I'm looking for some historical romance recommendations that have a good plot and full rounded characters. I've been trying to read some but have often been sort of disappointed by flat characters who only have one goal and simple straightforward plots. I would like some historical intrigue and tension, with a good romance that isn't the entire/most of the plot. Something that really puts you in a certain place and time. Long books are very welcome.
I enjoyed the Outlander series (though I think the main villains ARE flat and boring, the rest of the characters feel 'real' to me. And I'd like to go for something that's not fantasy).
Also enjoyed the Pillars of the Earth series by Ken Follet in terms of plot and intrigue, except they never really got me in the feels aside from a few tragic deaths. The romances didn't give me butterflies lol.
As a last example, I didn't enjoy the Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse because it felt very flat to me, despite the interesting setting, the good characters were angelic and the villain was so dramatic it came round to being boring again. It had such an over the top fairytale ending that I was put off borrowing the rest of the series from my library, despite me really enjoying the first half of the book.
by KaleidoscopeThink731