#historic fiction romance

[forsythiaproductions]

Ending Soon! 😱💖

All your support means the world, thank you for being here with us! Of Sense and Soul is our Queer Victorian Romance visual novel and it has...

Two lives, one love story 🎩👓

Victorian setting 🕰️

Soft queer romance 🌈

Slow burn pining 🔥

Happily ever after 💖

Help us make Of Sense and Soul a reality and back our campaign here! 💪

(Backing is just one way to support the game; you can reblog & like this post to help us with our community challenges, too!)

Play our demo | Get our newsletter | Send us an ask 💌

#visual novel #indie game #queer fiction #historical fiction #historical romance #narrative game #kickstarter #crowdfunding #game dev #announcement #victorian #gay #queer #lgbtqia

[yellow-yellow-jacket]

avid historical fashion enthusiast here to remind you that corsets and stays were not created as ancient methods of torture.

sure, i am not going to deny that some women did tightlace their corsets — however, not everyone was struggling to breathe and fainting everywhere like fucking goats. part of a corset’s purpose was aesthetic and fashion, but it was also for support. most women still lived their lives, they weren’t just lying around being damsels in distress with itty bitty waists and zero lung capacity.

i just think it’s scary how hollywood has popularized the misconception that corsets are made to be tightlaced — for example, if someone who isn't well educated about historical fashions buys a corset for a costume, they might think it’s normal if they can’t breathe, and that’s dangerous. i cannot emphasize that enough.

when i was performing in a production of beauty and the beast earlier this year, some of the girls — my friends — were tightening their corsets to seriously dangerous extents, and that fucking scared me. i felt like a broken record telling them to loosen their corsets, but all they knew was pirates of the caribbean (that one scene pisses me off sO BAD) and bridgerton (i am NOT gonna start on the corset tightening scene in bridgerton s1, i do not need to get on that soap box).

if you read nothing else in this little rant of mine, read this:

if you cannot breathe while you are wearing a corset, something is wrong.

#historical fashion #fashion history #historical fiction #historical romance #corsets #19th century #this was brought on by a video i saw on instagram that aggravated me #o posts o'mine

[babyrubysoho]

That shirt took half my life to draw, but I love this ‘feed your teeny twink bf’ moment so was totally worth it!

#david tennant #richard ii #historical romance #shakespeare fanart #historical fiction #babyrubysoho art #I know people think this Aumerle isn't a twink but he is to me🤣

[yourqueerbookshelf]

Not sure what my motive is here, but . . .

The results will not affect which books I post about, because I actually have to want to read them, but I'm dying to know who likes to suffer!

#please i really wanna see the discourse! #book recommendations #queer books #polls #queer #literary tropes #literary fiction #fantasy books #romance books #science fiction books #historical fiction #books #queer community

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

The Companion by E.E. Ottoman

goodreads

New York, 1949

After years of trying to break into New York City's literary scene, Madeline Slaughter is emotionally and physically exhausted. When a friend offers her a safe haven as the live-in companion to reclusive, bestselling novelist Victor Hallowell she jumps at the chance to escape the city.

Madeline expects to find rest and quiet in the forests of Upstate New York. Instead, she finds Victor, handsome and intensely passionate, and Audrey Coffin, Victor's mysterious and beautiful neighbor.

When Victor offers her a kiss and the promise of more Madeline allows herself to become entangled even as Audrey is also claiming her heart. The only problem is that Audrey and Victor are ex-lovers with plenty of baggage between them. As Madeline finds herself opening up and falling in love with both she starts to wonder, can there be a future for all three?

Mod opinion: I haven't read this one yet but it is on my tbr. t4t4t romance yippiiiieeeeeeee. Update: I've read and enjoyed it. t4t4t erotic romance.

#the companion #e.e. ottoman #polls #trans lit #trans literature #trans books #lgbt lit #lgbt literature #lgbt books #historical fiction #romance #trans man #own voices #trans woman #to be honest i did not expect all the fuckin & suckin but i appreciate it!

[marzipanandminutiae]

I wanted so badly to like Don't Want You Like A Best Friend to spite the puritanical pearl-clutchers online who are mad about [checks notes] the sapphic lovers, who are not related and who met as adults, Parent Trap-ing their way into becoming stepsisters because it's 1857 and there's no other way to legally codify their relationship AND reduce the pressure on the poor one to marry a rich man

but tragically I noped out at like...5% completion because the anachronistic dialogue (with no clear stylistic choice behind it) and spotty understanding of 1850s culture were just too much

#books #sapphic romance #wlw romance #historical fiction #historical romance #some parts were very well-researched to the point where the shakier stuff was hugely jarring #after the concepts of an open bar at a ball were introduced and the term 'grounded' was used in the modern sense #(which comes from AIRPLANES and was DEFINITELY NOT AROUND IN 1857) #I just. I couldn't do it anymore #when people who don't actually like historical or Actually Old fiction try to write historical fiction maybe?

