Members’ Regency Fiction Releases for November 2023

On the 1st of each month, Regency Fiction Writers publishes our FREE online newsletter, The Regency Reader, to anyone interested in Regency Fiction (1780-1840). The publication features author interviews, tidbits about the Regency era, and a listing of new titles from members and non-members. Members’ releases also appear here on the blog. New books are then posted on Quizzing Glass, generally on the second Monday of the month. Submit your December Regency-set Fiction Release or Regency Author Article by November 24th, to appear in the December issue. Information submitted after October 24th will appear in the January issue. (Subscribe now!)

For more information about an author, click on the author’s name, website, or show/hide the blurb for the book.

New This Month


Cover Image for Under the Marquess's Mistletoe

Janna MacGregor

Under the Marquess’s Mistletoe
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Janna MacGregor
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/17/2023
Author Website: https://www.jannamacgregor.com

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Tristan Fitz-James, the Marquess of Bridebourne, has been in love with his best friend, Lady Sophia Rowan, his entire life. He’s about to propose at Christmas when fate cruelly pulls the lovers apart. Two years later, when they meet again at the same holiday house party, they’re enemies. Tristan has earned a reputation as a London libertine, and Sophia wants nothing to do with him. He broke her heart once, and she vows it’ll not happen again.

When they’re locked together in a room during a festive game of hide and seek, secrets and passions flare in the dark until they’re discovered by other guests. There is only one solution that’s honorable. Marriage.

Tristan is determined to win back Sophia even though she would rather throw away her reputation than marry the man who stole her heart then stomped on it. Undeterred, he vows to find a way to show her how good they are together.

It’ll take more than mistletoe and holiday goodwill to mend these broken hearts and bring the two of them together again. Yet, Tristan has always believed in Christmas miracles. He just has to show Sophia that Christmas present and the promise of Christmas future will overcome their past.


Cover Image for The Lord and the Lady Astronomer

Alissa Baxter

The Lord and the Lady Astronomer
Series: The Grantham Girls
Genre: Regency Traditional
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Clean Sweet
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 11/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.alissabaxter.com/

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Can wishing upon a star ever come true?

Abigail Grantham has always taken a keen interest in astronomy since her brother Sir John Grantham enlisted her aid as a young girl to keep records of his astronomical discoveries. Abigail is delighted when her uncle, Lord Longmore, invites her to stay at Longmore Hall in Buckinghamshire as he needs her assistance to compile a star chart.

When Abigail arrives at the Hall, her Aunt Longmore introduces her to local society. However, Abigail also spends a great deal of time in her uncle’s observatory, viewing the night skies alongside her uncle’s neighbor, fellow astronomer William, Viscount Rochvale.

Lord Rochvale is intrigued by Abigail, and when he discovers that they share an interest in ancient buildings and Roman history, he contrives to become better acquainted with her away from her uncle’s observatory, taking her to places of archaeological interest with a view to winning her heart. But the astronomical project they are working on makes courtship difficult, and William’s plans are further frustrated by his rakish cousin Gerald Burnby, who becomes a frequent visitor to Longmore Hall, seeking out Abigail too.

After a valuable Roman urn disappears from Longmore Hall, a series of mysterious occurrences unravel, presenting a puzzle Abigail has no idea how to solve. However, when events escalate into peril, Abigail discovers that it is the night sky that holds the secret to the missing urn—as well as to her stolen heart.

Read Free in Kindle Unlimited!


Cover Image for Writing Regency England

Gail Eastwood
Jayne Davis

Writing Regency England
Series:
Genre: Regency Research/Nonfiction
Publisher: Verbena Books
Content Rating: Clean
Format: Print
Release Date: 11/03/2023
Author Website: https://gaileastwoodauthor.com

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From pitfalls to perfection – your essential Regency writing companion

Are you writing stories set in Regency England? Do you want your characters and settings to feel authentic? Then this is the book to help you escape common pitfalls and breathe authenticity into your writing.

Writing Regency England is the only guidebook tailored specifically to help you to avoid the most commonly seen errors in Regency fiction. All historical authors face the challenge of not having lived during the time they are describing, and also share the problem of “you don’t know what you don’t
know.” No one gets everything right! But non-British authors writing about England also have the disadvantage of not being steeped in the language, geography, culture and history of the country from living there. While some readers don’t care about accuracy as long as a story is good, others do
and if you get too many things wrong, they may leave bad reviews and put you on their ‘authors to avoid’ list.

British author Jayne Davis and American author Gail Eastwood combine their perspectives and meticulous research to offer invaluable insights into Regency language, setting, and society. Expanded from a presentation given at the RFW conference in 2021, this indispensable guide illuminates common
pitfalls but also can spark creative ideas rooted in the authentic details of Regency life.


Cover Image for A Duke Is Always Dangerous

Rebecca Leigh

A Duke Is Always Dangerous
Series: A Duke Always
Genre: Regency Romance Suspense
Publisher: self
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 11/03/2023
Author Website:

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Abigail Bailey longed for adventure. After living a sheltered life as the daughter of a vicar in the small village of Somerset, the excitement of London called to her. While traveling to McDonough Castle in Scotland after the death of her father to visit her lifelong friend Emma, she inadvertently crosses paths with ex-spy Camden Davenport, Duke of Stafford. Camden was handsome, mysterious, and unlike any man she had ever met before, but she was not prepared for the risky escapade they were about to embark upon, and it makes her question whether she has the strength to endure it, not to mention the power to withstand the charms of her new guardian.
When Miss Bailey overhears a plot that puts both of their lives in danger, Cam finds the attractive young lady thrust upon him, and in order to keep her safe, they must embark upon a journey that will test both of their limits. Cam’s attraction to Abigail only grows stronger the more time he is with her and when a dangerous villain from his past threatens them both, he realizes how far he will go to keep her safe.
A love story filled with passion, peril, intrigue, and espionage. This London season will be filled with more than just balls, gossip, and Lady Weatherby’s bad poetry, because A Duke is Always Dangerous, especially when the woman he loves is threatened.


Cover Image for Three Nights With Her Husband

Katherine Grant

Three Nights With Her Husband
Series: Northfield Hall Novellas
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Katherine Grant
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: eBook eNovella
Release Date: 11/09/2023
Author Website: https://katherinegrantromance.com/three-nights-with-her-husband/

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On this road trip, one bed is never enough…

For Double and Mary Shayler, a road trip to London should be the perfect holiday away from Northfield Hall. Married for 25 years, they are on their way to visit their son and get some much-needed quality time.

The only trouble is that Mary is mad at Double. Still. And as much as he tries to apologize, he only seems to make things worse instead of better.

As they get farther and farther away from the comfort of their home, Mary and Double have to face the fears swirling behind their every interaction: do they still love each other enough to stay together?

Enjoy this one-hour read from award-winning author Katherine Grant!


Cover Image for Kisses by Candlelight

Janna MacGregor

Kisses by Candlelight
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Janna MacGregor
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/24/2023
Author Website: https://www.jannamacgregor.com

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ROMANTIC REGENCY SHORTS

Four delightful, short, and sexy Regency holiday romances by best-selling author Janna MacGregor.

Titles include The Earl’s Christmas Bride (previously published in the holiday anthology ‘Tis the Season), Red Ribbons and Rogues, Never Enough Mistletoe Kisses, and Kissing Boughs and Pampered Pugs.


Cover Image for Charming Miss Standish

Sandra Sookoo

Charming Miss Standish
Series: Willful Winterbournes #6
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 11/09/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

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When being a rake wears thin… Edmund Ashdowne—Viscount Evermore—has been accustomed to getting by on his handsome face and his scandalous reputation, but now that he’s been ordered to reform by his brother, he’s rebelling. Again. Tired of the restrictions and judgments of the beau monde, he needs an escape. When he meets a woman who isn’t charmed by his looks or anything else he represents, his interest is piqued, and a new idea takes hold.

One doesn’t need sight to see it’s time for a change… Miss Anna Standish is an heiress in her own right. As the only living child to a wealthy baronet, her existence has been lonely, but what she longs for is love. Much in demand of fortune hunters, the fact she is mostly blind sours many potential suitors. Well, they can all sod off. In order to meet the goals she has for her life, she will take a chance on an unconventional offer. For freedom.

When marrying in haste doesn’t exactly go to plan… As their Christmastide nuptial trip to Brighton gets underway, Edmund realizes his marriage of convenience won’t be as easy—or as convenient—as he thought once confusing emotions come into play and troubling accidents dog their steps. Challenges arise between the unlikely pair that go deeper than initial attraction, and when Anna suddenly goes missing on Christmas night, everything comes into sharp focus. If they wish to have a real marriage complete with love, they’ll need to fight for it, and a Christmas miracle wouldn’t be amiss either.


Cover Image for Christmas for Ransome

Katherine Bone

Christmas for Ransome
Series: Christmas for Ransome
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Seas the Day Publishing, LLC
Content Rating: Sweet Sensual (Mild)
Format: eBook
Release Date: 11/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.katherinebone.com/

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Captured heroes. Skilled pirates. Risky rescues. Strong heroines. And a blizzard for the ages.

While war rages on the Continent, Lieutenant Christmas Astley-Milne must return to sea, but he wants nothing more than to return to the woman he has always loved and left behind in, To Sir Christmas, With Love.

From the workhouse to the British army, then captivity courtesy of Napoleon’s men, Lieutenant Daniel Barrett has never known the warmth or safety of a real home until he kisses a woman under the mistletoe in, Yule be Home for Christmas.

Captain Ansell Ransome is determined to get to Whitstable to meet his wife, Cassia before they journey onto Canterbury to spend the Yuletide. However, as a renowned smuggler and barterer of British prisoners of war and contraband, he will have to be nimble and dodge the revenue riders and other smugglers, all of whom long to capture him in, The Pirate’s Yuletide Treasure.

Three books in one box set! Three adventurous men! Three courageous women!


Cover Image for You Made Me Love You

Cerise DeLand

You Made Me Love You
Series: Matrimony!
Genre: Regency Romance Suspense
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 11/17/2023
Author Website: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CKY5R3HF

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Love does not advertise. Love extracts no price.

When a young widow wishes to marry again, will the man she grows to love ask more than she can give?

Mrs. Tynley Wallingford yearns for a comforting marriage to a man whom she can respect. She’ll go to any lengths to find the best candidate who can respect her, in turn. Even correspond with one fellow at length before she agrees that Kendryck Hollens is the man whose words awaken her desire for a husband she might grow to love.

Tynley takes a risk and sails to Wales with the best intentions. She finds in Kendryck a man with a noble ambition—and a family filled with age-old conflict and despair.

Kendryck Hollens returns home to Wales after fifteen years abroad, a stranger to his cantankerous family. He assumes his rightful title as baron of the legendary house of Strade and attempts to change the dastardly reputation of his ancestors, and put his siblings on the right path to a purposeful life.

Thrilled that Tynley has come to his home, he notices that her presence creates challenges among those in his family. But he feels assured she can help him obtain what he wants most in this world.

When a tragedy threatens to ruin his ambition and his family, he fears the price of endurance will ruin Tynley’s personal objective too—and drive her from him.

How much can one ask of one whom they love? Are any prices too high?


Cover Image for A Very Merry Regency Christmas Box Set

Ellie St. Clair

A Very Merry Regency Christmas Box Set
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Prairie Lily Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: eBook
Release Date: 11/17/2023
Author Website: https://elliestclair.com

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Indulge in the magic of Christmas with this enchanting anthology featuring three captivating love stories that unfold beneath the mistletoe.

In Christmastide with his Countess, Scarlett, the Countess of Oxford, finds her icy barriers melting amidst a snowstorm that traps her and her estranged husband, Hunter, Earl of Oxford. Will the magic of Christmas bring them back together, or will past wounds keep them apart forever?

In Merry MIsrule, Joanna Merryton, scarred by the pranks of her youth, is forced to confront her past when Lord Elijah Kentmore, a war-weary soldier, returns home. With memories muddled by war, he seeks redemption in the one woman he wronged. Can he win her forgiveness and find love under the mistletoe?

In Her Christmas Wish, Lord Charles Blythe, Earl of Doverton, devises a plan to thwart an unwanted inheritance by pretending to marry. When he chooses Emily Nicholls, a governess, as his fake bride, unexpected desires flare between them. But duty and love stand at odds. Will they choose passion or obligation as they celebrate a Christmas that could change their lives forever?
Let these heartwarming tales of love, forgiveness, and second chances fill your holiday season with warmth and cheer. Discover the power of love beneath the mistletoe in this festive collection.


Cover Image for Investigating the Duke

Alexa Aston

Investigating the Duke
Series: Suddenly a Duke
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 11/21/2023
Author Website: https://alexaaston.com/

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A serious clergyman whose brothers die, leaving him an unexpected duke. A woman who is making her way as a Bow Street runner. An investigation that leads them to the truth—and each other . . .

Jasper Lincoln is happy tending to his congregation when news arrives of his brother’s death in battle. Jasper’s father, ailing for several months, slips away, unable to bear the news. And on that same night, Jasper’s brother, Lord Sutton, drunkenly falls down the stairs, dying instantly, making Jasper a sudden duke. He harbors lingering suspicions about these two deaths and seeks help at Bow Street.

Orphan Shelby Slade grew up on the cruel streets of London, surviving as a pickpocket until being rescued by Mr. Franklin, head of the Bow Street runners. Shelby finds her purpose, becoming the only female agent at Bow Street. She is assigned to the Duke of Edgehaven’s case and fights the growing attraction she feels for the solemn clergyman-turned-duke.

As her inquiry proceeds, Shelby believes the previous duke was poisoned with arsenic and that the new duke’s niece, who has suddenly turned mute, may have witnessed her own father’s murder. Together, with Edgehaven’s help, she searches for answers, wanting to uncover the truth regarding both deaths.

Will Shelby’s investigation lead to discovering the killer’s identity—and will she live long enough to claim happiness with Jasper?


Cover Image for Lady in Ruby

Elizabeth Cole

Lady in Ruby
Series: Secrets of the Zodiac
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance Mystery
Publisher: SkySpark Books
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: eBook eNovella
Release Date: 11/21/2023
Author Website: https://elizabethcole.co

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Do you want to build a nobleman?

