CORSETS AND DRIVERS: 15 Must-Read Regency Historical Romance novels in 2021
CORSETS AND DRIVERS: 15 Must-Read Regency Historical Romance novels in 2021
You can't throw a stone in the historic romance category without hitting a regency. There are, conservatively estimated, about 85 million regency books in any given period. More are coming out almost every day; it is by far the most popular historical subgenre. Officially it only occupied the narrow trench between 1811 and 1820, when King George IV was Prince Regent. However, enterprising authors have managed to stretch it from about 1800 to the 1830s (until Victoria comes along in 1837).
Below is a selection of 15 of the regency's best Historical Romance novels, ranging in content from squeaky clean to sordidly explicit. I've also tried to highlight some of the lesser known (but still excellent) books in this category.
THIEF REGENCY ROMANCE
EYE ARABELLA BY GEORGETTE HEYER
Georgette Heyer is in fact the founder of this whole kind of novel. Her books, writing the early to mid-twentieth century, are always hilariously witty, adorably romantic, and painstakingly researched. Her attention to detail is absolutely fantastic. You would never know she hadn't lived during that period herself! Okay, now that I'm done fangirling about her, here's why you should read this book in particular.
Arabella is a young woman who comes to visit London in search of a suitor. Along the way, she breaks down at the house of Robert Beaumaris, one of the richest and best connected men in the country. Of course he assumes she's there to seduce him into marriage. But she hears him and haughtily declares that she is the owner of an absolute fortune! The only catch? She doesn't really have two cents to rub together. This creates a very entertaining society novel with a very satisfying romance. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND READ THIS BOOK.
THE CORINTHIAN BY GEORGETTE HEYER
A book that I can reread over and over again. Pen flees from the home of her terrible aunt and niece, who are trying to make her fortune. (It's a real fortune this time). Along the way, she meets Sir Richard Wyndham, a dandy and metrosexual who willingly accompanies her on her adventures.
This is even funnier than Arabella. The ending is almost painfully abrupt - Heyer was known for her abrupt endings - but the whole novel is perfect.
SIMPLE SCANDAL (WAYBORN SIBLINGS # 1) BY TAMARA LEJEUNE
I spent years looking for an author like Heyer. Lejeune is the one who comes closest. Her novels are just as clean, just as funny, and almost as witty.
When Juliet Wayborn's twin brother is beaten up, she decides to humiliate the most likely culprit: the ugly, ugly Lord Swale. He in turn decides to humiliate her by making her fall in love with him. None of their plans run smoothly.
THE QUEENS OF REGENCY ROMANCE
YOU Suddenly BY LISA KLEYPAS
This is one of Kleypas' lesser known titles, but it's totally worth it.
Still a spinster at the age of 30, Amanda throws caution to the wind and decides to have an affair with Jack Devlin. He's handsome, courteous, utterly bad ... and her publisher too. Should she really have enjoyed doing business? (Spoiler alert: the answer is yes, because Jack is delicious).
SCANDALOUS DESIRES (MAIDEN LANE # 3) BY ELIZABETH HOYT
Hoyt writes many beautiful, deeply emotional historical novels, but the tender relationship between the characters in this one is definitely her best.
Widow Silence Hollingbrook may not have a husband, but she does have a child. No, it's not her child - Mary Darling belongs to Mickey O'Connor, a charming, dangerous river pirate. The contrast Silence feels for him - born of an incident that happened between them a year ago - slowly turns to love under Mickey's tender attention. But a river pirate's life is not known for being long, and he has many enemies.
REVEALED (TURNER # 1) BY COURTNEY MILAN
The dyslexic hero is that this one is AMAZING and the prose is beautiful.
Lady Margaret Dalrymple is the only daughter of the ailing Duke of Parford. On her father's orders, she disguises herself as a servant to spy on the heir - a man named Ash Turner. Ash has to settle a bill with the Duke, but he keeps getting distracted by the lovely maid he sees in the house ...
ONE WEEK TO BE BAD (SPINDLE COVE # 2) BY TESSA DARE
Dare has long been a household name when it comes to the regency romance, but this one is by far its best. The chatter between the protagonists is unparalleled, and their romance is sweet as sugar.
Bookish, science-obsessed spinster Minerva Highwood has to be in Edinburgh for a geological symposium. (They don't exactly know she's a woman ... but she'll handle that when she gets there). Meanwhile, the unsuspecting Colin, Lord Payne, has decided to join her for purely altruistic motives. (And also a very small desire to see her naked). The two move on to the regency's version of a road trip across the country - but it's unbelievable how many scratches two innocent people can get on an innocent fake elopement.
