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.

Edward Despard and His failed Assassination Plot

Edward Marcus Despard

There must be something about the month of November and plots to kill the British king. The dastardly treason of Guy Fawkes and his band of conspirators is well-known, and the foiling of that plot is still celebrated more than 400 years after the event, marked with fireworks, parades and bonfires throughout Great Britain on November 5.

But what about Edward Despard? Where’s his bonfire?

Here’s what happened: in the fall of 1802 Colonel Edward Marcus Despard, a decorated Irish officer of the British Army who fought for the Crown during the American War of Independence, friend of Horatio Nelson, and for a time the designated superintendent of what would become the British Honduras, allegedly conspired to kill King George III.

On November 16, a week before the assassination was supposed to take place, Despard was arrested and charged with high treason. Following his trial, he was condemned to die by hanging, drawing and quartering, the last person in Britain to ever receive such a severe and painfully redundant death sentence. Before his execution on February 21, 1803, his sentence was commuted to the less elaborate but equally redundant procedure of hanging and beheading.

At the time of his arrest, Despard was meeting with a group of about 40 laborers at a tavern in Lambeth. Government informants would testify that the group’s plan was to assassinate the king, seize the Tower of London and the Bank of London, and incite uprisings throughout the city. The plot also supposedly involved the planting of several underground bombs.

Like Despard, many of the conspirators were Irishmen who had done military service, and many of them were sympathetic to the cause of Irish independence, especially following the violent suppression by British soldiers of the Irish Rebellion in 1798.

Horatio Nelson

Despard himself was suspected of being involved in that rebellion, and he was arrested and held without trial for nearly three years in a series of prisons. He was released without being charged in 1801.

But this time there would be no such happy ending for Despard. Even the campaigning on his behalf by his wife, Catherine, didn’t sway the justices.

Catherine was a woman of African descent whom Despard met and married while stationed in the Caribbean. The Colonel brought his wife and their son with him when he came home in 1790 after nearly two decades of military service abroad. Their interracial marriage was highly unusual and perhaps even unique in England at this point in history.

In the New World, Edward and Catherine were advocates for the rights of freed black slaves, which didn’t make them popular with the white settlers. While Despard was in prison in London, Catherine worked not only to secure his release but also lobbied to improve prison living conditions for her husband and other prisoners.

Catherine persuaded Lord Nelson, who had fought alongside Despard in the 1780 San Juan Expedition, to appear as a character witness at her husband’s trial.

Despard addressing the crowd moments before his execution

Despite Nelson’s testimony, Despard was found guilty and executed with six co-conspirators at the Horsemonger Lane Gaol in Southwark, London. He proclaimed his innocence from the gallows in front of about 20,000 people, the largest crowd ever gathered for a public event up till then.

That record stood for only two more years, when it was broken by the huge crowds who gathered in London and thronged the Thames riverbanks to witness Lord Nelson’s funeral procession in January 1806, following the admiral’s death at the Battle of Trafalgar the previous October.

So, like Guy Fawkes, Despard was accused of plotting to kill the king. His plan involved explosives and was thwarted, also like Fawkes’ plan. He and his co-conspirators were publicly executed, again like Fawkes and his men. (Fawkes, however, actually fell or jumped from the gallows ladder right before his hanging and broke his neck, dying instantly.)

In fact, this chant for Guy Fawkes Day could be easily adapted with a few minor tweaks to commemorate Despard’s plot:

“Remember, remember the Fifth of December, Gunpowder treason and plot;/ For I see no reason Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.”

And yet, Despard remains largely forgotten just the same. If you’re among the those who celebrated Guy Fawkes Day this year, spare a moment’s thought for poor Edward Despard. The only thing worse than a failed assassination attempt is a failed attempt no one remembers.

Despard in 1803, an etching by Barlow taken from a sketch made during Despard’s trial

~~

Sources for this post include:

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

November traditions

Image by Malcolm West, from Pixabay.com

 

Halloween may be over, but as we get into early November there are a few more British traditions that were likely familiar to anyone living in Regency England.

The most obvious one is Guy Fawkes Day. November 5, 1605, is the date that the infamous Gunpowder Plot was foiled, preventing Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators from blowing up the House of Lords in London. The traitors were caught, and as you might imagine, met a gruesome end a few months later.

Caricature of Guy Fawkes by George Cruikshank, 1840

The capture of the conspirators has been celebrated in Britain ever since, with activities such as church services, parades, fireworks, effigies, and bonfires. Celebrations also include children going door-to-door with a dummy figure of Guy Fawkes asking for money, i.e.  “a penny for the Guy.”

Why did asking for money become a feature of Guy Fawkes Day celebrations? One theory is that it has something to do with the tradition of “souling” (or “soaling”).

Souling is an ancient begging ritual that originated during medieval times. It is especially associated with Hallowmas, a collective term for the three consecutive Christian holy days in late October and early November.

These holy days are October 31 (All Saints’ Day Eve or Halloween), November 1 (All Saints’ Day), and November 2 (All Souls’ Day). Other terms for Hallowmas are Allhallowtide, Hallowtide, and Allsaintstide.

During the Middle Ages “soulers” would go around their villages at Hallowmas, knocking on doors asking for food or money, and offering prayers for deceased family members in return. The villagers gave their visitors homemade “soul cakes,” sweetly spiced little pastries filled with raisins or currents and marked with the sign of the cross.

According to one old belief, each soul cake that was eaten would release one soul from the eternal waiting room that is purgatory and into heaven.

At first, it was only adult men who would go souling, but over time most of the begging was done by children and the poor. They would go to people’s front doors singing or chanting words like “A soul cake! Have mercy for all Christian souls for a soul cake!”

Some argue that there’s a link between medieval soulers going door-to-door during Hallowmas begging for cakes and coins and modern-day trick-or-treaters going door-to-door on Halloween begging for candy. However, the little ghosts and goblins that come to your door these days are not likely to offer prayers in return for their Snickers and Butterfinger bars.

But unlike treat-or-treat candy, soul cakes weren’t given out on just one day; souling was practiced during Christmastide as well as during  the Hallowmas season.

Hoodeners in Deal, Kent, 1909

Another ancient practice that includes going door-to-door is a pagan winter folk custom, native to the southeast region of England, called hoodening. It’s possible this folk tradition can trace its origins to fertility rituals and horse sacrifices practiced by the Romans and Norsemen.

Hoodening involves a man wearing a white sheet and a wooden horse’s head (fitted with hinged jaws that could snap) romping around town with a group of men and boys.

The hoodener or costumed man would trot to a threshold, wait till the door was opened and leap at the people inside. Then, instead of calling the local constable, the occupants of the house would give the hoodener and his rowdy friends ale and other gifts. During the Christian era, this “horsing around” would customarily take place during the Christmas season.

Far from being a dusty relic of the past, hoodening had a revival in the 20th century, and more recently hoodening groups have sprung up in Kent.

Soul cakes

The tradition of souling is also being kept alive today, in no small part due to the efforts of the English Heritage Trust. This year from Oct. 28-31 visitors were invited to drop by after hours to trick or treat for soul cakes at 13 of the English Heritage sites (which include 400 historic buildings located all over England).

If you like, you can sing while you soul. In the 1960s the popular folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary adapted a medieval souling song and made it part of their repertoire.  You can find the group’s hauntingly beautiful rendition of A ‘Soalin’ on YouTube.

Here is a sample of the lyrics:

Soal, a soal, a soal cake,
Please good missus a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,
Any good thing to make us all merry,
One for Peter, two for Paul
Three for Him who made us all
“The Christian practice of souling” pictured in St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks, 1882.

~~~

Sources for this post include:

  • “English Heritage sites to give out ‘soul cakes’ to Halloween visitors,” by Mark Brown, The Guardian, Oct 26, 2023.
  • “Hoodening Through the Ages,” article from Hoodening.org.uk  
  • America’s Favorite Holidays, Candid Histories, by Bruce David Forbes, The University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2015
  • Holiday Symbols and Customs, 3rd edition, Sue Ellen Thompson, Omnigraphics, Detroit, MI, 2003

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay

October in British History

October 5, 1813 The death of Tecumseh

In response to continuing conflict on the frontier and his ongoing struggle to create a secure independent homeland for a confederation of native groups, the great Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, threw in his lot with the British when the United States declared war and invaded Canada. Given the rank of brigadier general, he and his troops fought under (the unfortunately incompetent) Major General Henry Proctor as part of the Army of Upper Canada. Proctor, forced to retreat from Detroit, was soundly defeated at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813. Tecumseh died that day and his body was taken away and hidden. William Henry (later President) Harrison, who feared Tecumseh could actually succeed in his efforts to unite native peoples against American expansion, described him as “one of those uncommon geniuses.” His death was a tragedy for First Nations.

The Death of Tecumseh, frieze in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, public domain

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

A Regency ghost and more tales of haunted theaters

 

Joseph Grimaldi as Clown Joey, by George Cruikshank, 1820

What is it about ghosts and theaters? There seems to be something about the excitement and intense emotions exhibited during a performance that encourages spirits to hang around, like afterlife groupies hoping to get invited backstage.

In my last post I talked about the ghosts who haunt the Theatre Royal Bath. However, ghostly apparitions haunt theatres throughout Britain. In the spirit of Halloween, I’ll describe a few more of Britain’s scariest theater ghosts, including the ghost of an English actor who was one of the most popular entertainers of the Regency era.

 Four ghosts who haunt the Theatre Royal Brighton 

Sarah Bernhardt

This theater reportedly boasts not one but four ghosts, according to one newspaper account. There’s a Grey Lady, naturally, which seems to be a must-have apparition for old theaters in Britain.

This particular Grey Lady is assumed to be the ghost of Mrs. Elizabeth Nye Chart, who successfully ran the theater from 1876 to 1892, following the death of her husband. Actors, stage technicians and crew claim to have seen her.

The ghosts of a man and two children are also apparently roaming the halls.

But the most famous ghost associated with the Theatre Royal Brighton is that of Sarah Bernhardt.

The legendary French actress damaged her knee during a performance at the theater in 1894, an injury which may have led to the amputation of her leg in 1915.

That sounds like a good reason for her to haunt the place.

A ghostly nun at the Theatre Royal York

The Theatre Royal York has the distinction of being built on the site of a medieval hospital that was run by an order of nuns, so naturally one would expect nuns to haunt the theater as well.

And apparently that’s the case. Actors and others have seen a ghostly apparition in a soft grey habit with a white veil in the auditorium.

This Lady in Grey has a reputation as a benevolent spirit, however. Seeing her appear in the dress circle on the night of a performance is a good sign; it means the show will be a success.

The specter of a gifted clown at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane 

Now we come to a couple of London’s most haunted theaters, including one that has been described as the most haunted theater on planet Earth — the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

At over 350 years old, this theater has witnessed thousands of performances, which translates to lots of opportunities for ghost legends to develop. Since 1663, the theater has been rebuilt four times on the same site, with the “modern” building standing today erected in 1812.

Grimaldi onstage at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in his final years, by George Cruikshank

One ghost, known as the Man in Grey, wears the 18th century garb of a cloak (grey of course), a wig, and a tricorne hat. Witnesses say they’ve seen him walking around the theater’s upper circle before vanishing into a wall.

No one knows for sure who the Man in Grey might have been, but some think he’s associated with the skeleton that was found in a secret room at the theater that was discovered by builders in the 1870s.

The ghost of Joseph Grimaldi, beloved actor, dancer, and pantomime clown during the Regency period, also haunts the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, while over at the Theater Royal Haymarket the 19th century actor, theater manager and playwright John Baldwin Buckstone appears.

The performers and crew who have worked at London’s two Theatre Royals have many stories about witnessing ghost sightings and other paranormal events. For example, actors Patrick Stewart and Judi Dench, along with a long list of others, claim to have seen Buckstone’s ghost at the Haymarket.

Other London theater ghosts 

Of course, these two Theatre Royals aren’t the only haunted theaters in London.

There is the terrifying severed head that appears at the Lyceum Theatre. A story goes that in the 1880s some theater patrons watching a performance from the balcony looked down over the auditorium below and saw the ghostly head laying on a woman’s lap.

Terriss’s murder, as shown in The Illustrated Police News, 1897

Over at the Adelphi Theatre, 19th century actor William Terriss is blamed for all sorts of poltergeist activity. Terriss was stabbed to death by an extra at the theater’s stage door in 1897, which would be enough to make anyone carry a grudge into the afterlife.

Besides haunting the Adelphi, Terriss has also been seen at the London Underground’s Covent Garden station, which was built after his death. Perhaps he just wants a bigger audience for his ghostly appearances.

Finally, there’s Arthur Bourchier, an actor who died in 1927 and has reportedly stuck around ever since as a ghost. A popular actor especially noted for his Shakespeare roles, for many years Bourchier also managed the Garrick Theater. Now, apparently, he haunts it.

Sudden door slamming, electrical faults, knocking, unexplained television channel changes, floral scents associated with long-dead performers wafting through the air – these are examples of the paranormal events reported at the theaters.

Not Stephen King-level scary, but perhaps enough to make most people think twice about being alone in an old London theater at night.

 

 

***

Sources for this post include:

**

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Ghosts of Bath’s Theatre Royal

With Halloween approaching, I thought it would be fun to talk about ghosts.  And not just any ghosts, but the ghosts that haunt Britain’s historic theaters.

These old theaters are rife with ghosts and psychic phenomena. Curiously, a lot of those ghosts are known individually as the Grey Lady, though they each have a different origin story.

There are reports of Grey Lady ghosts in the Theatre Royal York, the Theatre Royal Brighton, and the Theatre Royal Bath, to name just a few.

For this post, I’ll concentrate on the Theatre Royal Bath, which is arguably the most haunted theater in Britain. That distinction may be well deserved. From what I can tell, the whole place is crawling with ghosts and poltergeists.

A Sweet-Smelling Spook

The Theatre Royal Bath’s Grey Lady smells of jasmine and appears in 18th century gowns, her hair adorned with feathers. The story goes that she committed suicide, though there are three different accounts as to why.

In one account she killed herself after her lover died in a duel. Another story has it that she was in love with an actor, and she would sit in one of the top boxes to watch him perform. When he didn’t return her love, she killed herself.

The third version also involves unrequited love between an actor and a theatergoer, except the lady was the actor and it was the theatergoer who spurned her.

Consistent in all three accounts is the Grey Lady’s suicide. In most versions the lady hanged herself behind a door. However, at least one variation has the lady jumping to her death from a high window.

The Grey Lady manifests itself as a smoky apparition, either solid or wispy, and is sometimes seen in the corridor of the theater’s dress circle. However, the ghost’s usual haunt is the top left box, facing the stage. It doesn’t seem to bother anybody, but people who have seen the Grey Lady say the apparition has a melancholy air, making its viewers feel depressed and miserable, as if she transferred her despair to them.

A Pub Poltergeist

That’s not all the spooky stuff going on in the Theatre Royal. There’s the Phantom Doorman lurking by the entrance, believed to be the ghost of a man who once worked at the theater. Only cast members have seen him.

The Garrick’s Head pub

And the Garrick’s Head public house, adjacent to the theater, has its share of strange phenomena, too.

The Garrick’s Head bears the name of famed 18th century actor David Garrick. The pub is in the building that was once the grand home of Richard “Beau” Nash, a famous dandy in Georgian England.

Nash is best known for his role as the Master of Ceremonies and undisputed social leader of Bath when the spa town was a fashionable destination in the 18th century.

Like the Theatre Royal, the pub is also apparently haunted by the Grey Lady. There are reports of other paranormal activity in the pub as well.

Every year a blood stain mysteriously appears in the exact same spot on the pub’s floor. And once, in the 1990s, a cash register was reportedly hurled several feet across the bar by an unseen force.

An Airborne Apparition

Before we leave the topic of theater ghosts, a unique specter relatively new to the Theatre Royal deserves to be mentioned.

In 1948, a dead tortoiseshell butterfly was found on stage while the company was preparing to mount a children’s pantomime. Shortly after the deceased insect was discovered, the show’s manager and producer, Reg Maddox, dropped dead of a heart attack on stage while lighting a scene.

You might think there would be a scary ghost story to follow. However, people believe Maddox haunts the theater in the form of a benevolent butterfly, which is not very terrifying.

Seeing the winged insect fluttering in the rafters before a pantomime means the performance will be a hit. In addition, tortoiseshell butterflies seem to show up out of nowhere, to greet visiting stars or encourage performers.

In fact, every time Reg the butterfly ghost makes an appearance, he is greeted with affection.

After all, how scary can a butterfly be?

 

~~

For additional information and anecdotes see:

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay

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.

Members’ Regency Fiction Releases for October 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 November Regency-set Fiction Release or Regency Author Article by October 24th, to appear in the November issue. Information submitted after October 24th will appear in the December 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 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.

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Cover Image for A Talent for Trouble

Robyn Chalmers

A Talent for Trouble
Series: Spirited Spinsters
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Robyn Chalmers
Content Rating: Clean Sweet
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 08/11/2023
Author Website: https://robynchalmers.com

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Could love be the most alluring game of all?

Harriet Truchard’s parents are the black sheep of the Ton. Exiled for her father’s notorious duels and cheating, they are back in London, and they have plans for their brilliant daughter.

She can either use her talent with cards to win them a fortune, or she can marry a man of their choosing. Which is out of the question since their choice is nothing but a well-dressed thug.

Until a chance encounter with Viscount Beaufort gives her the chance to escape…

Left with a crippling debt by his late father, Leo Astley, Lord Beaufort opened London’s most elegant gambling house in a desperate effort to keep a roof over their heads. He’s willing to flirt with scandal to save his family, but after a run of strange losses leaves the bank stripped of funds and threatens everything, he needs expert help, and fast.

As they join forces to hunt down the cheats threatening all he holds dear and try to avoid the repercussions of Harriet’s past, Leo and Harriet start to learn that admitting to the spark between them might be the biggest risk of all. Because what’s at stake are their hearts….


Cover Image for A Most Iniquitous Affair

Mary Alexander

A Most Iniquitous Affair
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Humble Blessing Press, Delaford Publishing
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.maryalicealexander.com/

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Beautiful Jane Bennet, dutiful daughter, and devoted sister, has finally found a man she might wish to marry. Charles Bingley, handsome, amiable, and scattered, fell hard for Jane. Jane’s mother, a tough woman at best, has decreed that Jane must marry one of two men, neither of whom is Mr Bingley.
Jane must decide whether she will obey her mother’s command or face an unknown future. Bingley, unsteady and irresolute, and burdened with a controlling sister must take charge of his life and become the man Jane deserves. Will Bingley persevere, break from his sister’s control and find Jane?
This 90K word novel follows the story of Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley, with Elizabeth and Darcy in supporting roles. “A Most Iniquitous Affair”


Cover Image for The Grand Mistletoe Assembly

Nina Jarrett and others

Authors: Nina Jarrett
Pamela Gibson
Sara Adrien
Edie Cay
Jemma Frost
Tanya Wilde

The Grand Mistletoe Assembly
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Rogue Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/25/2023
Author Website: https://ninajarrett.com/