Once upon a December, best friends Caroline and Estelle brave the cold English winter and build a snowman in the woods. Caroline playfully shapes him into her ideal suitor, narrating all the qualities a man would require to catch her attention. Later that day, a stranger knocks on the door: Lord Snowdon, a dashing gentleman dressed in blue and white, bearing an invitation to the family’s holiday festivities. The next day, Caroline walks back to where she built her snowman…only to discover that it’s gone!

Is it Christmas magic at work, or is something less innocent going on? Caroline senses that Lord Snowdon is not exactly what he seems, and more than one guest has a hidden agenda. When vital documents are stolen from the house, it’s crystal clear that someone is up to no good. Can Caroline uncover the plot threatening to ruin the holiday joy and keep her heart from breaking?

Lady in Ruby is a whimsical, wintry novella set in the Secrets of the Zodiac world of Regency-era spies. You can read this story as a standalone, or at any time while you go through the rest of the series!


Cover Image for A Brilliant Match

Jennie Goutet

A Brilliant Match
Series: The Earl’s Sisters
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Millefeuille Press
Content Rating: Clean
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 11/21/2023
Author Website: https://jenniegoutetbooks.com

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A love match would not do. She would make an advantageous match—a brilliant match!

At the age of nineteen, Lady Dorothea Rowlandson was practically on the shelf. Had she not suffered her father, the earl’s, untimely death months before last year’s season, she would surely by now be a married lady—the established wife of an illustrious peer. With such a regrettable delay, time was ever more of the essence if she wished to secure her own future and that of her sisters.

Miles Shaw holds an encumbered estate. It is only logical, therefore, that he commence the London Season on the hunt for a well-endowed wife. His personal code of honor requires he be upfront about this goal, so that he deceives no one. And as he fully intends to love and cherish the wife of his choosing, he will naturally bring as much to the union as he receives. After all, he is a landed gentleman with no shortage of charm.

When chance forced Miles and Dorothea to partner one another for the first dance of the first crush of the season, Fortuna could only have been in a funning mood. To have fostered so unsuitable a connection was nothing short of absurd. For what could a peer of the realm’s daughter and a gentleman of no consequence, with his pockets to let, possibly have in common?


Cover Image for Gaming Hell Christmas: Volume 3

Kathy L Wheeler
Amanda McCabe

Gaming Hell Christmas: Volume 3
Series: Gaming Hell Christmas
Genre: Georgian Romance
Publisher: Chisel Imprint
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild) Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 12/05/2023
Author Website: https://kathylwheeler.com

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Mysteries swell in London’s snowbound Hell
The Other Face of the Christmas Shilling – Kathy L Wheeler
Lady Thomasina Staunton takes refuge in an abandoned house as far from London, her friends, and her family, as she can get. But her ruse of an absent husband fighting the French backfires. Horribly so.

When Florentine Comier, former Duc of Bouchard, returns unexpectedly from months of travel, he is shocked to find a stranger living in his home, claiming to be his wife.

Despite the deception, Florentine cannot help being drawn to the beautiful and rebellious Lady Thomasina, and soon discovers a love he never believed possible. But danger looms on the horizon as not everyone believes decent Frenchmen exist on England’s shores.

A Christmas Ha’penny’s Worth of Love – Amanda McCabe
Lady Elizabeth Rathburn hates being apart from her Miss Greensley’s Girls and being forced to stay at her bullying father’s cold, lonely estate. She hopes she might at least find her old friend, a handsome young man she only knew as “Mick,” but he no longer appears in their old meeting spot by the river.

Until she finds out “Mick” is actually Lord Michael Hamilton, the son of her family’s old enemy! Worse—her father insists she must marry Lord Michael to seal a new business deal and end the enmity. Feeling betrayed, Eliza runs to her beloved La Sous Rose at Christmas time, only to be trapped in a snowstorm with Michael, the one man she despises—and desires. The man who declares he has loved her all this time, but how can she trust him now?


Cover Image for To Steal a Duke (The Sisterhood of Independent Ladies Book 1)

Maeve Greyson

To Steal a Duke (The Sisterhood of Independent Ladies Book 1)
Series: The Sisterhood of Independent Ladies
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 11/28/2023
Author Website: https://maevegreyson.com/

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In “To Steal a Duke,” the enchanting first book in The Sisterhood of Independent Ladies series, Cecilia, the brilliant twin sister of Charles, the imaginary Duke of Hasterton, takes center stage. Born in Germany and raised to safeguard her family’s title and wealth, Cecilia conceals her true identity, masterfully upholding the illusion that her brother is real. Yet, when her mother’s health deteriorates and she longs for a final visit to London, Cecilia cannot deny her.

To ensure their intricate deception remains intact, Cecilia poses as her mother’s companion, the captivating Miss Celia Bening, in the bustling London society. Amid this charade, she catches the eye of Lord Elias Raines, a skilled solicitor. As Elias delves into the peculiarities surrounding the Duke of Hasterton, a passionate and at times heartbreaking romance ignites between him and the intriguing Miss Celia.

Secrets and desires collide, forcing Elias to make a monumental decision—assist Cecilia in safeguarding her crafted world or expose her illegal scheme that could result in her imprisonment. “To Steal a Duke” is a delightful and passionate Regency tale filled with intrigue and suspense, where love and honor intertwine, and a lifetime of secrets threatens to unravel their carefully constructed lives.



Cover Image for Rakes and Reticules

Aubrey Wynne
Dawn Brower
Collette Cameron
Meara Platt
Aubrey Wynne
Cecilia Rene
Rachel Ann Smith

Rakes and Reticules
Series: The Lords and Ladies of St. James
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Penford Publishing
Content Rating: Sweet Sensual (Mild) Spicy
Format: eBook
Release Date: 12/12/2023
Author Website: https://www.aubreywynne.com

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Rakes and Reticules
A collection of six new exclusive novellas by your favorite historical romance authors all featuring Rakes and Reticules.

They say…
A lady should never leave the house without her reticule
Six rakes…
Discover why.

Grab your copy of Rakes and Reticules today and discover the fabulous titles below:
Book 3 – Rakes and Reticules

How to Charm an Earl by USA Today Bestselling Author, Dawn Brower
Kiss a Rake at Midnight by USA Today Bestselling Author, Collette Cameron
A Love Letter in Amelia’s Reticule Today Bestselling Author, Meara Platt
Pads, Purses, and Plum Pudding by USA Today Bestselling Author, Aubrey Wynne
A Reticule for a Kiss by Cecilia Rene
Banking on a Bluestocking by Rachel Ann Smith


Cover Image for The Duke Beneath Her Mistletoe

Nicki Pascarella

The Duke Beneath Her Mistletoe
Series: The Eatons of Trent
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 12/18/2023
Author Website: https://www.nickipascarella.com

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Under royal command, William Harrington, the Duke of Astleyshire, investigates a notorious writer stirring up trouble among the lower classes. Never one to back down from a challenge, he also makes a bet to bed a known man-hating lady. There is no way Georgiana Eaton will spend another season paraded in front of the ton’s eligible bachelors. She has more important things to do, like secretly writing chapbooks that support workers’ rights. When a roguish duke invites himself to her family’s holiday celebrations at Trent Castle, Georgie fights back. Never mind their intense attraction, the duke and the lady despise each other.
Believing that Winkentattle is one of Georgie’s brothers, a disgruntled William follows her to a protest where all hell breaks loose. Now William and Georgie must appease the Prince Regent, save themselves from the gallows, and make it back to Trent Castle before Twelfth Night.


Cover Image for The Earl Kisses A Thief

Nicki Pascarella

The Earl Kisses A Thief
Series: The Eatons of Trent
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Nicki Pascarella
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 12/21/2023
Author Website: https://nickipascarella.com

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Lady Evangeline Morgan escaped the lecherous marquess only to nearly meet her demise under the wheels of an arrogant gentleman’s carriage.

The Earl of Trent has been determined to escape marriage, but the angelic-eyed beauty lingering in his thoughts detests him. Even more disconcerting, she is being chased by dangerous men. But, if Alistair can keep her safe, maybe he can convince her to warm his bed the way she heats his temper.


Cover Image for The Secret of the Lady's Maid

Darcie Wilde

The Secret of the Lady’s Maid
Series: The Useful Woman Mysteries
Genre: Regency Mystery
Publisher: Kensington Books
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 12/26/2023
Author Website: https://www.darciewildeauthor.com

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The resourceful and intrepid Rosalind Thorne, a heroine after Jane Austen’s heart, has a scandalous mystery to solve within Regency-era high society, in the latest novel in this nationally bestselling historical series.

Rosalind Thorne’s quick wits and discretion have proved invaluable to London’s haut ton. But now trouble has infiltrated Rosalind’s sanctuary, and the reputations in danger include her own.

Still Available


Cover Image for Lady in Opal

Elizabeth Cole

Lady in Opal
Series: Secrets of the Zodiac
Genre: Regency Traditional Suspense
Publisher: SkySpark Books
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: eBook eNovella
Release Date: 10/10/2023
Author Website: https://elizabethcole.co

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Miss Sabrina Bellamy loved her Grand Tour of Europe, but her impending arranged marriage means it’s time to go home. So she sets sail for London, expecting a dull voyage leading to an even duller future. But all is not as it seems on the ship. When Sabrina’s traveling companion, the sweet and elderly Mrs. Browning, goes missing, everyone else aboard claims that the old lady was never there!

The only person who seems to believe Sabrina is a teasing, tempting, lock-picking, multi-lingual Scotsman named Jamie MacLachlan. Oh, and he can kiss. Wait! Just who is Jamie MacLachlan, and what sort of madcap, dangerous plot has Sabrina stumbled into? To find out, Sabrina must trust the increasingly hard-to-resist Jamie as they search the ship to recover the lost lady and the secrets she holds. If they fail, they might never step ashore again.

This slightly steamy novella is a romantic spy adventure that’s part of the Secrets of the Zodiac series. It can be read at any time in the series, or as a standalone.



Cover Image for The Indomitable Miss Lacey

Blair Bancroft

The Indomitable Miss Lacey
Series:
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Kone Enterprises
Content Rating: Clean
Format: eBook
Release Date: 10/12/2023
Author Website: https://blairbancroft.com

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Miss Madeline Lacey—world traveler and spinster—is a far cry from the other young ladies making their debut in London society. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, she quickly attracts the attention of an earl and a wealthy country gentleman. Except one lacks an adventurous spirit and the other is allegedly betrothed to the daughter of a marquess. And then there is the problem of what to do with the artifacts her father accumulated during eighteen years of exploration, as well as the deep, dark secret that Miss Lacey is not as penniless as society assumes. Disaster looms as sheer stubbornness on the part of both hero and heroine threatens the possibility of Happily Ever After.


Cover Image for The Wallflower Win

Valerie Bowman

The Wallflower Win
Series: The Whitmorelands
Genre: Regency
Publisher: June Third Enterprises, LLC
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 11/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.ValerieBowmanBooks.com

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She’s a wallflower on a mission to win.
Bookish Lady Elizabeth Whitmoreland has no interest in being a debutante. She’d rather immerse herself in the tranquility of a library than dance in a ballroom with some silly fop. But when she overhears a wager being placed on a game of chess, she sees her chance to challenge the ton’s smuggest rake. If he loses, he’ll have to pretend to court her for the entire Season to fend off her relentless mama.

He’s a rake who’s never been beat.
Christopher St. Clare, the Marquess of Claremont, is a man who staunchly avoids the debutante scene and marriage altogether, confident that his brother will carry on the family line. But when a spirited debutante challenges him to a chess match, he can’t resist. He’s always been unbeatable, but his world is turned upside down when he faces an unexpected loss. Now, he must play the role of a devoted suitor for the entire Season.

In a game that quickly turns to seduction, the stakes have never been so scandalous.
Lady Eliza might be beautiful, clever, and witty, but she’s still a debutante. One playing a dangerous game when she begins tempting him beyond all reason by asking him to kiss her. Despite their undeniable chemistry, Christopher remains resolute. He will not touch her. But when Eliza steps up her attempts to seduce him, how long will he be able to resist the undeniable attraction between them?


Cover Image for The Duke's Dark Secret

Courtney McCaskill

The Duke’s Dark Secret
Series: The Astley Chronicles
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Hazel Grove Books
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 11/09/2023
Author Website: https://courtneymccaskill.com/

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Secrets, Lies, and a Lock

Ever since her father’s unexpected death, Cecilia Chenoweth has felt like the heroine of a bad Gothic novel. In addition to leaving her alone and destitute, her father made a deathbed confession that it was no mere fever that took her mother’s life some twenty years ago. Then he pressed a sinister key into her hands, bidding her to go forth and uncover the truth. If only she knew where to find the lock that will open to the mysterious key…

Cold, Bold, and Dangerous to Know

There is one man who recognizes the black key bearing the emblem of a snake: Marcus Latimer, the newly minted Duke of Trevissick. Now that his abusive father is rotting in hell where he belongs, Marcus is eager for his life to stop resembling a bad Gothic novel.

No one would ever have thought to pair the dangerously handsome duke with the meek little rector’s daughter. But as he helps Cecilia on her quest, Marcus discovers a well of passion hiding behind her sloe eyes that may just be a match for his own.

Two Hearts on a Perilous Path

But Cecilia’s search for the truth about her mother’s death unearths dark secrets from Marcus’s past, secrets that will destroy the new life he has built for his beloved sister and condemn one of the few people he cares about to death. What will he do when he is forced to choose between loyalty… and love?


Cover Image for Miss Locke's Christmas Secret

Anastasia Hayward

Miss Locke’s Christmas Secret
Series: Christmas Miss
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Anastasia Hayward
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 11/26/2023
Author Website: https://www.anastasiahistoricals.com

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She has a secret…

Three years ago, a rake stumbled into Amelia’s bedroom, forcing her to cover up the scandal and hide it even from her family. Now at a Christmas party hosted by none other than said rake, Amelia is torn between staying the proper wallflower with a secret or blooming into the woman she was on that fateful night so long ago.

He is an open book…

Lord Sudbury, a recently reformed rake, knows that the quiet woman in the drab dress hides a fierce personality. Partnered together in a contest at his Christmas party, he is determined to figure out more than just the mystery game’s clues.

Not everyone is as they seem…

Together again, their personalities clash and the closer they get to winning the game, the more Amelia worries that a rake’s curiosity will lead to her ruin.

A Regency romance novella.