[haveyoureadthispoll]

#polls #book: the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #author: taylor jenkins reid #genre: romance #genre: historical fiction #genre: lgbt #year: 2010s

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

One Night in Hartswood - OUT NOW!

One Night in Hartswood is a queer medieval romance novel about why making out with a mysterious guy in the woods the night before your wedding (and then running away with him) might not be a very good idea, especially when you’re both lying about who you really are (and he’s the brother of the woman you’re supposed to be marrying.)

One Night in Hartswood contains...

🗡️ "Run away with me" (and actually doing it) 🗡️ Hidden identities 🗡️ Huddling for warmth 🗡️ Bone-deep yearning 🗡️ Hands-on training

"This is without a doubt one of the best romance novels I've read. I couldn't put it down."

"Completely engrossing, beautifully written and the details are delicious. It's unlike anything I've read before."

"Denny has a way of writing romance that highlights its insecurities and fears, as well as the passionate burn of it... this book was a sincere joy to read, leaving me feeling satisfied and warm."

"Denny's writing is genuinely some of my favourite I've ever read... Maybe, quite possibly, my favourite ever?"

"10 fucking stars out of 5"

Read the first chapter FOR FREE here!

(Full blurb, more info & CWs under the cut)

Oxfordshire, 1360

William de Foucart - known as Penn - is betrothed to a stranger. When he flees his father’s keep on the eve of his wedding, he’s looking only for a final night of freedom in Hartswood Forest, but what he finds is a mysterious man named Raff… and a desperate kiss beneath the trees. As dawn breaks, and Penn sneaks back, he decides that he will not be forced to bend to his father’s will. He’s going to escape both the keep and the marriage, and this time he won’t return.

Raff Barden, the son of an Earl, has been roped into searching for his reluctant sister’s missing groom. Instead, he stumbles across Penn once more, and assuming he’s a servant running from his cruel master he offers his help - hoping he can give Penn the freedom they both crave.

Unaware of their real identities, they begin to travel north, trying to ignore the attraction that still burns between them. But when they finally give in and grow closer, their continued concealment threatens everything they know and trust in each other. When their secrets are finally revealed, and the consequences of their relationship become clear, both must decide what they will risk for the man they love.

***

Content warnings:

Past physical abuse, including in childhood, and the trauma related to that

Severe scars/scarring

Animal death (wild animals, no beloved pets)

Injury/wounding

Rating

Mature/explicit

***

One Night in Hartswood is out now in the UK in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook and is available wherever books are sold.

US release - which comes complete with a DIFFERENT COVER - out Nov 7th 2023!

Art by the wonderful @spielzeugkaiser 💖

#hartswood #queer romance #queer fiction #historical romance #writers of tumblr #lgbt books #romance books #one night in hartswood

[thistlearts]

Vote for my book cover art!

I'm very honoured that two of the book cover artworks, made by me, were nominated for Queer Indie Awards. If you feel like supporting my art as a book cover artist, please consider giving me your vote here

#art #illustration #queer community #support queer artists #watercolor #digital art #trans artist #queer art #queer artwork #lgbtq artist #queer artist #queer books #indie books #historical romance #m/m romance #m/m fiction #romantasy #fantasyart #fantasy romance

[finnlongman]

Keep thinking about that one KJ Charles interview where she's talking about the challenges of being a historical romance novelist when you sort of believe the whole aristocracy should've been executed, and the delicate balancing act of writing historically accurate and interesting characters who don't have awful politics and values. And, crucially, she challenged the typical rich love interest idea by asking, "But where does the money come from?"

Once you think about it, you can't stop thinking about it. Every historical romance I read now, I can tell whether the author has thought about it. Sometimes they've thought about it but tried not to deal with it and hoped we wouldn't notice that the rich aristocrat probably owns a plantation. Sometimes they've actually dealt with it. And sometimes they have not considered it and It Shows.

But I also don't want historical novels where characters have modern sensibilities! I want them to feel historical... I just also want the "desirable" characters to not be, you know, involved in the slave trade or whatever, because that seriously undermines everything the book is doing to make them seem attractive. (One does not generally read this flavour of historical romance for morally grey antiheroes, and even if you did, that would be a fairly tasteless way of developing such a character, imo.)

