Fans of Netflix’s Bridgerton Season 2 can’t get enough of Jonathan Bailey, so I thought I’d step in and help you find some more book boyfriends to swoon over. Season 2 is based on Julia Quinn’s The Viscount Who Loved Me. Since I already shared more enemies-to-lovers historical novels in this post, I decided to round up more books featuring viscounts.
What is a viscount?
Before diving in, let’s answer the big question in the room: what even is the definition of a viscount? Whenever I have a question about aristocracy, I turn to the trusty old authorities at Debrett’s. The viscount title is the fourth rank in the peerage, meaning a viscount is outranked by dukes, marquesses, and earls. Oftentimes, viscount is an honorary title bestowed upon an heir while he waits for his father the earl to die. For other viscounts, like Anthony Bridgerton, the title is their main source of power.
How do you pronounce viscount?
Confession: up until I started writing my own book about a viscount, I thought it was pronounced vee-count. After all, it looks like a French word.
It turns out that I was wrong. Viscount is pronounced v-eye-count.
6 Historical Romances to Read After Julia Quinn
If you put “viscount” into the search bar of Goodreads, you’ll find plenty of Regency and Victorian romance novels with “viscount” in the title. So I thought I’d share some deep cuts of viscounts similar to Julia Quinn’s characters that aren’t showcased in the title of the novel.
The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.24
The Viscount: Sebastian, Viscount St. Vincent
The Synopsis:
Desperate to escape her scheming relatives, Evangeline Jenner has sought the help of the most infamous scoundrel in London. A marriage of convenience is the only solution.
No one would have ever paired the shy, stammering wallflower with the sinfully handsome viscount. It quickly becomes clear, however, that Evie is a woman of hidden strength—and Sebastian desires her more than any woman he's ever known.
Determined to win her husband's elusive heart, Evie dares to strike a bargain with the devil: if Sebastian can stay celibate for three months, she will allow him into her bed. When Evie is threatened by a vengeful enemy from the past, Sebastian vows to do whatever it takes to protect his wife . . . even at the expense of his own life.
Together they will defy their perilous fate, for the sake of all-consuming love.
What to expect:
Marriage of convenience, an emotionally constipated viscount, and a charming and competent heroine who shows him the meaning of love.
The Wedding Clause by Alexandra Ivy
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.58
The Viscount: Hart, Viscount Woodhart
The Synopsis:
Molly Conwell’s life has been quite unremarkable—until she learns the startling details of her late employer Lady Woodhart’s will: The sum of 30,000 pounds will be divided equally between the deceased’s grandson, Viscount “Hart” Woodhart, and Molly if they wed. If one or the other fails to appear, then the present party receives the entire fortune. Molly has no intention to wed Hart, but if she inherits the money she could help her brother regain his proper place in Society. Besides, she’s convinced that her prospective groom, who has always accused her of being a fortune hunter, will not present himself. As Molly embarks on a daring charade, she discovers a fierce opponent in Hart —and an even fiercer desire for this dangerously handsome man who may prove impossible to resist...
What to expect:
Meddling family, a spinster heroine, class differences, and an inheritance drama
To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.89
The Viscount: Jasper Renshaw, Viscount Vale
The Synopsis:
Jasper Renshaw, Viscount Vale, has a problem: he needs to marry and produce an heir to the title. All Jasper wants is to find a lady who will put up with him long enough to wed so he can retreat to his life of debauchery—a life that keeps the haunting memories of his past at bay. Knowing that Jasper is under pressure to marry, Melisande Fleming grasps her fate with both hands and volunteers to wed him. Although Jasper is initially only interested in producing an heir, he soon becomes entranced by his wife—prim and proper by day, wanton by night—and vows to learn her secrets.
Melisande, however, is determined to keep her husband at a distance. She has loved and lost before, and will do anything to keep him from learning her terrible weakness: She's secretly been in love with him for years. But to her chagrin, her husband pursues her, wooing her as if she were a paramour, not his lady wife. As Melisande and Jasper embark on a passionate game of cat and mouse, secrets from the past begin to resurface ... threatening to tear them asunder.
What to expect:
Marriage of convenience, a sexually-experienced heroine, a war hero, and a little bit of mystery
Lord Perfect by Loretta Chase
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.04
The Viscount: Benedict Carsington, Viscount Rathbourne
The Synopsis:
The heir to the Earl of Hargate, Benedict Carsington, Viscount Rathbourne, is the perfect aristocrat. Tall, dark, and handsome, he is known for his impeccable manners and good breeding. Benedict knows all the rules and has no trouble following them—until she enters his life.
Bathsheba Wingate belongs to the rotten branch of the DeLucey family: a notorious lot of liars, frauds, and swindlers. Small wonder her husband’s high-born family disowned him. Now widowed, she’s determined to give her daughter a stable life and a proper upbringing. Nothing and no one will disrupt Bathsheba’s plans—until he enters her life…
Then Bathsheba’s hoyden daughter lures Benedict’s precocious nephew into a quest for a legendary treasure. To recover the would-be knights errant, Benedict and Bathsheba must embark on a rescue mission that puts them in dangerous, intimate proximity. It’s a situation virtually guaranteed to end in mayhem—even scandal!—if anyone else were involved. But Benedict is in perfect control of events. Perfect control, despite his mad desire to break all the rules. Perfect control. Really.