Featured Member for October: Anne Rollins

This month Quizzing Glass chats with Anne Rollins, author of historical fantasy romance

QG: What most interests you about the people of the Georgian/Regency era?

I think part of the appeal is how challenging it seems to find romantic partners in such a strict society. Women weren’t supposed to be too obvious about their feelings. Moralists like Dr. Gregory thought a woman should never tell a man that she loved him even if she married him! This creates a lot of narrative tension as you watch to see how two people can end up together.

QG: When did you first get hooked (and what hooked you) on the Regency era?

There were two writers that got me into the Regency: Patricia Wrede and Georgette Heyer. I discovered Wrede’s Mairelon the Magician in high school, and Sorcery and Cecelia in college, and read them over and over again. As the titles imply, these are Regency fantasies, and they undoubtedly had a large impact on my decision to write Regency fantasy.

Then, maybe a decade later, I stumbled on a Georgette Heyer novel in a used bookstore, and I loved it. (Ironically, my first Heyer may have been A Convenient Marriage, which is not Regency but Georgian!) After that, I was hooked. I bought Heyer’s books right and left, rereading my favorite ones many times. I even taught Frederica in a college course a couple of times! Slowly, I branched out from there and began exploring other writers, including both sweet and spicy Regencies.

QG: What is your favorite Jane Austen book?

Pride and Prejudice, but it’s either tied or closely followed by Northanger Abbey. Northanger Abbey is such an underrated book! It is hilarious, and Henry Tilney might be Austen’s wittiest love interest.

QG: What is your favorite Georgette Heyer book?

I am a huge Heyer fan, so I can’t list just one. I like different books depending on my mood, but my top five are The Corinthian, Cotillion, The Reluctant Widow, Arabella, and Frederica.

QG: What advice would you give to writers just starting out?


First, realize that writing is a process. Most people don’t sell their first book, at least not right away. Once you’ve written one book, start writing another. Your writing will get better over time. 

Second, you need to tap into the writing community. You can learn so much by joining online or real-life groups of writers. When you find good beta readers or critique partners, your writing will get stronger.

QG: Tell us about your current project or latest release.

In August, The Solitary Rose, my first novel for adults, will release from The Wild Rose Press, under the pen name “Anne Rollins.” The idea for this story came after I read one too many Regency-era “Beauty and the Beast” retellings featuring grumpy, brooding, scarred male leads. I thought “Why is it usually the male lead who’s scarred? There should be more stories with scarred female leads.” Then I had the idea to gender-flip “Beauty and the Beast,” and the result was The Solitary Rose, a Regency fantasy romance. The female main character, Emma, has smallpox scars. The male lead, Henry, is a blond-haired, blue-eyed gorgeous young man. But their personalities are all their own!

 QG: Pantser or Plotter or hybrid?

I am almost a total Pantser. When I get an idea, I jot down a few notes about the characters, the setting, and the premise of the story, but I never do outlines and I never work out the whole plot ahead of time. Generally, I have some idea of how the story will end, but figuring out how to get there is part of the joy of drafting. (I mean “joy” literally, because drafting is my favorite stage of the writing process.)

QG: Would you like to travel back in time? Where would you go? What one thing would you take with you?

If I could travel back in time for just a day, maybe. It would be fun to visit nineteenth-century Britain in real life. But I would not want to live there. Life without antibiotics and other modern medicines would be scary!

QG: What music do you play when writing?

I have ADHD, and I don’t deal well with noise while I’m concentrating. When I write, I often put on my noise-canceling headphones and play white noise or rain sounds rather than music—that helps drown out the sounds of daily life in the house. (I have three kids, so it gets noisy!) When I do play music, I may play instrumental love songs or Jane Austen-related music. The soundtrack to the 2020 Emma movie makes great writing music.

QG: What is the most surprising or amazing thing you discovered while researching a book?

While researching Regency-era mail coaches, I discovered that in 1816, a lioness escaped from a menagerie and attacked the Exeter mail coach! That’s the kind of thing that would seem unrealistic if it had happened in a novel, isn’t it?

Anne Rollins is the pen name of an English professor who lives in Northern California with her family, her pets, and an enormous collection of books. She is equally a fan of Diana Wynne Jones and Georgette Heyer, two authors whose writing influenced this novel.

Website:  https://www.annerollins.com

The Hobbyhorse: All the Rage in 1819

Isaac Cruikshank, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

But much mocked

British Cartoon Prints Collection, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

And even opposed by the respectable and upright

A veterinary surgeon and a blacksmith attacking dandies on bicycles; representing the anti-bicycle movement. Coloured etching by C. Williams, 1819.
1819 By: Charles WilliamsPublished: 1819
Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Credit: Wellcome Library, London.

A Successful Evening

The host must be delighted by the turnout!

May 6th 1818 caricature by George Cruikshank

I won’t be able to forget this when describing a crowded ball or reception! The clothing is particularly interesting. Compare the lady on the right in white (a demure debutante?) and the one on the left with the train (rather less respectable, I think). The description in Wikimedia: “Shows a crowded royal “drawing room” reception (in a London palace). The woman at the left (whose train is being stepped on) is wearing the old-fashioned hooped “court dress” (abolished 1820), while the man in the door is wearing formal breeches (many of the other men are wearing military uniforms). The moustache of the man on the right had connotations of foreign (Continental) and/or military dandyism at the time.”

Featured Member for September: Heather Redmond

This month Quizzing Glass chats with Heather Redmond, mystery author

QC: What most interests you about the people of the Georgian/Regency era?

It was a very dramatic era, with war, industrialization, royal drama, mad poets, scientific advances, and so much more! Those years seem to be an endless well for creatives.

QC:  When did you first get hooked (and what hooked you) on the Regency era?

Signet Regency romances back in the 1990s. I loved the covers as well as the stories.

QC: What is your favorite thing about the Regency – what do you like to write about?

I am currently writing about (fictional) crime and murder around the Shelley Circle. I love writing about the creative minds of the nineteenth century and learning more about the era before modern policing.

QC: What is your favorite Jane Austen book?

 Pride and Prejudice, with Northanger Abbey a near second.

QC: What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

The best possible advice is simply, “finish the book.” Just keep going to the end of that first project because it is the best learning tool possible, and you can’t publish something that isn’t complete.

QC: Tell us about your current project or latest release.

My newest Heather Redmond title is my upcoming series starter, Death and the Sisters. It’s the first in my Mary Shelley mysteries. Mary Shelley famously wrote the novel Frankenstein when she was only 19, but my story takes us back to May 1814, when she was just sixteen and living across the street from Newgate Prison in London, England, with her family. They lived above their bookshop. One night, she finds a young man face-down on the bookshop floor with a knife in his back, and another in between his legs…

QC:  What comes first, plot or characters?

For me, it is a character, and these past few years, it has actually been historical figures – real people – rather than just characters I made up.

QC: Do you have a daily writing schedule and goals? What are they?

When I’m drafting, it’s a minimum of a thousand words a day, preferably seven days a week until I’m done.

QC: What did you want to be when you were ten or twelve?

I wanted to be a writer from the age of seven.

QC: Who was your favorite author as a child?

I was a voracious reader, but probably the multiple authors of the Trixie Belden mystery series.

QC: If your newest book is being made into a movie, who would you cast as the hero?

The main characters in my new series are heroines, not heroes, but I would cast the first supporting male character (Percy Bysshe Shelley) with Timothée Chalamet.

QC:  What is the most surprising or amazing thing you discovered while researching a book?

When I was a younger writer, I was very intimidated by historical fiction. I didn’t have the confidence to think I could do it myself. Even when my second professional sale was a fantasy-type Victorian short story, I didn’t think I could do it. After years of dabbling in shorter history-set stories, I finally worked my way up to full novels set in the past, and I’ve never looked back. The research is fun and we have to accept that we will make mistakes, but if it is hard for us to research, very few readers, if any, are going to know the absolute truth anyway. Besides, we can write to what we know, and write around what we don’t. The ultimate goal is to tell a good story.

About the Author

Heather Redmond is the author of the A Dickens of a Crime and the upcoming Mary Shelley mysteries. She has also written many works as Heather Hiestand. Website:  www.heatherredmond.com

Thanks for telling us about yourself, Heather

Featured Member for August: Meredith Bond

QG: When did you first get hooked (and what hooked you) on the Regency era?

The first Regency romance I ever read was Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer. Her dialogue was nothing like anything I’d ever read before. It was funny and just so outlandish I sat and giggled my way through the book. I got caught up in the romance and the wonderful, odd characters. And the happy ending was a cherry on top of this delicious, wonderful cake. I wanted more.

Friday’s Child did not end up being my favorite of Heyer’s books, that was always a tie between The Toll Gate and These Old Shades.

QG: What advice would you give to writers just starting out?https://thebeaumonde.com/main/wp-admin/post-new.php

The first piece of advice I always give to new writers—and to writers who’ve been at it a while—is to work on their writing craft and never stop learning and trying new things. Writing is a practice (like being a lawyer or a doctor). There are always new things to try, new ideas on how to tell a story or structure one, new ways to go about the business of writing. Never stop reading and learning.

QG: Tell us about your current project or latest release.

My latest releases were a really fun series called Royals & Rebels. The first book of the series is based on The Prisoner of Zenda where a young woman is asked to impersonate a princess who is missing (Book One: In Lieu of a Princess). We learn in the second book that she’s missing because she’s gone in search of her brother who was reported as having drowned while crossing the English Channel. The princess doesn’t believe her brother is dead and goes in search of him (Princess on the Run). In the third book he is, in fact, in hiding while he investigates who is attempting to kill him (A Prince Among Spies). The three books have a continuing mystery running through them, although each individual book has a happily ever after.

QG: What comes first, plot or characters?

Always the characters. They are the heart of every story I write.

QG: Do you have a daily writing schedule and goals? What are they?

Every day I start my day by writing what I had planned the previous day (I keep a writing journal). I try to write between 1500 and 2500 words a day. And then I end my writing time by planning out what I’ll write the next day.

QG: Is there a special quote or saying that motivates you as a writer?

So many!! I love writing quotes. Here are two of my favorite:

“Don’t believe everything you think.”

“All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with and I can turn the world upside down.” Friedrich Nietzche

QG: Pantser or Plotter or hybrid?

I’ve tried them all and have found that I need to do at least some plotting. Some books need more than that, some only need the basic turning points for me to know where the story needs to go.

QG: Would you like to travel back in time? Where would you go? What one thing would you take with you?

I’d love to go back to Regency London, but just for one day. I don’t think I could take much more than that, lol!

QG: What music do you play when writing?

I listen to Brain.fm. It’s great at blocking out other noises and getting me to focus.

Thank for sharing with us, Meredith!

About the Author

Meredith Bond’s books straddle that beautiful line between historical romance and fantasy. An award-winning author, she writes fun traditional Regency romances, medieval Arthurian romances, and Regency romances with a touch of magic. Known for her characters “who slip readily into one’s heart,” Meredith loves to take her readers on a journey they won’t soon forget.  You can find out more about her, her books, and her coaching and formatting work at https://meredithbond.com.

Beau Brummell and the Snub that Backfired

A ball held in London’s Argyle rooms, as depicted by Isaac Cruikshank in 1825

This month marks the anniversary of one of the most famous snubs in history, or at least in Regency history. For it was in July of 1813 that Beau Brummell snubbed the Prince Regent at London’s Argyle rooms. And that snub, for whatever momentary satisfaction it may have given Brummell, marked the beginning of the end of his career as the undisputed arbiter of men’s fashion and manners in Regency England.

Here’s how it happened:

Beau Brummell, engraving from a miniature by John Cook

Brummell and a trio of his aristocratic chums (Lord Alvanley, Sir Henry Mildmay, and Henry Pierrepoint) decided to host a masquerade ball to celebrate the money they had won gambling at Watier’s Club.

The four dandies reluctantly invited the Prince Regent to their party, primarily because His Royal Highness was determined to attend despite the fact that he had recently quarreled with Brummell.

When he arrived at the ball, Prinny greeted Brummell’s friends but ignored the Beau.

Brummell retaliated by inquiring in a high-pitched voice that penetrated the room’s din: “Alvanley, who is your fat friend?”

Now, the Prince Regent was extremely sensitive about his ever-increasing girth, so he was mortified and infuriated by Brummell’s remark, so much so that he never spoke to the Beau again.

And even though the Prince Regent was enormously unpopular with his subjects, and Brummel’s social standing remained undiminished after the snub (at least for a time), the net effect of the Beau’s unkind remark was that he forever lost his royal patron.

Highly unflattering 1819 caricature of the Prince Regent by George Cruikshank

The damage didn’t seem too bad at first. Despite being shunned by the Regent, for the next few years Brummell remained popular among the ton. Even without Prinny’s favor, he still had many upper class friends and was able to keep his position as the acknowledged leader of fashion.

But Brummell was addicted to gambling, and it was not long before his debts got the better of him. It became increasingly difficult for him to find anyone who would extend him a line of credit, and he piled up thousands of pounds in debts he could not repay.

So the Beau was forced into exile, fleeing to France in 1816 to avoid arrest. He never returned to England, much less to his former glory as the unrivaled authority on what constituted sartorial elegance in Regency London.

Once a king of London’s high society, Brummell died in Caen in 1840 after a stint in debtor’s prison. He ended his days in dire poverty, ravaged mentally and physically by syphilis, dirty and unkempt – a state that was a far cry from his former fastidiousness.

To the end of his life, the Beau hoped the rift between himself and his former patron would heal, especially after the Prince was crowned King George IV in 1821. Unfortunately, a reconciliation never took place.

Whether retaining the future king as a lifelong friend rather than making him an enemy in 1813 would have altered Brummell’s sad fate is impossible to know, but easy to conjecture.

So there you have it – the snub that triggered the downfall of a social lion. This story is a good reminder that a witty  remark can sometimes ricochet, hurting the one who hurled it.

That was certainly true for Beau Brummell.

Statue honoring Brummel in London’s Jermyn St. by Irena Sedlecka, erected in 2002

 

Sources for this post include:

  • The Prince of Pleasure and his Regency, by J.B. Priestley, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, NY 1969
  • Beau Brummell, by Hubert Cole, Mason/Charter, New York, 1977

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Off to the Races! The Royal Ascot

Depiction of the Ascot Gold Cup race, by James Pollard, 1834

June is a busy month in the UK’s royal calendar. In addition to the King’s Birthday Parade (also known as Trooping the Colour), on the second Saturday of June there’s the Royal Ascot – arguably the most famous horse race in the world.

