Genre Guide – Regency Romance

Put up your Dukes for these lighthearted tales of courtship set between 1811 and 1820!


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Pride and Prejudice

No Regency Romance list would be complete without the OG author, Jane Austen! Her tales of clashing personalities and romance within a rigid social structure have sparked countless imitations, and her wit remains sharp centuries later. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and in eAudio on Libby and as an eBook and in eAudio on Hoopla. 


Arabella

Georgette Heyer was the first author to popularize using the Regency period, including an extreme meticulousness to historical detail, for telling (usually light-hearted) romance stories. If you’ve wondered why rows of bodice-rippers tend to be crammed with attractive shirtless British aristocracy: her. It was her. (And they’re FUNNY!) This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby. 


Devil in Disguise

Kleypas’s Regency romances have been beloved for decades; she’s well known for having multiple series that follow the relatives and friends of various society families. This novel crosses over two of her most beloved series and can serve as an introduction to both. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and in eAudio on Libby, and in eAudio on Hoopla. 


Bridgerton

You’ve seen the hit show – but have you read the books that inspired it? Join Julia Quinn on a romp through the Regency period as the alphabetically-named Bridgertons search for love and happiness. No matter who your favorite character is, they’re sure to get a focus title! This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and in eAudio on Libby. 


Something Fabulous

Any genre that exists long enough will begin to receive remixes or reconsiderations, as well as open up to embrace more points of view. This delightfully anachronistic romp is a queer love story between a man determined to Carry On His Family Name and the rambunctious brother of his betrothed – with whom he finds himself entangled when the lady in question runs away.


Glamour in Glass

Those who like their romances with a frisson of fantasy need look no further than Kowal’s series about a Regency period where magic is real, and primarily used as an art form. The stories have all the romance, banter, intrigue, and comedy-of-manners a purist could want – but adds a froth of sorcery atop it. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby. 


Nobody's Princess

Ridley’s Wild Wynchesters series are part romances and part caper novels, as the idiosyncratic adopted Wynchester family pursues various feats of derring-do throughout the Ton. These books, which feature characters of varied sexualities and ethnicities, are the cure for a rainy day – light, funny, and full of lovable scamps (and the occasional strait-laced foil who loves them). This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby. 


Reputation

In this feminist rom-com, heroine Georgiana explores the highs and lows of high society, taking on class prejudices and other unfair expectations while armed only with her incisive wit. Fortunately, she – and the other characters in the story – have that in abundance. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and in eAudio on Hoopla. 


The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

This YA novel is the rare Regency romance with a first-person male narrator – and what a narrator he is. Henry “Monty” Montague is the sort of protagonist you spend half the time laughing along with and half the time yelling “MONTY, NO”, as he embarks on making every possible bad decision he can in his last hurrah before being forced to settle down with a wife. Can he grow up? What hides behind his hijinks? And will his best friend Percy ever notice him…? This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and in eAudio on Libby and as an eBook and in eAudio on Hoopla.