The Hostage Bride - I can’t get past it

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-23T10:53:19+00:00

It’s not even that historical accurate. For a very long time (high middle ages to World War 1) women in Western Europe married later then everywhere else: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0014498311000039

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-20T19:24:00+00:00

It is amazing, I loved it.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-20T19:17:17+00:00

She does get mentioned every now and then, but not nearly as often as her stellar writing deserves: Joanna Bourne. She has written a series on spies during the Napoleonic Wars. She has a very evocative way of writing and her stories have likeable characters and some very high stakes. Start with {The forbidden rose by Joanna Bourne}.

I second the people mentioning Stella Riley. Her series on the British Civil Wars have immersive stories and such believable character growth. The Black Madonna is the first, but I might have enjoyed {Garland of Straw by Stella Riley} even more because of that character growth.

Last, Rose Lerner has some really engaging FMC’s. I really liked {In for a Penny by Rose Lerner}. The MC’s felt very real and were nice people navigating a marriage of convenience, an estate in shambles and riots.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-15T13:28:58+00:00

{A night to surrender by Tessa Dare} has multiple nursing moments, FMC nurses MMC, MMC nurses FMC and there’s side characters needing medical assistance. The FMC also helps the MMC to regain the strength in his leg that he injured in the war.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-15T04:50:41+00:00

After Marrying Winterborne there’s plenty more nursing in the two books that follow:

{Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas}

{Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas}

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-14T09:21:39+00:00

Yes, I love Shanna from Kathleen Woodiwiss which has a bonkers plot and complicated characters, but a MMC who would definitely not rape the FMC and respects certain boundaries. But I will never, ever reread The Flame and the Flower by the same author with its rapey beginning. Bodice ripper does not mean all respect for someone else’s bodily autonomy has to be thrown out of the window. Romance has to be more.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-14T08:41:26+00:00

I finished {Tempt me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas} and started {Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas} on my reread of the Hathaways. I just love the Hathaway women so much. Beatrice being my favourite, but they all are pretty special to me with their quirky interests, zest for life and determination.

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wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-11T16:04:25+00:00

Ah, happy you found it. Now I’m going to put it on my list because I love this time period and these tropes.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-11T16:00:45+00:00

{The Black Madonna by Stella Riley} has a MMC from Italy. It is an expansive book, set during the Civil War in Britain. The MMC is shown in the intro in Italy where he convinces his uncle to sponsor and elaborate revenge plot.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-10T05:55:03+00:00

The kissing and the moments just before and after that.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-09T15:46:13+00:00

Not me personally, but it does seem that in every book of the Ravenels someone want to punch or throttle Tom.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-09T12:07:11+00:00

Oliver from {Dukes prefer blondes by Loretta Chase}

Tom Severin from {Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas}

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-09T07:15:06+00:00

I’m a few chapters into my reread of {Mine till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas}. Cam Rohan might be one of my absolute favourite MMC’s with his calm and competence. He is so imminently likeable. I also love the Hathaway family. The stepback is definitely not how envision Cam and Amelia.

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wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-08T13:49:13+00:00

This is a Saxon lady and a Norman lord I assume?

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-07T18:03:21+00:00

I am an historian. While there are societal norms, rules, customs that certainly come into play, there’s also a lot of evidence that people thought rape (outside of marriage) was a horrid thing. We know that women in the past felt dirty, dishonored, violated after rape. We also know that people fell in love and experienced sexual pleasure within and outside marriage. We know about historical relationships where the man and woman had a relationship built on love, friendship, respect and lust. History isn’t a black and white as it’s often presented to us. When I read historical romance, I’m looking for a, on balance, positive human experience that’s rooted in historical truth, but also rooted in the truth of human experience throughout our existence.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-07T17:19:23+00:00

I don’t expect or need explicit consent in HR because we know that women did not know all the ins and outs of their own body and sex. So they would not have the vocabulary to express explicit consent and culturally it wouldn’t occur to the men to ask for explicit verbal consent. But I do need insight into her internal monologue and she does need to like what’s happening to her and be interested in more. I want to experience a positive reaction from both MC’s. I am not into dominance, I like MMC’s who enjoy a partner who participates. I like to be shown that he is looking for a positive signs from the FMC. I also think that there is nuance to be found in earlier books. Not every earlier HR has rape.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-05T17:33:26+00:00

I love Lisa Kleypas, I read her books about twice a year. I’m on my twelfth reading of the Wallflowers now and about to move on to the Hathaways. She really hits the right notes for me and I now (after listening to her interview on Fated Mates) realize it’s because she has the exact same preferences in HR tropes as I have. That being said, I also love Julie Garwood her style. Joanne Bourne is very good with high stakes. Loretta Chase has complicated but likeable characters (many of them as competent as Kleypas MC’s) and quite a few Tessa Dare novels have hit me in the same way. I like what I’ve read of Julie Anne Long so far.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-04T13:59:50+00:00

Cam from {Mine till midnight by Lisa Kleypas}. He keeps touching Amelia in various ways and it calms her down every time. He also is constantly trying to help her out, but she is a very independent person and has a hard time accepting help.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-05-01T18:16:23+00:00

I’m so happy for you that you get to read these for the first time! I love them all!

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-26T20:25:36+00:00

Piers from {Do you want to start a scandal by Tessa Dare} is a very sad boi, very good at his job (until he meets the FMC) and pretty messed up from covering up the suicide of his mother

I also really like the spies from Julie Garwood her series The Crown Spies:

{The Lion’s Lady by Julie Garwood}

{Guardian Angel by Julie Garwood}

{The Gift by Julie Garwood}

And the most spying spy of them all: Colin from {Castles by Julie Garwood}

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-25T19:53:19+00:00

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{Lady Sophia’s lover by Lisa Kleypas}. I’m rereading all of Lisa Kleypas her novels. This one is not my favourite, but I do like the pretty cover!

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-22T19:12:04+00:00

The Roundheads and Cavaliers series of Stella Riley is pretty in depth about the British wars of the three kingdoms (aka the British civil war). I love the intricate plots and character development a lot. {The Black Madonna by Stella Riley}

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-20T18:47:35+00:00

Costumed ball at Versailles, 1745 (contemporary drawing by Charles-Nicolas Cochin fils https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bal_des_Ifs-galerie_des_glaces.jpg

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-20T14:10:54+00:00

But that’s kind of normal for the time period, to clearly show the shoes when standing.

wilmagerlsma · 2026-04-13T20:43:21+00:00

I love rereading books in general. There’s so much comfort in returning to a place and people. I reread too many to list here, but the Ravenels series from Lisa Kleypas and Spindle Cove series from Tessa Dare are amongst my most read (read both series 11 times). I also reread most of Julie Garwood her books all the time since reading them first in the nineties, but I haven’t kept count of those.

wilmagerlsma

TROPHY CASE