Regency romance book series in reading order

by Jo Ann J.A. Ferguson

by Meredith Bond

by Sarah E. Ladd

Historical romance set in the Regency and the wider Georgian period is Mary Balogh's territory. Born Mary Jenkins in Swansea on 24 March 1944, Balogh moved to Canada in 1967, taught in Kipling, Saskatchewan, and became a school principal there before the first novel appeared in 1985. The catalogue runs to 106 books, from A Chance Encounter (1985) to A Waltz to Remember (2026). Series headings include Westcott, Bedwyn Family, Survivor's Club, Huxtable Quintet, Simply Quartet, Dark Angel and Ravenswood. Mary Balogh is still publishing.

Regency England is Barbara Metzger's ground. Metzger has written over three dozen books and a dozen novellas, taking the Romance Writers of America RITA, the National Reader's Choice Award, the Madcap award for humour in romance writing, and two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine. Contemporary romance under her own name followed, along with fantasy - the Willow Tate series - as Celia Jerome. Forty-five catalogued titles run from Bething's Folly (1981) to Greetings of the Season and Other Stories (2013). Metzger lives in eastern Long Island.

Georgette Heyer

65 books• 7 series

Georgette Heyer (16 August 1902 to 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer in two genres, Regency romance and detective fiction. The Black Moth (1921), the first of 65 catalogued books, grew from a story Heyer invented for an ill younger brother. These Old Shades (1926) became popular even though it came out during the General Strike. Inspector Hannasyde, Inspector Hemingway and Alastair-Audley are the recurring series. The Chinese Shawl (2019) is the newest listed edition.

Regency England is where Eloisa James sets her historical romances - aristocracy, nobility and London society. Potent Pleasures (1999) opens the catalogue, which runs to 54 books and The Last Lady B in 2026. Desperate Duchesses, the Essex Sisters, the Duchess Quartet, the Pleasures Trilogy and the Wildes of Lindow Castle are the main sequences, and the Happily Ever After books work from fairy tales.

Marion Chesney

184 books• 22 series

Marion Chesney, later Marion Gibbons (1936-2019), was a Scottish writer of romance and mystery whose published career began in 1979. Historical romances appeared under the Chesney name, the Travelling Matchmaker and Daughters of Mannerling books among them, while the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mysteries appeared as M. C. Beaton; both of those mystery runs were adapted for television. Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Charlotte Ward, Jennie Tremaine and Sarah Chester are further pen names on the record. This listing gathers 185 books dated from 1979 onward, including later titles on which R.W. Green is credited.

Carla Kelly (Carla Sue Kelly, born 1947) is an American Regency romance writer and a two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. Kelly calls the books "dukeless" regencies, stories of ordinary people solving their own problems. An interest in the American West shapes the earliest work and the nonfiction. Since 2011 Kelly, who has a Mormon background, has written five novels about young Mormon women, among them Borrowed Light and Safe Passage. The site lists 58 books from Daughter of Fortune (1985) to Navy Captain's Convenient Wife (2026).

Jo Ann J.A. Ferguson wrote Regency and historical romance. Her catalogue holds 71 books published between 1988 and 2015, from Nothing Wagered (1988) to Lord Radcliffe's Season (2015). Ferguson's series include the Priscilla Flanders mysteries, the Dream Chronicle, the Foxbridge Legacy, the Dunsworthy Brides and the Shadow of the Bastille Trilogy. Nobility, manners and English social life carry most of the books, at a median of 255 pages.

Julia Quinn

39 books• 12 series

Julia Quinn is the pen name of the American novelist Julie Pottinger, born January 12, 1970. Quinn writes historical romance set among the English nobility, and the catalogue holds 39 books from Dancing at Midnight (1995) through to titles dated 2026. Series include the Smythe-Smith Quartet, Bevelstoke, the Lyndon Sisters, the Two Dukes of Wyndham and the Bridgerton short stories. Quinn's novels have been translated into 41 languages and reached the New York Times bestseller list nineteen times, and the Bridgerton books became a Netflix television series of the same name. The Romance Writers of America inducted Quinn into its Hall of Fame.

Amanda Scott is a historical romance novelist whose catalogue lists 61 books from The Fugitive Heiress (1981) to The Kissing Stone (2018). More than twenty-five Scott novels take place in the English Regency period of 1810 to 1820, and others are set in fifteenth-century England or sixteenth- and eighteenth-century Scotland, with three contemporary romances as well. Scott began writing on a dare from a spouse and has sold every manuscript written. Awards include the RITA/Golden Medallion and Romantic Times honours for Best Regency Author and Best Sensual Regency. Series include Highland, Secret Clan, Border Trilogy, Galloway Trilogy and Lairds of the Loch. Scott lives in northern California.

