sarah-maclean-completist

[sarah-maclean-completist]

thenaptimewriter

[sarah-maclean-completist]

Any good historicals with buttoned-up heroes?

MY FAVORITE KIND OF HERO, SO—

A Rose Blooms in Brooklyn by Ginny Moore: You know Emmett in Legally Blonde? BASICALLY that because the heroine is historical!Elle Woods, but a little more starchy and with a tragic backstory (first wife died due to lack of contraception/healthcare access), and now he's an women's rights activist in Brooklyn.

The Design of Dukes by Kathleen Ayers: First of many guys with shitty daddy issues that manifest in being so buttoned-up to the point, in this case, of judging a duke's daughter as lesser-than and not a good enough matrimonial prospect.

Bed Me, Baron by Felicity Niven: George is definitely stern (and.... daddy? the rare twenty six(?) year old daddy??) and starchy but not to the point of repression because this man caves to the heroine's seduction within a few chapters.

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt: The kind of buttoned-up that comes from being *untried* (i.e. a virgin), some middle class morality, but mostly just feeling like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders only he can take it on because there's a *darkness* within him.

Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt: Classic aristocratic buttoned-up hero, secretly kind of a freak (see: "come o Diana wash me in your passion" and "take my seed for I can give you NOTHING ELSE"), has zero qualms about making a mistress of the cousin of the lady he's gonna marry

No Ordinary Duchess by Elizabeth Hoyt: Also buttoned-up aristo but kind of a survival mechanism because of his evil uncle? Secretly submissive tendencies so he's repressed AND self kink-shamey.

Always Be My Duchess by Amalie Howard: Starchy but will get an insta-erection and bang her on a desk backstage. Eventually.

The Viscount Always Knocks Twice by Grace Callaway: Carlisle is a stickler for propriety and judges Violet for being a "hoyden" and a flirt (when really, she's just One Of The Guys) but then he's jumping her every ten seconds at this murder mystery house party so... I wouldn't judge.

Regarding the Duke by Grace Callaway: Buttoned-up, repressed to the point of ONLY having sex with his wife once a week because of Traumatic Backstory and needing to keep his marriage passionless/proper as a coping mechanism 💀

The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden: Another cold, repressed man with daddy issues he needs to get over.

Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas: A lot of Alex's most buttoned-up tendencies come from him being super annoyed by the wild, free-spirited Lily and antagonizing her when he really just wants to fuck her bad.

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win A Duke’s Heart by Sarah MacLean: Buttoned up and wants to Do His Duty To The Dukedom, antagonizes the free-spirited heroine, is willing to fuck her on the side while announcing his engagement to someone else.

Sutton's Surrender by Scarlett Scott: Classic starchy aristocrat waving all sorts of incorrect accusations at a heroine who lives in a gambling hell that he secretly wants bad.

[sarah-maclean-completist]

Sesily Talbot from Sarah MacLean's Bombshell.

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The MacLeaniverse Sex Scene Index Part 1 & Part 2

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Sarah MacLean's Bareknuckle Bastards Trilogy

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"Historical romance isn't the story of, in my case, the 1840s, it's the story of 2022 and how women are in the world now and how using history as a backdrop can reflect their relevance and their importance and their power in the world. Hell's Belles is very much about the power that women have to move the needle and to change the world and to impact the world from their own spaces."

Sarah MacLean

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"What’s really interesting about the genre is that we were there for people who were not being served by other genres, by media in general. Throughout literature, women and marginalized people were put on the page to suffer. Certainly if a woman had sex, forget it, she was definitely going to die."

Sarah MacLean

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[sarah-maclean-completist]

““Why not dance and laugh and live the way you dream?” “Dreams are for little girls with no worries.” “Nonsense. We all have dreams.” “Even you?” “Even me.””

— Sarah MacLean, Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord

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A Guide to Sarah MacLean

[sarah-maclean-completist]

"Historical romance isn't the story of, in my case, the 1840s, it's the story of 2022 and how women are in the world now and how using history as a backdrop can reflect their relevance and their importance and their power in the world. Hell's Belles is very much about the power that women have to move the needle and to change the world and to impact the world from their own spaces."

Sarah MacLean