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Can the festive ball of the Season bring these couples together in time for the holidays? A collection of Regency romances with star-crossed lovers, fast-paced plots and timeless connections …
Cuddling under mistletoe, fine lace, snowy linen, and true love to be found in the flickering light of a hundred gas lamps. Pearler House is bedecked for the holidays and everyone is attending the event of a lifetime. Experience the joy of the season with six all-new tales of passion. Some are sweet, some are spicy, all will capture your heart.


Cover Image for Murder at the Merton Library

Andrea Penrose

Murder at the Merton Library
Series: A Wrexford & Sloane Historical Mystery
Genre: Regency Mystery
Publisher: Kensington
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 09/26/2023
Author Website: http://andreapenrose.com/

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Responding to an urgent plea from a troubled family friend, the Earl of Wrexford journeys to Oxford only to find the reclusive university librarian has been murdered and a rare manuscript has gone missing. The only clue is that someone overheard an argument in which Wrexford’s name was mentioned.

At the same time, Charlotte—working under her pen name, A. J. Quill—must determine whether a laboratory fire was arson and if it’s connected to the race between competing consortiums to build a new type of ship—one that can cross the ocean powered by steam rather than sails—with the potential to revolutionize military power and world commerce. That the race involves new innovations in finance and entrepreneurship only adds to the high stakes—especially as their good friend Kit Sheffield may be an investor in one of the competitors.

As they delve deeper into the baffling clues, Wrexford and Charlotte begin to realize that things are not what they seem. An evil conspiracy is lurking in the shadows and threatens all they hold dear—unless they can tie the loose threads together before it’s too late . . .


Cover Image for The Duchess of Drury Lane

Janna MacGregor

The Duchess of Drury Lane
Series: The Scandals and Scoundrels of Drury Lane
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Janna MacGregor
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/26/2023
Author Website: https://www.jannamacgregor.com

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She plays a part in society. He’s convinced she’s been miscast.

Raised to be a future duchess, Celeste Worsley must marry the duke her grandfather chooses for her. That means staying away from Malcolm Hollandale, one of the infamous self-made Millionaires of Mayfair. The only problem? He’s irresistible, completely unacceptable to her family, and she’s been in love with him since the first time she saw him.

On his hands and knees and covered in his newest attempt to varnish the Drury Lane stage, chemist Malcolm Hollandale tries to ignore the enticing woman everyone calls The Duchess. Celeste is everything he can’t have, but when she needs his help to right a wrong, he can’t refuse her or her plush red lips. A stolen moment leads to a forbidden love that neither can walk away from, but fate has other ideas. Yet, Malcom can’t stop thinking that perhaps this bold, passionate woman might be the perfect formula for achieving all his dreams.


Cover Image for Courting the Earl

Suzanna Medeiros

Courting the Earl
Series: Landing a Lord
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Suzanna Medeiros
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/28/2023
Author Website: https://www.suzannamedeiros.com/

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Eleanor Pearson is distressed by the forbidden attraction she feels for her cousin’s betrothed. But she vows to ignore her fascination with the attractive earl and do whatever she can to ensure her cousin’s marriage takes place.

The Earl of Hargrove has no intention of marrying anytime soon. He sets out on a mission of his own to end the surprise arrangement his father revealed to him only on his deathbed.

It doesn’t take him long to realize that Eleanor could be the key to convincing the younger woman to end the betrothal. But his attraction to her threatens his determination to remain a bachelor.

COURTING THE EARL is book 8 in the Landing a Lord series.


Cover Image for The Baker and the Bookmaker

Ally Hudson

The Baker and the Bookmaker
Series: Most Imprudent Matches
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Busy Nothings Books
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/03/2023
Author Website: https://www.Allyhudson.com

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The moment Augustus “Augie” Ainsley met Anna Hudson at four years old, he was lost to her sunset curls and flour-dusted nose. But why would Anna want a future footman when she could have the son of a viscount?
To win her affections, Augie needs to make her bakery dream a reality, but that will take a fortune he doesn’t possess. When life takes a turn, Augie follows his friend to the city, and the glittering distractions of London cause him to lose sight of what is most important. Then fate brings him crashing back into Anna’s life, and he’s devastated to learn that his ambitions may have cost him the woman he loves.
Anna is unwilling to abandon her life of contentment for an inconstant suitor. Desperate to convince her that he is the man she needs, Augie resolves to prove she can depend on him. He must find a way to balance his unending work with his undying love or risk losing Anna forever.
The Baker and the Bookmaker is a heartwarming coming-of-age novella by Ally Hudson. If you enjoy Regency romances about friends who become lovers, you will relish this tender and charming story of friendship, first love, and raspberry tarts.


Cover Image for The Reluctant Chaperon

Suzan Lauder

The Reluctant Chaperon
Series: Cecilia’s Mismatches
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Meryton Press
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/10/2023
Author Website:

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The beautiful and perfect widow Lady Reddener lives an admirable life. With an estate in the country, a house in town, and a considerable fortune, the former Miss Cassandra Hales has no need for a husband to complicate her days. Why does she need a man? She has her mama and sisters, as well as her best friend and neighbour, Marcus Brand, Lord Broadmead. One and all proclaim Cassie the very picture of serenity.

However, Cecilia, Lady Hoxley, matches Cassie’s vibrant and argumentative sister Miss Alexandra “Lexie” Hales with Cecilia’s own brother, the gentle yet charming Mr. Reeve Charington. Thus, Cassie finds herself in the position of chaperon while they court. What is she to do when their constant interactions draw her towards Reeve’s allurement?

Meanwhile, Lexie wishes for a husband who will challenge her in debate, and Mr. Charington seeks harmony. A problem indeed!

When Marcus and Reeve go missing, Cassie’s calm world collapses, and she’s faced with her true passion for Reeve. But could it be too late?

If Reeve and Marcus are found, Cassie must discover whether Reeve shares her admiration. Can Cassie allow herself love when she has sworn herself to a life without a man? What will Cecilia say if another of her matches goes awry?

Book Two of the Cecilia’s Mismatches series is a stand-alone novel.


Cover Image for One Thing Led to Another

Sandra Sookoo

One Thing Led to Another
Series: Singular Sensation #6
Genre: Regency Romance Suspense
Publisher: New Independence Books (indie label)
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/11/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

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Digging for the truth requires a person to dirty their hands, but it might also set them free.

Graham Islington—Viscount Aldren—is no stranger to life’s foibles. After being given his title from the Regent for heroic services to the Crown during the war, he’s used his retirement from the military as an excuse to find scandal and sin in the beau monde. But when a rare bejeweled parasol handle once belonging to Louis XVI is discovered in his bed—along with the dead body of a courtesan—he regrets his careless lifestyle.

Lady Caroline Marlowe—sister to the duke of Lockwood—just turned nine and twenty. She suffers from boredom and is sick to death of London, as well as her brother’s rules, and needs excitement to relieve ennui. Everything changes when the man she’s harbored a secret tendre for shows up at her house in the middle of an autumn night trailing gossip, bloodied hands, and quite possibly murder. He demands her brother’s assistance, but with the duke busy with his new life, the responsibility lies with her.

As the two are thrown into a sticky web of revenge, forced proximity leads to forbidden desire between the viscount and Caroline. With reputations at stake, society matrons cutting them to ribbons with gossip, and trouble nipping at their heels, they will need to prove their mettle, especially when the madman grows desperate enough to put Graham’s life into jeopardy. If she wants a romance for the ages, Caroline will have to ignore familial expectations as well as her own doubts and risk everything for that chance… providing they both survive.


Cover Image for Training the Duke

Alexa Aston

Training the Duke
Series: Suddenly a Duke
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/12/2023
Author Website: https://alexaaston.com

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An army officer who has returned to his childhood home. An earl’s daughter forced to earn her own living. Two damaged souls who find friendship . . . and love . . .

Lieutenant-General Cyrus Cressley’s head wound leaves him blind in one eye and unsuited to lead men into battle. Selling his commission, Cy returns to Melrose to find his father long dead and his distant brother, who is in poor health, the new Duke of Margate. Cy is given use of the hunting lodge on the estate, where he seeks to find his purpose in life after being forced from the military.

Lady Finola Honeyfield’s come-out was ruined when a cruel trick was played upon her, leaving her to trust no one but her dogs. She retreats to the country and becomes one of England’s premier trainers of English springer spaniels, having found a way to earn her keep, even as she is lost in loneliness.

Thanks to her Honeyfield spaniels, Finola has a chance meeting with Cy. Soon, a friendship springs up between them, with Cy even helping Finola train her current litter of pups. But these two keep secrets from one another and when Cy suddenly finds himself the Duke of Margate, Finola washes her hands of him.

Can Cy convince Finola they are meant to be together and forge a path as the Duke and Duchess of Margate—or will her mistrust of gentlemen of the ton keep them apart forever?


Cover Image for My Fair Regency: Tales From Holidays Throughout The Year

Cora Lee

Authors: Cora Lee
Ann Chaney
Shannon Donnelly
Courtney McCaskill
Charlotte Russell
Regina Scott
My Fair Regency: Tales From Holidays Throughout The Year
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: More Than Words Press
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: eBook
Release Date: 10/12/2023
Author Website: https://coraleeauthor.com

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Celebrate Regency romance all year long with this collection of short stories set during holidays and festivals throughout the four seasons! Fans of sweet romance will enjoy stories set from May Day all the way to Twelfth Night, featuring some of your favorite tropes—enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, forbidden love, friends-to-lovers, and more!


Cover Image for It's In Her Kiss

Katherine Grant

It’s In Her Kiss
Series: Northfield Hall Novellas
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Katherine Grant
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: eNovella
Release Date: 10/12/2023
Author Website: https://www.katherinegrantromance.com/its-in-her-kiss/

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No good deed goes unkissed…

Spencer Chow’s life at Northfield Hall is simple. He lives with his family, works at the Northfield Hall carpentry shop, and eats delicious meals at the dining hall. Until one day, he stumbles across a sobbing newcomer Harriet Hill – and changes the course of his life with one good deed.

Harriet Hill is determined to make her new life at Northfield Hall work. When Spencer Chow helps her find a new position – instead of turning her out on the street – Harriet decides to return the favor. Even if the only thing she has to offer the inscrutable Mr. Chow are kissing lessons.

With secrets from her past threatening to emerge, Harriet and Spencer are both surprised by how a simple attraction can grow into complicated feelings.

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


Cover Image for Tutoring the Bookseller

Andrea K Stein
Louisa Cornell

Tutoring the Bookseller
Series: Sex, Lies, & Forbidden Desires Book 5
Genre: Erotic
Publisher: Muirgen® Publishing, LLC
Content Rating: Burning (Hot)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/17/2023
Author Website: https://www.andreakstein.com/

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Bookish Lord Whitcombe makes a bold request of ‘The Insatiable Lady’
Lord Daedalus Whitcombe, owner of the most wicked bookshop in London, has been named a scandal and a disgrace by most of good society. A title he revels in as it sells more books and annoys the very devil out of his haughty brother, the duke. His brother’s efforts to close the bookshop become secondary to Lord Whitcombe’s fascination with the shop’s new, in-demand book, A Feast of Fantasies, by The Insatiable Lady. His quest to discover the author’s identity becomes an obsession, for he has a singular request to make of the lady.

Miss Perriton never expected a bookseller to look like Lord Whitcombe
Miss Cordelia Perriton, the very pattern-card of a genteel young lady, has a reputation for her charitable works. Her endeavors on behalf of the fallen women of Seven Dials are lauded, though a bit daring for an unmarried woman of good family. If only society knew she’s The Insatiable Lady, and those fallen women are providing the erotic tales in her sensational book. She means to use the sales to gain financial independence and to establish a home for women who wish to retire from the streets of Seven Dials.

When Lord Whitcombe demands Cordelia submit her next book in person, her irritation moves to fury. The man she’d pictured as an elderly bookish type is instead a sensuously handsome lord. The connection between them is immediate and incendiary when he shocks and intrigues her with a bold request. Her response stuns him to his core.

But when Cordelia’s Seven Dials friends begin to disappear, the couple’s erotic adventure turns deadly. Are they ready to abandon their dreams to save wheat they have or will their nightmares part them forever?