The Royal Ascot races, held every year, span five days in the middle of June, from Tuesday through Saturday. This year’s event took place last week on June 20-24.

Fabulous hat seen in the Royal Enclosure at the 2009 Ascot

It’s the social event for the sporting season, and a must for everyone who can afford tickets, especially the upper classes who go to see and be seen in their formal clothes. Some female guests like to display their hats – which can be huge, show-stopping creations or whimsical “fascinators.”

Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, 1964

As to the social importance of this royal racing event, who can forget the scene in My Fair Lady when Professor Higgins takes his pupil, Eliza Doolittle, to the Ascot races to prove that he has transformed her from a Cockney flower girl into a “real lady?”

But the Ascot races have a history that started long before the Edwardian setting of George Bernard’s famous play. It’s a history that includes our favorite time period, the Regency.

Here a selective timeline of that history, (as detailed on the Royal Ascot Hub, linked below), from the inception of the races through the mid 1820s:

1711: Queen Anne, an avid horse racing fan, starts a racing tradition at East Cote in London. Her race, called Her Majesty’s Plate, takes place in August and carries a prize of 100 guineas. The race was open to any horse, mare or gelding that was six years or older and capable of carrying a rider weighing 12 stone (168 pounds).

Queen Anne, painted by Michael Dahl, 1705

1744: A ceremonial guard called the Greencoats is formed. The Guard got its name from a rumor that their green uniforms were sewn with fabric left over from curtains made for Windsor Castle. By the early 19th century the guards’ duties expand to include crowd control. Today, Greencoats still can be seen assisting attendees of the Ascot races.

1752: By the mid-18th century the popularity of the annual races, especially among the ton, is becoming apparent. Peers like the Duke of Bedford complain that when he visits London during the races he can find “no soul to dine or sup with.” Surrounding the races are other diversions, and attendees can watch cockfighting and prize-fights, gamble in gaming tents, listen to balladeers, see freak shows and marvel at lady stilt-walkers.

1783: A new rule states that jockeys must wear the colors of their horse’s owners. Up to this point, jockeys could wear whatever colors they wished, making it confusing for spectators to follow the race.

Late 18th century: Men in the Royal Enclosure must don black silk top hats, or “toppers.” Vintage top hats, made from the original material of silk hatter’s plush, are very rare and valuable now. If you can find one that fits your head (apparently men’s heads were smaller 200 years ago) it can cost a small fortune – tens of thousands of pounds.

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Beau Brummel caricature by Richard Dighton, 1805

Early 19th Century: A general dress code for upper class men attending the races develops. Influenced by Beau Brummell, one-time friend of the Prince Regent,  men abandon the bright colors and ornate embroidery of 18th century fashion for plain white waistcoats, and pantaloons, worn with a black cravats. The emphasis is on cleanliness, quality fabrics, and expert tailoring.

1807: This year the Gold Cup, Ascot’s oldest surviving racing event, is introduced. Winners of the Gold Cup today still receive – and get to keep – an engraved gold trophy.

1813: Ascot Heath becomes the new home of the races, thanks to an Act of Enclosure, passed by Parliament. Although the property actually belongs to the Crown, the act guarantees that the land will be used as a racecourse, open to the public.

1822: Prinny, now King George IV, orders the construction of a two-story seating stand at the racecourse. Access to the Royal Enclosure is granted only by the king’s invitation.

1823: The tradition of Ladies Day, also known as Gold Cup Day, starts. It gets its name from an anonymous poet, who describes this day, Thursday of the racing week, as Ladies Day, “when women, like angels, look sweetly divine.”

1825: King George IV inaugurates the first Royal Procession, a tradition which has endured to modern times. Each day of the five-day event begins with the king and queen, along with other members of their royal family, arriving at the racing grounds in horse-drawn landaus. They drive in a procession along the track before going into the Royal Enclosure to watch the races.

There was much excitement at this year’s Royal Ascot when King Charles’s horse, Desert Hero, won Thursday’s marquee race, the King George V Stakes. Desert Hero, ridden by jockey Tom Marquand, was bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II. The odds against the horse winning were long – 18 to 1 – making the victory all the sweeter.

This is King Charles’ first Royal Ascot win as a reigning monarch. It’s yet another first for the newly crowned king.

AscotFinishingPost.JPG
The finishing post at the Ascot racecourse, photo by John Armagh, 2007.

**

Sources for this post include:

The Royal Ascot Hub

“King visibly moved as horse bred by Queen Elizabeth wins at Royal Ascot,” by India McTaggart, Royal Correspondent and Tom Cary, Senior Sports Correspondent, The Telegraph, June 22, 2023

“King Charles III claims his 1st Royal Ascot winner; Dettori rides to victory in Gold Cup,” by The Associated Press, June 22, 2023

All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

Members’ Regency Fiction Releases for June 2023

On the 1st of each month, Regency Fiction Writers publishes our FREE online newsletter, The Regency Reader, to anyone interested in Regency Fiction (1780-1840). The publication features author interviews, tidbits about the Regency era, and a listing of new titles from members and non-members. Members’ releases also appear here on the blog. Submit your June Regency-set Fiction Release or Regency Author Article by May 24th, to appear in the June issue. Information submitted after May 24th will appear in the July issue. (Subscribe now!)

For more information about an author, click on author’s name, website, or show/hide the blurb for the book.

New This Month

 


Cover Image for Three Wicked Nights with a Notorious Earl

Sandra Sookoo

Book Title: Three Wicked Nights with a Notorious Earl
Author Name: Sandra Sookoo
Release Date: 06/13/2023
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Three Wicked Nights with a Notorious Earl
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: New Independence Books (indie label)
Content Rating: Burning (Hot)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/13/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

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Can a marriage arranged in childhood survive the earl’s infamous reputation?

The Honorable Miss Evangeline Rigsby has been engaged from the age of five to a man about whom she has only heard improper tales. On her twenty-sixth birthday, she is sent to the wild Cornish coast to wed her reclusive betrothed, sight unseen, and with no choice in the matter, for he holds her father’s vowels and the mortgage to his townhouse in London. Beyond annoyed, she is more than ready for a challenge of thwarting the wicked earl at every turn.

Sebastian Hamilton, unrepentantly corrupted Earl of Reddingham, has been rejected from the London ton for a myriad of reasons. As duties and responsibilities press in, he’s compelled to put his life in order, and since he has been engaged from a young man of fifteen, it’s time to make the sacrifice. The one saving grace of being leg-shackled is introducing his innocent bride to forbidden carnal pleasures. Perhaps she might help him regain his rightful place in society and respectability.

Following a rather tempestuous nuptial ceremony, the earl sets out to initiate Evangeline into the world of scandal and sin. As each sensual night passes, confidences are exchanged that provide a closeness physical intimacy doesn’t. Shared emotions surprise them both, enhanced by mutual heat and attraction, but as an unexpected romance grows, fears creep in to stall their union. When a vicious squall blows in on the coast, they’ll need to decide that vulnerability and wanting love isn’t as horrid as they previously thought.

But will three wicked nights be enough…


Cover Image for The Lady's Daring Gambit

Sandra Sookoo

Book Title: The Lady’s Daring Gambit
Author Name: Sandra Sookoo
Release Date: 06/26/2023
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The Lady’s Daring Gambit
Series: Diamonds of London #2
Genre: Regency Romance Suspense
Publisher: New Independence Books (indie label)
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/26/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

Show/Hide Blurb

She needs to ferret out his secrets. He’s doing his level best to keep them.

Miss Honor Winslow wants revenge. Her father has been missing since the war with Napoleon ended. Then a week ago, a letter arrived from him asking for help, but it wasn’t signed, and no address had been included. Needing answers, she enlists the help of one of her friends, who has connections to the Home Office. If the old, pompous windbags there won’t listen, she will do the job herself, despite her physical difficulties following a minor apoplexy.

All Mr. Gideon McGarrett wants out of life is peace, and nearly forty, it’s finally within reach. Ready to close his last mission, the only thing he needs to do is extract a man of high military rank from where he’s hiding after being wounded. The one thing that stands in the way of a spotless career is the damned interference of a clever and vulnerable woman who insists on joining his mission.

As Honor and Gideon bicker during the journey north, heated awareness springs from forced proximity, and all too soon that desire becomes distracting, especially when a faux engagement is offered out of necessity. Once in the Lake District, when they locate her father, the woman who wants him dead has also arrived. It will take some smart negotiating and perhaps a fight to unravel the mess. Only then can the pair make a go at a life together—if they can stop hiding their emotions and let down their guards to enjoy the ride.


Cover Image for Duke in Name Only

Caroline Warfield

Book Title: Duke in Name Only
Author Name: Caroline Warfield
Release Date: 06/01/2023
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Duke in Name Only
Series: The Entitled Gentlemen
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.carolinewarfield.com

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Misfortune is an excellent teacher.
When Phillip Tavernash, Ninth Duke of Glenmoor, discovers his title is held fraudulently, he embarks on a journey to North America determined to succeed on his own. It doesn’t go well. He has no idea what a fish out of water he will be.
Nan Archer had to summon enough backbone to stand up to her father and older brother, who moved their family across the frontier every time civilization reached any clearing in which they’d made a stake. She has landed on the banks of the Mississippi and built something of her own, the tavern Archers’ Roost. She will go no further.
When Nan’s brother dumps a pathetic traveler, robbed, beaten, and wounded on her tavern floor, she takes him in as she would any wounded duck. That he called himself duke is cause for hilarity.
Attraction blooms easily, but can Phillip look past his life of privilege to find what he’s looking for deep inside himself? Can he convince her she’s the answer to his search?
Is he a duke or a bastard? Does it matter in the end?


Cover Image for Not Quite A Duchess

Alyssa Alexander

Book Title: Not Quite A Duchess
Author Name: Alyssa Alexander
Release Date: 06/05/2023
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Not Quite A Duchess
Series: Servants to Spies
Genre: Regency Georgian Romance Suspense
Publisher: Alyssa Alexander Romance LLC
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/05/2023
Author Website: https://www.alyssa-alexander.com

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London 1794

Tess Murray, once a maid in a fashionable London townhouse, traded her apron for a pair of breeches to become a spy—a decision that cost her the man she loved. Determined to become a spymaster and command her own team, Tess is hunting a traitor smuggling muskets to France.

Sebastian Moore, Duke of Northfield, spent ten years fighting to save his family’s reputation. When he finds Tess in his warehouse—and muskets hidden among the goods ready to be shipped—he realizes everything he has worked for is at stake.

He might be a suspect, and she might be a spy, but passion has no rules.


Cover Image for The Viscount's Code

Ellie St. Clair

Book Title: The Viscount’s Code
Author Name: Ellie St. Clair
Release Date: 06/23/2023
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The Viscount’s Code
Series: Reckless Rogues
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Prairie Lily Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/23/2023
Author Website: https://elliestclair.com

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Drawn together to break a code, will Hope and Anthony fight for their forbidden love?

His family name sullied after his father was branded a traitor, Anthony, Lord Whitehall, is fed up with all of the ton. His only allegiance is to his small group of daredevil friends, which is why he agrees to help break a code that is discovered as the next clue in their treasure hunt. The code he didn’t realize he would have to break? One in the form of an angelic blond woman who sees the world in sunlight.

Lady Hope Newfield believes love is worth waiting for — it just hasn’t found her yet. Then a surly viscount takes up residence at her family’s country home. She cannot help the irresistible pull to him as he attempts to solve the code, despite the fact that her father has strictly forbid any connection between the viscount and his daughters.

As the hunt to break the code intensifies, so does the danger that follows them, Anthony’s own search into the past, and the irresistible attraction between Hope and Anthony. Will they listen to her father and the voices of reason in their heads, or give in to all of their desires?

The second book of the Reckless Rogues series is a grumpy vs. sunshine, forbidden love, one-bed-only steamy regency romance featuring a beautiful, cheerful heroine, and a surly viscount who needs to move on from his past.


Cover Image for All Duke and Bothered

Mariah Stone

Book Title: All Duke and Bothered
Author Name: Mariah Stone
Release Date: 07/25/2023
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All Duke and Bothered
Series: Dukes and Secrets
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Mariah Stone
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 07/25/2023
Author Website: https://mariahstone.com/

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Brooding Duke. Notorious rake. Driven by grief. Forcing his enemy’s daughter into marriage for revenge. About to lose his heart.

Vengeance. Preston Seaton, the Duke of Grandhampton will bring down the man who killed his brother through any means necessary. So when Lord Neville Beckett auctions off his daughter’s hand in marriage to pay his debts, Preston makes a bid Beckett can’t refuse—evidence of murder.

Dreaming of a career as an artist, Penelope welcomes her future as a spinster. So when her father accepts the proposal of a man who despises her, she longs to flee. But she cannot abandon her poor, old father to his destruction. Moving into the powerful duke’s huge mansion, she wonders if she will ever escape this cold, dark prison.

Convinced Penelope played his brother for a fool and got him killed, Preston has no intention of losing his heart. But the sunny artist is soon filling his home with light and joy. Could a forced marriage forged from hatred ever lead to true happiness? And can Preston forgive himself for desiring the only woman his brother ever loved?


Cover Image for Return of the Scandalous Lady

Barbara Monajem

Book Title: Return of the Scandalous Lady
Author Name: Barbara Monajem
Release Date: 06/28/2023
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Return of the Scandalous Lady
Series: Perilous Secrets
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild) Spicy
Format: eBook
Release Date: 06/28/2023
Author Website: http://www.BarbaraMonajem.com

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Years ago, Frances Templestone left her husband and ran away to France with a lover. Now she’s back, widowed and more mature, but mostly unrepentant. A social pariah, she stays out of sight while her daughter Julia has her first London season…
Until Julia, who is as impetuous as her mother, sneaks out to a masquerade with an unsuitable man. Frances hastens to the rescue, and when she sees Julia about to get into a coach with a handsome stranger, she accuses him—very publicly—of being a rake who ruins innocent girls.

Soon she learns that Jasper, Lord Canterwell, is a respectable man. He wasn’t at the masquerade seeking an easy conquest. On the contrary—his daughter is missing, and he is searching for her everywhere. Aghast, Frances offers to help him. Rudely, he spurns her.

