HerStory Books publishes historical romances set in various time periods: the Middle Ages, Tudor period, Regency period, Napoleonic War, up to the end of World War II.

Ruthless Book 15 of The Rakehell Regency Romance Series Sorcha MacMurroughAlistair Grant prides himself on being an incorruptible barrister who defends those who need it most, even if it means running afoul of the Tory Government. Suddenly he finds himself a criminal on the run, falsely accused of murdering his client in Newgate Prison.

The only witness to the crime is a handsome young man who gives him a lovely miniature of the most beautiful woman Alistair has ever seen, and sends him to The Three Bells tavern and brothel.

Viola Morrison, an impoverished gentlewoman, lives in a secret room in the brothel, hidden there by her brother Sebastian, who fears his dubious business associates would be even more of a danger to her than the ladies of the evening.

When Alistair comes to seek Viola, she is determined to help the attractive barrister discover the truth about who really killed his client.

When Alistair’s house and office go up in flames, Viola and her mysterious friend George realise there is far more at stake than simply bringing a murderer to justice.

When Alistair’s colleague Philip and his whole family are burnt to death in their house, Viola must follow her new-found love Alistair down the road of passion, death and revenge to the final, stunning revelation of the horrific conspiracy against them all.

An excerpt from Ruthless:
He blinked, drinking in the girl’s beauty. Never had he see a woman so fair. Her creamy skin, patrician features, lustrous green eyes, radiant skin, her mouth just made for kissing…
She offered her lips up to him shyly, and he kissed her with glee. He tasted honey, spring flowers, and a spark of the divine as his lips glided along hers.
He peeped his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss, yet knowing even as he did so that it would be impossible to stop. That he wanted and needed so much more. That he simply had to possess this woman, or die….
He touched every part of her body until he couldn’t even be sure which flesh was his, which hers. Her breasts, with their tightly ruched pink nipples, her delightful feminine core, thatched with tiny silky blonde curls, her slender hips and thighs.
It was all his, and not his. For even as he possessed her body, dark, sinister claws snapped and grabbed, snatching the girl away from Alistair no matter how hard he tried to cling to her….
Ruthless (The Rakehell Regency Romance Series)

RuthlessSetting: Regency EnglandWord Count=83,000, 289 8.5 x 11″ pagesRating: Sensual, multiple explicit love scenes throughout the bookGenres: Regency, romantic suspense, historical romanceRead more or order:

THE CROWN OF DESTINYDIANA RUBINOIn this sequel to The Jewels of Warwick, Topaz Plantagenet’s rebellion against Henry VIII gets under way, throwing England into civil war and chaos once more as Topaz seeks to restore the throne to the Yorkist family, and win for herself at last the crown of destiny she has sought all her life.
Amethyst is horrified at the extent to which her sister will go to gain power. The armed rebellion against the Tudors forces her into an impossible position. Amethyst is confronted with the most momentous choices of her life: To remain loyal to her eldest sister, or risk losing the only two men she has ever loved, King Henry, and her sister’s own husband Matthew…..
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Having lived in England for several years, I devoted much time to research. My membership in the Richard III Society, with access to its library and the invaluable assistance of its Research Officer, has given me an additional wealth of material.

My publication credits include stories in Espionage and Fiction Writers Monthly, among other periodicals. I also served as Editor/Staff Writer of a Washington D.C. trade association in the late 1980s. I am a current member of Romance Writers of America.

THE CROWN OF DESTINYDIANA RUBINOHistorical romanceContains explicit love scenes in the novelWord Count = 88,000

Book 16 of The Rakehell Regency Romance series, Madness, is now available! This sensual and suspenseful Regency is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Madness
Book 16 of The Rakehell Regency Romance Series
Sorcha MacMurroughFreedom, and love, or death!

Gabrielle Howell enters the hellish asylum of Bedlam in London when her sister Lucinda is committed as insane by her husband the Earl of Oxnard. During a riot at the asylum, Gabrielle is rescued by a handsome inmate known only as Simon, who seems to make an awful lot of sense for someone supposedly deranged.

