Regency romance recommendations?

I am going through a regency romance phase and I am currently reading a few of Judith McNaught's regency novels. Does anyone have any other authors or titles to recommend in the regency genre? Thank you!!

BL79, you really don't want to get me started. The list would be long, very very long. My recommendations are scattered all over this board. Regency is my thing! :)

CC

Mary Balogh, definitely. Also Loretta Chase, Stephanie Laurens, Edith Layton, Elizabeth Thornton, Anne Gracie and that is just a start. There are so many good ones that you won't run out for a long time!

Georgette Heyer, of course. Some of my favorites of hers are The Grand Sophy, Venetia, A Civil Contract, Friday's Child, and Cotillion. (Hmm, touchstones are looking a little flaky here.)

I can't resist. Brace yourself! LOL

Mary Balogh
Renee Bernard
Jo Beverley
Celeste Bradley
Gayle Callen
Liz Carlyle
Loretta Chase
Sylvia Day
Christina Dodd
Suzanne Enoch
Gaelen Foley
Melanie George
Jo Goodman
Candice Hern
Cheryl Holt
Jillian Hunter
Elizabeth Hoyt
Miranda Jarrett
Sabrina Jeffries
Carolyn Jewel
Nicole Jordan
Carla Kelly (Early Regency/Peninsular Wars Era)
Laura Kinsale
Lisa Kleypas
Cathy Maxwell
Kasey Michaels
Lucy Monroe
Debra Mullins
Diane Perkins, a/k/a Diane Gaston
Gail Ranstrom
Elizabeth Rolls
Melody Thomas
Lisa Valdez

... to name a few.

CC

What exactly are the boundaries for the term "regency"? I've Wikipediaed (is that a verb yet?) it, and I know that there are definitive dates attached, however, it seems that the romance genre seems to stretch those dates a bit.

CC,
Thanks for the list!=) I've read a lot of other historical romances from different time periods, but I think regency is also my favorite.

You're welcome.

Ireland, I think I stretch the dates more than a little to encompass "Regency". I tag everything set between late 1700s to about 1820 as Regency, so that would technically include Georgian and a little Victorian, too.

CC

CC,

That is a sweet list! I love the Regency books ever since I first borrowed one from my mom. Unfortunately she actually prefers Westerns, which i am not a fan of at all. Probably cuz i live in the midwest....hmmm...regardless I'll definately be checking out any of those authors i haven't read

CC,
Out of the list, who are your fave regency authors? What about your fave regency books?

BL79: I thoroughly enjoyed all of McNaught's regencies as well. (Yes, even Whitney, My Love, which everyone seems to either really love or really hate.)

I'm not as widely-read in romance as most of the other folks here, but here's a few regency authors I'm fond of:

Johanna Lindsey - the Malory novels are regencies, very good
Julia Quinn - mostly light and fluffy, Bridgertons series was great
Stephanie Laurens - romance with an adventure plot, extra steamy, Cynster family series or Bastion Club series
Suzanne Enoch - all of hers are just plain good
Sabrina Jeffries - I've just recently started reading her, and am enjoying them all so far

BL79, those are my favorite of the Regency authors. I tried to narrow it down to top 10 or even top 20, but I couldn't do it.

I'll work on favorite books, but again, everything by all of the authors on my list are favorites. I can tell you what I like in a Regency. I like steamy, sexy love scenes, Alpha male heroes, emotional tension between the H/H(but not meaningless conflict or conflict that is drawn out). I love a tortured hero, a bad boy turned good, a downtrodden heroine

I am drawn to the plots which feature a Hero and Heroine thrown together in a forced marriage or a marriage of convenience. I like it when they champion each other.

Let me think on the favorite books list and I'll get back to you.

CC

Ireland,

I believe it's actually not the publishers themselves who attach a wider range to the term Regency. It's rather that books are falsly classified by booksellers, reviewer and readers.

The Regency time period was from 1811-1820. In Regency romances you will mostly find similar "by"-plotlines (balls, houseparties, parliament, the Season...). The majority are written about aristocrats whereas in Victorian romances you can find more common people who have worked hard and achieved their wealth by themselves. Also you can find more Americans who are trying to catch a titled Lord or Lady. Lisa Kleypas is a good example for Victorian romance and for Regency Suzanne Enoch, Johanna Lindsey's Malory's go from (Regency-George IV).

BL79, I haven't read anything by Judith McNaught but would second katybears list except Laurens and Jeffries which I haven't read either but heard good things about. Jeffries is at least on my list of authors to try out.

Julia

Okay, got a list of my very favorite Regencies. It includes one technically Georgian, but no Victorian, which is a whole other list!

I also left out of my favorite authors list Leslie LaFoy, Theresa Medeiros and Edith Layton.