But Frances is determined and Jasper is desperate. Might a scandalous lady with a warm heart and a lively mind be just what a respectable gentleman needs?


Cover Image for Fortune Favors the Viscount

Caroline Linden

Book Title: Fortune Favors the Viscount
Author Name: Caroline Linden
Release Date: 06/27/2023
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Fortune Favors the Viscount
Series: The Wagers of Sin
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: self
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 06/27/2023
Author Website: https://www.carolinelinden.com

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There’s no such thing as luck …

Once a lady, reduced to a governess, Emilia Greene is desperate. The child in her care has been left orphaned and penniless, and Emilia will do anything to protect her—even track down the girl’s only relation. That man would be the next Viscount Sydenham, and surely he’ll be gentleman enough to take care of his cousin.

Or scruples …

Unfortunately, that man is Nicholas Dashwood, the dangerously attractive owner of the notorious Vega Club. He’s no gentleman, and he doesn’t want a title. What Nick needs … is a governess, for his younger sister.

When your heart is at stake

Their precarious bargain throws them together in unsettling proximity, until neither can deny their attraction to each other. But Nick has enemies, and Emilia has secrets, and taking a gamble on happily-ever-after could cost them everything.

Still Available


Cover Image for The Bond

Sanna Brand

Book Title: The Bond
Author Name: Sanna Brand
Release Date: 05/15/2023
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The Bond
Series: The Secret Tales
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Afterworld Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook .PDF
Release Date: 05/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.sannabrand.com

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Lady Rosamund Fielding hides a secret so terrible it could ruin her, her family, and Major General Lord Rhys Lansdowne, the man she loves. Rose and Rhys were inseparable in childhood—their friendship the one shining light in Rose’s dark upbringing.
Yet when Rhys proposes, Rose refuses, for he can never know her shameful truth.
Returned from the Napoleonic wars and now the Marquess of Ravenscroft, Rhys is determined to uncover the reason behind Rose’s rejection and win her hand and heart once and for all.
Meanwhile, Rose’s father, Earl Fielding, demands Rose accept Brigadier Viscount Pennworth’s marriage proposal, threatening dire consequences if she does not obey.
Time is of the essence as Rose faces this difficult crossroads, where she is forced to confront past demons and choose a path.
Should she marry Rhys, deceiving him, and forever be branded a liar in his eyes? She cannot.
Wed Pennworth? Never.
Or flee? Away from Rhys, away from her father, and away from all she holds dear.
Rose has faced many dangerous choices in her life. Will this final one destroy her?

 


Cover Image for If I Loved You

Cerise DeLand

Book Title: If I Loved You
Author Name: Cerise DeLand
Release Date: 04/20/2023
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If I Loved You
Series: Matrimony!
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance Mystery Suspense Historical Fiction
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 04/20/2023
Author Website: https://cerisedeland.com

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Love does not advertise. Love counts no wrongs.
But when a young woman needs to escape, she’ll take an ad to find a man she can adore.
Verity Carr wants a new life in a new town far from her old home—and the vile threat to her body and soul. She comes from a fine family, has a good education and a bold ambition to become a portrait artist. She’s ready to live her life with a man who will value her. A husband she can can respect—and in time, hopefully love. Yet valiant though she is, she questions if she can escape her past and one who will not let her go.

Can a gentleman to whom great wrong was done, build a new life with a true wife and leave the past behind?
Miles St.John Armstrong never should have wed his first wife. He vows to select a new one with logic and careful investigation—via advertisement. The young lady he selects is Verity Carr who is no ordinary woman. She has charm, wit and a beauty that sears his soul. No wonder theirs is a relationship built quickly on admiration and trust. No wonder their marriage becomes one built of mutual mad passion.
But devoted as they are, their past comes to call.
And it asks of them the ultimate question: Can their love withstand the tempest and survive the terror?


Cover Image for The Last Lord Standing

Diana Lloyd

Book Title: The Last Lord Standing
Author Name: Diana Lloyd
Release Date: 05/15/2023
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The Last Lord Standing
Series: What Happens in the Ballroom
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Entangled
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.dianalloydbooks.com/

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Always the rogue and never the gentleman, Kerrigan Northam doesn’t worry about anything beyond his own pleasures. But lately, his noble friends have been considering marriage—specifically, the charms (and generous fortune) of the refreshingly pert Lady Olivia Liberty Chalford. Now they want Kerr to keep her from considering any other eligible suitors…by courting her himself!

Libby is averse to the very idea of marriage. Why be auctioned off when she has a far more enticing—if scandalously modern—plan for her future? So when she’s rescued by a wickedly dashing gentleman who claims to be something of a scoundrel, Libby thinks she’s found the perfect partner in crime…

It’s the perfect ruse. Libby gets a secret accomplice and Kerr’s in the uniquely coveted position of being able to kiss the comely, spirited Libby as thoroughly—and as often—as possible. But as their courting charade continues, Kerr’s gone from wondering how long until she discovers his secret…to how long until he’s madly in love with her.


Cover Image for The Bequest

Jean Luntz
Danielle Dabbs

Book Title: The Bequest
Author Name: Jean Luntz
Release Date: 05/23/2023
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The Bequest
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance Historical Fiction
Publisher: amazon kdp
Content Rating: Clean Sweet Suspense
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/23/2023
Author Website: https://jeanluntz.com

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Rivals to their uncle’s fortune, Harwood and DeFrose have seven days to meet the stipulations of Uncle Edgar’s will or face disgrace, financial ruin, and death instead of a lifestyle of position and comfort. Harwood must marry, DeFrose must prevent it. Soon, the cousins are rivals not only for the money, but also for Rebecca – Harwood’s chosen bride. However, they do not know that another, lurking in the shadows, stands to gain if they both fail. What will happen by the time the dust clears and the inheritance is resolved at midnight on the last day?


Cover Image for Designs on the Duke

Alexa Aston

Book Title: Designs on the Duke
Author Name: Alexa Aston
Release Date: 06/08/2023
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Designs on the Duke
Series: Suddenly a Duke
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/08/2023
Author Website: https://alexaaston.com/

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A twin back from war, his brother dying in his arms. A woman who has traveled the world and learned from those travels. Two people who don’t fit into the constricting rules of London’s Polite Society . . .

Major Elijah Young never met his father, the Duke of Bradford, who believed his young wife betrayed him and gave birth to twin sired by another man. Now, two deaths have changed the trajectory of Elijah’s life—and he is the new duke. Elijah vows never to wed and father children, wanting the ducal line to end with him.

Miss Abigail Trent lost both her parents and spent a decade with her guardian, journeying to exotic countries around the world. Abby takes her experiences and begins Trent Furnishings, sketching furniture influenced by her travels and having craftsmen bring her visions to life. The ton is who can afford her designs, and so she enters Polite Society to bring notice to her business.

Neither Elijah nor Abby want marriage—and love is out of the question—yet their attraction grows as she accepts his commission to furnish his entire London townhouse.

Will this unlikely pair admit their feelings for one another—or will their lack of communication prevent them from finding lasting happiness?

Find the answer in Alexa Aston’s Designs on the Duke, Book 4 in Suddenly a Duke.


Cover Image for Courting Scandal

Ally Hudson

Book Title: Courting Scandal
Author Name: Ally Hudson
Release Date: 07/04/2023
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Courting Scandal
Series: Most Imprudent Matches
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Busy Nothings Books
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild) Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 07/04/2023
Author Website: https://www.allyhudson.com

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Lady Juliet Dalton is not a romantic. She needs to escape her tyrannical father’s clutches, and marriage to a charming, conveniently rich duke will suffice. But, when she overhears an argument between her father and a mysterious stranger, she learns the horrifying truth. Her father wagered and lost their entire fortune, her dowry included.

Juliet is furious at her father and terrified of the fiancé willing to marry her penniless. She knows the future holds more of the same, cruelty and drudgery. But when that stranger, Michael Wayland, crashes into her life and refuses to leave, her days become anything but dreary. The handsome, enigmatic owner of a notorious gaming-hell, Michael owns her father’s debts. And, to Juliet’s astonishment, is winning her heart as well.

Unable to stay away, Juliet must decide whether the love she never expected is worth the wrath of her father and the contempt of the ton. When the temptation of Juliet’s bright eyes and alluring smile proves too much, Michael must make his own choice whether to bet on love.

Courting Scandal is a captivating and heartwarming debut novel by Ally Hudson. If you like Regency romances with witty, jaded rakes, and self-reliant heroines, then you’ll love this sweet and steamy story of found family, healing, and unexpected love.


Cover Image for Earl of Griffith

Aubrey Wynne

Book Title: Earl of Griffith
Author Name: Aubrey Wynne
Release Date: 06/01/2023
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Earl of Griffith
Series: Once Upon a Widow #6
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Plato Publishing
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook AudioBook .PDF
Release Date: 06/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.aubreywynne.com

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Sorrow and Regrets…
Lady Helen was a young, naïve girl when she gave up everything for a charismatic Irishman and eloped. Finding herself a widow after a few short years, she is disillusioned with love and raising a three-year-old daughter alone. Her homecoming will be bittersweet as she faces her family, asking forgiveness for the lies and the worry she has caused. But her first encounter in England isn’t a family member. Helen’s brother has sent a handsome Welshman to fetch her, and he soon charms both her and her daughter.

An unexpected ray of sunshine…
Conway, Earl of Griffith assumed his title and Welsh estate at birth. His world is gray, full of responsibility, and lonely. Griffith agrees to help a friend, escorting his sister from Bristol to London. At first sight, Lady Helen illuminates his dull world, and her daughter adds laughter to his life. But he senses the woman’s haunted eyes are not only from grief and wonders what secrets she holds close to her heart. As his affection turns to love, Griff must find a way to convince the beautiful widow that love is worth another chance.


Cover Image for Savoring the Chef

Andrea K Stein
Louisa Cornell

Book Title: Savoring the Chef
Author Name: Andrea K Stein
Release Date: 05/31/2023
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Savoring the Chef
Series: Sex, Lies, & Forbidden Desires Book 3
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Muirgen® Publishing, LLC
Content Rating: Burning (Hot)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/31/2023
Author Website: https://www.andreakstein.com/

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Will secrets destroy them or ignite the love of a lifetime?

Lionel Carrington-Bowles, wealthy gentleman with a reputation for scandalous behavior and even more scandalous friends, is on every ton hostess’s invitation list. He is devilishly handsome, delightfully charming, and the sort of man who dances with all of the ladies, even the wallflowers. When the journal in which he and his friends have entered their erotic exploits since their days at Cambridge disappears, he has far more reason than his three friends to track down his pages and destroy them. Should Society discover his preference in bed partners his life would move from scandalous to dangerous. When he discovers a cook at one of London’s most exclusive private clubs has his pages, he is determined to do whatever he must to retrieve them.

Nathaniel Charpentier arrived in London at sixteen with a bit of money, a small dog, a letter of recommendation, and some quite unique kitchen skills. Ten years later he is the chef de cuisine for Club Ambrosios, one of London’s most exclusive private clubs. His talents have made the club a huge success and has secured his future for the first time in his life. He derives his latest inspiration from the purchase of an erotic journal from London’s leading pornographer. His own amorous adventures, however, have taken a sinister turn with the arrival of a series of threatening notes. He fears his past has come to London to find him.

The spark between Lionel and Nathaniel is a roaring fire from the moment they meet and gives both good reason to keep their secrets for fear of ending the consuming passion between them. Once revealed, their secrets may destroy them or may be the very reason to take a chance on the love of a lifetime.


Cover Image for Vindicated by a Viscount

Cheryl Bolen

Book Title: Vindicated by a Viscount
Author Name: Cheryl Bolen
Release Date: 06/02/2023
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Vindicated by a Viscount
Series: The Beresford Adventures
Genre: Regency Mystery
Publisher: Cheryl Bolen
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/02/2023
Author Website: https://www.cherylbolen.com

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While walking down a London street, Miss Georgiana Beresford nearly has apoplexy when she catches a glimpse of a woman she thought was dead. She whips around—which results in her falling into the muddy street and injuring herself. To her mortification, an exceedingly handsome man whisks her into his arms and insists on carrying her home.

Charles, Viscount Churston, had not been able to remove his eyes from the beautiful woman he was only too happy to assist. He delivers her home and learns she’s a Beresford, the sister of an Eton friend. When he calls to check on her the next day, Charles learns that his misguided act of chivalry has ruined her name. A malicious attack upon her has appeared in that morning’s London Gazette. There’s only one honorable thing to do. He must offer her marriage. Georgiana cannot deny her attraction to the handsome Lord Churston but laments that he’s only offering for her out of his sense of honor.


Cover Image for A Duke Is Always Intrigued

Rebecca Leigh

Book Title: A Duke Is Always Intrigued
Author Name: Rebecca Leigh
Release Date: 06/06/2023
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A Duke Is Always Intrigued
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Self
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/06/2023
Author Website:

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Ian McDonough, Chieftain of Clan McDonough, and Scottish Duke of Sunbridge, has grown tired of the hassles of the London season, and his mother’s insistence that he find and marry an English bride was wearing thin. Of course, there was a time when he enjoyed all the frivolities the London season had to offer, but the responsibilities of his clan were waiting for him back at McDonough Castle in the Highlands of Scotland, and he determined it was time for him to take those responsibilities more seriously.
But thoughts of returning to Scotland fled his mind when he caught sight of a flash of blue silk at Redfield’s ball. He watched as the precocious lady skirted along the edge of the ballroom and he was instantly intrigued.
The lady, Emma Presley, niece of Viscount Yelverton, was visiting London with her uncle and aunt. Upon meeting Miss Presley, Ian was instantly drawn to her, but Emma was not going to make things easy for him.
Emma had never been to London before and knew because of her circumstances, it was unlikely that she would ever visit again. So, she was determined to make the most of the season.
The woman was as exasperating, impulsive, headstrong, and beautiful. But regardless of the trouble she caused, Ian knew that she belonged to him, and he would do anything to keep her and take her back to Scotland as his duchess. No matter who objected, even Emma.

Featured Member for June: Diana Lloyd

Quizzing Glass is pleased to interview Diana Lloyd today.

