Christian Historical Fiction Talk is listener supported. When you buy things through this site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Become a patron and enjoy special perks and bonus content.

Joanna Politano comes to the show this week to chat about her new release, The Curious Inheritance of Blakely House. This novel combines steampunk, romance, mystery, Gothic Victorian England. In other words, it has it all. Find out how she managed to juggle all these moving parts, how she got to collaborate with her husband on this, and when she finds time to write. Patrons hear why she thinks it's great to be married to your polar opposite.

The Curious Inheritance of Blakely House by Joanna Politano

A clever young woman, a contested will, and an estate that does not easily give up its secrets.

It is 1901 when clockmaker and tinker Sydney Forrester receives a most unusual inheritance. Blakely House, the island estate of an estranged uncle she's never met, seems almost alive, revealing and hiding its secrets at will. It is filled with remarkable inventions, including an intriguing unfinished automaton Sydney is itching to get her skilled hands on.

The estate is also home to a number of peculiar people--including two men intent on removing this interloper from the island. Convinced that Sydney has something to do with their uncle's death, the late master's nephews contest the will and work against their cousin at every turn.

Sydney finds a sometimes-ally in the estate's butler, an ex-adventurer who ran aground on the island years ago. But when a mysterious man washes ashore with a stunning surprise that upsets everything, Sydney must prove she has inherited the late master's brilliance as well as his property--or someone else will.

Get The Curious Inheritance of Blakely House by Joanna Politano.

Meet Joanna Politano:

I’m a work-from-home mom of two fun and adventurous littles and we’ll soon be homeschooling. I married my hero Vince, who is my love and my polar opposite. I write, he tears it up with the red pen. I break cars and other mechanical things, he puts them back together. He’s nailed the “speak the truth” thing, and I bring the “in love” part. But the real spark to our marriage is that he does not like chocolate and I… like it a normal amount. We love and live from our little house in the woods near Lake Michigan.

Visit Joanna's website.

Christian Historical Fiction Talk is listener supported. When you buy things through this site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Become a patron and enjoy special perks and bonus content.

Jen Turano joins us this week for a lively chat about her most recent release, A Lesson in Propriety. Want to know what favorite cartoon of hers helped to inspire the book or what colors she absolutely hates? Then you're going to want to tune in and hear what she has to say about all that. She also shares with us a little bit about the big move in her life since we last had her on the show. Patrons hear about why she loves to create strong quirky characters.

A Lesson in Propriety by Jen Turano

LESSON ONE: Stand in the way of the Windy City's criminal world and expect a most improper proposal from an eligible gentleman in return.

With her father dead, her fortune stolen, and her fiancé casting her aside, Miss Drusilla Merriweather's privileged life has been upended. She is left with only one option: to provide for her family by opening a finishing school in the allegedly haunted castle she's inherited from her eccentric aunt. However, her plan is immediately threatened by unscrupulous developers keen on claiming the coveted estate for themselves by any means necessary.

Mr. Rhenick Wittenbecker, a dashing architect with a tendency to charm his way out of trouble, is convinced he can protect Drusilla but is challenged by her fierce independence. Yet when strange occurrences--walking suits of armor and unexpected ghostly visitors--arise within the castle's grounds, Drusilla must decide whether to risk her family's safety and her school on the gallant architect who seems to have found his way into her heart.

Laugh-out-loud witty banter, swoon-worthy romance, and delightful mischief in the Gilded Age string together this entrancing series starter. Fans of clean romance, Christian fiction, and strong female characters will enjoy this read.

Get your copy of A Lesson in Propriety by Jen Turano.

Named One of the Funniest Voices in Inspirational Romance by Booklist, Jen Turano is a USA Today Best-Selling Author, known for penning quirky historical romances set in the Gilded Age. Her books have earned Publisher Weekly and Booklist starred reviews, top picks from Romantic Times, and praise from Library Journal. She’s been a finalist twice for the RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards and had two of her books listed in the top 100 romances of the past decade from Booklist. When she’s not writing, she spends her time outside of Denver, CO. Readers may find her at www.jenturano.com – www.facebook.com/jenturanoauthor, www.instagram.com/jenturanoauthor

Jen is represented by Sarah Younger, senior literary agent, Nancy Yost Literary Agency, New York.

Christian Historical Fiction Talk is listener supported. When you buy things through this site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Become a patron and enjoy special perks and bonus content.

Have a favorite romance trope? Maybe meet-cute, meet-cringe, love at first sight, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, love triangles, forced proximity, off-limits crush, fake relationship, marriage of convenience, second-chance love, etc? In this episode, I let you know what some of our listeners said were there favorite romance tropes.

Here are some historical romances you might like:

Lady Maybe by Julie Klassen

This has an amnesia trope, one we didn't even discuss.

In the midst of a fierce storm, a carriage carrying Sir John Mayfield, Lady Marianna Mayfield, and her lady's companion careens off a narrow cliff road, changing their fates forever. When the wreckage is found, Sir John is gravely injured, and a woman is discovered unconscious wearing a valuable ring. As the woman regains consciousness in a strange house, she grapples with fragmented memories of the accident, unsettling dreams of a child in peril, and a deep mystery tied to the ring on her finger. Surrounded by unfamiliar faces and haunted by a sense of foreboding, the survivor realizes she cannot trust anyone and must uncover the truth of what happened that stormy night, even as danger mounts and enemies conspire against her.

In this revised and updated 10th anniversary edition of Julie Klassen's acclaimed novel, a woman's startling secrets lead her into unexpected danger and romance in Regency England.

Lady Maybe is a clean Regency romance full of mystery, adventure, and a search for identity. This novel will delight fans of the amnesia trope, Julia Quinn, Jane Austen, and Mimi Matthews.

Get your copy of Lady Maybe by Julie Klassen

Beyond Ivy Walls by Rachel Fordham

Reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, a recluse and a young woman discover that the scars of life are no match against an act of love.

Iowa, 1903. All of Monticello believes Otis Taylor has been away fostering his musical genius. But the truth is that his father exiled him long ago, rejecting Otis's appearance and the scars that came with it. Now that he is the last living Taylor, Otis has covertly returned to settle his family's affairs and rid himself of his past for good. However, he soon discovers that he may not have been the only abandoned Taylor and begins a tireless search for his missing toddler niece.

At twenty-three years old, Sadie West left her family farm and found employment at the Hoag feather duster factory. It isn't a romantic job, but she's hardly had a glimmer of romance since her beau went off to college, leaving her with no promise of a future together. Desperate to save money and help her family make ends meet, she trespasses and finds shelter in an abandoned building--and is thrown in the path of the town's mysterious bachelor.

Otis's wounds are deep, but as Sadie's friendship with him grows, she begins to fall for the man beneath the mask. Locating his long-lost niece, however, is more difficult than either could have imagined, and Sadie West may be the key to Otis Taylor finally finding his way home.

Get your copy of Beyond Ivy Walls by Rachel Fordham.

The Lady's Mine by Francine Rivers

A delightful new western romance and New York Times bestseller fro