My Top Ten Regency Romance Novels

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"Heyer was one of the great protagonists of the historical novel in the post-war golden age..." --Philippa Gregory A reader favorite from the Queen of Regency Romance, Frederica is a charming story of a woman seeking security for her family, but finding love where and when she least expected it. Determined to secure a brilliant marriage for her beautiful sister, Frederica seeks out their distant cousin the Marquis of Alverstoke. Lovely, competent, and refreshingly straightforward, Frederica makes such a strong impression that to his own amazement, the Marquis agrees to help launch them all into society. Normally wary of his family, which includes two overbearing sisters and innumerable favor-seekers, Lord Alverstoke does his best to keep his distance. But with his enterprising -- and altogether entertaining --country cousins getting into one scrape after another right on his doorstep, before he knows it the Marquis finds himself dangerously embroiled. What reviewers are saying about Frederica "Humorous, light-hearted...a nice, comfortable way to get your Austen-fix."--Love Romance Passion "This is a great book that explores both the relationships of the characters, and the Regency era itself. Fun, entertaining, enthralling "--Wendi's Book Corner " A] fun, charming book... Frederica is a keeper, going on my bookshelf."--Lesa's Book Critiques "There was a playful, light-hearted feel to this book that, along with the engaging characters, totally charmed me."--Genre Reviews "The novel ends on a most satisfying note, and I can think of no better way of spending a chilly winter evening -- wrapped in a down comforter with my pooch sleeping by my side-- than reading this gem of a book."--Jane Austen's World "Overflowing with fun and family, this warm, joyful 1965 Regency is one of Heyer's later novels and another popular title."--Library Journal

THREE WOMEN WHO SHARE ONE FATE: THE BOLEYN INHERITANCE ANNE OF CLEVES She runs from her tiny country, her hateful mother, and her abusive brother to a throne whose last three occupants are dead. King Henry VIII, her new husband, instantly dislikes her. Without friends, family, or even an understanding of the language being spoken around her, she must literally save her neck in a court ruled by a deadly game of politics and the terror of an unpredictable and vengeful king. Her Boleyn Inheritance: accusations and false witnesses. KATHERINE HOWARD She catches the king's eye within moments of arriving at court, setting in motion the dreadful machine of politics, intrigue, and treason that she does not understand. She only knows that she is beautiful, that men desire her, that she is young and in love -- but not with the diseased old man who made her queen, beds her night after night, and killed her cousin Anne. Her Boleyn Inheritance: the threat of the axe. JANE ROCHFORD She is the Boleyn girl whose testimony sent her husband and sister-in-law to their deaths. She is the trusted friend of two threatened queens, the perfectly loyal spy for her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, and a canny survivor in the murderous court of a most dangerous king. Throughout Europe, her name is a byword for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust. Her Boleyn Inheritance: a fortune and a title, in exchange for her soul. The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about a court ruled by the gallows and three women whose positions brought them wealth, admiration, and power as well as deceit, betrayal, and terror. Once again, Philippa Gregory has brought a vanished world to life -- the whisper of a silk skirt on a stone stair, the yellow glow of candlelight illuminating a hastily written note, the murmurs of the crowd gathering on Tower Green below the newly built scaffold. In The Boleyn Inheritance Gregory is at her intelligent and page-turning best.

When New York artist Eliza Knight buys an old vanity table one lazy Sunday afternoon, she has no idea of its history. Tucked away behind the mirror are two letters. One is sealed; the other, dated May 1810, is addressed to "Dearest Jane" from "F. Darcy"--as in Fitzwilliam Darcy, the fictional hero of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Could one of literature's most compelling characters been a real person? More intriguing still, scientific testing proves that the second, sealed letter was written by Jane herself. Caught between the routine of her present life and these incredible discoveries from the past, Eliza decides to look deeper and is drawn to a majestic, 200-year-old estate in Virginia's breathtaking Shenandoah Valley. There she meets the man who may hold the answer to this extraordinary puzzle. Now, as the real story of Fitzwilliam Darcy unfolds, Eliza finds her life has become a modern-day romance, one that perhaps only Jane herself could have written. . . "Fascinating. . .pays tribute to Jane Austen's enduring ideals of romantic love." --Booklist "O'Rourke's latest is mysterious yet romantic as she reveals secrets of Jane Austen's life." --Romantic Times Sally Smith O'Rourke lives in Monrovia, California, where she is working on her next novel.