I really enjoyed a detail in one of Cat Sebastian's books where the love interest is a Quaker, and he refuses dessert because he's boycotting sugar. It's a way of signalling to us that this character has particular values, but one that's rooted in the historical context and doesn't feel like a modern character wearing period clothing. His Quakerism also influences a few other details – his use of first names rather than titles, for example – but it's not a major plot point and he's no intense political campaigner. It's just one facet of his character, and one that made me like him more.

This sort of thing becomes a problem, too, with medieval settings and retellings and anything where you start having to deal with kings. A king of some tiny little pseudohistorical country whose major concerns revolve around not getting invaded and ensuring his people survive the winter is a very different prospect from a king intent on conquering his neighbours and expanding his glorious kingdom, of course. Still a king, though. What do you do with that, if you're someone who doesn't approve of kings?

I ran into this problem with a book I was working on a few years back, and it's one of the reasons I shelved it. I was trying to write a book about community and friendship. I was also trying to write an Arthurian retelling. And while a brotherhood of knights is a great starting point for a story about community and friendship, in order to have knights, you need to have a king for them to pledge fealty to. Problematic. My Arthur figure did not believe in hierarchy, but the story demanded that he perpetuated one anyway, because it was baked into the building blocks of story I was using to build mine. Eventually I realised I could not write that story as an Arthurian retelling without stripping it of everything recognisably Arthurian, and set it aside to be remade into something else.

I still think about this, though. I think about my Bisclavret retelling, which by necessity has a king in it. Bisclavret is a story about feudal loyalty, about oaths, about hierarchies. Take that away and you no longer have Bisclavret; it is a story that cannot exist without a king for the knight-wolf to be loyal to. Does that mean that as a story it always inherently supports a monarchist ideal, though? Or is its portrayal of kingship (a relationship that is, crucially, reciprocal) sufficiently detached from colonialist systems of monarchy to be distinct from those?

What systems and ideals form the assumptions a story is rested on? What happens once you start to question them? Can you still tell the same stories once you ask where the money comes from, or why the king is owed loyalty? Or does there come a point where you realise there are ideas woven into the very fabric of those narratives that you can't see past?

I don't have answers. I'm just thinking aloud. Thinking about having written a book with a king who isn't the bad guy, and what that means when I approve of neither kings nor hierarchies in general. Thinking about writing the past with the eyes of the present. Thinking about the unexamined assumptions in so many historical novels I've read, and how it feels as a reader not to be able to stop examining them.

(I have also read a number of contemporary romance novels where, after working my way through half an author's backlist, I've been forced to acknowledge that despite everything, the author does in fact think rich people are inherently attractive. Not sure what the solution to that one is, but it's certainly a different, if related, problem.)

#writing #historical fiction #historical romance #kj charles

[forsythiaproductions]

This is the entire premise of the game. Hugo's "unintentionally" gay thoughts are the sole reason why this game exists.

We had to make it JUST so he can figure it out.

Please figure it out 💀

Of Sense and Soul: A Queer Victorian Romance Game 💌 Follow our Kickstarter (Launching July 12th!) Play our demo | Get our newsletter

#victorian #historical fiction #historical romance #queer fiction #visual novel #interactive fiction #gay #gay yearning #gay mlm #indie game #historical #1800s #oc art #original character #indie dev #period costume #menswear #history #queer #lgbt fiction #of sense and soul #osas #osas memes

[empireofpearls-if]

Embark on a captivating journey as you assume the identity of Birbal, a brilliant prodigy, and immerse yourself in the enigmatic realm of the Mughal Empire. Behold a world thrown into chaos following the demise of Emperor Humayun, as a mere 14-year-old Akbar inherits the illustrious throne. Your choices shall shape the destiny of this young monarch, as you aid him in becoming the legendary emperor he's destined to be, or plunge the empire into turmoil by orchestrating a web of subversion and deceit. The power to shape an empire lies within your hands.

Amidst a cast of colorful characters, tread cautiously as you determine which souls can be deemed trustworthy, while remaining ever vigilant for those who may, with a swift and treacherous strike, plunge a dagger deep into your unsuspecting back. In this enthralling tale of loyalty and betrayal, the art of discerning friend from foe becomes your most vital survival skill. Make allies, face challenges and uncover hidden secrets. Just as internal conflict reaches a boiling point, the walls of the royal palace begin to tremble, beckoning you take a stance. Whose side will you embrace?

