Vanessa Riley Author Spotlight: Book Recommendations

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Welcome back to My Jamaican Vignettes. Today we are discussing books by Vanessa Riley. She was one of my most read authors of 2024 and I want to share the books I loved and enjoyed and would recommend as well as her books that are on my reading list that I hope to get to soon.

Now before I dive in, I just wanted to share that this post almost didn’t happen. I had a vision at the end of February or perhaps even into January for what my author spotlights posts would look like in 2025 and I knew I wanted to start this series with Vanessa Riley but I fully intended to have read her 2025 release before drafting this post but unfortunately that hasn’t happened (yet) so we persist.

Vanessa Riley Book Recommendations

I have two series by Vanessa Riley that I want to recommend, one that I read all the books released so far and the other where I read book one but I am so excited by the promise of what is to come in the series that I can recommend it. Then at the end I will share the books by Vanessa Riley that I want to read very soon.

The Lady Worthing Mysteries Series by Vanessa Riley

The Lady Worthing Mystery series is an unexpected favourite of 2024.

Why were they unexpected? Because I struggled at first to get into book one but man was that initial slow reading period worth it. I like historical mysteries but these were so well-researched and the pacing was amazing, and you grow with each book to appreciate Lady Worthing – a biracial (Blackamoor in the book) woman navigating Regency England. It is intriguing and the twists and turns are well paced.

Betting Against The Duke

I read book on the Betting Against the Duke series last summer. A Gamble At Sunset was sweet and delightful and while I fear we won’t get to the duke’s romance until book three. I am invested in the series.

Vanessa Riley Books on My Upcoming Reading Lists

So my next Vanessa Riley book will be book two in the Betting Against The Duke series. A Wager At Midnight is on my reading hopefuls for March (no TBR, remember) but I haven’t been in the mood for a historical quite yet but I know this will be good.

Then, I want to read Queen of Exiles which is on my Kindle and that centres Marie-Clare Bonheur Dessalines the exiled empress of Hayti following the Haitian War of Independence. I really want to dive into this one.

Find Out More About Vanessa Riley

If are a fan of Vanessa Riley, then I recommend that you join her mailing list. Her Substack newsletter is insightful and you will stay in the know about book releases, her author talks and signings.

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Have you read anything by Vanessa Riley? What’s your favourite book by her? Or have I have gotten you excited to pick up one of her books?

Thanks for reading and let’s chat more next week.