What to expect:
A dutiful hero, a bewitching but scandal-tainted heroine, parent-trap style children’s shenanigans
One Week as Lovers by Victoria Dahl
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.78
The Viscount: Nicholas, Viscount Lancaster
The Synopsis:
Even after finding his betrothed in the arms of another man, Nicholas, the Viscount Lancaster, knows he must wed. Propriety and the dire state of his finances decrees it. At least a visit to his country estate provides relief from playing the role of loving fiance, as well as a surprising encounter with Cynthia Merrithorpe. Once his childhood companion, Cynthia has grown into a lovely, alluring woman one who's undertaken a daring ruse to avoid being sold into a miserable marriage.
When Nicholas left for London to assume his new title, Cynthia was forced to put aside her girlish infatuation. Now he's returned, more wickedly attractive than ever. And this time, Cynthia is determined to experience the pleasure she's dreamed of for so long. But with a man like Nicholas, seduction is only the beginning of a sensual journey that will tempt them both to defy convention, and uncover the very heart of desire...
What to expect:
Unrequited love, childhood friends, and a spinster heroine determined to take charge of her fate
Scandal Takes the Stage by Eva Leigh
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.65
The Viscount: Cameron, Viscount Marwood
The Synopsis:
Successful playwright Maggie Delamere has no interest in the flirtations of noblemen like Cameron, Viscount Marwood. She once paid dearly for a moment of weakness…and vows to rebuff the wildly persistent—and irritatingly handsome—scoundrel at every turn. But when pressure to deliver a new play hampers her creativity, an invitation to use his country estate as a writer’s retreat is too tempting to resist....
For years, Cam has admired Maggie’s brilliant work and he can’t pass up the opportunity to discover if the beautiful, mysterious playwright is as passionate and clever as the words that flow from her quill. He’s never offered a lady his bed without being in it, but if it means loosening Maggie’s pen—and her inhibitions—he’ll do exactly that.
But soon Cam’s plans for seduction become a fight for Maggie’s heart. He’s more than the scandalous, carefree rake society believes him to be…and she’s the only woman who has ever noticed.
What to expect:
A rake who refuses to fall in love, a competent heroine who refuses to flirt, and a drama about the theater
Bonus:
Of course, I can’t write a blog post about viscounts without mentioning my novel, The Viscount Without Virtue!
What’s a lady to do?
Maximilian Hainsworth is a viscount undercover. His goal is to write a scathing expose of the Preston family. Except, he keeps flirting with Ellen Preston instead of uncovering family secrets. When she unmasks his identity, she has to decide: does she kick him out or let him stay?
Read on for an excerpt!
The man’s hand was warm as it clenched more tightly about hers. Ellen watched as alarm replaced the curiosity with which he had just been regarding her. She should be offended that he had so confidently grabbed at her, as if she were a tavern wench or worse.
Instead, she wished he would hold onto her forever.
“I apologize,” he said, dropping his hands, his gaze, his chin.
“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sims,” Ellen said, since Mr. Chow was watching. If she launched into a monologue on how she did hate the way the laborers avoided her gaze, Mr. Chow would only tell her father, and then her father would summon some sort of lecture, and Papa’s lectures only ever reminded Ellen of how much she missed Mama.
Mr. Sims did not look in her direction.
Ellen angled her attention back to Mr. Chow. The sooner this awkward moment ended, the better. “I’ll get to work on the shutters, then.” There were eight sets to make, and she had only finished one so far.
But Mr. Chow said, “I’m afraid not, Miss Ellen.” His eyes slid to the new man, as if that explained everything.
Surely, Mr. Chow wasn’t being maidenish about her reputation. Mr. Sims had assumed a posture of humility: chin down, shoulders back, eyes averted. Rather like a dog whose ears had pulled backwards to show respect. Except the man was so tall – and muscled, everywhere a man could have muscles. He had stepped three feet away from her, yet Ellen could feel him as if he were beside her.
He was, perhaps, the most handsome man she had ever seen.
Still, he was a mere man. She would not expire simply by working beside him. “I’m sure Mr. Sims would not object, Mr. Chow.”
The man’s gaze flicked upwards. There was amusement there. Ellen couldn’t tell if it was at her expense.
“Mr. Sims does not have tools,” Mr. Chow said. “He must use yours.”
Her tools. In the hands of this man. His fingers caressing the handle of her hammer. His palms guiding her plane across timber planks. His thumbpads testing the sharpness of each blade.
Envy heated her gut. Envy of Mr. Sims, for stealing her tools. Of her tools, for stealing Mr. Sims.
Ellen swallowed back the temptation to argue. It was unkind to be selfish when a man had so little in life that he had to seek work without tools. The only concern was whether the shutters would get done. “Do you have joinery experience, Mr. Sims?”
“He built houses in Australia,” Mr. Chow answered. “We will get by.”
The man in question nodded, as if to agree. Ellen would have liked to ask whether those houses even had shutters. She would have liked to question why Mr. Chow should prefer a man with brute strength over a woman with skilled labor.
She did not. After all, Mr. Sims had walked the five miles from town, and perhaps further, in search of work. He would have difficulty finding wages elsewhere, being a former convict. This was not about whose labor would complete the cottages better. It was about being gracious and generous.
Ellen could rise above her dismay, if it was the right thing to do.
“Allow me to show you the shutter design, then.”
Her following actions were ones she did almost every afternoon, as familiar as the smell of fresh wood. Tie on her leather apron. Slip on the heavy work gloves. Open her toolchest and assemble her old friends, the chisel and bevel and plane. Yet that afternoon, with the weight of everyone’s eyes on her, Ellen nearly fumbled her tools to the floor.
Heat flooded her cheeks. She cursed that feeling, cursed her complexion for blushing so easily, cursed herself for being so awkward. Mr. Sims would think her embarrassed, when in truth she was only uncomfortable. Perhaps a little nervous.
He was very handsome.