Drugged and suffering from a mysterious malady, Simon cannot remember his past. All his records seem to indicate he is a deadly killer incarcerated by his prominent family. But the more Gabrielle gets to know the fiercely intelligent and gentle man, the more she has her doubts that this could ever be true. Simon is principled, kind, and certainly no murderer. The passion that sparks between them is like nothing she has ever known, heady and addictive.

Simon isn’t sure if the gorgeous woman he has held in his arms is real, or a figment of his opium-addled brain. All he knows is, it’s true love, a gift from the gods he will never give up, except in death. Even as their love deepens, the danger swarms in all around them. Will allowing themselves to love one other prove to be Gabrielle and Simon’s salvation, or sheer madness?

An excerpt from the novel:

Simon began to tease Gabrielle, rippling his fingers over her peaks and valleys with a surety of touch which set her hips thrusting against his hand so desperately, he had all to do not to take her there and then.
He whispered in her ear, “If we were alone, do you know what I would do?”
She shook her head.
“Do you want me to tell you?” he asked, nuzzling her ear and nibbling the lobe.
“Mmm,” she sighed through parted lips.
“I would lick you all over, running my tongue inside and out. Explore you fully with it, and my fingers, and finally my straining manhood. Penetrate you with all three until you melted against me and called out my name. I would wander over every part of your body, so that you would know my touch everywhere. I’d possess you utterly, so that you could never think of anything but my caresses, my passion. Oh God, Gabrielle, j’ai besoin de toi.”
“I need you too, Simon,” she panted, before feasting on his mouth with her own.

Reviews:
This endlessly creative and talented author has done it again, producing a chilling and clever Regency Noir with strong Gothic elements and a couple who go through hell on earth in order to win each other’s love.

Bedlam insane asylum is not the most likely place for a genteel young woman to find her lover, but Gabrielle knows there is more to Simon than meets the eye. He comes to her rescue during a riot at the asylum, saving Gabrielle and her ill sister Lucinda, who is pregnant. Gabrielle is determined to repay the handsome but mysterious inmate whose slightest touch sets her afire.

Though warned off the supposedly mad inmate by her cousin Antony, she seeks the truth about Simon’s unfair imprisonment, and tries to wean him from the opium his captors have forced him to take to keep him in their control. Gabrielle’s investigations soon sweep up all of her friends and family in a whirlwind of espionage and murder. Gabrielle must be at her most resourceful and clever as she seeks to save Simon from the hell on earth he has been forced to endure for the sake of his country during the Napoleonic wars.

Once again, the author has penned a truly romantic book with an intimate and emotionally connected couple who share the most fabulous love scenes. I really enjoy the way that her ordinary men and women are called upon to do the most extraordinary things to win the happily ever after of their one true love. Simon and Gabrielle are exceptional, a couple you will remember long after you have finished reading the book.
Evelyn Trimborn, Italian Interlude

MadnessSorcha MacMurroughRating: Extremely sensual, multiple and sometimes edgy detailed love scenes throughout the novelWord Count=108,750Read More or BUY:

The Jewels of Warwick

Diana Rubino

The saga of the Yorkist royal family, first seen in Destiny Lies Waiting and Thy Name is Love, continues in the glittering world of Tudor power politics. The “Jewels” are two sisters, Topaz and Amethyst Plantagenet, both driven by strong passions, and most dangerously of all, descendants of Richard III, who lost his life and kingdom to Henry Tudor, Henry VII, the future father of Henry VIII.

Topaz always felt she was the rightful queen, and would have been, had her father been declared Richard’s heir and the crown not been usurped by the Tudors. Her whole life begins to center around her obsession to win her crown of destiny, no matter what the cost.