Buy Tutoring the Bookseller today to open a world of desire and suspense!


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Cover Image for The Lyon's Redemption

Sandra Sookoo

The Lyon’s Redemption
Series: Lyon’s Den Connected World
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/25/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

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In need of redemption… Thomas Prestwick, Viscount of Ashbury, has left the thought of love and romance behind. Never again will he allow himself that vulnerability and has, instead, kept himself busy with various vices every fine gentleman of the beau monde indulges in. If only he’d stayed away from the tables at the famed Lyon’s Den gaming hell that night, he might not have been caught up in fate’s unfortunate web, which brought him face-to-face with the past.

In want of vengeance…Miss Olivia Rose Jameson wants nothing to do with men—whether related to her or not. With her parents dead and her worthless brother losing everything of value at the gambling tables, she’s incensed when her hand is bartered for his freedom. That complication will not help her cause of having revenge on the man who killed her best friend, until chance matches her with the object of her ire.

Forgiveness has a way of changing everything… With no choice but to wed at the order of the mysterious Mrs. Dove-Lyon, the pair ushers in the Christmastide season as a married couple. No matter that Ashbury’s heart is locked away and Olivia wishes to carve it from his chest, more than compassion and secrets are shared between the enemies-to-lovers one snowy evening in the viscount’s library. As desire gives way to romance, fate once more intervenes. For one terrible night, everything hangs in the balance, and nothing short of a miracle—or love—can save them.

Because doesn’t the house—and Mrs. Dove-Lyon—always win?

Other Ghosts Haunting the Regency

Step aside, Hammersmith Ghost. There were other specters who spooked Regency imaginations and inspired the popular press. Here are a few noteworthy examples:

Queen Elizabeth I


Here’s a phantom that must have haunted Napoleon’s nightmares in the early years of the 19th century while he was  planning to invade England.

In this 1803 print published by William Holland, the soon-to-be Emperor of France recoils against the ghost of Queen Elizabeth I, who reminds him of Spain’s failed attempt during her reign to invade England. Napoleon’s planned attempt at a British invasion will be defeated, she appears to tell him, just as surely as she defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588.

He must have paid heed, because by 1805 he’d abandoned his plans and decided to pursue other military goals. (Of course, Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar might have had something to do with Napoleon’s change of heart, as well.)

Admiral Byng

This 1808 hand-colored etching by Isaac Cruikshank features the ghost of Admiral Byng, a Royal Navy officer who was court-martialed for failing to “do his utmost” to relieve a British garrison during the Battle of Minorca in 1756 at the start of the Seven Year’s War. There were extenuating circumstances influencing Byng’s actions, but they didn’t matter under the harsh provisions of the Articles of War.

Byng’s trial and the death sentence that followed were seen as highly political and generated a lot of controversy. A plea for clemency and an appeal to King George II was denied. In what was considered by some to be “the worst legalistic crime in the nation’s annals,” Byng was executed by a firing squad in 1757.

Repercussions (including guilt and a sense of injustice) from Byng’s trial and execution lingered for decades. No wonder the army officer (General Whitelocke) in the cartoon is terrified by the Admiral’s ghost!

Byng was the last officer of his rank to be put to death for this type of crime. In fact, 22 years after Byng’s death, the Articles of War were amended to allow alternatives to capital punishment in situations such as Byng faced.

And now for a more light-hearted haunting:

Tom Tack’s Ghost

Tom Tack’s Ghost was a popular sea shanty; both Isaac Cruikshank and Thomas Rowlandson published prints illustrating it in 1808. (Rowlandson’s version is pictured above.)

The song tells the story of two sailors who were both in love with the same woman, “Polly from Spithead.” When one of the love-struck sailors discovered Polly was also being courted by fellow shipmate Tom Tack, he shot his rival.

However Tom, who “com’d from Boney-Ayrs,” wasn’t dead. He revived enough to put on a white sheet and pretend to be a ghost, to torment the sailor that shot him.

But that sailor wasn’t about to be intimidated by a ghost.  He threatened to tie “ghost” Tom up with ropes, before figuring out that he hadn’t killed his romantic rival after all.

It just bears out my theory that the most troublesome ghosts are the ones who are still alive!

~~

*If you are interested in all eight verses of Tom Tack’s Ghost, you can find them here.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Hammersmith Ghost

The Hammersmith Ghost, as pictured in Kirby’s Wonderful and Scientific Museum, published in 1804

Will you be dressing up this Halloween? If you love the simple elegance of a white ghost costume, you may want to hear about a Regency “ghost” who met an untimely and undeserved end.

In late 1803 the residents of Hammersmith (which is now a part of Greater London but was then a small village about five miles west of the city) were in a panic. A number of the villagers claimed that they had seen a ghost. A few went so far as to say the ghost attacked them.

Many believed that the ghost in question was the spirit of a man who had killed himself the year before. This man was buried in the churchyard at Hammersmith, which was actually against church law and the prevailing beliefs of the time.

Since suicide was considered a grave sin against God, people who died by suicide were not supposed to be buried in consecrated ground. (Instead they were often buried at a crossroads outside of town.) It was believed that the soul of a suicide victim who was buried in consecrated ground would be unable to find eternal rest, and would wander the earth.

Alley in front of The Dove pub in modern-day Hammersmith, one of the few remnants of Hammersmith Village that’s survived the centuries.

And that’s why the people of Hammersmith were convinced they now had a ghost on their hands, and a vicious one at that.

Villagers reported seeing a ghost in the churchyard, and even being grabbed by the specter. So nightly patrols began, with armed men searching for a ghost.

And eventually one of the men found what he was hunting for. On the night of January 3, 1804, a 29-year-old excise officer named Francis Smith fired his blunderbuss and killed the “ghost,” who turned out to be Thomas Millwood, a local plasterer who was on his way home from work.

When he was shot, the unfortunate Thomas was wearing his work clothes, common to all in his trade, which included white linen trousers (freshly washed and very clean), a new white flannel waistcoat, and a white apron tied around his body.

In addition, he was coated with white plaster dust after working all day. In other words, he was dressed like a ghost, which may not have been the smartest move on his part given the hysteria in the village.

Millwood lived in the home of Mrs. Fulbrooke, who testified at the subsequent trial that she had warned him not to go out in his work clothes, or at least cover them with a coat. Apparently Thomas had scared others in the village during the ghost frenzy. But Thomas didn’t listen to her.

On one occasion, Thomas frightened some ladies who saw him from their carriage as he was walking along a terrace. The gentleman who was riding with the ladies said something like “there goes the ghost,” which Thomas didn’t appreciate.

According to Mrs. Fulbrooke’s account, Thomas answered with “a rude word” (we can only imagine what it was) saying he was no more a ghost than the gentleman was and offered to punch him in the head. Too bad Thomas didn’t learn anything from this encounter.

Because he killed an unarmed man, Francis Smith was charged with willful murder. But Smith pleaded self-defense. He claimed that he’d called out “stop or I’ll shoot,” and the ghost proved he was an apparition by not stopping. (Why Smith, or anyone for that matter, thought you could stop a ghost with bullets wasn’t addressed.)

However, Millwood’s sister testified that Smith more or less fired his gun as he was saying “stop or I’ll shoot” not allowing his victim any time to consider his next move.

For the judicial system, this turned out to be a landmark case, hinging on the court’s determination of what constitutes self-defense. Could Smith get off the hook because he believed he was defending himself against a ghost, even though the ghost turned out to be a man?

It actually took the courts 180 years to grapple with the legal issue of how to treat someone who commits a crime based on a mistaken belief.

Lord Chief Baron Sir Archibald Macdonald, chief judge in the trial of Francis Smith

The jury was reluctant to convict Smith. They decided on a verdict of manslaughter, a lesser charge than murder. But the chief judge returned the verdict, telling the jury they had to look at the facts and either convict Smith of murder or acquit him, regardless of whether Smith thought he was shooting a ghost.

So the jurors convicted him.

Smith was sentenced to hang for his crime, with his body to be dissected later (a common practice on executed criminals). But the judge reported the case to the king, (George III) who had the power to commute the sentence. Smith ended up doing a year of hard labor for his crime.

And Thomas Millwood? Ironically, he may have become a real ghost. He is said to haunt the Black Lion pub in Hammersmith, where his body was taken after he was shot.

A final note about this strange case: the furor caused by the trial prompted an old man with a guilty conscience to step forward. The village shoemaker confessed that prior to the shooting he’d taken to donning a white sheet and lurking in the churchyard, pretending to be a ghost to frighten his apprentice.

Apparently the apprentice had been scaring the old man’s children with ghost stories, so the shoemaker decided to teach him a lesson. No doubt the shoemaker’s prank ignited the ghost mania in the village and ultimately cost poor Thomas his life.

The moral of this story, if there is one, is not to be too quick to react violently if you think you see a ghost this Halloween. And if there are any vigilantes in your area gunning for a ghost, you might want to consider a different costume!

Free autumn background black illustration

~ ~ ~

For additional information see:

  • “The case of the murdered ghost,” BBC News, January 3, 2004
  • “The Case of a Ghost Haunted England for Over Two Hundred Years,” by Kelly Buchanan, Library of Congress Blogs, October 30, 2015
  • The Hammersmith Ghosts“, pp 65-79, by R.S. Kirby, in Kirby’s Wonderful and Scientific Museum, 1804

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay

September in Georgian History

September 29, 1829
An act of Parliament, at the request of Sir Robert Peel, created the Greater London Metropolitan Police Force, later known as Scotland Yard. The men, afterward nicknamed “bobbies,” were named after Sir Robert himself.

Portrait of Sir Robert Peel by Robert Richard Scanlan
“BLEST IF THEY HASNT PUT , ON A BOBBY! PRETTY STATE WE RE COMIN TO, WITH THEIR CENTRALISATION! LETS CUT TO LAMBETH.” PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.1866

Members’ Regency Fiction Releases for September 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 September Regency-set Fiction Release or Regency Author Article by October 24th, to appear in the October issue. Information submitted after October 24th will appear in the November 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 A Talent for Trouble

Robyn Chalmers

A Talent for Trouble
Series: Spirited Spinsters
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Robyn Chalmers
Content Rating: Clean Sweet
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 08/11/2023
Author Website: https://robynchalmers.com

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Could love be the most alluring game of all?

Harriet Truchard’s parents are the black sheep of the Ton. Exiled for her father’s notorious duels and cheating, they are back in London, and they have plans for their brilliant daughter.

She can either use her talent with cards to win them a fortune, or she can marry a man of their choosing. Which is out of the question since their choice is nothing but a well-dressed thug.

Until a chance encounter with Viscount Beaufort gives her the chance to escape…

Left with a crippling debt by his late father, Leo Astley, Lord Beaufort opened London’s most elegant gambling house in a desperate effort to keep a roof over their heads. He’s willing to flirt with scandal to save his family, but after a run of strange losses leaves the bank stripped of funds and threatens everything, he needs expert help, and fast.

As they join forces to hunt down the cheats threatening all he holds dear and try to avoid the repercussions of Harriet’s past, Leo and Harriet start to learn that admitting to the spark between them might be the biggest risk of all. Because what’s at stake are their hearts….


Cover Image for A Most Iniquitous Affair

Mary Alexander

A Most Iniquitous Affair
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Humble Blessing Press, Delaford Publishing
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.maryalicealexander.com/

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Beautiful Jane Bennet, dutiful daughter, and devoted sister, has finally found a man she might wish to marry. Charles Bingley, handsome, amiable, and scattered, fell hard for Jane. Jane’s mother, a tough woman at best, has decreed that Jane must marry one of two men, neither of whom is Mr Bingley.
Jane must decide whether she will obey her mother’s command or face an unknown future. Bingley, unsteady and irresolute, and burdened with a controlling sister must take charge of his life and become the man Jane deserves. Will Bingley persevere, break from his sister’s control and find Jane?
This 90K word novel follows the story of Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley, with Elizabeth and Darcy in supporting roles. “A Most Iniquitous Affair”


Cover Image for The Grand Mistletoe Assembly

Nina Jarrett and others

Authors: Nina Jarrett
Pamela Gibson
Sara Adrien
Edie Cay
Jemma Frost
Tanya Wilde

The Grand Mistletoe Assembly
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Rogue Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/25/2023
Author Website: https://ninajarrett.com/

