Fall is coming, and with it, the perfect excuse to curl up with a blanket, a hot drink, and a stack of historical fiction that will transport you across centuries, continents, and scandals. This season’s most anticipated releases have it all including gritty survival, secret romances, prickly family drama, and espionage so sharp it could slice through your pumpkin spice latte foam. Here’s your guide to historical fiction reads that are destined to transport you somewhere unforgettable.
Good Grief by Sara Goodman Confino
It’s 1963, and Barbara Feldman is finally finding her footing after losing her husband. That is until her formidable mother-in-law arrives and decides to stay indefinitely. What follows is a funny, heartfelt tale of grief, love, and meddling match-making as Barbara and Ruth clash, bond, and maybe even start playing Cupid for one another. Readers will adore the blend of sharp humor and tender second chances.
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Amity by Nathan Harris
Post–Civil War freedom is promised, but not delivered, in this powerful, sweeping story of siblings Coleman and June. Torn apart by their former enslaver and forced into perilous journeys across Louisiana and Mexico, the two must fight for survival and, ultimately, their freedom. With danger, betrayal, and unbreakable family bonds, this is historical fiction that thrums with heart and suspense.
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The Last War Orphan by Jenna Ness
Set in 1940 Paris, Lucie is the last child in an orphanage commandeered by German soldiers or so they thought. Everything changes when a baby is left on the doorstep. Caught between survival and rebellion, Lucie finds an unlikely ally in a German officer with secrets of his own. This tense, emotional novel blends resistance, romance, and courage in the shadow of war, and it will keep readers glued to the page.
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A Dark and Deadly Journey by Julia Kelly
Historical fiction favorite, Julia Kelly returns with a historical fiction mystery combo that will have your heart racing. British spy, Evelyne Redfern, is back on duty. With her charmingly exasperating partner David at her side, Evelyne dives into a glittering world of spies, lies, and high-stakes danger. Packed with banter, chemistry, and suspenseful twists, it’s espionage with a romantic edge.
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The Night We Became Strangers by Lorena Hughes
In 1957 Quito, the air is still haunted by the smoke and chaos of the 1949 radio broadcast that destroyed Valeria Anzures’s family and left her searching for answers.
Returning home, she finds herself torn between duty and desire, especially when her quest for the truth leads her back to Matias Montero, the boy she once loved but now barely knows. Together, they peel back layers of betrayal, secrets, and forbidden longing, risking everything to expose the night that bound their families in ruin.
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The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton
From turn-of-the-century Boston to Castro’s Cuba to present-day London, Cleeton spins a riveting tale centered on one rare book that binds three women across generations. Eva Fuentes, a Cuban teacher at Harvard in 1900, hides love and secrets in her writing; decades later, Pilar risks everything as a librarian resisting Fidel’s regime; and in 2024, Margo must protect Eva’s legacy while facing the man she once loved. With forbidden love, political upheaval, and a literary treasure at its heart, this novel is as intoxicating as it is sweeping.
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The Girl in the Green Dress by Mariah Fredericks
Welcome to New York City at the glittering dawn of the Jazz Age, where a young writer desperate for his big break stumbles into a murder mystery dripping with cocktails, secrets, and scandal. When notorious playboy, Joseph Elwell, is found shot in his locked home, our aspiring reporter Morris Markey finds himself drawn into a dangerous investigation. Readers will love the mix of historical figures, locked-room suspense, and a mystery that refuses to stay buried.
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Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
In a quiet Ohio town still humming with the aftershocks of World War II, one stolen moment of passion changes everything for two families and generations to come. With a small-town seer who communes with the dead, a missing husband, and secrets that refuse to stay hidden, this sweeping novel spans decades of love, betrayal, and redemption. It’s intimate, haunting, and the kind of book that lingers long after the last page.
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The Guest in Room 120 by Sara Ackerman
A glamorous Honolulu hotel. A powerful woman with too many enemies. A century-old mystery that refuses to rest. When bestselling author Zoe Finch checks into the Moana Hotel in 2005, her stay becomes tangled with the ghostly echoes of Jane Stanford’s suspicious death in 1905. With storms raging outside and nightmares blurring into reality, this dual-timeline novel will thrill readers who love their history with a side of eerie suspense.
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The First Witch of Boston by Andrea Catalano
Puritan New England is no place for a woman who speaks her mind or heals with too much skill. Margaret Jones arrives in the Massachusetts Bay Colony with hope for a new beginning, only to find suspicion and fear lurking behind every pious smile. Inspired by real diaries and court records, this is the story of one woman’s fight against hysteria, betrayal, and a community that wants her branded a witch. It’s chilling, heartbreaking, and impossible to put down.
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