Top new historical-fiction books out today: 20 Jan 2026
Last updated:
20 Jan 2026
Today featuring new releases by Janice Hadlow, May Cobb, Shen Tao, I.V. Ophelia, Heather Kaufman, Ryan Collett and many more.
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Rules of the Heart by Janice Hadlow
Rules of the Heart by Janice Hadlow is a beautifully evocative historical novel about the perils of an all-consuming love affair. From the author of The Other Bennet Sister.I could never understand a medium in love, I must love with my whole heart and soul, my whole existence, know no happiness or misery but from the object of my passion . . .England, 1794...romance · historical-fiction · historical · fiction · drama · audiobook · industrial-era · regency · book · adult -
![All the Little Houses by May Cobb]()
All the Little Houses by May Cobb
Adults can behave badly too... It's the mid-1980s in the tiny town of Longview, Texas. Nellie Anderson, the beautiful daughter of the Anderson family dynasty, has burst onto the scene. She always gets what she wants. What she can't get for herself… well, that's what her mother is for...north-america · usa · texas · mystery · fiction · historical-fiction · suspense · thriller · female-mc · murder -
![The Poet Empress by Shen Tao]()
The Poet Empress by Shen Tao
Debut author Shen Tao introduces readers to the lush, deadly world of The Poet Empress, a sweeping, epic and intimate fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent & the Wings of Night, The Song of Achilles and She Who Became the Sun.In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic lost to all except the powerful.Wei Yin is desperate...romance · fantasy · historical-fiction · fiction · historical · audiobook · high-fantasy · sword-sorcery · myths · epic -
![Fruit of the Flesh by I.V. Ophelia]()
Fruit of the Flesh by I.V. Ophelia
Behind the glamour of Gilded Age New York, a marriage of convenience between an artisan and a ballerina masks their shared appetite for revenge in this darkly seductive gothic romance.In early 1900s New York, former ballerina Petronille De Villier makes an unconventional choice: Marry struggling sculptor Arkady Kamenev. For her, it’s an escape from her family’s unsavory legacy...romance · gothic · historical · historical-fiction · horror · dark · dark-academia · fantasy · fiction · marriage-of-convenience -
![On Living Stone: Salome's Story by Heather Kaufman]()
On Living Stone: Salome's Story by Heather Kaufman
Growing up by the Sea of Galilee, Salome is restless to find her place and purpose. Because of her wild temperament and quick tongue, some claim she'll never secure a future. When Adonai gifts her both a husband and sons, Salome is determined to silence her critics and prove she can be a good mother to her boys, James and John... -
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![George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett]()
George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett
Less meets the year 1300 in this exhilarating and thoughtfully genre-defying literary novel about a man transported through time in a moment of extreme stress, whose modern anxieties are replaced by medieval brutalities.Newly laid off George’s internet bill is in his ex-boyfriend’s name. He’s got a spider-infested apartment, and two of the six dogs he’s walking in London have just escaped...romance · fantasy · historical-fiction · fiction · time-travel · lgbtq · sci-fi · historical · mlm · magical-realism
