Trope Round Up: Historical Romance Books with the Late Husband’s Heir

Second Duke’s the Charm by Kate Bateman (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Her Majesty’s Rebels series. How many tropes can you roll into a single book? We’ve got a virgin widow, female detectives, one-night stand in disguise, widow with her late husband’s heir, and marriage of convenience all in one. Tess becomes a widow to her much older husband on her wedding night and then uses her newfound freedom and independence to open an investigative agency with her two best friends. Two years later, wealthy shipping merchant Justin is identified as the next duke and stops by a scandalous house party on his way to claiming the title. There, he meets Tess is disguise and they have an amorous encounter as strangers, neither realizing that they will soon meet under different circumstances. When they properly meet at a ball, Justin immediately proposes a marriage of convenience to Tess, since it will save Justin the trouble of finding a proper wife and they get to continue their physical relationship. From there, we navigate a relationship where Tess is trying hard not to fall in love, and Justin denying that he has a heart. We also have Tess and her friends working on a case in secret in the background. With all the things going on in this book, it was definitely a page-turner and kept me entertained.

Advance ebook provided by St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

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The Duchess Gamble by Sofie Darling (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the All’s Fair in Love and Racing series. Widowed duchess Celia is concerned with running her horse racing operation and is disappointed when a potential engagement to a wealthy duke doesn’t pan out. She’s also concerned over her own security when she finds that the solicitors have identified her late husband’s heir. Gabriel is a distant relation to the late duke and hardly believes that he is now the duke, but he seizes the opportunity to launch his younger sisters into society. When he first meets Celia, he thinks that she’s a title-hungry socialite since she had married a much older man, but he changes his stance when he gets to know her a bit better. With Celia wanting to keep her stables operable, she and Gabriel come to an agreement where he will finance her stables in exchange for her help with his sisters. It’s interesting to see the sparks between Celia and Gabriel and their ultimate affair. However, Celia does not think she’s good enough to be a Gabriel’s wife, mostly due to the mistreatment from her late husband. It’s nice to see Celia slowly start to trust Gabriel and also see his thoughtful treatment of her. We also gets to see hints of a potential relationship between Gabriel’s sister and a certain marquess, which will be featured in the next book in the series.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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As an Earl Desires by Lorraine Heath (2005)

Book 1 of the Lost Lords series. Widowed countess Camilla is a well-liked society lady and she assists new earl Archibald in learning the rules of society. With all the time they spend together, there’s definitely sparks of attraction between them. However, she has a secret that she’s hiding from him and she worries about him thinking poorly of her. While the secret itself isn’t really that juicy, it reveals a much darker secret that turns the whole story around.

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Once Upon a Wedding Night by Sophie Jordan (2006)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Derrings series. Meredith is a widow to an earl and she’s worried that the new earl is coming to take over the estate and kick her and her aunt and father out. She and her aunt come up with a plan to make it seem like she is pregnant with the next heir so that she can stay on the estate. Nick is the younger half brother of the previous earl who has been found out his gambling hell and told that he is the new earl. Nick wants nothing to do with being a titled gentleman and wants to pass it on to someone else. He’s somewhat relieved to find that he might not be the next earl after all if Meredith delivers a son. Meredith and Nick are terribly attracted to each other, but he goes back to London to avoid her; when he learns that she has deceived him, he is brutally vindictive and insists that she marry someone else to become someone else’s responsibility. Except that he gets jealous and desires her for himself. Both characters are extremely stubborn and do not want to fall in love at all and both have seen pitfalls of falling in love.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas (2015)

Book 1 of Ravenels Series. Devon Ravenel has inherited an earldom when his cousin Theo dies after being thrown from a horse. He finds his inherited estate in massive debt, along with three cousins with no dowries and Theo’s widow, Kathleen. Devon and Kathleen clash over what to do about the estate, the tenants, and Theo’s sisters (Helen, Pandora, and Cassandra – who all get their own novels later on). We get to learn about Kathleen and Theo’s previous relationship (he died when they were only married for 3 days), Devon’s history as a rake, his equally indolent brother West, and see the two hot-tempered leads find their way to each other, even though Kathleen is supposed to still be mourning her dead husband.

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When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn (2004)

We’ve heard bits and pieces about Francesca Bridgerton in previous books of the series, but now we finally get to focus on her story. She marries John Stirling (Earl of Kilmartin), but he tragically dies in his sleep, leaving her a widow at age 22. John’s cousin, Michael, is set to inherit the Earldom. However, he has been secretly in love with Francesca and cannot bear to take John’s place in all his duties. He flees the country. Meanwhile, Francesca has been the steward of the Kilmartin estate and mourns her husband; eventually, when she finds herself longing for a baby, Francesca decides to remarry. She still loves her husband, so she isn’t looking for someone to love. Michael returns from his travels and finds that his feelings for Francesca have not abated. And while Francesca used to see Michael as nothing more than a good friend, she starts to realize that he’s an attractive man. Of course she feels a huge amount of guilt for lusting after Michael, so she’ll need to work that out throughout this book.

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Surrendering to the Duke by Stevie Sparks (2023)

Historical romance. Interwar-era England. Book 1 of the Lords of Desire series. Content warnings galore on this one for violence, post-war substance abuse, and history of sexual assault. We have a duke’s widow, Emmaline, living with her late husband’s family with her young daughter, with a history of abuse at the hand of her uncle who raised her after she was orphaned at the age of 3. Michael, her late husband’s younger brother, and now duke, is back at home after completing his war-related duties after the Great War. His mother suggests that he marries Emmaline to provide her with more children and provide the dukedom with an heir. Of course Michael had been in love with Emmaline since he first saw her, but has had extreme guilt over coveting his brother’s wife. These two embark on a courtship of convenience with the possible goal of marriage, but both have secrets and traumas that may prevent them from living happily ever after. Loads of drama in this book and all the angst. Excellent read!

Advance ebook provided by Stevie Sparks.