Weekly Reads: October 27 to November 2, 2025

The Marquess Married a Murderess by Michelle McLean (2025)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Belsford Brothers series. Selena is the unluckiest woman ever when it comes to marriage, with four deceased husbands and one groom who jilted her at the altar. She’s swearing off marriage for now, even as she’s re-entering society. She quickly catches the attention of Edward, who originally had no designs on marriage, but something about Selena intrigues him. (Probably her reluctance to dally with him and her penchant for running away). It’s a series of pursuits and mishaps until he finally convinces her to give him a chance.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Books via NetGalley.

Overdue by Stephanie Perkins (2025)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Interesting setup here with Ingrid taking a break from her longtime partner Cory to experience dating others before making their own relationship more permanent. She tries and fails to make a move on her coworker and friend Macon, much to her mortification. But she rallies and starts dating around for real, gaining all those experiences that she set out to do. The first half of the book deals with her dating around and the eventual end of her initial relationship. The second half of the book is a lot more positive, with Ingrid finding a new purpose to her life and renewing her friendship with Macon. We end up with a delightfully slow burn friends to lovers romance with a full supporting cast of friends and family.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore (2021)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the League of Extraordinary Women series. Hattie is a painter who just wanted to go see the infamous Mr. Blackstone’s art collection, but finds herself meeting the mysterious man himself. Upon realizing who she is, Lucian decides to orchestrate conditions to collect her hand in marriage and elevate his own social standing. It’s trickery and seduction and he’s really not the brute that she thinks he is. It’s all a very slow burn development of their physical and emotional relationship, while also being hard to trust due to the trickery used to gain her hand. We get to learn a lot about the mistreatment of coal miners in this time period and how they team up to fight against that. Lots of discussion of timely politics in this book (and throughout the series) with all the relevant history there, so it may or may not be to your taste.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Claiming the Princess by Charis Michaels (2025)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Hidden Royals series. Smuggling captain Luke has just been declared a national hero and the Prince Regent has allowed him the prize of marrying exiled princess Danielle. But when he goes to the village to collect his new bride, it turns out that she has no knowledge of her previous identity at all and really is just a village girl. He’s both attracted to her and guilty for needing to marry her, since his only aim is to use her as bait to get his friend released from French captivity. It’s all a huge mess with loads of secrets, but reading them flirt and fall in love was a lot of fun.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Julia Song Is Undateable by Susan Lee (2025)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Fun premise here. Julia is all sorts of successful in her career, but that doesn’t count for her overbearing Korean family. She’s single at 30, so it’s time to buckle down and find a husband, especially when it’s her grandmother’s dying wish. Is her grandmother even sick? Not sure, but that’s a running theme throughout the book. She agrees to be set up on some dates, but she’s socially awkward and a bit too brash, so she asks childhood friend and neighbor Tae to be her dating coach. He’s hesitant and has his own stuff going on, but he’s had a crush on her forever and the all-around nice guy, so he eventually helps her. It’s adorable to see these two practice date and fall for each other for real. Nevermind that all her setups are total jerks. Cute and funny and a smidge steamy. Fulfills all your pre-teen race car bed dreams.

Advance ebook provided by Canary Street Press via NetGalley. Advance audiobook provided by Libro.fm.

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The Gentleman’s Gambit by Evie Dunmore (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the League of Extraordinary Women series. Lady Catriona just wants to stay home and work on writing her book, but she ends up in a very awkward first meeting with Elias, a supposed scholar there to visit her father. He’s on his own mission to recover some antiques that he believes were ill-acquired from his homeland, and plans to make arrangements for their return. These two definitely have that spark of chemistry together, but the circumstances are nearly impossible, and their social positions are not conducive to a romance. Plus, add in the part where Catriona is literally an awkward scholar with no plans to be a wife. I loved watching them fall in love and get together, even though it was most definitely a slow burn. We also get an epilogue that ties the whole series together.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Heartbreak Hotel by Ellen O’Clover (2025)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Messy and emotional and such a great book. Louisa is dumped by longtime boyfriend and at a total loss for what to do because she was financially dependent on the guy. She can’t afford the rent on her lakeside cottage in Colorado, so she strikes a deal with landlord Henry to rent out the extra bedrooms as a bed and breakfast. And then while she’s at it, she might as well advertise the whole place as a place to recover from heartbreak. We get a fun and messy group of occupants, with their own breakups and heartaches. And we get to see Louisa and Henry learn more about each other (and their baggage) and slowly start to fall in love. I really enjoyed this one, but caution if you’ve just gotten out of your own relationship.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.