Empire of Pearls: A Mughal Tale is an interactive story inspired by historical events. It is set at the beginning of Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar's reign as the youngest-ever Mughal Emperor where you play as his most trusted advisor and friend, Birbal. This reimagined work is entirely text-based and your choices help shape Birbal's personality, skills, relationship with others, and of course the fate of the Empire.

Content warning: This game explores dark themes such as abuse, bullying, manipulation, use of drugs and alcohol, blood, gore, violence etc. and is strictly rated 18+. Besides that more in depth warnings will be provided before each chapter and certain trigger points can be turned off completely at the start of the game.

Demo | Character Appearances | Tags | FAQ |

Play as male or female and choose your real name and sexuality.

Customize your appearance and personality.

Choose one of three different backgrounds that will impact your reputation and relationships:

A noble possessing a remarkable talent, invited to join the court by Emperor Humayun himself; a child of a maid serving a powerful military commander, hired on the recommendation of the commander or a street urchin caught stealing from the royal palace, rewarded with a place in the elite circle owing to the incredible feat.

Romance any of the five different love interests or not. Friendship is always an option.

Be a part of an elite group of courtiers serving none other than Emperor Akbar and shape the fate of the Empire.

Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (he/him) 💕 : The newly crowned young emperor. Friendly and affable, the ruler has a tendency to be a bit impulsive at times. Despite his age he has been preparing for this role for years and doesn't seem at all nervous to be the new monarch. Akbar can be a powerful friend and an equally dangerous foe. How he perceives you vary depending on your background. A year younger than Birbal.

...........

Bairam Khan (he/him): A military commander and the most trusted ally of the throne until the death of Emperor Humayun. Since then he has been promoted to commander-in-chief, if that wasn't all he also happens to be Akbar's guardian, chief mentor and advisor. Bairam knows his way around the empire but can you actually trust this man?

...........

Ruqaiya Sultan Begum (she/her) 💕: An aloof but fiercely loyal woman and Akbar's first wife. Being cousins, neither of them ever saw each other as anything but friends. But Ruqaiya also hides a big secret, one that has her loathing herself. Will you able to form a deep enough connection to assist her in embracing her true self and breaking free from her constraints? A year younger than Birbal.

...........

Salima Sultan Begum (she/her): A strong and intelligible woman and Akbar's second wife. She feels heavily undervalued and undermined by the court which causes her to constantly act out and push the boundaries of what is acceptable for a woman. Though she sees Akbar as a friend, anything more than that with anyone is unfathomable to her. Two years younger than Birbal.

...........

Mahira Khan Mughal (she/her) 💕: A softspoken and timid young woman sold as a political pawn by her own father to become Akbar's third wife. Mahira longs for companionship and understanding which she can't find in the palace but you can fill that void in her life by secretly courting her or by providing the friendship she desperately craves. Two years younger than Birbal.

...........

Arslan Khan (he/him)💕: The son of Bairam Khan and another young prodigy, seemingly possessing supernatural powers and later becoming known as the legendary Mulla Do-Pyaza. With a mixture of rivalry and occasional bullying, he views Birbal as a formidable adversary. Arslan, driven by an insatiable desire for his father's approval, harbors a volatile temper that ignites at the mere mention of insults hurled towards his family. Peering beyond the myth, can you uncover the man within? A year older than Birbal.

...........

Nadeem/Nadia Mirza (opposite gender of Birbal) 💕: Birbal's betrothed and distant cousin of Akbar. A noble with a secret lover, N only accepted the marriage offer because it was arranged by commander-in-chief Bairam Khan himself and it was made obvious that refusal would not bear good consequences for their family. Can you form a connection with your betrothed despite the rocky start? Two years older than Birbal.

#interactive fiction #if wip #romance #history #drama #LGBTQIA #choicescript #no demo #intro post #dashingdon #empire of pearls #empire of pearls: a mughal tale #mughal era #historical #interactive #choice of games #hosted games #tragedy

[babyrubysoho]

Still very much in the Richard zone, so anything chaste enough to show on tumblr I will ^^

#richard ii of england #david tennant #historical romance #historical fiction #shakespeare fanart #babyrubysoho art

[pretensesoup]

Dionysus in Wisconsin

Fall, 1969. Ulysses Lenkov is a grad student in the Department of Magic Studies at UW-Madison. When a local seer warns him something dangerous is coming, his investigation leads him to Sam Sterling, an archivist and community theater nerd who's standing directly in the path of an arriving god. Soon the two are helping each other through demon attacks, discovering the unsavory history of Sam's family, and racing to find a solution that doesn't lead to heartbreak and death. But as the year draws to a close, they'll face a deadly showdown as they try to save Sam—and the city itself. It's the first in a series, but there's no cliffhanger and it has a HEA.