Diana Lloyd, the mother of gingers, writes stories with kissing and cravats. Diana lives in Michigan, USA surrounded by the shark-free waters of the Great Lakes. Diana has loved books since the moment she first tasted one. She loved them even more when she learned how to read. Diana writes stories with heart and humor where characters fight together against injustice and create their own happily ever after. Find out more at https://www.dianalloydbooks.com/

QG: What is your favorite thing about the Regency – what do you like to write about?

I grew up with stern parents in a restrictive household, books were my refuge. What initially drew me to historical romance was the way the characters had to navigate the many rules of the era and the scrutiny of Society in order to weave their way to their happily ever after. I found their struggles and ultimate victories inspiring.

QG: What is your all-time favorite movie or series set in the Regency era?

I love the Jane Austen adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Matthew MacFadyen is my Mr. Darcy and Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson are forever Edward and Elinor. The only Persuasion movie that counts stars Ciaran Hinds, and Anya Taylor-Joy made a credible Emma.

QG: What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

The common advice “Write what you know” is absolute garbage. Write what you want to know. Write what interests you. It’s okay to push yourself. Research is a writer’s best companion. If you, like me, have no relationship with commas—learn the rules or hire an editor. A good editor is worth their weight in gold. Never let family/besties be your beta readers. They are too close to you to be truly objective. They either LOVE everything or are hyper-critical (soul-crushing) to show how seriously they are doing their job. Don’t do it. The best beta readers are other writers.

QG: Tell us about your current project or latest release.

My latest release, Last Lord Standing, is book three in my What Happens in the Ballroom series. In this book, I experimented with the notion of the hero also being the villain. The hero, Kerrigen Northam, agrees to do the wrong thing for all the right reasons. Of course, it all comes back to bite him in the butt once his heart is on the line. My next project is a standalone Regency that I’m calling Lord of Last Resort. This book has been fun to plot and will feature Benedictine Atwater, my most feisty heroine yet. Bene may be down, but she has the cunning and determination to fight for her happily ever after.

QG: What comes first, plot or characters?

For me, it’s the characters. Sometimes a name pops into my head. Sometimes it is a particular character trait. Once I have that stuck in my head I start to think about situations. Whether it’s the meet-cute or the dark moment, that’s where I start building the plot elements until I have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

QG: What is your favorite beverage when reading? What is it the rest of the time?

Unlike most writers, I don’t drink coffee. I’ve tried it but, no, hot bean water is not for me. I drink either water or a Frozen Coke from the local gas station. I got hooked on Frozen Coke when I was going through chemotherapy and my mouth was full of painful sores. Frozen Coke was the only thing that soothed the ache and didn’t taste like metal. I’m hooked now.

QG: What music do you play when writing?

I’ve created a writing playlist I call Whoaman which is a curious mix of sad/wistful songs, baroque music, and female power anthems. I balance that with another playlist I’ve named Angry Girl Singing. Lots of Alanis Morrisette, Beyonce, Rhianna, Pink, and Taylor Swift in there. Each book I write has one particular song that resonates with the mood/theme of the plot. For Last Lord Standing, it was Poison & Wine by The Civil Wars. To me, the line, “I don’t love you, but I always will” summed up Libby and Kerr’s relationship. For the first book in the series, How to Train Your Baron, the song was The Blower’s Daughter by Damian Rice. For book two, About an Earl, I was inspired by Aimee Mann’s Save Me.

https://www.dianalloydbooks.com/

Members’ Regency Fiction Releases For May 2023

On the 1st of each month, Regency Fiction Writers publishes our FREE online newsletter, The Regency Reader, to anyone interested in Regency Fiction (1780-1840). The publication features author interviews, tidbits about the Regency era, and a listing of new titles from members and non-members. Members’ releases also appear here on the blog. Submit your June Regency-set Fiction Release or Regency Author Article by May 24th, to appear in the June issue. Information submitted after May 24th will appear in the July issue. (Subscribe now!)

For more information about an author, click on author’s name, website, or show/hide the blurb for the book.

New This Month


Cover Image for The Bond

Sanna Brand

Book Title: The Bond
Author Name: Sanna Brand
Release Date: 05/15/2023
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The Bond
Series: The Secret Tales
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Afterworld Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook .PDF
Release Date: 05/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.sannabrand.com

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Lady Rosamund Fielding hides a secret so terrible it could ruin her, her family, and Major General Lord Rhys Lansdowne, the man she loves. Rose and Rhys were inseparable in childhood—their friendship the one shining light in Rose’s dark upbringing.
Yet when Rhys proposes, Rose refuses, for he can never know her shameful truth.
Returned from the Napoleonic wars and now the Marquess of Ravenscroft, Rhys is determined to uncover the reason behind Rose’s rejection and win her hand and heart once and for all.
Meanwhile, Rose’s father, Earl Fielding, demands Rose accept Brigadier Viscount Pennworth’s marriage proposal, threatening dire consequences if she does not obey.
Time is of the essence as Rose faces this difficult crossroads, where she is forced to confront past demons and choose a path.
Should she marry Rhys, deceiving him, and forever be branded a liar in his eyes? She cannot.
Wed Pennworth? Never.
Or flee? Away from Rhys, away from her father, and away from all she holds dear.
Rose has faced many dangerous choices in her life. Will this final one destroy her?

 


Cover Image for If I Loved You

Cerise DeLand

Book Title: If I Loved You
Author Name: Cerise DeLand
Release Date: 04/20/2023
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If I Loved You
Series: Matrimony!
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance Mystery Suspense Historical Fiction
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 04/20/2023
Author Website: https://cerisedeland.com

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Love does not advertise. Love counts no wrongs.
But when a young woman needs to escape, she’ll take an ad to find a man she can adore.
Verity Carr wants a new life in a new town far from her old home—and the vile threat to her body and soul. She comes from a fine family, has a good education and a bold ambition to become a portrait artist. She’s ready to live her life with a man who will value her. A husband she can can respect—and in time, hopefully love. Yet valiant though she is, she questions if she can escape her past and one who will not let her go.

Can a gentleman to whom great wrong was done, build a new life with a true wife and leave the past behind?
Miles St.John Armstrong never should have wed his first wife. He vows to select a new one with logic and careful investigation—via advertisement. The young lady he selects is Verity Carr who is no ordinary woman. She has charm, wit and a beauty that sears his soul. No wonder theirs is a relationship built quickly on admiration and trust. No wonder their marriage becomes one built of mutual mad passion.
But devoted as they are, their past comes to call.
And it asks of them the ultimate question: Can their love withstand the tempest and survive the terror?


Cover Image for The Last Lord Standing

Diana Lloyd

Book Title: The Last Lord Standing
Author Name: Diana Lloyd
Release Date: 05/15/2023
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The Last Lord Standing
Series: What Happens in the Ballroom
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Entangled
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.dianalloydbooks.com/

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Always the rogue and never the gentleman, Kerrigan Northam doesn’t worry about anything beyond his own pleasures. But lately, his noble friends have been considering marriage—specifically, the charms (and generous fortune) of the refreshingly pert Lady Olivia Liberty Chalford. Now they want Kerr to keep her from considering any other eligible suitors…by courting her himself!

Libby is averse to the very idea of marriage. Why be auctioned off when she has a far more enticing—if scandalously modern—plan for her future? So when she’s rescued by a wickedly dashing gentleman who claims to be something of a scoundrel, Libby thinks she’s found the perfect partner in crime…

It’s the perfect ruse. Libby gets a secret accomplice and Kerr’s in the uniquely coveted position of being able to kiss the comely, spirited Libby as thoroughly—and as often—as possible. But as their courting charade continues, Kerr’s gone from wondering how long until she discovers his secret…to how long until he’s madly in love with her.


Cover Image for The Bequest

Jean Luntz
Danielle Dabbs

Book Title: The Bequest
Author Name: Jean Luntz
Release Date: 05/23/2023
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The Bequest
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance Historical Fiction
Publisher: amazon kdp
Content Rating: Clean Sweet Suspense
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/23/2023
Author Website: https://jeanluntz.com

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Rivals to their uncle’s fortune, Harwood and DeFrose have seven days to meet the stipulations of Uncle Edgar’s will or face disgrace, financial ruin, and death instead of a lifestyle of position and comfort. Harwood must marry, DeFrose must prevent it. Soon, the cousins are rivals not only for the money, but also for Rebecca – Harwood’s chosen bride. However, they do not know that another, lurking in the shadows, stands to gain if they both fail. What will happen by the time the dust clears and the inheritance is resolved at midnight on the last day?


Cover Image for Designs on the Duke

Alexa Aston

Book Title: Designs on the Duke
Author Name: Alexa Aston
Release Date: 06/08/2023
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Designs on the Duke
Series: Suddenly a Duke
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/08/2023
Author Website: https://alexaaston.com/

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A twin back from war, his brother dying in his arms. A woman who has traveled the world and learned from those travels. Two people who don’t fit into the constricting rules of London’s Polite Society . . .

Major Elijah Young never met his father, the Duke of Bradford, who believed his young wife betrayed him and gave birth to twin sired by another man. Now, two deaths have changed the trajectory of Elijah’s life—and he is the new duke. Elijah vows never to wed and father children, wanting the ducal line to end with him.

Miss Abigail Trent lost both her parents and spent a decade with her guardian, journeying to exotic countries around the world. Abby takes her experiences and begins Trent Furnishings, sketching furniture influenced by her travels and having craftsmen bring her visions to life. The ton is who can afford her designs, and so she enters Polite Society to bring notice to her business.

Neither Elijah nor Abby want marriage—and love is out of the question—yet their attraction grows as she accepts his commission to furnish his entire London townhouse.

Will this unlikely pair admit their feelings for one another—or will their lack of communication prevent them from finding lasting happiness?

Find the answer in Alexa Aston’s Designs on the Duke, Book 4 in Suddenly a Duke.


Cover Image for Courting Scandal

Ally Hudson

Book Title: Courting Scandal
Author Name: Ally Hudson
Release Date: 07/04/2023
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Courting Scandal
Series: Most Imprudent Matches
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Busy Nothings Books
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild) Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 07/04/2023
Author Website: https://www.allyhudson.com

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Lady Juliet Dalton is not a romantic. She needs to escape her tyrannical father’s clutches, and marriage to a charming, conveniently rich duke will suffice. But, when she overhears an argument between her father and a mysterious stranger, she learns the horrifying truth. Her father wagered and lost their entire fortune, her dowry included.

Juliet is furious at her father and terrified of the fiancé willing to marry her penniless. She knows the future holds more of the same, cruelty and drudgery. But when that stranger, Michael Wayland, crashes into her life and refuses to leave, her days become anything but dreary. The handsome, enigmatic owner of a notorious gaming-hell, Michael owns her father’s debts. And, to Juliet’s astonishment, is winning her heart as well.

Unable to stay away, Juliet must decide whether the love she never expected is worth the wrath of her father and the contempt of the ton. When the temptation of Juliet’s bright eyes and alluring smile proves too much, Michael must make his own choice whether to bet on love.

Courting Scandal is a captivating and heartwarming debut novel by Ally Hudson. If you like Regency romances with witty, jaded rakes, and self-reliant heroines, then you’ll love this sweet and steamy story of found family, healing, and unexpected love.


Cover Image for Earl of Griffith

Aubrey Wynne

Book Title: Earl of Griffith
Author Name: Aubrey Wynne
Release Date: 06/01/2023
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Earl of Griffith
Series: Once Upon a Widow #6
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Plato Publishing
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook AudioBook .PDF
Release Date: 06/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.aubreywynne.com

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Sorrow and Regrets…
Lady Helen was a young, naïve girl when she gave up everything for a charismatic Irishman and eloped. Finding herself a widow after a few short years, she is disillusioned with love and raising a three-year-old daughter alone. Her homecoming will be bittersweet as she faces her family, asking forgiveness for the lies and the worry she has caused. But her first encounter in England isn’t a family member. Helen’s brother has sent a handsome Welshman to fetch her, and he soon charms both her and her daughter.

An unexpected ray of sunshine…
Conway, Earl of Griffith assumed his title and Welsh estate at birth. His world is gray, full of responsibility, and lonely. Griffith agrees to help a friend, escorting his sister from Bristol to London. At first sight, Lady Helen illuminates his dull world, and her daughter adds laughter to his life. But he senses the woman’s haunted eyes are not only from grief and wonders what secrets she holds close to her heart. As his affection turns to love, Griff must find a way to convince the beautiful widow that love is worth another chance.


Cover Image for Savoring the Chef

Andrea K Stein
Louisa Cornell

Book Title: Savoring the Chef
Author Name: Andrea K Stein
Release Date: 05/31/2023
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Savoring the Chef
Series: Sex, Lies, & Forbidden Desires Book 3
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Muirgen® Publishing, LLC
Content Rating: Burning (Hot)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/31/2023
Author Website: https://www.andreakstein.com/

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Will secrets destroy them or ignite the love of a lifetime?

Lionel Carrington-Bowles, wealthy gentleman with a reputation for scandalous behavior and even more scandalous friends, is on every ton hostess’s invitation list. He is devilishly handsome, delightfully charming, and the sort of man who dances with all of the ladies, even the wallflowers. When the journal in which he and his friends have entered their erotic exploits since their days at Cambridge disappears, he has far more reason than his three friends to track down his pages and destroy them. Should Society discover his preference in bed partners his life would move from scandalous to dangerous. When he discovers a cook at one of London’s most exclusive private clubs has his pages, he is determined to do whatever he must to retrieve them.

Nathaniel Charpentier arrived in London at sixteen with a bit of money, a small dog, a letter of recommendation, and some quite unique kitchen skills. Ten years later he is the chef de cuisine for Club Ambrosios, one of London’s most exclusive private clubs. His talents have made the club a huge success and has secured his future for the first time in his life. He derives his latest inspiration from the purchase of an erotic journal from London’s leading pornographer. His own amorous adventures, however, have taken a sinister turn with the arrival of a series of threatening notes. He fears his past has come to London to find him.

The spark between Lionel and Nathaniel is a roaring fire from the moment they meet and gives both good reason to keep their secrets for fear of ending the consuming passion between them. Once revealed, their secrets may destroy them or may be the very reason to take a chance on the love of a lifetime.


