Stephanie Beaver is a librarian who has worked in the fiction department at the Hoover Public Library for the past 10 years. While her specific collection responsibilities have earned her the title of “romance librarian” from her colleagues, she has a wide range of reading interests from historical fiction, mystery, fantasy, memoirs and narrative nonfiction. Here, she recommends her top five winter reading selections adults will love this season.
Lady Derring Takes a Lover: Palace of Rogues Series
By Julie Anne Long | Fiction
Delilah Swanpoole learns the hard way that her husband, “Dear Dull Derring,” is a lot more interesting—and perfidious—dead than alive. It’s a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the one building Derring left her, are the seeds of her liberation. She vows never again to place herself at the mercy of a man. However, battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing if not merciless. They both believe love is a myth. A desire beyond reason threatens to destroy the armor around their hearts.
A Lady’s Formula for Love: The Secret Scientists of London Series
By Elizabeth Everett | Fiction
Lady Violet is keeping secrets. First, she founded a clandestine sanctuary for England’s most brilliant female scientists. Second, she is using her genius on a confidential mission for the Crown. But the biggest secret of all? Her feelings for protection officer Arthur Kneland. Solitary and reserved, Arthur learned the hard way to put duty first. But the more time he spends in the company of Violet and the eccentric club members, the more his best intentions go up in flames. Literally.
Bringing Down the Duke: The League of Extraordinary Women Series
By Evie Dunmore | Fiction
England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women’s suffrage movement. Her charge: Recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain’s politics at the Queen’s command. Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke.
The Siren of Sussex: Belles of London Series
By Mimi Matthews | Fiction
Evelyn Maltravers understands exactly how little she’s worth on the marriage mart. As an incurable bluestocking from a family tumbling swiftly toward ruin, she knows she’ll never make a match in a ballroom. Her only hope is to distinguish herself by making the biggest splash in the one sphere she excels—on horseback, in haute couture. Tailor Ahmad Malik has always had a talent for making women beautiful, inching his way toward recognition by designing riding habits for Rotten Row’s infamous Pretty Horsebreakers—but no one compares to Evelyn. With obstacles spanning between them, the indomitable pair must decide which hurdles they can jump and what matters most.
Never Fall for Your Fiancee: The Merriwell Sisters
By Virginia Heath | Fiction
The last thing Hugh Standish ever wants is a wife. Unfortunately for him, his mother is determined to find him one, even from across the other side of the ocean. So Hugh invents a fake fiancée to keep his mother’s matchmaking ways at bay. As hilarity and miscommunication ensue while everyone tries to keep their tangled stories straight, Hugh’s fake engagement starts to turn into a real romance. But can they trust each other when their relationship started with a lie?