Louise Allen is the pen name of Melanie Hilton, a British romance novelist born in 1949 and writing since 1993. The first books were written with a friend under the shared name Francesca Shaw, beginning with The Master of Winterbourne (1993). The Piratical Miss Ravenhurst (2011) and Scandal's Virgin (2014) each won the Romantic Novelists' Association Love Story of the Year. The catalogue runs to The Lady Who Said No To The Duke (2025). Series include Those Scandalous Ravenhursts, Lords of Disgrace, Danger and Desire, Liberated Ladies, Dangerous Deceptions and Herriard. Subjects include Regency romance, the aristocracy and young women.

Jane Ashford is the pen name of Nancy Jane LeCompte, born in Eaton, Ohio in 1948, who also publishes as Jane LeCompte. Ashford writes Regency and traditional historical romance, nobility, husband and wife, forced marriage, social life and customs, and contemporary romance alongside it. Reading Georgette Heyer at school pointed Ashford toward Regency England and then toward a degree in English literature. The catalogue runs to 44 books, from Bluestocking and Gwendeline (1980) to The Duke Has Done It Again (2024), with Duke's Sons, Duke's Estates and Way to a Lord's Heart as the series.

Penny Jordan is one of the pen names of Penelope Halsall, born Penelope Jones, an English novelist who lived from 24 November 1946 to 31 December 2011. Halsall produced more than 200 romance novels: contemporary romance as Penny Jordan, Regency romance as Caroline Courtney and historical romance as Annie Groves, the maiden name of Halsall's mother. Melinda Wright and Lydia Hitchcock were two further pen names. Sales passed 70 million copies, with translations into many languages. The catalogue lists 210 books from 1979 to 2019, and the earliest entries, such as A Wager For Love (1979), carry the Caroline Courtney name. Series include Perfect Crightons, Jet Set Wives, Leopardi Brothers, Parenti Dynasty and Russian Rivals.

Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Stephanie Laurens is an Australian romance novelist and a winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. The catalogue counts 105 books between Tangled Reins (1992) and Who Killed The Earl Of Moran? (2026). Cynster Next Generation, Bastion Club, Black Cobra Quartet, Casebook of Barnaby Adair and Legend of Nimway Hall are among the series, and subject tags name the Cynster family. Subjects also include historical Regency romance, England and the nobility.

Grace Burrowes writes historical romance, with subject headings naming the Regency, nobility, England, soldiers, widowers, single fathers and inheritance. Before fiction, Burrowes worked as a technical writer and editor, earned a law degree in an evening program, opened a law practice and completed a master's degree in Conflict Management. Burrowes grew up the sixth of seven children in rural central Pennsylvania and lives in rural Maryland. The catalogue lists 120 books, among them The Heir (2010), The Soldier (2011), The Virtuoso (2011) and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid (2012), with A Gentleman of Very Few Words (2026) the newest. Series include Lonely Lords, Windham Brides, True Gentlemen, Rogues to Riches, Mischief in Mayfair and Lady Violet Mysteries.

Regina Scott writes historical romance, with subject tags covering the Regency period, Christian romance, aristocracy and frontier and pioneer life. The catalogue lists 74 of Scott's books, from My True Love Gave to Me (1998) to Unexpected Cowgirl Bride (2026). Series include Fortune's Brides, Frontier Bachelors, Grace-by-the-Sea, Uncommon Courtships, Lady Emily Capers, Marvelous Munroes, Everard Legacy and Spy Matchmaker. The Unflappable Miss Fairchild (1998) and The Bluestocking on His Knee (1999) come from the early years of the run.

Nicola Cornick, born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1964, is a British writer of historical romance novels and time slip mysteries that merge several genres: historical fiction, romance, suspense, adventure, crime, science fiction, fantasy and the supernatural. Cornick's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. The catalogue lists 47 titles from True Colours (1998) to The Fourth Queen (2026), among them Lady Polly (1999), The Virtuous Cyprian (1999), Lady Allerton's Wager (2000) and The Earl's Prize (2002). Series recorded include Scandalous Women Of The Ton, Brides Of Fortune, Suffolk, Tallants, Scottish Brides, Mostyn/Trevithick Feud and New Timeslip. Cornick chaired the Romantic Novelists' Association from 2017 to 2019 and serves as its archivist.