Amethyst too is lured by the court through her love of music, caught in a glitter spider’s web of intrigue in which one wrong word can mean death, and Henry VIII’s displeasure, even more of a torment than his love…

As the Jewels of Warwick struggle to come to terms with their family’s grim legacy, Topaz and Amethyst discover that life, love and destiny hold many temptations, and many strange twists of fate…

An excerpt from the novel:

“So you have not become betrothed since we last met?” the king asked suddenly.

Amethyst didn’t want to change the subject; she would rather have talked about music all evening. But of course, this was part of his imposing job also; to secure the marriagability of the kingdom’s young maidens.

“Nay, your majesty,” she answered frankly. “Several gentlemen have courted me, but none have yet sparked my…” She struggled to find an appropriate word.

“Passion?” he suggested silkily.

Her eyes rounded. “Heavens, no! I was alluding more to…interest, your majesty. Passion I’ve yet to encounter.”

“Perhaps here at court, then, you will find a suitable parti. I assure you, there are many young gentlemen worthy of your rank and…interest, as you say.”

“I doubt it not, your majesty.” But how could she even look in the direction of a mere earl or duke when in the presence of the handsomest and most vibrant man she’d ever met, who loved music even more than she, who just happened to be king?

“Do you care to continue our musical interlude during your visit to court?”

“Aye, your majesty, there is nothing I would like better!” she said with naïve honesty.

He gazed down at her for a time as if trying to make up his mind about something of the most grave import. At last he broke the silence. “Very well, then, meet me in my receiving chamber following Vespers tomorrow. It is where my attendants meet to pass the time, and from there we shall find a quiet, private corner in order to play music together. I trust that suits you, Lady Amethyst.”

“Aye, it sounds grand.” Making music with the king again—she believed something like this happened only once in a lifetime, not twice! “I shall be there, your majesty.” She curtseyed.

“Very well, I shall see you then.”

Then she remembered. “Oh, but my lute has not yet arrived with my baggage, your grace.”

“Never you mind, Lady Amethyst,” the king replied, touching her cheek with his fingertips ever so gently. She shivered at the unexpected meeting of their flesh. “All the necessary instruments will be provided.”

The Jewels of Warwick Diana Rubino 82,100 words Rating: Sensual, with multiple love scenes throughout the novel Buy now:

THY NAME IS LOVEby Diana RubinoGenre: Historical Romance

RT Rating;  3 stars

Set against the turmoil of 1471 England, Denys Woodville and Valentine Starbury’s love story is woven through
with the tangled historical threads of the War of the Roses in such a way that history and fiction merge.

Richard of Gloucester plays matchmaker to his friends Valentine, a knight, and Denys, King Edward’s niece. The queen wants Richard to wed Denys, but he marries his beloved Ann, leaving Denys and Val to marry at the king’s command.

Val and Denys are drawn into the conflict that arises when Edward dies and the Woodville followers face off with Richard III and his loyal knights, including Val.

As Richards allies, their lives become even more complicated, with Val as Chancellor of England and Denys as confidante to both Richard and Ann as they follow their destinies toward war.

Anglophiles will enjoy the depth of detail and the large cast of historical personages Ms. Rubino has included in her debut novel. We meet kings, queens, nobles and commoners, even Christopher Columbus, in this colorful tapestry.

THY NAME IS LOVEby Diana Rubino

THE SEA OF LOVEby Sorcha MacMurroughGenre: Historical RomanceSetting: Ireland, 1546RT Rating: 4 stars

Aidanna O’Flaherty’s world is pitched into chaos when she is wrongfully accused of murdering her stepson. Her only ray of hope lies in the dashing, English-bred aristocrat Declan Burke. They are drawn together against the threat of Aidanna’s evil brother-in-law, and soon fall in love.

Their love is threatened when Declan is falsely accused of treason and thrown into the dreaded Tower. Aidanna must expose her enemy to save all she holds dear.

The Sea of Love is a captivating tale woven with rich settings and vivid characters. Aidann’s and Declan’s attraction is magnetic, and the suspenseful drama keeps a reader turning the pages.

THE SEA OF LOVEby Sorcha MacMurrough