Books like “The Ugly Duchess”

What to read after “The Ugly Duchess” by Eloisa James: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

About “The Ugly Duchess”

Another favorite book?

Or start with a well-known book

1
The Duchess Deal
Tessa Dare · 2017
Same genre: “Regency romance”
Scarred and bitter, the Duke of Ashbury needs an heir, so he offers a plain marriage of convenience to Emma Gladstone, a vicar's daughter turned seamstress. She accepts on her own conditions. Inside his forbidding house, two wary strangers slowly discover warmth, trust and unexpected love.
2
Lord of Scoundrels
Loretta Chase · 1995
Same genre: “Regency romance”
Jessica Trent comes to Paris to drag her foolish brother away from Sebastian Ballister, the Marquess of Dain, a notorious rake. Their battle of wills ends in a scandal, a duel and a marriage neither wanted, and two proud, guarded people slowly learn to trust each other.
3
Slightly Married
Mary Balogh · 2003
Same genre: “Regency romance”
Colonel Aidan Bedwyn promises a dying soldier that he will protect the man's sister. To honour that vow he marries Eve Morris in name only, keeping her home safe. What begins as a cold bargain between two strangers slowly softens into affection and love.
4
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake
Sarah MacLean · 2010
Same genre: “Regency romance”
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has spent her life being proper and unremarkable. She draws up a list of scandalous things she longs to try and asks Gabriel St. John, the notorious Marquess of Ralston, to help her. As he escorts her through each escapade, an old acquaintance deepens into love.
5
Flowers from the Storm
Laura Kinsale · 1992
Same genre: “Regency romance”
- Regency England
- Slow Burn
A stroke leaves the powerful Duke of Jerveaux unable to speak, and his family shuts him away in a grim asylum. Maddy Timms, a young Quaker nurse, is the only one who sees the man inside. Her care revives him, but their growing bond offends both his world and her strict community.
6
Venetia
Georgette Heyer · 1958
Same genre: “Regency romance”
- Regency England
- Slow Burn
Venetia Lanyon has spent her life dutifully running her family's estate. Her scandalous neighbour, the rake Lord Damerel, becomes an unexpected friend and ally. As gossip spreads and society disapproves, Venetia must weigh propriety against her own heart.
7
Love and Other Words
Christina Lauren · 2018
Shared in the plot: decide, friend
As teenagers Macy and Elliot spent every weekend trading books in a closet and slowly falling in love, until one night tore them apart. Eleven years later they meet again in San Francisco, and the friendship and heartbreak they buried come rushing back as they decide whether to try once more.
8
Every Summer After
Carley Fortune · 2022
Similar plot moves: “Second Chance Romance” and “Friends to Lovers”
Every summer Persephone stayed at the lake and grew up alongside Sam, the boy next door, until one mistake ended everything. Twelve years later she returns for a funeral and finds Sam again, reopening the past they both buried.
9
Radiance
Grace Draven · 2015
Shared in the plot: marriage, friend
Idris and Brishen agree to a political marriage neither wants. To her people he is a monstrous creature; to his, she is ugly and fragile. They resolve to be friends and nothing more. Living together in a foreign court, their respect and affection grow into a love that surprises them both.
10
Before We Were Strangers
Renée Carlino · 2015
Similar plot moves: “Second Chance Romance” and “Friends to Lovers”
- Second Chance Romance
- Friends to Lovers
In college, Matt and Grace were inseparable neighbours in their NYU dorm who fell in love, until lost contact after graduation pulled them apart. Fifteen years later, a missed-connections post brings Grace back into his life, and the two have one chance to understand what happened and decide whether their story is really over.
11
The Co-op
Tarah DeWitt · 2022
Similar plot moves: “Marriage of Convenience” and “Second Chance Romance”
- Marriage of Convenience
- Second Chance Romance
LaRynn and Deacon married young, divorced, and hoped never to see each other again. When they inherit a crumbling building that must be renovated before it can be sold, they are stuck working side by side and confronting why they failed the first time.
12
When a Scot Ties the Knot
Tessa Dare · 2015
Same genre: “Regency romance”
- Marriage of Convenience
- Slow Burn
Shy Maddie Gracechurch invents a soldier suitor to escape the London season and writes to him for years. Then the real Captain Logan MacKenzie appears, demanding the bride he never knew he had. To keep her home, they marry as strangers, and the arrangement slowly becomes something more.