Amanda McCabe writes historical romance and also publishes as Laurel McKee and Amanda Carmack. McCabe wrote a first romance at sixteen, a historical epic composed secretly during algebra class. Award nominations for the books include the Holt Medallion, the National Readers Choice Award, the RITA Award, the Booksellers Best and a Romantic Times BOOKReviews Reviewers' Choice Award. The catalogue lists 73 books from Her Kind of Man (2000) to Secretary to the Socialite (2025). Series include Regency Rebels, Renaissance trilogy, Daughters of Erin, Bancrofts Of Barton Park, Debutantes in Paris, Dollar Duchesses and Tudor Queens. Regency romance, nobility, England and Ireland feature in the subjects. McCabe lives in Oklahoma.

Carole Mortimer, born in England in 1960, is a British romance novelist who has written more than 150 novels since 1978 and was one of the youngest authors at Mills & Boon. The catalogue lists 291 books, starting in 1979 with The Passionate Winter, Only Lover, Savage Interlude and Tempted By Desire, and reaching Linus (2026), with Amanda and the Lord scheduled for 2027. Series include Regency Unlaced, Regency Sinners, Regency Scandal, Regency Lovers, Dangerous Dukes, Ruthless Regency Dukes, Scandalous St. Claires, Knight Security, Steele Protectors, Dragon Hearts and Wynter Hearts. Subjects cover contemporary and Regency romance, nobility, marriage and businessmen.

Regency England is where Andrea Penrose sets her work, split between historical mystery and historical romance. Wrexford and Sloane is the current mystery series, preceded by the Lady Arianna Hadley books. Penrose has also published as Andrea Pickens, for the Intrepid Heroines, Merlin's Maidens, Lessons in Love, Scandalous Secrets and Dangerous Liaisons series, and as Cara Elliott for Circle of Sin and Lords of Midnight. The catalogue reaches 51 titles from The Defiant Governess (1997) to The Price of Paradise.

Regency historical romance is Loretta Chase's form, built on nobility, the London upper class and courtship. Chase's series include Scoundrels, the Carsington Brothers, the Dressmakers, the Difficult Dukes and the Trevelyan family. Isabella (1987) is the earliest of 27 catalogued titles, Lord of Scoundrels (1995) sits mid-run, and My Inconvenient Duke is the newest. The 1990s were the peak decade.

Sabrina Jeffries

59 books• 14 series

Sabrina Jeffries, born in 1958, is an American romance novelist who also uses the pen names Deborah Martin and Deborah Nicholas. Entertainment Weekly has named Jeffries among the long-reigning leading voices in historical romance. The catalogue lists 59 books from 1992 to 2026: Creole Nights and Moonlight Enchantment (1992) carry the Deborah Martin name, and The Pirate Lord (1998) and The Forbidden Lord (1999) followed. Series include Hellions of Halstead Hall, School For Heiresses, Sinful Suitors, Duke's Men, Duke Dynasty, Swanlea Spinsters and Royal Brotherhood. Subjects name the Regency, aristocracy and England, and Nearly a Bride (2026) is the newest.

Julie Klassen writes Regency-era romance within Christian fiction, set in England and turning on concealed histories. 23 catalogued books run from Lady of Milkweed Manor (2007) to The Widow of Woodlark Cottage, with The Apothecary's Daughter (2009), The Girl in the Gatehouse (2010), The Silent Governess (2010), The Maid of Fairbourne Hall (2012) and The Dancing Master (2013) among them. Tales from Ivy Hill and On Devonshire Shores group the later novels.

Barbara Cartland

702 books• 3 series

Barbara Cartland, born Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland on 9 July 1901 and died on 21 May 2000, was an English romance novelist and socialite. This directory catalogues 702 titles under Cartland's name, from His Hour (1910) through to A Heart in the Highlands (2024), with the 1980s the heaviest decade. The Eternal Collection, the Pink Collection and the Camfield Novels Of Love group the bulk of that output. Cartland wrote contemporary as well as historical romance, the historical novels set mainly in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and ranks fifth among the most translated authors worldwide.

Jo Beverley (1947-2016), born Mary Josephine Dunn, was an English-Canadian author of historical and contemporary romance. Regency England and its nobility supply most of the settings, with the Mallorens and the Company of Rogues as the two groups readers follow across books. Beverley's 63 catalogued titles open with Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed (1988) and end with Merely a Marriage in 2017. Translations into several languages and multiple awards followed the work.