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Can the festive ball of the Season bring these couples together in time for the holidays? A collection of Regency romances with star-crossed lovers, fast-paced plots and timeless connections …
Cuddling under mistletoe, fine lace, snowy linen, and true love to be found in the flickering light of a hundred gas lamps. Pearler House is bedecked for the holidays and everyone is attending the event of a lifetime. Experience the joy of the season with six all-new tales of passion. Some are sweet, some are spicy, all will capture your heart.


Cover Image for Murder at the Merton Library

Andrea Penrose

Murder at the Merton Library
Series: A Wrexford & Sloane Historical Mystery
Genre: Regency Mystery
Publisher: Kensington
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 09/26/2023
Author Website: http://andreapenrose.com/

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Responding to an urgent plea from a troubled family friend, the Earl of Wrexford journeys to Oxford only to find the reclusive university librarian has been murdered and a rare manuscript has gone missing. The only clue is that someone overheard an argument in which Wrexford’s name was mentioned.

At the same time, Charlotte—working under her pen name, A. J. Quill—must determine whether a laboratory fire was arson and if it’s connected to the race between competing consortiums to build a new type of ship—one that can cross the ocean powered by steam rather than sails—with the potential to revolutionize military power and world commerce. That the race involves new innovations in finance and entrepreneurship only adds to the high stakes—especially as their good friend Kit Sheffield may be an investor in one of the competitors.

As they delve deeper into the baffling clues, Wrexford and Charlotte begin to realize that things are not what they seem. An evil conspiracy is lurking in the shadows and threatens all they hold dear—unless they can tie the loose threads together before it’s too late . . .


Cover Image for The Duchess of Drury Lane

Janna MacGregor

The Duchess of Drury Lane
Series: The Scandals and Scoundrels of Drury Lane
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Janna MacGregor
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/26/2023
Author Website: https://www.jannamacgregor.com

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She plays a part in society. He’s convinced she’s been miscast.

Raised to be a future duchess, Celeste Worsley must marry the duke her grandfather chooses for her. That means staying away from Malcolm Hollandale, one of the infamous self-made Millionaires of Mayfair. The only problem? He’s irresistible, completely unacceptable to her family, and she’s been in love with him since the first time she saw him.

On his hands and knees and covered in his newest attempt to varnish the Drury Lane stage, chemist Malcolm Hollandale tries to ignore the enticing woman everyone calls The Duchess. Celeste is everything he can’t have, but when she needs his help to right a wrong, he can’t refuse her or her plush red lips. A stolen moment leads to a forbidden love that neither can walk away from, but fate has other ideas. Yet, Malcom can’t stop thinking that perhaps this bold, passionate woman might be the perfect formula for achieving all his dreams.


Cover Image for Courting the Earl

Suzanna Medeiros

Courting the Earl
Series: Landing a Lord
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Suzanna Medeiros
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/28/2023
Author Website: https://www.suzannamedeiros.com/

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Eleanor Pearson is distressed by the forbidden attraction she feels for her cousin’s betrothed. But she vows to ignore her fascination with the attractive earl and do whatever she can to ensure her cousin’s marriage takes place.

The Earl of Hargrove has no intention of marrying anytime soon. He sets out on a mission of his own to end the surprise arrangement his father revealed to him only on his deathbed.

It doesn’t take him long to realize that Eleanor could be the key to convincing the younger woman to end the betrothal. But his attraction to her threatens his determination to remain a bachelor.

COURTING THE EARL is book 8 in the Landing a Lord series.


Cover Image for The Baker and the Bookmaker

Ally Hudson

The Baker and the Bookmaker
Series: Most Imprudent Matches
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Busy Nothings Books
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/03/2023
Author Website: https://www.Allyhudson.com

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The moment Augustus “Augie” Ainsley met Anna Hudson at four years old, he was lost to her sunset curls and flour-dusted nose. But why would Anna want a future footman when she could have the son of a viscount?
To win her affections, Augie needs to make her bakery dream a reality, but that will take a fortune he doesn’t possess. When life takes a turn, Augie follows his friend to the city, and the glittering distractions of London cause him to lose sight of what is most important. Then fate brings him crashing back into Anna’s life, and he’s devastated to learn that his ambitions may have cost him the woman he loves.
Anna is unwilling to abandon her life of contentment for an inconstant suitor. Desperate to convince her that he is the man she needs, Augie resolves to prove she can depend on him. He must find a way to balance his unending work with his undying love or risk losing Anna forever.
The Baker and the Bookmaker is a heartwarming coming-of-age novella by Ally Hudson. If you enjoy Regency romances about friends who become lovers, you will relish this tender and charming story of friendship, first love, and raspberry tarts.


Cover Image for The Reluctant Chaperon

Suzan Lauder

The Reluctant Chaperon
Series: Cecilia’s Mismatches
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Meryton Press
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/10/2023
Author Website:

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The beautiful and perfect widow Lady Reddener lives an admirable life. With an estate in the country, a house in town, and a considerable fortune, the former Miss Cassandra Hales has no need for a husband to complicate her days. Why does she need a man? She has her mama and sisters, as well as her best friend and neighbour, Marcus Brand, Lord Broadmead. One and all proclaim Cassie the very picture of serenity.

However, Cecilia, Lady Hoxley, matches Cassie’s vibrant and argumentative sister Miss Alexandra “Lexie” Hales with Cecilia’s own brother, the gentle yet charming Mr. Reeve Charington. Thus, Cassie finds herself in the position of chaperon while they court. What is she to do when their constant interactions draw her towards Reeve’s allurement?

Meanwhile, Lexie wishes for a husband who will challenge her in debate, and Mr. Charington seeks harmony. A problem indeed!

When Marcus and Reeve go missing, Cassie’s calm world collapses, and she’s faced with her true passion for Reeve. But could it be too late?

If Reeve and Marcus are found, Cassie must discover whether Reeve shares her admiration. Can Cassie allow herself love when she has sworn herself to a life without a man? What will Cecilia say if another of her matches goes awry?

Book Two of the Cecilia’s Mismatches series is a stand-alone novel.


Cover Image for One Thing Led to Another

Sandra Sookoo

One Thing Led to Another
Series: Singular Sensation #6
Genre: Regency Romance Suspense
Publisher: New Independence Books (indie label)
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/11/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

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Digging for the truth requires a person to dirty their hands, but it might also set them free.

Graham Islington—Viscount Aldren—is no stranger to life’s foibles. After being given his title from the Regent for heroic services to the Crown during the war, he’s used his retirement from the military as an excuse to find scandal and sin in the beau monde. But when a rare bejeweled parasol handle once belonging to Louis XVI is discovered in his bed—along with the dead body of a courtesan—he regrets his careless lifestyle.

Lady Caroline Marlowe—sister to the duke of Lockwood—just turned nine and twenty. She suffers from boredom and is sick to death of London, as well as her brother’s rules, and needs excitement to relieve ennui. Everything changes when the man she’s harbored a secret tendre for shows up at her house in the middle of an autumn night trailing gossip, bloodied hands, and quite possibly murder. He demands her brother’s assistance, but with the duke busy with his new life, the responsibility lies with her.

As the two are thrown into a sticky web of revenge, forced proximity leads to forbidden desire between the viscount and Caroline. With reputations at stake, society matrons cutting them to ribbons with gossip, and trouble nipping at their heels, they will need to prove their mettle, especially when the madman grows desperate enough to put Graham’s life into jeopardy. If she wants a romance for the ages, Caroline will have to ignore familial expectations as well as her own doubts and risk everything for that chance… providing they both survive.


Cover Image for Training the Duke

Alexa Aston

Training the Duke
Series: Suddenly a Duke
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/12/2023
Author Website: https://alexaaston.com

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An army officer who has returned to his childhood home. An earl’s daughter forced to earn her own living. Two damaged souls who find friendship . . . and love . . .

Lieutenant-General Cyrus Cressley’s head wound leaves him blind in one eye and unsuited to lead men into battle. Selling his commission, Cy returns to Melrose to find his father long dead and his distant brother, who is in poor health, the new Duke of Margate. Cy is given use of the hunting lodge on the estate, where he seeks to find his purpose in life after being forced from the military.

Lady Finola Honeyfield’s come-out was ruined when a cruel trick was played upon her, leaving her to trust no one but her dogs. She retreats to the country and becomes one of England’s premier trainers of English springer spaniels, having found a way to earn her keep, even as she is lost in loneliness.

Thanks to her Honeyfield spaniels, Finola has a chance meeting with Cy. Soon, a friendship springs up between them, with Cy even helping Finola train her current litter of pups. But these two keep secrets from one another and when Cy suddenly finds himself the Duke of Margate, Finola washes her hands of him.

Can Cy convince Finola they are meant to be together and forge a path as the Duke and Duchess of Margate—or will her mistrust of gentlemen of the ton keep them apart forever?


Cover Image for My Fair Regency: Tales From Holidays Throughout The Year

Cora Lee

Authors: Cora Lee
Ann Chaney
Shannon Donnelly
Courtney McCaskill
Charlotte Russell
Regina Scott
My Fair Regency: Tales From Holidays Throughout The Year
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: More Than Words Press
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: eBook
Release Date: 10/12/2023
Author Website: https://coraleeauthor.com

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Celebrate Regency romance all year long with this collection of short stories set during holidays and festivals throughout the four seasons! Fans of sweet romance will enjoy stories set from May Day all the way to Twelfth Night, featuring some of your favorite tropes—enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, forbidden love, friends-to-lovers, and more!


Cover Image for It's In Her Kiss

Katherine Grant

It’s In Her Kiss
Series: Northfield Hall Novellas
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Katherine Grant
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: eNovella
Release Date: 10/12/2023
Author Website: https://www.katherinegrantromance.com/its-in-her-kiss/

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No good deed goes unkissed…

Spencer Chow’s life at Northfield Hall is simple. He lives with his family, works at the Northfield Hall carpentry shop, and eats delicious meals at the dining hall. Until one day, he stumbles across a sobbing newcomer Harriet Hill – and changes the course of his life with one good deed.

Harriet Hill is determined to make her new life at Northfield Hall work. When Spencer Chow helps her find a new position – instead of turning her out on the street – Harriet decides to return the favor. Even if the only thing she has to offer the inscrutable Mr. Chow are kissing lessons.

With secrets from her past threatening to emerge, Harriet and Spencer are both surprised by how a simple attraction can grow into complicated feelings.

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


Cover Image for Tutoring the Bookseller

Andrea K Stein
Louisa Cornell

Tutoring the Bookseller
Series: Sex, Lies, & Forbidden Desires Book 5
Genre: Erotic
Publisher: Muirgen® Publishing, LLC
Content Rating: Burning (Hot)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/17/2023
Author Website: https://www.andreakstein.com/

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Bookish Lord Whitcombe makes a bold request of ‘The Insatiable Lady’
Lord Daedalus Whitcombe, owner of the most wicked bookshop in London, has been named a scandal and a disgrace by most of good society. A title he revels in as it sells more books and annoys the very devil out of his haughty brother, the duke. His brother’s efforts to close the bookshop become secondary to Lord Whitcombe’s fascination with the shop’s new, in-demand book, A Feast of Fantasies, by The Insatiable Lady. His quest to discover the author’s identity becomes an obsession, for he has a singular request to make of the lady.

Miss Perriton never expected a bookseller to look like Lord Whitcombe
Miss Cordelia Perriton, the very pattern-card of a genteel young lady, has a reputation for her charitable works. Her endeavors on behalf of the fallen women of Seven Dials are lauded, though a bit daring for an unmarried woman of good family. If only society knew she’s The Insatiable Lady, and those fallen women are providing the erotic tales in her sensational book. She means to use the sales to gain financial independence and to establish a home for women who wish to retire from the streets of Seven Dials.

When Lord Whitcombe demands Cordelia submit her next book in person, her irritation moves to fury. The man she’d pictured as an elderly bookish type is instead a sensuously handsome lord. The connection between them is immediate and incendiary when he shocks and intrigues her with a bold request. Her response stuns him to his core.

But when Cordelia’s Seven Dials friends begin to disappear, the couple’s erotic adventure turns deadly. Are they ready to abandon their dreams to save wheat they have or will their nightmares part them forever?