Cover Image for Vindicated by a Viscount

Cheryl Bolen

Book Title: Vindicated by a Viscount
Author Name: Cheryl Bolen
Release Date: 06/02/2023
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Vindicated by a Viscount
Series: The Beresford Adventures
Genre: Regency Mystery
Publisher: Cheryl Bolen
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/02/2023
Author Website: https://www.cherylbolen.com

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While walking down a London street, Miss Georgiana Beresford nearly has apoplexy when she catches a glimpse of a woman she thought was dead. She whips around—which results in her falling into the muddy street and injuring herself. To her mortification, an exceedingly handsome man whisks her into his arms and insists on carrying her home.

Charles, Viscount Churston, had not been able to remove his eyes from the beautiful woman he was only too happy to assist. He delivers her home and learns she’s a Beresford, the sister of an Eton friend. When he calls to check on her the next day, Charles learns that his misguided act of chivalry has ruined her name. A malicious attack upon her has appeared in that morning’s London Gazette. There’s only one honorable thing to do. He must offer her marriage. Georgiana cannot deny her attraction to the handsome Lord Churston but laments that he’s only offering for her out of his sense of honor.


Cover Image for A Duke Is Always Intrigued

Rebecca Leigh

Book Title: A Duke Is Always Intrigued
Author Name: Rebecca Leigh
Release Date: 06/06/2023
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A Duke Is Always Intrigued
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Self
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/06/2023
Author Website:

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Ian McDonough, Chieftain of Clan McDonough, and Scottish Duke of Sunbridge, has grown tired of the hassles of the London season, and his mother’s insistence that he find and marry an English bride was wearing thin. Of course, there was a time when he enjoyed all the frivolities the London season had to offer, but the responsibilities of his clan were waiting for him back at McDonough Castle in the Highlands of Scotland, and he determined it was time for him to take those responsibilities more seriously.
But thoughts of returning to Scotland fled his mind when he caught sight of a flash of blue silk at Redfield’s ball. He watched as the precocious lady skirted along the edge of the ballroom and he was instantly intrigued.
The lady, Emma Presley, niece of Viscount Yelverton, was visiting London with her uncle and aunt. Upon meeting Miss Presley, Ian was instantly drawn to her, but Emma was not going to make things easy for him.
Emma had never been to London before and knew because of her circumstances, it was unlikely that she would ever visit again. So, she was determined to make the most of the season.
The woman was as exasperating, impulsive, headstrong, and beautiful. But regardless of the trouble she caused, Ian knew that she belonged to him, and he would do anything to keep her and take her back to Scotland as his duchess. No matter who objected, even Emma.

Still Available

Geraldine Burrows

Book Title: Wit and Witchery
Author Name: Geraldine Burrows
Release Date: 05/01/2023
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Genre: Regency Fantasy or Science Fiction Romance
Publisher: Glenarvon Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: eBook
Release Date: 05/01/2023
Author Website: https://geraldineburrows.com

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Annis Fulton is a wellborn young widow and a descendant of one of England’s oldest hereditary witch families. Trained in her secret heritage by her elderly nurse, Annis’s hedge witchery can’t save her from marriage to a cruel, much-older man in order to recover possession of her family’s ancestral estate.

Now happily widowed, she matches wits with Lord Nicholas Ryder with whom she has a long-standing quarrel. Ryder is determined to seduce her, for no other woman has aroused his ire and desire the way she has. Annis is equally determined to thwart his desire, and the two of them wage their private duel against the glittering backdrop of the London Season.

But they soon must join forces against a common enemy—Belle Barlow, proprietress of Covent Garden’s most decadent brothel and secretly the Red Queen of blood magic in London. She and Annis are born enemies, for white magic must always contend against the blood-fed red. But Annis is weakened in London, where she is cut off from the natural forces of hedge witchery and where her growing love for Ryder could prove her undoing.

And now Belle Barlow’s acolytes are readying a sacrificial altar for the white witch from the country who would dare to defy London’s Red Queen.


Isabella Thorne

Book Title: Searching for My Love
Author Name: Isabella Thorne
Release Date: 04/28/2023
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Series: Spinsters of the North
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Self
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 04/28/2023
Author Website: https://isabellathorne.com

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Miss Peggy Williams is no wilting flower. She does not need or want a man in her life.
Baron Whitefall wants to protect the love of his life and give Peggy all the luxuries she has missed
He just must convince her that he is everything she needs…and wants.
A slow burn proper Regency Romance.


Cover Image for Swept Into the Storm

Louise Mayberry

Book Title: Swept Into the Storm
Author Name: Louise Mayberry
Release Date: 05/05/2023
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Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Louise Mayberry
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/05/2023
Author Website: http://www.louisemayberry.com

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Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, 1824.

Sometimes storms can unearth the most precious treasure. . .

Ever since he unexpectedly inherited his father’s earldom in the Scottish Highlands, Cameron Dunn’s been searching for something, anything, to bring meaning to his new life—a search that reaches an abrupt end when he’s washed up, alone, on a deserted beach in Mexico.

Or at least the beach should be deserted. There’s no village for hundreds of miles. So who’s that beautiful woman walking toward him over the sand?

Letty Monro has a business to run, a plan for her future. Rescuing a shipwrecked earl wasn’t on the agenda. But the man’s desperate, so of course she’ll bring him to the British Settlement—for fifty pounds. And his signet ring for collateral. She’s even prepared to look past the fact he’s a peer, part of the system of oppression she despises.

As they begin their journey, sailing south through the Caribbean sea, Cameron finds himself falling for this guarded, stubborn businesswoman, and the heat smoldering between them threatens to burst into flame. Keeping her distance from the Earl of Banton will prove one of the greatest challenges Letty has ever faced. Especially when she notices, in the distracting warmth of his brown eyes, the one thing they have in common . . . How lost they both truly are.


Cover Image for Guarding the Widow Pellingham

Sandra Sookoo

Book Title: Guarding the Widow Pellingham
Author Name: Sandra Sookoo
Release Date: 05/12/2023
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Series: Willful Winterbournes #4
Genre: Regency Romance Suspense
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/12/2023
Author Website: http://www.sandrasookoo.com

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Scandal is devastating… Graham Ashdowne—Marquess of Grantley—is gobsmacked. At the age of forty-one, he’s avoided society, but now that he’s decided to his duty to the title and the crushing reality the coffers are nearly empty, an acquaintance comes to call bearing outrageous news that has essentially upended his entire existence. Life is daunting at best and doesn’t help his stutter while in public. A distraction is most definitely needed despite the gossip dogging his footsteps.

Avoiding fun is wretchedly dull… Wealthy and independent, Mary Pellingham objects to the direction her life has taken. Widowed three years from a rather horrid marriage which she was glad to escape, she is thoroughly enjoying society but is not looking for another union. However, when a rejected suitor won’t leave her alone, she has no choice but to avoid the beau monde and accept the unlikely and quite accidental protection of an inexperienced but endearing marquess.

An accidental engagement can reverse unsavory circumstances… As Graham and Mary learn how to navigate the obstacles blocking their paths, unexpected desire flares hot, leading her to teach the shy lord a few carnal tricks, and that forced proximity leads to a surprising friendship. When the idea of romance sneaks in, the pair balks. Unless they acknowledge their feelings and give into the help of unexpected family, everything they’ve ever longed for will be lost, especially when a peer won’t take no for an answer.


Cover Image for An Engagement of Convenience

Regina Scott

An Engagement of Convenience
Series:
Book Title: An Engagement of Convenience
Author Name: Regina Scott
Release Date: 03/23/2023
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Genre: Regency Traditional Romance
Publisher: Edwards and Williams
Content Rating: Clean Sweet
Format: eBook eNovella
Release Date: 03/23/2023
Author Website: http://www.reginascott.com

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Chaperone Kitty Chapworth has foiled five elopements, four proposals of ill intent, and the worst first kiss in history, so she isn’t about to believe a gentleman’s silken promises. That is, until charming rake Quentin Adair returns to her life. Ten years ago, Kitty was instrumental in causing the poor fellow to be exiled to Jamaica in a tragic case of love gone wrong. When he requests her help to prevent his father’s ruin, she cannot refuse, even when helping requires her to pretend she is engaged to the handsome rogue at a summer house party.

Quentin has spent the last ten years becoming the man his father always hoped. Now he will not allow an old enemy to harm his family. Kitty is the perfect conspirator–sharp, witty, and fearless. But as danger threatens, Quentin finds that his priorities changing. Can a reformed rake convince the perfect chaperone to overlook propriety for love?

Featured Member for May: Jude Knight

Quizzing Glass is pleased to interview Jude Knight today.

Jude was a late starter, who finally overcame her fear of failure and followed her dreams. After more than fifteen novels, a score of novellas and short story collections, three awards, and over three and half thousand positive reviews, she thinks she might be an author. She writes from a cozy house in New Zealand where she lives with her Personal Romantic Hero and a few cats. When not at the keyboard she can usually be found in her garden or having fun with her grandchildren.

https://judeknightauthor.com/

QG: When did you first get hooked (and what hooked you) on the Regency era?

I read Georgette Heyer when I was young, and collected all of the books a few at a time, mostly at secondhand bookstores, so I could read them again. I loved her humor, and thoroughly enjoyed her secondary characters. However, I didn’t become hooked on the Regency era as a writer until many years later. My daughter gave me Slightly Wicked, by Mary Balogh. I read it and searched out the rest of the series. Then I read everything Mary Balogh had published up to that time, and followed up with Stephanie Laurens, Jo Beverley, Sarah MacLean, Loretta Chase, and Lisa Kleypass—I devour books at an enormous rate, and at that time I was doing a lot of traveling. My little Kindle reader became stuffed with Regency and Georgian romance, plots started spinning through my mind, and I was off.

QG: What did you want to be when you were ten or twelve?

A novelist and a mother. I was a writer and a mother by the time I was twenty-three if you count occasional publication of short stories and heaps of commercial writing. Novels had to wait. I published my first in my sixties, and now have seventeen novels published or on preorder, two more currently in the pipeline, and a publishing contract for a further seven.

QG: What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

Three things. 1. Write if it makes you happy. The chances it will make you rich are slender in the extreme, but creating stories is a joy that is always accessible. 2. Write every day. The water won’t flow if you don’t prime the pump. 3. Keep writing even if it feels like rubbish. We authors aren’t the best judges of our own work, and besides, you are writing, not editing. Good books aren’t written. They are rewritten.

QG: Tell us about your current project or latest release.

My project in 2022 was to set myself up to have a book published every month in 2023. I’m writing at the end of April and have had five books published so far this year, with five new releases booked and on prerelease between now and the end of August. I’m still writing September’s release, but am two-thirds through. October’s and November’s are done, and December’s is started.

I think I’ll make it.

My big project last year was the stories in my new series with Dragonblade Publishing, A Twist Upon a Regency Tale. It’s a reinterpretation of traditional fairy and folk tales set in the Regency, with no magic and with the roles reversed. February’s release was the first novel. April’s was a Lyon’s Den Connected World story set in the same world as the Twist novels. So far, the readers are loving them both. Three more to come this year, and I’ve signed up for a further four for 2024.

It has been such fun to figure out how to include the fairy tale elements. For example, my Snow White character is poisoned by hemlock in an apple pie, and kept alive until the paralysis wears off by expired air breathing, which used to be called the kiss of life.

QG: Is there a special quote or saying that motivates you as a writer?

Shannon Hale says “When writing a first draft, I have to remind myself constantly that I’m only shoveling sand into a box so later I can build castles.”

QG: Do you have a daily writing schedule and goals? What are they?

I have a daily goal, which I may or may not reach. On some days, 50 words is a victory. I also have a monthly goal, and that I do focus on, for if I miss my monthly goal, I topple the whole pack of cards. But, meh. Life happens. It’s better to stretch for the high goal and just miss than to bend to the low goal and succeed.

A schedule? Not so much. I write in patches throughout the day, whenever I’m not doing something else. I can usually do 500 words before they begin to run dry and I go and garden or cook or take a walk. I might do four or five sessions a day, however.

QG: What comes first, plot or characters?

It varies, but if the plot occurs to me first, it goes nowhere till I have the characters. For me, the plot is about the development of the principal characters. The hero and the heroine, in my books. The adventure and the relationship have to help them learn something about themselves, and the romance can’t be complete until that has happened. So the characters drive the plot, sometimes in quite unexpected directions.

Don’t blame me. It’s all down to the plot elves. I just watch what the characters are doing and write it down.

QG: Pantser or Plotter or hybrid?

After that, you’ll figure that I’m a pantser. I was very much a plotter as a commercial writer, and even gave talks about the time spent on the outline. But with my first novel, it all fell apart when I got to the end of the prologue. In the prologue, the heroine confronted the villain and must have been very convincing. He killed himself between the prologue and the first chapter, and my outline had to go in the bin. Since then, I haven’t bothered with more than a broad thumbnail sketch, subject to change without notice.

QG: Would you like to travel back in time? Where would you go? What one thing would you take with you?

I travel back in time with every historical book I read, and every historical story I write. It’s the safest way. In a real time machine? I’m not going unless I can take antibiotics, dental anesthesia, and indoor plumbing. That’s three things, so I guess that leaves me out. Forced to choose, I think I’d love to go back and meet Shakespeare and the one thing I’d take with me would be the escape button. Those folks back then were tough, man!

https://judeknightauthor.com/

Members’ Regency Fiction Releases For April 2023

On the 1st of each month, Regency Fiction Writers publishes our FREE online newsletter, The Regency Reader, to anyone interested in Regency Fiction (1780-1840). The publication features author interviews, tidbits about the Regency era, and a listing of new titles from members and non-members. Members’ releases also appear here on the blog. Submit your May Regency-set Fiction Release or Regency Author Article by April 24th, to appear in the May issue. Information submitted after April 24th will appear in the June issue. (Subscribe now!)

For more information about an author, click on author’s name, website, or show/hide the blurb for the book.

Geraldine Burrows

Book Title: Wit and Witchery
Author Name: Geraldine Burrows
Release Date: 05/01/2023
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Genre: Regency Fantasy or Science Fiction Romance
Publisher: Glenarvon Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: eBook
Release Date: 05/01/2023
Author Website: https://geraldineburrows.com

Show/Hide Blurb

Annis Fulton is a wellborn young widow and a descendant of one of England’s oldest hereditary witch families. Trained in her secret heritage by her elderly nurse, Annis’s hedge witchery can’t save her from marriage to a cruel, much-older man in order to recover possession of her family’s ancestral estate.