THE LAST HELLION (SCOUNDRELS # 4) BY LORETTA CHASE
The heroine makes this one real.
Two-meter tall Lydia Grenville is a passionate social justice campaigner. She won't let a trifle like Vere Mallory, Duke of Ainswood, get in the way: instead, she'll steam right over him. It's a good thing he doesn't mind - at least not when she's steam-rolling.
GENTLE ROGUE (MALORY-ANDERSON FAMILY # 3) JOHANNA LINDSEY
I love everything about this book. EACH. ONLY. THING. It's very funny, with the perfect amount of relationship anxiety, a wonderfully independent heroine, a gloriously beaten hero AND it's characterized by the girl-disguised-as-a-boy trope…
Actually, I reread it practically once a month.
Georgina Anderson, disguised as a safety boy, boards the ship of renowned rake captain James Malory to take her home to America. (The author made him viscount, but the concept of a younger son with a title while the eldest is alive is insanely imprecise, so I'm just ignoring it. You can do it too. The author does after all). Of course he immediately sees through her disguise. So there follows a pleasant interlude for both of them… until he realizes she had no intention of making their connection permanent, and that realization spurs him to retaliate. (It's very low impact and sweet revenge - nothing like the crazy Harlequin dramas of the '80s).
LESS-KNOWN GEMS OF REGENCY ROMANCE
THE LUCKIEST LADY IN LONDON (LONDON TRILOGY # 1) SHERRY THOMAS
The beautiful prose of this novel becomes even more impressive when you learn that English is the second language of the author.
Louisa must marry, and marry well. But the only person interested in her is Lord Wrenworth, and the man is an utter idiot! Or so she thinks ...
Great manipulative hero here.
LOVE AN EARL ELIZABETH THORNTON
Another wonderful book that I reread often. Here we get what you don't often get these days - a detailed close-up of the Napoleonic Wars, which of course should be an important part of the regency, but is very rarely discussed. This really could pass as mainstream historical fiction - but the romance is blistering.
Deirdre Fenton has always considered herself the caretaker of her unstoppable younger brother, Armand. His last peccadillo? Debt. An excellent card player, Deirdre decides to make the money he needs in a gambling hell. But the one who holds her vowels at the end of the night is none other than Gareth, Earl of Rathborne, the man she scorned and scorned five years ago ...
I love this second chance romance. Rich in historical images and emotions, it would make a great entry to the Read Harder Challenge of a book with fewer than 100 reviews. Warning: it was published in the '80s, and it suffers from bodice moments.
BAD IN HIS ARMS (MARRIAGE BY SCANDAL # 2) BY STACY REID
Tobias, Earl of Blade, abides by the rules. A lover of decency. Your average aristocrat. So imagine his shock when he runs into Olivia Sherwood, a scandalous red-haired young woman who is not afraid to speak up. Also imagine his excitement ...
Warning: some historical inaccuracies. Olivia, the daughter of a humble baroness, would not be Lady Olivia: she should be called the Honorable Miss Olivia. But this will probably only bother demanding pedants like me.
THE SOLDIER'S SCOUNDREL (TURNER # 1) BY CAT SEBASTIAN
Sebastian is doing a whole host of excellent M / M historical romances, and this is no exception!
Criminal Jack Turner is like Robin Hood: he steals from the rich to give to the poor. His harsh life in the slums does not encourage him to trust the upper classes. Especially not handsome upper-class soldiers like Oliver Rivington. But much to his chagrin, he soon discovers that he loves nothing more than to chop off Oliver's fancy polish.
HOT AF: NOT YOUR GRANDMA'S REGENCY ROMANCE
SEVEN YEARS TO SIN ON SYLVIA DAY
So far (with the exception of the first three recs) all of the books I've mentioned have a pretty average amount of steam. About what you would expect from an adult novel. Not so with Day's books: these are highly erotic romances, as Seven Years to Sin quickly establishes - it starts with a voyeuristic scene, where Jessica watches Alistair.
From there, we dive into the characters' broken past and failed relationships as we watch their tender love story unfold.
THE ALIEN I MARRIED BY SYLVIA DAY
This one is complex and very deeply emotional, with a fascinating premise. Also certainly one of the regency's most erotic romance books out there!
Isabel and Grayson have a marriage of convenience. She was burned by her first husband, while he is the perfect rake (and in love with someone else); they think it's a match made in heaven. They are also not loyal to each other. They don't want it, and they don't need it. But then one day Grayson disappears, and when he returns four years later, he's a changed man: he wants a real marriage to his wife.
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