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With the caveat that there is no truly pure and ethical way to make *any* money under capitalism, here is a thread of historical romances that are swoonworthy without needing piles of colonially acquired/inherited wealth to underpin the fantasy.
Courtney Milan’s After the Wedding: heroine is in service, hero is posing as a valet but really runs a pottery works (the pottery artists are instant favorites): https://www.courtneymilan.com/after-the-wedding/
Beverly Jenkins, especially Forbidden: heroine is a cook who revitalizes a hotel kitchen in a mining town, hero is a white-passing Black man who helps ensure Black residents have access to credit (too complex for a tweet, an awesome, wonderful book): https://beverlyjenkins.net/books/forbidden/
Alyssa Cole’s That Could Be Enough: one heroine is Eliza Hamilton’s secretary, the other is a seamstress: https://www.thelesbianreview.com/that-could-be-enough-alyssa-cole/
Many books by Rose Lerner (excellent friend, excellent writer): the entire Lively St. Lemeston series features working-class characters, tradesmen, con artists, butlers and maids: https://www.roselerner.com/bookshelf/lively-st-lemeston/
EE Ottoman’s The Craft of Love: quilter heroine falls for trans silversmith in 19th century New York: https://acosmistmachine.com/
Cat Sebastian’s A Gentleman Never Keeps Score: one hero is an impoverished aristocrat who finds a profession at the end of the book, other hero is a boxer turned baetender. Meant to say bartender but the typo stands! https://catsebastian.com/a-gentleman-never-keeps-score/
KJ Charles’ Lilywhite Boys series features jewel thieves, fences, a gentleman-turned illustrator, a music hall singer, and a lady detective: https://kjcharleswriter.com/the-lilywhite-boys/
I am still on tenterhooks for the reissue of Piper Huguely’s novella “The Washerwoman’s War,” not least on account of the gorgeous cover: https://twitter.com/piperhuguley/status/1131209629151768576
In the meantime you can order the whole collection in paperback, it’s well worth it: https://www.amazon.com/Daughters-Nation-Suffragette-Historical-Anthology/dp/1941885349
Lydia San Andres‘s Cuidad Real and Arroyo Blanco books are full of work (writing, shop-owning, sewing, and suffragettes!) but feel like blissful tropical vacations (lagoons and kissing and guava jam!): https://lydiasanandres.com/books/
You’ll notice a lot of these books are by and feature people of color, queer people, and other marginalized identities. Just saying.
I’m listing these books because the question of “how do we grapple with colonially acquired wealth in historicals?” risks assuming that historical romance requires a wealthy duke or an aristocrat. It doesn’t.
Sometimes you want burn-it-all-down historicals like Alyssa Cole’s magnificent Loyal League series (Civil War Union spies kicking ass). https://alyssacole.com/the-loyal-league/
Other times you want to watch a courtesan and a constable fall in love despite their wary cynical natures, while solving a mystery in Tang Dynasty China (Jeannie Lin’s books are always my catnip): http://www.jeannielin.com/the-jade-temptress/
There are options where you don’t have to talk about dukes at all! Save yourself from Duke Discourse! Explore the wide, glorious rest of the historical world! There’s so much more history to play with.