All I Ever Needed by Jo Goodman (Compass Club Series)
Angel In My Bed by Melody Thomas
An Arranged Marriage by Jo Beverley (Company of Rogues Series)
Ask For It by Sylvia Day (erotic)
Beau Crusoe by Carla Kelly
Beware Of Virtuous Women by Kasey Michaels (Becketts of Romney Marsh Series)
The Chivalrous Rake by Elizabeth Rolls
Forbidden Magic by Jo Beverley
The Improper Wife by Diane Perkins
In The Thrill Of The Night by Candice Hern
Lady Beware by Jo Beverley (Co. Of Rogues)
The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
Lord Ruin by Carolyn Jewel
The Marriage Bargain by Diane Perkins
A Most Unsuitable Groom by Kasey Michaels (Becketts of Romney Marsh Series)
Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase (Carsington Family Series)
Move Heaven And Earth by Christina Dodd
No Man’s Bride by Shana Galen
One Good Turn by Carla Kelly
One Night For Love by Mary Balogh (Connected to the Bedwyn Family Series)
One Night With A Spy by Celeste Bradley
Passion by Lisa Valdez (erotic)
Passion For The Game by Sylvia Day (erotic)
A Perfect Bride by Samantha James
The Perfect Desire by Leslie LaFoy
Pure Temptation by Connie Mason
The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
A Regency Invitation (Anthology), which includes The Prodigal Bride by Elizabeth Rolls
The Rogue’s Bride by Leslie LaFoy
A Season To Be Sinful by Jo Goodman (Compass Club Series?)
The Secret Passion Of Simon Blackwell by Samantha James
Simply Love by Mary Balogh (Connected to the Bedwyn Family Series)
The Sinful Nights Of A Nobleman by Jillian Hunter (Boscastle Family Series)
The Stranger I Married by Sylvia Day (erotic)
To Rescue A Rogue by Jo Beverley (Company of Rogues Series)
To Wed A Stranger by Edith Layton
Two Weeks With A Stranger by Debra Mullins
An Unwilling Bride by Jo Beverley (Company of Rogues Series)
The Viscount In Her Bedroom by Gayle Callen (Sisters of Willow Pond Series)
The Way Of The Heart by Cheryl Holt
The Wedding Journey by Carla Kelly
Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros

If your Mom wants any recommendations for Historical Westerns, let me know. That's my second favorite romance time period! :)

CC

CC,

Ohh, thank you...I'm gonna copy your fave list down and start searching!=) I feel like a kid that found the goody bag and doesn't know where to start though.hehe.

You're welcome. I just got 89 books I bought last week in two lots from Ebay, 57 of them are Regencies. I may have to add more to the list! :)

CC

Ohh, I found a kindred spirit for regencies.lol. I don't know why I like romance novels set in this time period the best. I love reading about the social life of England's nobility of the time. The Season and balls and the norms of the time. Not to mention the heroes are almost always disllusioned rakes =) who always get shot down a peg or two by women! So appropriate don't you think?

I've got over 700 books tagged regency with at least 90% being fiction. However when tagging these, I did use the term loosely so some will be Georgian or Victorian. They include both strict regency novels of the comedy of manners type and regency-era historicals.

Since I've done a lot of culling over the years I would recommend pretty much any of them.

BL79: (High Five, girl!)

Haile, do you mean you'd recommend the ones on my list, or that you recommend any of the ones you've tagged as Regency? I'd love to see a list of your favorites.

CC

hailelib,
Do share your fave regencies too!=) What is the difference between Regency and Georgian or Victorian? What time period does the latter encompass?

One of my favorite regency novels is Emma by Jane Austen. I actually liked it better than Pride and Prejudice (quite frequently, I wanted to throttle Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy for being so stubborn). But I really enjoyed the clueless Emma and her matchmaking and misconceptions about everyone!lol. Hilarious and such fun reading!

I tried to post earlier but it didn't take!

The main point was that I would do some thinking and get back to you.

BL79, the differnce between Regency, Georgian and Victorian, is simply the time of their reign.

Georg III. (George III) 1760 – 1820
Georg IV. (George IV) 1820 – 1830
Wilhelm IV. (William IV) 1830 – 1837
Victoria 1837 – 1901

During Georg III illness from 1811-1820, his son Georg IV ruled the country as Prince Regent --> Regency.

Since most of our romance novel are set during the 19th century and then either starting in Regency or later, I personally would define Georgian as the time period of 1820-1830. But if you take it literally, Georgian is from 1760-1830. Since that got me really confused I started tagging all of my books with the exact regent of that period and if I have it, the year in which the book is set.

Julia

Julia,
Thank you for the explanation.

all time favorites: a summer to remember (Balogh), A man of my dreams / Love only once (Lindsey), The duke and I (Quinn), Something wonderful / Whitney my love (McNaught), Lord of Scoundrels (Chase). Happy reading!
Maggie