Buy Tutoring the Bookseller today to open a world of desire and suspense!


Cover Image for The Lyon's Redemption

Sandra Sookoo

The Lyon’s Redemption
Series: Lyon’s Den Connected World
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 10/25/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

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In need of redemption… Thomas Prestwick, Viscount of Ashbury, has left the thought of love and romance behind. Never again will he allow himself that vulnerability and has, instead, kept himself busy with various vices every fine gentleman of the beau monde indulges in. If only he’d stayed away from the tables at the famed Lyon’s Den gaming hell that night, he might not have been caught up in fate’s unfortunate web, which brought him face-to-face with the past.

In want of vengeance…Miss Olivia Rose Jameson wants nothing to do with men—whether related to her or not. With her parents dead and her worthless brother losing everything of value at the gambling tables, she’s incensed when her hand is bartered for his freedom. That complication will not help her cause of having revenge on the man who killed her best friend, until chance matches her with the object of her ire.

Forgiveness has a way of changing everything… With no choice but to wed at the order of the mysterious Mrs. Dove-Lyon, the pair ushers in the Christmastide season as a married couple. No matter that Ashbury’s heart is locked away and Olivia wishes to carve it from his chest, more than compassion and secrets are shared between the enemies-to-lovers one snowy evening in the viscount’s library. As desire gives way to romance, fate once more intervenes. For one terrible night, everything hangs in the balance, and nothing short of a miracle—or love—can save them.

Because doesn’t the house—and Mrs. Dove-Lyon—always win?

Still Available

Cover Image for Loving Miss Tilney

Heather Moll

Loving Miss Tilney
Series:
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Excessively Diverted Press
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 08/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.heathermollauthor.com/

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She’s forbidden to wed a nobody. He’s nothing in society’s eyes. Will their desperate schemes backfire before they find a way to be together?
Northanger Abbey. Eleanor Tilney can’t bear her lonely life any longer. Distraught when her tyrannical father throws her friend out of the house because the girl lacks an inheritance, the long-suffering general’s daughter decides anything is better than a future all alone. So in a frantic bid for freedom, she puts aside her tender feelings for a man of no standing to pursue a wealthy husband.

Philip Brampton understands that fortune is against him. And he tries gallantly to bury his distress and support his lonely beloved, even after she starts pursuing an arrogant buffoon. But when he catches the fellow about to kiss her, their resulting harsh words cause a heartbreaking rift.

Stiffening her spine in a world that refuses to acknowledge her value, Eleanor attempts to navigate the impossible situation without quashing her desires. And though his shy nature abhors a scene, Philip braces himself for a confrontation with her cruel and abusive patriarch.

Do these childhood sweethearts have any hope of achieving lasting happiness?


Cover Image for Tales of Timeless Romance: How Do I Love Thee?

Elizabeth Donne

Book Title: Tales of Timeless Romance: How Do I Love Thee?
Author Name: Elizabeth Donne
Release Date: 08/02/2023
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Tales of Timeless Romance: How Do I Love Thee?
Series:
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: eBook
Release Date: 08/02/2023
Author Website: https://elizabethdonnebooks.com

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Spinster is such a loathsome word. But—Miss Sophia Grant has to confess—this is what she has become. With the first strands of greying hair, and lungs weakened by childhood illness, she does not expect to become anyone’s wife anymore. Sophia does not mind it too much. After all, she has her many siblings around her. And her writing, of course. Her days are full of everything that matters. That is, until the letter comes.

Tobias Mannerly is entirely smitten with the written word. It fills every corner of his thoughts and imagination. Perhaps that is why he has not yet found love—no woman can reach his heart the way poetry does. Words are his passion, especially those in the latest poem by a certain Miss S. Grant. How they speak to him, call to him! He must write to her. She must know what power she wields on the page.

What begins as a simple letter by an ardent young literary admirer soon develops into genuine affection. Two modest souls appear to have found their match. But how can Sophia tell her beau that she can never marry? If her father even suspected her feelings, he would be furious! Losing his wife has made him fragile. Clinging to his remaining family has made him unreasonable. It seems an impossible situation. It is just the sort of challenge love is made to overcome, if only Tobias can convince Sophia she deserves it.


Cover Image for The Baron and the Lady Chemist

Alissa Baxter

Book Title: The Baron and the Lady Chemist
Author Name: Alissa Baxter
Release Date: 08/03/2023
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The Baron and the Lady Chemist
Series: The Grantham Girls
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Clean Sweet
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 08/03/2023
Author Website: https://www.alissabaxter.com/

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Dorothea Grantham has always been fascinated by chemistry and spends most days conducting experiments in her laboratory at Grantham Place, staining silk with gold, silver, and other metals using chemical processes.

Thea embroiders the beautiful gold and silver silk shawls she creates and enjoys wearing them, but her grandmother, Lady Longmore, advises her not to reveal to anyone outside the family circle that she has created the fashion items herself, concerned her granddaughter might be seen as an oddity.

When Thea enters Society, her shawls attract a great deal of attention and become the talk of the town. James, Lord Castleroy, takes a particular interest in her work, having inherited a share in his grandfather’s silk mill in Macclesfield.

Eager to invest in the ailing silk industry, the baron studies Miss Grantham’s silks with an admiring—and increasingly suspicious—eye, believing the fabrics to be smuggled imported silk. As he spends more time with the enterprising young lady, however, his interest in her quickly extends beyond his business affairs to engulf his guarded heart.

But Lord Castleroy isn’t the only person in London interested in Thea’s exquisite creations. And when a silken web of intrigue entangles her in real danger, Thea must trust the devotion of a man she never expected—or intended—to fall in love with.

Read Free in Kindle Unlimited!


Cover Image for Austen Tea Party

Alexa Santi

Book Title: Austen Tea Party
Authors Names: Alexa Santi, Amanda Faye, Angela Kady, Anja Raney, Bianca White, Carrie DiRisio, Catherine Bilson, Catherine Stein, Cecilia Rene, Charlie Lane, Christina Alexandra, Clyve Rose, Deborah E Pearson, Debra-Ann Kummoung, Ella Hazard, Elle Linder, Gabbi Grey, JKLycke, Katy Rose, Kenna Campbell, Michaela Brent, Sharon Michalove, Stacey Jaine McIntosh, Tabetha Waite, Tanya Wilde, TL Clark
Release Date: 08/09/2023
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Austen Tea Party
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Romance Cafe Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 08/09/2023
Author Website: https://www.alexasanti.com

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Take care not to spill the tea (literally) while we share the latest on-dit (aka dish the dirt) about the Ton, who is courting, and who has been compromised in this collection of Austen-inspired romance stories.

Join us for a turn around the room in stories from USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors curated by the New Romance Café featuring cameos from some of Jane’s most memorable characters (and some we’d like to forget). ALL proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.


Cover Image for The Solitary Rose

Anne Rollins

Book Title: The Solitary Rose
Author Name: Anne Rollins
Release Date: 08/14/2023
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The Solitary Rose
Series:
Genre: Fantasy or Science Fiction Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 08/14/2023
Author Website: http://www.annerollins.com

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Henry Dawson, sorcerer and apothecary assistant, works to support his mother and younger siblings after his father’s investments and consequent death leave them penniless. Invited to woo a reclusive heiress with magical empathy, he reluctantly accepts, despite a preference for earning his own way.

Emma Ainsworth fears smallpox scars and her hypersensitivity to others’ thoughts make her ineligible for marriage. Sheltered by her aunt and uncle, she has withdrawn from most social life and wears a veil whenever she must go out.

When a serious injury confines Henry to Emma’s estate for the summer, a verbal duel ensues—Emma wants to test her empathy in a sexual relationship, not marry him. What neither admits is their fear that passion might burn them both.


Cover Image for Claiming the Chess Mistress

Andrea K Stein
Louisa Cornell

Book Title: Claiming the Chess Mistress
Author Name: Andrea K Stein
Release Date: 08/15/2023
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Claiming the Chess Mistress
Series: Sex, Lies, & Forbidden Desires Book 4
Genre: Erotic
Publisher: Muirgen® Publishing, LLC
Content Rating: Burning (Hot)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 08/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.andreakstein.com/

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The loss of Col’s damning journal pages is about to turn deadly;
The forfeit of Charlotte’s closely guarded secrets might destroy her;
Will their mutual quest for justice bring them together, or tear them apart?

By night, she’s a masked chess mistress who challenges and trounces all takers; by day, she’s the ethereal white-blonde beauty who volunteers at the children’s refuge in Seven Dials — Charlotte Smythe lives a luxurious double life of ease as the mysterious chess genius at Goodrum’s House of Pleasure..

After spending years as a gifted investigator extricating others from their peccadillos, dedicated Bow Street runner Archer Colwyn has landed in a suds of his own making. The light-hearted journal of sensual exploits he and his school chums kept while students at Cambridge has gone missing, and the secrets within his particular pages, if revealed, could set off deadly consequences.

The dangerous Captain El Goodrum, proprietress of the most infamous house of pleasure in London, holds the key to their retrieval. In exchange for her cooperation, she demands he run a gauntlet of secrets to deliver a master criminal to justice. His only path to the damning pages is the inscrutable chess mistress who not only resents his attempts to romance away his journal pages, but seems to relish his dread and panic at the prospect of the pages becoming public knowledge.

Charlotte craves the kind of refuge she provides to the orphans she rescues from London’s stews. The respite she seeks away from the world in her St. John’s Wood villa with her two house companions is all that keeps her sane, but sometimes, late at night, she needs something more, something even she cannot name.


Cover Image for The Highlander's Kilted Bride

Vanessa Kelly

Book Title: The Highlander’s Kilted Bride
Author Name: Vanessa Kelly
Release Date: 08/22/2023
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The Highlander’s Kilted Bride
Series: Clan Kendrick
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Kensington Books
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 08/22/2023
Author Website: https://www.vanessakellyauthor.com

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The irresistible Kendrick clan returns in the latest Scottish-set historical romance from the USA Today bestselling author—a witty, sensuous and adventure-filled romp that will delight Regency fans and readers of Sabrina Jeffries and Victoria Alexander. Charlotte “Charlie” Stewart would rather don a kilt and ride her horse than simper in a ballroom. But with her younger sister about to be wed, she can’t escape the pressure to be next. A husband has been chosen, and Charlie’s fate seems set. Until an afternoon gallop sends her horse colliding with Kade Kendrick, the broad-shouldered Highlander who was once her childhood pal . . .


Cover Image for THE LYON'S PERFECT MATE

Cerise DeLand

Book Title: THE LYON’S PERFECT MATE
Author Name: Cerise DeLand
Release Date: 08/23/2023
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THE LYON’S PERFECT MATE
Series: The Lyon’s Den
Genre: Regency Georgian Romance Historical Fiction
Publisher: Dragonblade
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 08/23/2023
Author Website: https://cerisedeland.com

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Can two people who have learned how to fight for all they want and win push pride aside to save their love and their marriage?

Miss Priscilla Taunton has little to commend her. No looks, no titled family, no savoir faire. But her fortune can buy her a husband if she’s brave enough to use it.
Cilla has struggled to make a new life for herself. Years of ridicule and suppression at the hands of her parents mean she has had to live down the scurrilous reputation her elders cast upon her. But after creating herself anew, Cilla needs a husband of good cheer and spotless reputation. To make that a reality, she’ll use her money, all of it, if necessary, to hire Mrs. Dove-Lyon—and ask for herself only one special reward.

Captain Valerian Anderleigh has always won every battle. Hailed by his superiors as honorable, revered by his men as heroic, he is a legend.
When Val returns home from the wars to assume his family’s title, he meets challenges for which no battlefield prepared him. His estate is flooded. His stepmother and her two daughters spend every penny. His younger brother runs wild.
Val will do anything to resurrect his family’s pride. Even enter the Lyon’s Den and assume a terrible burden. Surprisingly, marrying a lovely, lonely woman becomes not a challenge but a greater joy than he anticipated.

Losing the love of his life in defeat is not an option.


Cover Image for Love Blooms with the Duke

Alexa Aston

Book Title: Love Blooms with the Duke
Author Name: Alexa Aston
Release Date: 08/31/2023
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Love Blooms with the Duke
