Season three of the hit Netflix series Bridgerton was released this week and fans worldwide couldn’t be more thrilled. We love a good regency romance around here, so we thought we’d put together a list of some of our favourites. Now you can scratch that itch after you’ve binged part one of the new series and are waiting for part two to release in June.
Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas
Series Name: The Ravenels, # 6
Everything has a price.
Railway magnate Tom Severin is wealthy and powerful enough to satisfy any desire as soon as it arises. Anything—or anyone—is his for the asking. It should be simple to find the perfect wife—and from his first glimpse of Lady Cassandra Ravenel, he’s determined to have her. But the beautiful and quick-witted Cassandra is equally determined to marry for love—the one thing he can’t give.
Everything except her.
Severin is the most compelling and attractive man Cassandra has ever met, even if his heart is frozen. But she has no interest in living in the fast-paced world of a ruthless man who always plays to win. When a newfound enemy nearly destroys Cassandra’s reputation, Severin seizes the opportunity he’s been waiting for. As always, he gets what he wants—or does he? There’s one lesson Tom Severin has yet to learn from his new bride: never underestimate a Ravenel.
The chase for Cassandra’s hand may be over. But the chase for her heart has only just begun . .
The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare
Series Name: Girl Meets Duke, # 1
When girl meets Duke, their marriage breaks all the rules…
Since his return from war, the Duke of Ashbury’s to-do list has been short and anything but sweet: brooding, glowering, menacing London ne’er-do-wells by night. Now there’s a new item on the list. He needs an heir—which means he needs a wife. When Emma Gladstone, a vicar’s daughter turned seamstress, appears in his library wearing a wedding gown, he decides on the spot that she’ll do.
His terms are simple:
– They will be husband and wife by night only.
– No lights, no kissing.
– No questions about his battle scars.
– Last, and most importantly… Once she’s pregnant with his heir, they need never share a bed again.
But Emma is no pushover. She has a few rules of her own:
– They will have dinner together every evening.
– With conversation.
– And unlimited teasing.
– Last, and most importantly… Once she’s seen the man beneath the scars, he can’t stop her from falling in love…
What’s a Duke Got to Do With It by Christina Britton
Series Name: Synneful Spinsters, # 2
Four years ago, a scandal cost Miss Katrina Denby everything. Now, companion to the irascible Lady Tesh and in possession of wonderful friends, she believes her luck has finally changed. Until the man responsible for her ruination returns to England and promptly dies in a fall from her bedroom window. Now the life she had begun to build for herself is in shambles. And not only is she ostracized and vilified, but her friends are suffering as well because of their association with her. Katrina will do anything to gain respectability again and protect those she cares for. But her plans to marry one of the few men who will still have her despite the stain on her name and lack of fortune are thrown into turmoil with the arrival of the only man Katrina ever loved. A man who is now about to become engaged to another.
Sebastian Thorne, Duke of Ramsleigh, was a carefree rogue when he first met and began to fall in love with Katrina. But his father’s horrible actions forced him to give up on his dreams of a future with her. Now, after years of trying to save the dukedom, there is only one option left: to marry, and marry well. But though he has nearly secured the woman—and her fortune—necessary to protect the people who are counting on him, his future father-in-law sends him on one final errand to earn his blessing. What Sebastian doesn’t expect while seeing that job through, however, is Katrina—or that his feelings for her have not faded. In fact, they have only grown stronger, Katrina’s hold on his heart even more powerful than before. With both of their futures on the line and so many lives at stake, will their passion for one another lead to the ruin of them both—or give them a happiness they never dared to dream of?
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
Series Name: Love By Numbers, # 1
A lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen’s club.
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried—and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she’s vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she’s been missing.
But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss—to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston—charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile.
If she’s not careful, she’ll break the most important rule of all—the one that says that pleasure-seekers should never fall hopelessly, desperately in love.
Never Blow a Kiss by Lindsay Lovise
Series Name: Secret Society of Governess Spies, # 1
The utterly charming Emily Leverton has a dark past and is determined to leave it behind in her respectable new role as a governess. But when she is recruited by a secret network of governesses who spy on the ton, it may just be a way to redeem the dark secrets of her past.