Now happily widowed, she matches wits with Lord Nicholas Ryder with whom she has a long-standing quarrel. Ryder is determined to seduce her, for no other woman has aroused his ire and desire the way she has. Annis is equally determined to thwart his desire, and the two of them wage their private duel against the glittering backdrop of the London Season.

But they soon must join forces against a common enemy—Belle Barlow, proprietress of Covent Garden’s most decadent brothel and secretly the Red Queen of blood magic in London. She and Annis are born enemies, for white magic must always contend against the blood-fed red. But Annis is weakened in London, where she is cut off from the natural forces of hedge witchery and where her growing love for Ryder could prove her undoing.

And now Belle Barlow’s acolytes are readying a sacrificial altar for the white witch from the country who would dare to defy London’s Red Queen.


Isabella Thorne

Book Title: Searching for My Love
Author Name: Isabella Thorne
Release Date: 04/28/2023
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Series: Spinsters of the North
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Self
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 04/28/2023
Author Website: https://isabellathorne.com

Show/Hide Blurb

Miss Peggy Williams is no wilting flower. She does not need or want a man in her life.
Baron Whitefall wants to protect the love of his life and give Peggy all the luxuries she has missed
He just must convince her that he is everything she needs…and wants.
A slow burn proper Regency Romance.


Cover Image for Swept Into the Storm

Louise Mayberry

Book Title: Swept Into the Storm
Author Name: Louise Mayberry
Release Date: 05/05/2023
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Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Louise Mayberry
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/05/2023
Author Website: http://www.louisemayberry.com

Show/Hide Blurb

Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, 1824.

Sometimes storms can unearth the most precious treasure. . .

Ever since he unexpectedly inherited his father’s earldom in the Scottish Highlands, Cameron Dunn’s been searching for something, anything, to bring meaning to his new life—a search that reaches an abrupt end when he’s washed up, alone, on a deserted beach in Mexico.

Or at least the beach should be deserted. There’s no village for hundreds of miles. So who’s that beautiful woman walking toward him over the sand?

Letty Monro has a business to run, a plan for her future. Rescuing a shipwrecked earl wasn’t on the agenda. But the man’s desperate, so of course she’ll bring him to the British Settlement—for fifty pounds. And his signet ring for collateral. She’s even prepared to look past the fact he’s a peer, part of the system of oppression she despises.

As they begin their journey, sailing south through the Caribbean sea, Cameron finds himself falling for this guarded, stubborn businesswoman, and the heat smoldering between them threatens to burst into flame. Keeping her distance from the Earl of Banton will prove one of the greatest challenges Letty has ever faced. Especially when she notices, in the distracting warmth of his brown eyes, the one thing they have in common . . . How lost they both truly are.


Cover Image for Guarding the Widow Pellingham

Sandra Sookoo

Book Title: Guarding the Widow Pellingham
Author Name: Sandra Sookoo
Release Date: 05/12/2023
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Series: Willful Winterbournes #4
Genre: Regency Romance Suspense
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/12/2023
Author Website: http://www.sandrasookoo.com

Show/Hide Blurb

Scandal is devastating… Graham Ashdowne—Marquess of Grantley—is gobsmacked. At the age of forty-one, he’s avoided society, but now that he’s decided to his duty to the title and the crushing reality the coffers are nearly empty, an acquaintance comes to call bearing outrageous news that has essentially upended his entire existence. Life is daunting at best and doesn’t help his stutter while in public. A distraction is most definitely needed despite the gossip dogging his footsteps.

Avoiding fun is wretchedly dull… Wealthy and independent, Mary Pellingham objects to the direction her life has taken. Widowed three years from a rather horrid marriage which she was glad to escape, she is thoroughly enjoying society but is not looking for another union. However, when a rejected suitor won’t leave her alone, she has no choice but to avoid the beau monde and accept the unlikely and quite accidental protection of an inexperienced but endearing marquess.

An accidental engagement can reverse unsavory circumstances… As Graham and Mary learn how to navigate the obstacles blocking their paths, unexpected desire flares hot, leading her to teach the shy lord a few carnal tricks, and that forced proximity leads to a surprising friendship. When the idea of romance sneaks in, the pair balks. Unless they acknowledge their feelings and give into the help of unexpected family, everything they’ve ever longed for will be lost, especially when a peer won’t take no for an answer.


Cover Image for An Engagement of Convenience

Regina Scott

An Engagement of Convenience
Series:
Book Title: An Engagement of Convenience
Author Name: Regina Scott
Release Date: 03/23/2023
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Genre: Regency Traditional Romance
Publisher: Edwards and Williams
Content Rating: Clean Sweet
Format: eBook eNovella
Release Date: 03/23/2023
Author Website: http://www.reginascott.com

Show/Hide Blurb

Chaperone Kitty Chapworth has foiled five elopements, four proposals of ill intent, and the worst first kiss in history, so she isn’t about to believe a gentleman’s silken promises. That is, until charming rake Quentin Adair returns to her life. Ten years ago, Kitty was instrumental in causing the poor fellow to be exiled to Jamaica in a tragic case of love gone wrong. When he requests her help to prevent his father’s ruin, she cannot refuse, even when helping requires her to pretend she is engaged to the handsome rogue at a summer house party.

Quentin has spent the last ten years becoming the man his father always hoped. Now he will not allow an old enemy to harm his family. Kitty is the perfect conspirator–sharp, witty, and fearless. But as danger threatens, Quentin finds that his priorities changing. Can a reformed rake convince the perfect chaperone to overlook propriety for love?

The 2016 Mini-Conference & Soirée

Each year on the day before National conference begins, many members of the Beau Monde chapter of RWA® gather for a day filled with Regency workshops and after the Literacy Signing they reconvene for our annual Soirée. This year’s gathering included breakfast and time to mingle and check-in for the conference, followed by the Annual General Meeting with the usual various committee reports and the changing over of the board. Thank you to the 2015-2016 Board and Committee members for all your hard work but especially our conference chair Janna MacGregor, catering wrangler Sharon Sobel, and workshop coordinator Isobel Carr for doing such a fantastic jobs in organizing the event for us!

The Morning Sessions

A photo of the Jo Bevereley tribute at the 2016 Beau Monde mini-conference. The screen reads, "Remembering Jo Beverley (1947-2016)."
Remembering Jo Beverley (1947-2016)

We had a very special tribute to former Beau Monde member, Jo Beverley who lost her bout with cancer at the end of May this year.

Photo of Diana Belchase paying tribute to Jo Beverley.
Diana Belchase shared what is thought to be the last video interview with former Beau Monde member Jo Beverley.

Member Diana Belchase, had filmed an interview with the author for her TV show BookSmart and was gracious enough to share the unaired footage with the chapter members present. Jo’s wit, grace and perspective, not to mention her love of historical romance, shone through during the interview and are just a small part of why she and her wonderful books will be long remembered.

We spent the rest of the morning learning about Spies and Codes with Patricia Coleman, Regency Era Titles with Ella Quinn and The Education and Training of Medical Professionals in the Regency Era with Georgie Lee.

Our Keynote Address

After lunch, Jade Lee gave our keynote speech. If you know Jade, she’s funny and always cracking jokes. She did that. But she was also fiercely serious about how writing is also an ART, not just a craft and business.

Keynote Speaker, Jade Lee
Keynote Speaker, Jade Lee

Jade pointed out that the RWA National Workshop list included around 54 Craft/Research sessions, 65 Career Track topics and another 16 on Writer’s Life/Block/Depression. She told us she was going to talk about the one thing that never gets discussed– the ART of writing. Commercial Fiction — not literary. Every book has a core message in it. Not just the basics of genre or tropes, every book has a deeper more personal message. At its core, your book has a message that YOU need to hear.

“Art has us look at issues we are dealing with in our real life and look at them in a new way.” But digging in your soul is hard to do. Theme is one way as writers and even readers we do this. Look closer at your books and see what you keep coming back to again and again. Think about the last book you read that touched your heart and why?

She recently read Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. Did you know Hitler wanted to be an artist but resistance beat him? It was easier for him to start World War II than to face a blank canvas. “Don’t start WW3, face that dark and awful blank page instead!” She urged us to tell that story that your soul is crying out for. Someone else out there needs to hear it too. Please, she begged us, go forth and write those stories. Because we are all artists in the truest, most beautiful sense of the word.

The Afternoon Sessions

The rest of the afternoon was spent in more workshops where Louisa Cornell helped us navigate the Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Regency World both in terms of what was known/thought of mental illness at the time and various places where and ways in which people were ‘treated’ for their madness. Then, we charted a course in The Age of Sail with Alice Eakes and learned all about ships, different types of sails, and other nautical terms to use in our stories.

A special treat was the extended Q&A session on The State of the Regency Romance with Sarah Wendell – SBTB, Leah HultenschmidtGrand Central Publishing, Theresa Romain – Author, and Kevan Lyon – Marsal Lyon Literary Agency on the panel. The afternoon concluded with a look at The Grand Tour with Cheryl Bolen before we took a break for dinner and the Literacy Signing.

Photo of Kevan Lyon and Theresa Romain
Kevan Lyon and Theresa Romain
Photo of Leah Hultenschmidt and Sarah Wendell
Leah Hultenschmidt and Sarah Wendell

All sessions were recorded and they will soon be made available for purchase by members.

Our Annual Soirée

That evening, the soirée was quite an elegant affair. Cara King was our dance mistress for the evening and taught a variety of country dances including a Scottish Reel. Not all of the attendees dressed in their Regency Era finery, but the many who did looked absolutely wonderful, and a fabulous time was had by all.

Photo of 8 people in Regency costume at the 2016 Beau Monde Soirée.
You might recognize these Beau Monde members from the Regency Era report with Sarah MacLean during the Rita/GH ceremony on Saturday night.
Photo of Sir Reginald Scott, Lady Elena Greene and Lady Cara King at the 2016 Beau Monde Soirée.
Sir Reginald Scott, Lady Elena Greene and Lady Cara King at the 2016 Beau Monde Soirée.
Photo of Alanna Lucas, Alina K. Field and Ann Cleeland, dressed as a highwayman.
This dashing highwayman made an appearance at the Soiree! Perhaps Sir Reginald had some competition?
Photo of Erica Ridley (left) an Emma Locke (Right) in their Regency finery.
Erica Ridley (left) an Emma Locke (Right) in their Regency finery.
Photo of Regency Dancing at the Soirée.
Learning a Country Dance
Photo of the Beau Monde Soirée as the dancers learn a Scottish Reel.
Learning a Scottish Reel

Awards and Congratulations to Beau Monde Members

Photo of President Karen Dobbins presenting Cheryl Bolen with the 2016 Lady of the Realm award.
Cheryl Bolen received the distinction as our 2016 Lady of the Realm. Thank you for all that you do for the chapter, Cheryl!
Photo of Elizabeth King winning the Grand Prize for the Royal Ascot writing contest with her manuscript TAMING THE EARL.
Elizabeth King won the Grand Prize in the 2016 Royal Ascot with her manuscript, TAMING THE EARL.
Rita Inspirational Romance Winner:
A Noble MasqueradePhoto of Kristi Ann Hunter A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter
Baker Publishing Group, Bethany House
Raela Schoenherr, editor
Golden Heart Historical Winner:
Photo of Elizabeth King “The Earl and the Pussycat” by Elizabeth King

Regency Turns 80 — My Lord John

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

With this article, the Beau Monde brings to a close its year-long celebration of the eightieth anniversary of the Regency romance novel, the very first of which, Regency Buck, was written by Georgette Heyer and published in 1935. Yet today’s final article in this series is about a book which is neither a Regency nor a romance, My Lord John. Nevertheless, this book was very close to Georgette Heyer’s heart. Kalinya Parker-Pryce, historical romance author, explains why this book was so important to Heyer and where it stands in her body of work. She also provides some good advice for readers who are coming to this book for the first time. Advice that will enable them to get the most out of this tale in which Heyer invested so much of herself.

As always, please feel free to share your views about this book, historical romance and/or Georgette Heyer, in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — Lady of Quality

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

As this year draws to a close, the Beau Monde comes to the end of our celebration of the eightieth anniversary of Georgette Heyer’s founding of the Regency romance sub-genre. Today, romance author, Kalinya Parker-Pryce, shares her views of, and her history with, this last of Heyer’s Regency romances, Lady of Quality. Among other things, Kalinya compares and contrasts the hero of Heyer’s final romance novel with the hero of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy. Though Austen lived and wrote during the Regency, and Heyer, who lived in the twentieth century, did a great deal of research to re-create that world, how do you think these two heroes compare?

Everyone is welcome to post their views on this novel, and/or Regency romances in general, in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — Pistols for Two

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Pistols for Two is the only anthology of short stories which was ever published by Georgette Heyer. A special treat for those of us who love the Regency era, all the short stories in this anthology are set in that decade. Today, Regency romance author, Victoria Hinshaw, gives us a glimpse of some of the stories in this Regency anthology. And, Victoria also offers us some advice on how best to prolong our enjoyment of this volume of romantic bijoux. Would you pace yourself or devour all the stories at once?

Please feel free to share your ideas about this anthology and historical romance in general in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — Charity Girl

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Regency romance author, Mary Moore, freely admits that Charity Girl is not one of her favorites among Georgette Heyer’s Regency novels. Nevertheless, today she gives this book its due, comparing and contrasting it to some of Heyer’s other Regency romances. And even admits to a sigh when she came to the end of the story. In addition, for all of you Regency aficionados who particularly enjoy the colorful language of that era, Mary shares some of the delectable phrases which Heyer sprinkled through Charity Girl.

Do you have a favorite Regency cant term? Please feel free to share it in a comment to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — Royal Escape

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Royal Escape stands alone in Georgette Heyer’s oeuvre, since it is the only novel she wrote which is set in the Cromwellian period and focuses on England’s Civil War. Today, Alicia Quigley, reader and writer of romance novels, shares her views on this unique Heyer story. The hero of this tale is the dashing and charming young Charles II. Though Alicia tells us there are no traditional romantic elements in this novel, might there be some non-traditional ones? The hero is certainly the gallant and irresistible young prince, but is the heroine, the woman who cares for him, the author of this book or the reader?

All visitors are welcome to share their ideas about this story and historical novels, romantic or otherwise, in comments to this article.

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