Series: Suddenly a Duke
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 08/31/2023
Author Website: https://alexaaston.com/al

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Xander Hughes, London’s biggest rake, suddenly becomes the Duke of Brockbank and guardian to two nieces he has never met. He decides he must turn over a new leaf and become a sober, responsible duke and starts by hiring a Miss Fennimore, a governess for the girls. Soon, Xander wonders if she might make for an even better duchess.

Willa’s parents were the toast of London’s theater world until Theodosia Fennimore murdered her playwright husband and leaped to her death. Not wishing to become an actress like her mother, Willa supports herself as a companion and governess, finding her latest post is to instruct a duke’s two unruly nieces.

As Willa falls in love with the orphaned girls, she finds herself also tumbling into love with the Duke of Brockbank. She’s been warned that the duke was a wild rogue before he inherited his title, but Willa only knows the caring man who meets his duties head on and spends an inordinate amount of time with his nieces, who aren’t so terrible after all.

After Brockbank offers marriage to Willa, she dreams of a new life filled with love and happiness. The only thing standing in her way is the secret of her past. If Willa shares her background, she fears she might lose Xander forever.

Will Xander reject Willa when he learns of the scandal involving her parents—or will this rule-breaking duke flout the rules of Polite Society yet again and make a most inappropriate woman his duchess?


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Cheryl Bolen

Book Title: Defended by a Duke
Author Name: Cheryl Bolen
Release Date: 09/01/2023
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Defended by a Duke
Series: The Beresford Adventures
Genre: Regency Mystery
Publisher: Dragonblade
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.cherylbolen.com/

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On the day he’s to wed the woman of his dreams, Richard Harwood, the 6th Duke of Bentley, is summoned by the Prince Regent. The prince and Britain’s Home Secretary suspect the family of his prospective bride, the powerful Beresfords, of plotting to overthrow the government. Bentley is encouraged to go ahead with the wedding but to say nothing to his wife about her traitorous relatives. He’s to quietly investigate.
In her first Season, lovely Emily Beresford, has the good fortune to win the heart of the kingdom’s most sought-after matrimonial catch, the handsome Duke of Bentley. From the moment they met, the two have been hopelessly in love. So why does this man she adores abandon her on their wedding night?
Bentley’s inquiries keep stealing him away from this woman he craves with every aching breath, his wife. These same inquiries point to a plot so sinister it threatens everything he loves, especially his duchess. . .


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Elizabeth Essex

Book Title: Mad Rogues & Englishwomen
Author Name: Elizabeth Essex
Release Date: 09/05/2023
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Mad Rogues & Englishwomen
Series: Highland Brides
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Oliver-Heber Books
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/05/2023
Author Website: https://www.elizabethessex.com

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A thing of beauty can be a joy forever.

But beauty lies…

Lord Archie Carrington knows a beauty when he sees one. Barmaids and countess alike fall beneath the charm of the youngest-ever editor of Edinburgh’s sharpest political and literary quarterly. So when he sets out to write an exposé on the new Lord Advocate, the clever Scotsman devises a plan to charm his opponent’s shy portraitist daughter out of her smock—and her family secrets.

in the eyes of the beholder.

But Maisie Conway knows a rogue when she sees one and although she agrees to paint Lord Carrington’s portrait, she rebuffs all of Archie’s attempts at flirtation and familiarity. That is, until Archie offers to pose nude as a life drawing lesson and Maisie cannot resist the opportunity to uncover all of his manifest charms. Posing leads to passion, but soon they find themselves working at cross purposes. As Archie and Maisie follow the dictates of their desire, will they learn to trust one another, or will the dark secrets surrounding them cost them their only chance to achieve true love?


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Sandra Sookoo

Book Title: Catch Her if You Can
Author Name: Sandra Sookoo
Release Date: 09/12/2023
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Catch Her if You Can
Series: Diamonds of London #3
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: New Independence Books (indie label)
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/12/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

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When a lady snubs love and romance in favor of being ruined, all hell will break loose.

Lady Katharine “Kitty” Gibson is the youngest child of the Earl of Armestead. At six and twenty, she wants no part of living a fairytale and desires love even less. She has dreams for her life that do not include romance, but tolerating a man long enough to be ruined would be a lovely addition and might allow her past society’s dictates that domestication and a good match is all she should aspire toward.

Mr. Reginald Healy made his first fortune with the East India Company and his second importing beautiful silk fabric and selling it first to ladies in American then to the beau monde in London. All he has ever wanted is to be respected as a gentleman instead of the “earl’s fool” he’s been nicknamed. When he purchases a rundown manor house in the countryside and furthers his acquaintance with a winsome blonde who is not in his usual style, his dream shifts to include a wife and possible family.

While Reginald tries his best to be more to Kitty than a gentleman with benefits, she thinks him endearing and a tad embarrassing. He’s not much changed from when he’d proposed to her ten years prior, but the longer his clumsy attempt at wooing continues, romance creeps in to mar her lovely no-strings-attached affair. Terrified and confused, she sets out one night to flee into obscurity, but as Reginald gives chase, unexpected peril on the road makes them both face their biggest fears and has the capacity to show them both that falling in love can be whatever they need it to be.


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Sylvie Sinclair

Book Title: Earl of My Dreams
Author Name: Sylvie Sinclair
Release Date: 09/18/2023
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Earl of My Dreams
Series: Romancing the Rogue
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Sylvie Sinclair
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/18/2023
Author Website: https://www.sylviesinclair.com

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All Miss Sophie Everett wants is to see her beloved cousin happily married to the man she loves, and she’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen. When a prime opportunity for matchmaking presents itself in the form of a country house party, she contrives to spend the week sowing the seeds of romance…until a fellow guest arrives with ideas of his own. Soon Sophie finds herself butting heads with the most stubborn man she’s ever known. A man who once owned her heart…

James Halloran, the Earl of Dearborn, is in need of an heir, but first he must find a wife. He thinks he’s found precisely what he wants: a girl possessed of both beauty and breeding, one who will make few demands and never touch his heart. The perfect countess. Unfortunately, the girl’s cousin—the maddening Miss Everett—does not share his enthusiasm for the match, and vows to prevent it, no matter the cost…

As their feud turns to friendship, sparks fly and passions ignite. But secrets, long kept hidden, threaten to destroy their future before it’s even begun…


Cover Image for The Hellion of Drury Lane

Katherine Grant

Book Title: The Hellion of Drury Lane
Author Name: Katherine Grant
Release Date: 09/19/2023
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The Hellion of Drury Lane
Series: The Scandals and Scoundrels of Drury Lane
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Katherine Grant
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: eNovella
Release Date: 09/19/2023
Author Website: https://www.katherinegrantromance.com/the-hellion-of-drury-lane/

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Behind the scenes, drama cuts both ways…

For Samantha Billings, nothing can go right. Ever since she inherited her father’s business as head carpenter for Drury Lane Theatre, she has been fighting off problems from creditors to unending rain. When an inspector of the carpentry guild announces he will stop her work unless she hires a master carpenter, Samantha fears she may lose everything – but she resolves to overcome, one way or another.

For Oliver Chow, nothing can go wrong. In London for the first time ever, he is celebrating his new status as a master carpenter and looking for the adventure of a lifetime. When he happens upon a woman carpentress in distress, he is happy to help – even if it is in name alone.

Thrown together to thwart the guild’s inspector, Samantha and Oliver discover that sometimes, a little drama behind the scenes can have a surprisingly happy outcome.


Cover Image for The Duke's Defender (The Duke's Guard, Bk 6)

C.H. Admirand

Book Title: The Duke’s Defender (The Duke’s Guard, Bk 6)
Author Name: C.H. Admirand
Release Date: 09/22/2023
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The Duke’s Defender (The Duke’s Guard, Bk 6)
Series: The Duke’s Guard
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/22/2023
Author Website: https://www.chadmirand.com

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The Duke’s Guard: The men in black who have sworn an oath to protect the Duke of Wyndmere and his family from enemies that would stop at nothing to discredit and destroy him!

“Lass, ye need to trust someone in yer hour of darkness…let it be me.”

Aiden Garahan is tasked with protecting the duke’s new ward. He promises to protect her with his life. The lovely young woman, with auburn hair and quiet gray eyes is no child, but a petite, curvaceous beauty. His reaction to her is unexpected and unwanted.

Miss Emily Montrose may be small in stature, but she is no shrinking violet! When a runaway carriage tragically cuts her father’s life short, she is thrust into chaos as the duke’s ward. Her life is turned upside down when rumors and a wager challenges all comers to win her hand. Emily’s life is threatened as the wager increases and unscrupulous men see her as a prize.

Aiden must cut through the lies to the truth. He guards her valiantly and vows to protect her to the last beat of his heart, while she steals it away, one glance at a time…one caress at a time. Aiden faces a battle he never imagined…one that pits his heart against his honor!

Danger stalks in the night, but it will have to challenge The Duke’s Defender before he will let harm come to those he has sworn to protect with his strength, his honor, and his heart.


Cover Image for A Radical Affair

Louise Mayberry

Book Title: A Radical Affair
Author Name: Louise Mayberry
Release Date: 09/22/2023
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A Radical Affair
Series: The Darnalay Castle Series
Genre: Regency Georgian Gothic Romance Suspense Historical Fiction
Publisher: Louise Mayberry
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/22/2023
Author Website: https://www.louisemayberry.com

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What harm could one night of pleasure do?

Cybil Bythesea is imprisoned in a marriage that ended ten years ago. That’s when she fled the cruelty of her husband, Lord Falstone, and took refuge at her father’s estate in Northumberland. Since then, her family’s money has kept the villain at bay, and she’s been able to pursue her creative passion—writing. But freedom, true freedom, has been beyond her grasp.

Except for her clandestine liaisons with Will.

Will Chisolm is haunted by the past, the tragedy of his family’s eviction from their ancestral Highland farm, then his own foolish descent into political radicalism. Even now that he’s gained wealth and respectability as the manager of a set of spinning mills in Glasgow, he’s burdened with more responsibility and guilt than anyone knows.

But there’s something about Cybil—a lightness, a kinship that, at least temporarily, makes all Will’s troubles fade away. It’s a dangerous game. Cybil is his employer’s sister, the wife of his political enemy and for the last four years, his lover.

She’s also with child. Will’s child. And their world, their lives, will never be the same.


Cover Image for Death and the Sisters

Heather Redmond

Book Title: Death and the Sisters
Author Name: Heather Redmond
Release Date: 09/26/2023
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Death and the Sisters
Series: Mary Shelley Mysteries
Genre: Regency Mystery Historical Fiction
Publisher: Kensington
Content Rating: Suspense
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 09/26/2023
Author Website: https://www.heatherredmond.com

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London, 1814: Mary Godwin and her stepsister Jane Clairmont, both sixteen, possess quick minds bolstered by an unconventional upbringing, and have little regard for the rules that other young ladies follow. Mary, whose mother famously advocated for women’s rights, rejects the two paths that seem open to her—that of an assistant in her father’s bookshop, or an ordinary wife. Though quieter and more reserved than the boisterous Jane, Mary’s imagination is keen, and she longs for real-world adventures.

One evening, an opportunity arrives in the form of Percy Bysshe Shelley. At twenty-one, Shelley is already a renowned poet and radical. Mary finds their visitor handsome and compelling, but it is later that evening, after the party has broken up, that events take a truly intriguing turn. When Mary comes downstairs in search of a book, she finds instead a man face down on the floor—with a knife in his back.

The dead man, it seems, was a former classmate of Shelley’s, and had lately become a rival. What was he doing in the Godwins’ home? Mary, Jane, and Shelley are all drawn to learn the truth behind the tragedy, especially as each discovery seems to hint at a tangled web that includes many in Shelley’s closest circle. But as the attraction between Mary and the married poet intensifies, it sparks a rivalry between the sisters, even as it kindles the creative fire within . . .


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Sandra Sookoo

Book Title: Dashing Through the Snow
