Corsets and codes of conduct, letters that take a week to arrive, a single dance watched by the whole room — historical romance turns restraint into heat. The rules are tighter, so every stolen moment counts double. Whether it's a marriage of convenience thawing by candlelight or a scandal the ton won't forgive, the pleasure is in what can't be said out loud. Readers who like the period flavor with higher stakes often move toward military romance and its wartime separations, or the invented worlds of fantasy romance when they want the costume drama with magic added.