You might like Dionysus in Wisconsin...

If you are a former Gifted kid who had an obsession with mythology and enjoy m/m romance with a touch of gritty noir and heady magic

If you love the way certain words feel in your mouth

If you were a theater kid or ever wanted your best friend to be a sentient library

If you're a diehard KJ Charles or Cat Sebastian or Jordan L. Hawk stan

If you ever want someone to get their urban fantasy in your romance novel

If you think a historical novel set in the 60s without any homophobia might be fun

If you have undiagnosed or late diagnosed ADHD and you wish you could simultaneously be a traveling bard and the inventor of time travel

If you really like band T-shirts and getting caught in the rain.

If you--just, you know what, go get it. Stop waiting.

Amazon link! Universal links!

The paperback is real pretty too, just so you know:

#dionysus in wisconsin #eh lupton #urban fantasy romance #historical fiction #the 60s #booklr #books #urban fantasy #fantasy romance #wisconsin gothic series

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

goodreads

When Viola Carroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become. As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again.

Mod Opinion: I hadn't heard of this book before, but it sounds like it is a really sweet romance.

#a lady for a duke #alexis hall #polls #lgbt lit #lgbt literature #lgbt books #trans lit #trans literature #trans books #historical fiction #romance #trans woman

[alexa-santi-author]

Why the "Regency Era" is a fantasy realm

I've seen some interesting discussions back and forth about making historical fiction and particularly historical romance more inclusive, and I do think that there's some merit to the argument that merely inserting BIPOC as part of the ruling class erases many of the historic struggles people went through in terms of both class and race.

However, there's something that people don't seem to realize when it comes to the Regency Era: it's a fantasy realm that was primarily created by a single author.

Just as J.R.R. Tolkien published his Lord of the Rings books and created a world that would loom over the fantasy genre for decades to come, Georgette Heyer created the Regency Era in a way that I think people looking at the romance genre from the outside don't really understand.

Heyer wrote several historical romances and mystery novels prior to 1935, but it was with Regency Buck that she introduced her version of the Regency Era, a version that has actually been far more influential in popular culture than that of Jane Austen. (Most of the Austen adaptations pull more from Heyer than people realize, especially in terms of manners.) Heyer's world is all polite society heroes with a stiff upper lip and perhaps a tinge of rakishness, spirited yet virginal heroines, and a cast of supporting characters that range from younger brothers to elderly aunts.

There are very few hints that anyone outside the aristocracy is of any consequence, or even knows how to behave themselves, even when the middle-class daughter of a rich "Cit" marries an impoverished aristocrat in A Civil Contract. Sex exists, but only behind firmly closed doors and, for the heroines, only after marriage.

And what about the minorities that we know lived in Great Britain during the Regency Era? Not just the racial minorities that included Black citizens and former slaves as well as Indian immigrants, but also religious minorities? They pretty much don't exist in Heyer's world, apart from a few anti-Semitic stereotypes of rapacious Jewish moneylenders that make modern readers cringe when they stumble across an unbowdlerized edition. There are a few jokes and whispers about "unmanly" men, but that's about it for LGBTQIA+ representation as well.

Given what we now know about the Regency Era -- and we know a lot more than Heyer did when she was writing almost a hundred years ago -- we know that her view of Regency society was as artificial as Tolkien's world. Despite her use of historical sources, her romance novels are set in a fantasy world that melds the fashions and historical events of the Regency with the Victorian morals and mores that Heyer herself was raised with. The Regency Era was the late Georgian Era and was far more vulgar and free-wheeling than Heyer was willing to admit. She left out the people who didn't fit into her vision of the Regency, which showed an Anglo-Saxon ruling class that deserved to rule because of their natural superiority.

So my opinion about TV shows and films like Bridgerton and Mr. Malcolm's List that show an inclusive aristocracy in the Regency Era is ... well, it's all fantasy anyway, isn't it? Why not make the fantasy inclusive since the whole era is Heyer's illusion dressed up with a few historical details?

And if you want to try and argue that Heyer was historically accurate about everything, be prepared: I have sources that Heyer either ignored or did not have available to her. Look up Benjamin Silliman's 1803 journal of his trip to Great Britain sometime.

#mr malcolm’s list #historical romance #regency romance #historical romantic fiction #romance genre #diverse romance #bridgerton #georgette heyer