Author Name: Sandra Sookoo
Release Date: 09/27/2023
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Dashing Through the Snow
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: New Independence Books (indie label)
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 09/27/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

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When two disillusioned people accidentally meet, finding a common bond in scandal will give them back hope.

The Honorable Laurence Bannerman lingers in London to avoid joining his family at his father’s country estate in Surrey to celebrate Christmastide. As the third son and a fourth sibling, nothing was ever expected of him, so his behavior has been quite scandalous. That is until he meets a woman who makes him long for a wife and wish for a change… but dogs don’t change their spots, do they?

Miss Eleanor Comerford hasn’t exactly been a darling of the beau monde. Though Christmastide brings with it naught but guilt and regret, there is the glimmering hope her family might forgive her past transgressions and take her back into their fold. Pretending to be someone she’s not is tiring, but when her path crosses that of a stranger, a plan begins to form… for she still dreams of belonging.

Forced to share the same traveling coach, when Eleanor asks Laurence to enter into a fake engagement with her to lend legitimacy to her story, he agrees merely to protect her and see her safely home. Perhaps a friendship would stave off loneliness during the journey north. As they come to know each other, hurts and secrets from their pasts bubble to the surface, and with acceptance comes a budding romance. Only with a holiday miracle will they have the chance to realize they never needed lies or proper images to grasp love… for they were worthy of it all along.

 

Happy Michaelmas Day!

St. Michael the Archangel

Michaelmas Day, celebrated next day on September 29, is a day rich in religious and secular traditions in British culture. It’s also called the Feast of Michael and All Angels, including the angels Gabriel and Raphael.

In the Christian tradition, St. Michael is considered a mighty warrior angel who defeated the devil during the war in heaven. A holy day since the Middle Ages, Michaelmas falls near the autumn equinox and is associated with the beginning of the fall season.

Michaelmas also one of Britain’s four “quarter days,” a way to divide up the year. Traditionally, quarter days were when law courts and universities began their terms, magistrates were elected, rents were due, and servants were hired.

The Company of Pikeman and Musketeers as they leave the Royal Courts of Justice and head south to the River Thames at the 2011 Lord Mayor’s Show

On Michaelmas Day the mayor of London is elected. Following the mayor’s inauguration in November a colorful street parade marches through the city. The Lord Mayor’s Show is a tradition that dates back to the 13th century, and is a popular annual event.

In addition, Michaelmas is also the name of the first of the four terms in the legal year in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In the United States, the Supreme Court has a schedule similar to the British model, with their annual term beginning on the first Monday after Michaelmas in October.

Quarter days not only represent holy days on the Catholic/Anglican liturgical calendar but are closely associated with the change of seasons as well. They are:

  • Lady Day, March 25 (Feast of the Assumption) just after the spring equinox
  • Midsummer Day, June 24 (Feast of St. John the Baptist) just after the summer solstice
  • Michaelmas Day, September 29, (Feast of St. Michael and All Angels), just after the autumn equinox
  • Christmas Day, December 25 (Feast of the Nativity) just after the winter solstice

The Michaelmas quarter day was especially important because it marked the successful completion of the harvest and signaled the start of a productive new farming cycle.

Like her contemporaries, Jane Austen would have been familiar with quarter days, especially Michaelmas – after all, her father was not only a clergyman but a farmer as well.

Austen mentions Michaelmas in the opening pages of Pride and Prejudice, when Mrs. Bennet gossips about her new neighbor, Mr. Bingley:

“Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.”

Michael the Archangel defeating the devil, by Guido Reni, 1636

In the Bible’s Book of Revelation, the Archangel Michael successfully fights against Lucifer and his fallen angels. So, as a battle-tested warrior, Michael is a good choice to protect mankind against the encroaching darkness and potentially evil forces of the autumn and winter. (We all know what kind of evil forces Halloween can unleash!)

A traditional Michaelmas feast includes a roast goose, along with whatever remains of the just-completed harvest.

Why a goose? Well, as the saying goes: “Eat a goose on Michaelmas Day, want not for money all the year.”

The idea of eating a “good luck goose” on Michaelmas goes back to the reign of Elizabeth I. Legend has it the queen was eating a roast goose on Michaelmas Day in 1588 when she got the news that her royal navy had defeated the Spanish Armada. That was certainly a lucky day for Elizabeth and her country!

The association between geese and Michaelmas made its way to America as well. Michaelmas Day traditions were brought to Lewiston, Pennsylvania, by an English settler in the late 1700s. Today, the Juniata River Valley’s annual Goose Day Festival is a weekend event that includes a corn maze and a pumpkin fest. And geese, of course.

Another bit of folklore says you shouldn’t eat blackberries after Michaelmas Day. The reason? Because they were cursed by the devil.

Queen Elizabeth I, the Armada portrait, circa 1588

The story goes that when St. Michael threw Lucifer out of heaven, the devil landed on a thorny blackberry bush. In retribution, Satan, not known for his even temper, did all sorts of things to the berries – stomped them, scorched them with his fiery breath, even urinated on them – to make the fruit dry, sour, and just plain inedible.

So, along with roasting a goose, a blackberry pie is traditionally baked, to use up all the good berries before Michaelmas Day.

Finally, Michaelmas Day is often represented by the Michaelmas daisy. This pretty flower provides a burst of color in autumn that outlasts most other blooms as winter approaches.

“The Michaelmas Daisies, among dede weeds,
Bloom for St Michael’s valorous deeds.
And seems the last of flowers that stood,
Till the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude.”

(The Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude is on October 28.)

Whether you indulge in a roast goose on Michaelmas Day or enjoy a vegan alternative, I hope you have good luck that continues all year!

 

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Sources for this post include:

Images courtesy of Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons

Balancing Research and Imaginative Creativity in Historical Fiction

 

Mark your calendar! Our September Monthly Tea is this Friday, September 22, at 2pm ET (5 pm PT).

Whether you write romance, mystery, fantasy, or some other subgenre of historical fiction, knowing when to stop researching and start writing is crucial to getting your novel on the page.

In this talk, author and translator Jenny Bhatt will discuss the unique challenges of researching and writing historical fiction. She will discuss how to approach research in an organized manner, where to look for primary and secondary sources, how to parse through which details will serve your story, and how to be believable with invented details to fill in the gaps. Plus, she will provide food for thought on how to read between the lines of historical records where chroniclers’ blind spots and biases left people out of the story.

Save your spot for this hour-long discussion of how to research and – more importantly – how to make that research work for your writing!

RFW Members: Simply follow the link in Jenny’s bio to sign up!

Not a member? Click on the membership link in the banner above  to become one and take advantage of this, and all our upcoming Monthly Teas.

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

Regency Fashion Victims

In my last post I discussed Beau Brummell’s sophisticated manner of dress, and what a contrast Brummell’s understated style was to the flashier styles worn by some of his contemporaries.

While Brummell may have disapproved of their fashion sense, the men and women whose dress he criticized provided excellent fodder for the caricaturists of their day, especially for two brothers of the Cruikshank family.

Here is George Cruikshank’s 1819 sketch titled “Lacing a Dandy.” Note the corset and padding!

In a similar vein, here’s his brother Isaac Robert Cruikshank’s hand-colored etching, “Exquisite Dandies,” mocking both male and female dandies (“dandizettes”), published in 1818.

Finally, here’s yet another 1818 caricature from I.R. Cruikshank, titled “Dandies Dressing.”

 

It’s easy to see how Beau Brummell’s style dictates were a much-needed antidote to this type of fashion excess!

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Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Beau Brummell and the evolution of men’s fashion

Beau Brummell giving instructions to his tailor – engraving from an 1855 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine

There have always been and always will be dandies – men who follow fashion and take an active interest in how they present themselves to the world. However, the Regency produced one of the most influential and famous dandies of all time, George Bryan “Beau” Brummell.

1805 caricature of Brummell

Though he was accepted and imitated at the highest levels of London society, Brummell was no aristocrat; he was the son of a government clerk. However, he had exquisite taste in clothing, as well as the sense to make friends with the Prince Regent after obtaining a commission in the prince’s regiment, the Tenth Light Dragoons.

Brummell’s influence on men’s fashion, both during the Regency and afterwards, was immense. His ideas were novel for the time in which he lived. He insisted on wearing clothes that were well tailored but otherwise simple, in solid, sober colors and without gaudy trimmings.

He also advocated good personal hygiene. He was fastidious about keeping himself and his clothing immaculate and urged his followers to adopt similar habits, including daily bathing and wearing clean undergarments.

Charles Howard, the 11th Duke of Norfolk, 1816

Cleanliness was not taken for granted during the 18th and early 19th centuries, even among the aristocracy. In The Prince of Pleasure and His Regency, 1811-1820, J.B. Priestley describes the grooming habits of the “downright dirty” Duke of Norfolk – his servants were able to bathe him only occasionally, when the old Duke was too drunk to fight against their efforts.

During his reign as the undisputed arbitrator of men’s clothing style in London society, Brummell accomplished a lot of fashion firsts.

He brought long pants or pantaloons into fashion (instead of the knee-length breeches worn previously) and insisted that men’s cravats (the precursor of the necktie men wear today) were starched, spotless and knotted just so. He remodeled men’s dress coats, too, so that they fit more snugly.

Brummell was also the first to wear black evening clothes; a radical change from the elaborate and colorful costumes men wore in the 18th century.

In fact, Brummell urged men to forego all types of frills, perfumes, and excessive ornamentation, including lace trims, gold embroidery and jewels. The result was an understated elegance in men’s fashion.

The man’s suit pictured below is an example of the type of flashy dressing Brummell deplored. This suit, made in 1790 but altered in 1805, includes a coat and breeches made of purple shot silk trimmed with sequins and metallic embroidery. The gold waistcoat also features sequin and metallic embroidery trim.

Brummell was a minimalist when it came to dressing. His vision of a well-dressed man had three elements:  slim, fitted pants; a white linen shirt, starched; and a trim waistcoat. Every article should be well-tailored.

According to one Brummell’s biographers, Ian Kelly, Brummell’s general precepts regarding men’s wear has dominated men’s “power dressing” ever since.

According to Priestley, someone once breathlessly told Brummell about a man who was so well-dressed at an event that everyone who was present turned to stare at him. “Then he was not well dressed,” said Brummell, no doubt with a sniff of disdain.

In a similar vein, he also said: “If John Bull [i.e., Everyman] turns around to look at you, you are not well-dressed; but either too stiff, too tight, or too fashionable.”

Brummell’s personal popularity rose and then fell during the Regency, especially after a well-publicized tiff he had with the Prince Regent in 1813. I wrote about this encounter in a previous post, so I won’t go into the details here. Suffice to say it’s never a good idea to refer to the reigning monarch as somebody’s “fat friend,” even if you were snubbed by said monarch.

The Beau was also a heavy gambler, and he ended up having to flee Britain for good in 1816 to escape being imprisoned for his gambling debts. His story does not have a happy ending; he died in poverty and insane from the effects of syphilis in France near Caen in 1840.

But whatever his personal tragedies, Brummell’s influence on men’s fashion has been enduring. The black suit, which he pioneered, is still a staple in many men’s closets, 200 years after he made it fashionable. And, due in part to Brummell’s legacy, a well-dressed man is also a clean one, too!

Contemporary man’s suit shows how Brummell’s influence on men’s fashion endures

 

Sources for this post include:

Tim Gunn’s Fashion Bible, by Tim Gunn with Ada Calhoun, Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc, New York, NY, 2012.

Beau Brummell, by Hubert Cole, first published in the US by Mason/Charter Publishers, Inc., printed in Great Britain, 1977

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay

 

August in Georgian History

We recently reported that Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena in August 1815 and that Queen Caroline, the princess whose husband banned her from his coronation, died in August 1821. Here are some other notable events:

August 12, 1822, Lord Castlereagh, British Foreign Secretary, who was Foreign Secretary during the defeat of Napoleon, committed suicide.

August 16, 1819, A brigade of cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000 people who had gathered at Saint Peter’s Field in Manchester to demonstrate in favor of parliamentary reform. At least eighteen people died, and hundreds were injured. It became known as the Peterloo Massacre.

Peterloo, Engraving by Richard Carlisle, 1790-1843