to her family and trusting Ryam gives every step away from the palace a cost. Start here if you want the romance to move at the pace of an escape.

England, 1066. Aislinn’s home is taken in the Norman conquest, and the knight she grows to care for is part of the army that took it. This older historical romance spends time on what the defeated Saxons still owe each other. Its depictions of sexual violence make this a harsher choice than the other medieval stories here.

Medieval Scottish Highlands. An edict forces a Scottish laird to take an English bride, so Jamie arrives in the Highlands with a husband she didn’t choose and a household she has to learn to run. Pick this for the scale of a castle romance and the friction of two people who start on opposite sides of the border.

Medieval Europe. A widowed princess trying to reach England without being married off relies on a knight who has spent years honoring a vow to his wife. This is a slower, more formal romance. Its language and its long journey give you time to feel the difference between a promise freely kept and the promises rulers make for other people.

Scotland, 1497. An English duke’s men take Jennifer Merrick from her convent school. Her resistance makes the courtship a battle over her own future as well as her clan’s. McNaught’s older romance is a good fit if you want a fierce border rivalry and can handle a coercive setup.

The Scottish Highlands after World War II and in 1743. Former combat nurse Claire Randall walks through a standing stone and meets Jamie Fraser in an earlier Scotland. The time-travel premise gives this long series opener two lives to weigh against each other. Pick it if you want historical adventure as well as the central romance.

London after the 1745 Jacobite rising. Prudence and Robin Merriot are siblings who trade identities to keep from being recognized. That makes each new acquaintance a test of what they can keep from the people they like. Choose this if you want the book’s danger to leave room for a bright, quick comedy of disguises.

Georgian England. Anna Wren is a widow who takes paid work as an earl’s secretary, giving the pair a reason to meet every day before attraction makes things complicated. The arrangement makes this a good choice if you like a romance that grows through banter and ordinary work before it takes a more daring turn.

Revolutionary-era Philadelphia. Kate Grey’s home gives her a view of British officers that a soldier could never get. Her work in intelligence brings her closer to a British officer whose behavior keeps escaping the categories she needs him to fit. Try it when you want divided loyalty to complicate the courtship as much as the danger.

France during the Revolution. A French aristocrat working under a false name meets an English agent who has reasons to conceal his own purpose. The Terror makes taking a stranger at their word a genuine risk. Choose this for banter and suspicion that have to survive the same journey.

Early 19th-century Egypt. Daphne Pembroke can decipher ancient writing, but rescuing her brother takes her out into the field with Rupert Carsington. Daphne’s scholarship keeps the expedition from becoming an escort mission. The two travelers have different skills and plenty of reason to argue about which one is going to save them.

From England to Australia in the age of clipper ships. Nicole Lassiter wants her father’s ship to beat Derek Sutherland in the Great Circle Race. Their attraction has to contend with her own reasons to care who finishes first. Pick this for a voyage with a competitive heroine who grew up on deck.

India during the uprising of 1857, then England. Emmaline and Julian meet away from England’s drawing rooms, where a spreading rebellion under British rule gives them immediate decisions to make. Read this if you want a romance that asks how two people carry what happened in one country back to another.

Richmond during the Civil War. A sharp memory helps Elle Burns use what she sees in a Confederate household, where her ability to pass unnoticed is part of her work. Malcolm McCall moves through the same city under a different cover. Pick this if you want the people falling in love to be learning each other’s strengths at the same time.

Reconstruction-era Nevada. Eddy Carmichael wants to get to California and open a restaurant. Her detour through Virginia City brings her to Rhine Fontaine, a prosperous man who is passing for white. Eddy has a practical reason to keep moving, which makes the prospect of staying with Rhine feel like a choice with consequences.

Victorian Scotland. Philomena St. Vincent finds work as a governess in a Highland household after escaping an asylum. The children and the remote house give her an immediate reason to stay, even while she has cause to keep much of her past to herself. Pick it for a darker romance that gives the heroine something to rebuild.

From Mexico toward California. Jenny Jones owes a mother a promise to get her daughter to safety. A cowboy traveling toward the same people could be a help or a threat, depending on how much she can tell him. The road keeps the romance moving and gives the child’s safety the same weight as the attraction.

Colorado, 1885. Anne Wells and Cord Bennett have to make a household together under close, often hostile scrutiny from their families. Give this a look if you prefer a Western romance built through daily work and small decisions about whom to trust. The couple’s time at home matters as much as the violence that brings them together.

London and New York in the late 19th century. Fiona Finnegan and Joe Bristow start out saving money for a shop. A violent turn sends Fiona to New York, where the tea trade gives the book another city and the couple an entirely different set of choices. Choose it when you want a long, ambitious saga with a livelihood at its center.

Paris during the 1889 Exposition Universelle. A painter visiting the fair offers a duchess who wants her land a bargain that buys her a summer together. The exhibition gives Manuela and Cora a reason to spend time around art before they work out what they want from each other. Try it for an exuberant romance with two capable women setting the terms.

Kent, 1891. Chloe Fong has sauces to prepare and a village festival to get through when her childhood sweetheart turns up with something to confess. The bustle of the Wedgeford Trials gives a second chance at love room to be funny. Read it when you want village life and a serious interest in food along with the flirtation.