Outlander
Diana Gabaldon
A WWII nurse walks through standing stones into Jacobite Scotland—and a complicated love story.
Early modern · World War II era · Time-slip · Romance
Early modern · Romance · ~1500–1789
Early modern historical fiction romance books
Looking for historical fiction in the romance lane set during the Early modern (~1500–1789)? Early modern historical fiction romance books collects historical novels that match both filters—Tudors, exploration, Reformation, revolutions brewing. Love stories grounded in a historical setting HisFic is a free historical fiction discovery app: open a full reading journey with the same era and story-type filters, then add region, themes, or audience. Shelves mix curated historical fiction picks with Open Library titles so even thin combinations still have books to explore.
Shelf · 18 titles
Curated HisFic picks first, plus Open Library fills for this era + story type.
Ross Poldark
Winston Graham
In October 1783 Ross Poldark comes back from the American war to Nampara in Cornwall and finds his father dead, the land derelict, and Elizabeth Chynoweth promised to his cousin Francis. Winston Graham’s 1945 novel is early-modern saga historical fiction of the years through 1787—a mine he fights to reopen, the bankers and gentry of Truro, and Demelza Carne, the miner’s daughter he takes in from a fair, who is his wife by the end of this first volume.
Early modern · Family saga · Romance
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
In Brittany on the eve of the Revolution, lawyer André-Louis Moreau watches a marquis kill his closest friend, then goes from a Rennes courtroom to a traveling theater—where he plays the clown Scaramouche—and on to a Paris fencing hall as France turns on its nobles. Rafael Sabatini’s 1921 novel is French Revolution historical adventure of disguise, the sword, and a man born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.
Regency / Napoleonic · Early modern · Adventure & epic · Romance
The Other Boleyn Girl
Philippa Gregory
Mary Boleyn’s perspective on the rise of Anne Boleyn and the dangerous theater of Henry VIII’s court.
Early modern · Biographical · Romance
Forever Amber
Kathleen Winsor
In 1660, sixteen-year-old Amber St. Clare comes up to London as Charles II returns and, left penniless when Bruce Carlton sails, climbs from the streets and the playhouse to the king’s favor. Kathleen Winsor’s 1944 novel is early-modern romance historical fiction of that Restoration life—the plague of 1665, the Great Fire of 1666, and Amber’s long pursuit of Carlton, who will not marry her and settles in Virginia.
Early modern · Romance
Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë
Lockwood, new tenant at Thrushcross Grange, takes shelter at Wuthering Heights and hears how the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw loved each other on the Yorkshire moors—until Cathy married Edgar Linton, died in childbirth, and Heathcliff’s revenge closed on the next generation at both houses. Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel is eighteenth-century gothic literary historical fiction of obsessive love, class, and a house that will not let the dead go.
Early modern · Regency / Napoleonic · Literary · Romance
Lorna Doone
R. D. Blackmore
On Exmoor in the 1670s, yeoman’s son John Ridd sees the Doone clan kill his father, then finds a child named Lorna in their hidden valley and grows up set on winning her out of that stronghold. R. D. Blackmore’s 1869 novel is early-modern romance historical fiction of the Doone Valley, the Great Winter, and Monmouth’s Rebellion in 1685—a Somerset love story against an outlaw clan the law will not touch.
Early modern · Romance · Adventure & epic
The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe
In 1584, Emily St. Aubert loses her father on a journey from Gascony through the Pyrenees, falls in love with Valancourt, and is taken by her aunt’s new husband, Signor Montoni, from Venice to the Castle of Udolpho in the Apennines. Ann Radcliffe’s 1794 novel is early-modern romance historical fiction of Emily’s imprisonment there, the black veil she is afraid to lift, and the engagement Montoni will not let her keep.
Early modern · Romance · Mystery
The Game of Kings
Dorothy Dunnett
Fiction · romance · History · Soldiers of fortune
Early modern · Romance · Military & war · Open Library
The Wind Dancer
Iris Johansen
Statues · Fiction · Renaissance · American Suspense fiction
Early modern · Romance · Open Library
Peony in Love
Lisa See
Social life and customs · Lovesickness · Historical fiction · Opera
Romance · Open Library
The Bride of Lammermoor
Sir Walter Scott
Fiction · Women murderers · Arranged marriage · History
Romance · Open Library
Her Scandalous Intentions
Sari Robins
Fiction · Historical Fiction · History · Romance
Romance · Open Library
Highland bride
Amanda Scott
History · Fiction · Large type books · Social life and customs
Regency / Napoleonic · Romance · Open Library
Lisbon
Valerie Sherwood
Historical Fiction · Romance Fiction · Fiction, romance, historical · Fiction, romance, general
Romance · Open Library
The Great Roxhythe
Georgette Heyer
Historical fiction · Romance · Fiction · Fiction, romance, historical, general
Early modern · Romance · Mystery · Open Library
Betrayed
Arnette Lamb
Fiction, Romance, Historical · Scotland fiction · Large print books · Social life and customs
Romance · Open Library
Other story types in Early modern
Looking for a broader list? See Early modern historical fiction or romance historical fiction.