Books like The conquest

The conquest by Jude Deveraux reads as adventurous, romantic. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.

What The conquest is like to read

A feisty cross-dressing heroine and her sworn-enemy suitor spar their way toward romance amid a family blood feud — brisk, adventurous, and warmly romantic. Best for: readers who enjoy classic 1980s historical romance with a spirited disguised-heroine trope and guaranteed happy ending.

Skye O'Malley

Bertrice Small · 1980

A sweeping, globe-spanning historical romance following a bold seafaring heroine through passion, peril, and political intrigue across Elizabethan Europe and North Africa.

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A Rose In Winter

Kathleen E. Woodiwiss · 1982

A gothic-tinged historical romance of forced marriage, a masked husband, and a forbidden Yankee suitor, layered with a Night Rider mystery stalking the town.

guaranteed HEAmildly eeriecomplete story

Defy Not the Heart

Johanna Lindsey · 1989

A captive-bride medieval romance where a headstrong heiress bargains her castle for marriage to the golden warrior who abducted her — heated, dramatic, and driven by the will-she-yield tension between them.

guaranteed HEAhigh heatcomplete story

The Black Lyon

Jude Deveraux · 1980

A sweeping medieval romance of a fierce conqueror and the spirited woman who matches him, driven by jealousy, separation, and a rescue across the Irish Sea.

guaranteed HEAcomplete storydeep cut

Bold Conquest

Virginia Henley · 1983

A swashbuckling 1980s bodice-ripper romance where a Norman conqueror and his captive noblewoman spar their way to love amid war's aftermath.

guaranteed HEAhigh heatdeep cut

Surrender to Love

Rosemary Rogers · 1982

A passionate, continent-spanning romance in which a spirited heroine navigates dangerous passion and desire while torn between two men and her own need for independence.

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