Straddling the worlds of the ton and the working class, as an ex-solider turned railroad magnate, Zach hunts killers for the Metropolitan Police by day and dutifully attends balls at night. In neither world has he met a woman with the brazenness to mock him. So when a saucy governess blows him a kiss he is determined to catch her, never expecting that when he does he will find an intelligent, quirky woman hiding more than her true name. As Zach peels back the layers of Emily’s lies, he falls for the street-wise woman who handles a dagger like a pro and kisses like a mistress. But when his affair with Emily intertwines with his hunt for a killer, he discovers Emily is hiding an explosive secret—one that could destroy them both.
The Duke Goes Down by Sophie Jordan
Series Name: The Duke Hunt, # 1
The Bastard Rogue…
Peregrine Butler’s privileged blue-blooded world is rocked to the core when it is revealed he was born before his parents’ marriage and, therefore, is not the legal heir to the dukedom. Facing ruin, Perry must use his charm and good looks to win an heiress—all the while, ignoring his fascination with the one interfering and alluring chit who is intent on sabotaging his efforts.
The Lady Vicar…
Everyone knows Imogen Bates, the virtuous daughter of the senile vicar. She can write a sermon in a day and spot a rogue in a second, so she sees right through Perry’s seductive façade. But Imogen’s plan to protect the heiresses of her beloved Shropshire from the erstwhile Duke of Penning, the bane of her existence since childhood, soon turns into something altogether unacceptable for the proper lady… who suddenly finds herself longing to keep his heated glances and tempting kisses all to herself.
The Earl Takes a Fancy by Lorraine Heath
Series Name: Sins for All Season, # 5
She’s looking for a nobleman to wed…
Though born out of wedlock, Fancy Trewlove is determined to fulfill her mother’s wish that she marry into nobility. Fancy’s keen intellect and finishing school manners make her the perfect wife for any gentleman—if he’s willing to overlook her scandalous lineage. But Fancy’s plans are thrown into chaos when an intriguing commoner begins visiting her bookshop—and she finds herself unable to stop thinking about him.
He’s looking to escape his title…
Widowed just a year ago, the reclusive Matthew Sommersby, Earl of Rosemont, has been besieged by women hoping to become his next wife. Desperate for anonymity, he sheds Society life to search for the peace that eludes him. Fancy’s shop is his one refuge, until the night their passion erupts into a kiss that nearly leads to her ruin—and leaves both longing for much more.
Together, they discover an unlikely love…
As Fancy finds herself torn between her family’s expectations and her growing feelings for Matthew, secrets are exposed—secrets that force Fancy to question if she can trust her heart’s desire…
Sincerely, The Duke by Amelia Grey
Series Name: Say I Do, # 2
Miss Edwina Fine has one shot at finding a husband before the ton learns her secret. With red hair, green eyes and being one of triplets, she knows the superstitions and rumors about women like her. So when a marriage proposal from the Duke of Stonerick arrives by mail, Edwina jumps at the chance to solve her problems. But nothing could prepare her for the attraction that sparks between them when they finally meet. It will take more than Edwina’s wit to navigate her past, reservations about marriage and the passion that ignites within her for the irresistible duke.
Rick, Duke of Stonerick, enjoys his life exactly as it honing his expert marksmanship, playing cards and fencing with his friends. He even enjoys exchanging affectionate humor with his mother about his lack of matrimonial engagement. But when a recurring illness reminds Rick he has no heir, he picks a name from the list of prospects his mother presents and writes a simple marriage proposal. Then he forgets about it—until that very lady with an iron will and breathtaking bravery shows up at his doorstep, ready to accept. Edwina tempts him like no other and suddenly, marriage doesn’t seem much of an inconvenience after all. But will keeping his illness a secret cost him her love?
Not That Duke by Eloisa James
Series Name: Would-Be Wallflowers, # 3
Bespeckled and freckled, Lady Stella Corsham at least has a dowry that has attracted a crowd of fortune-hunting suitors—which definitely doesn’t include the sinfully handsome Silvester Parnell, Duke of Huntington, who laughingly calls her “Specs” as he chases after elegant rivals.
And then—
The worst happens. Marriage.
To the duke. To a man marrying her for all the wrong reasons.
How can Silvester possibly convince Stella that he’s fallen in love with the quirky woman he married? Especially after she laughingly announces that she’s in love—but not with that duke.
Not with her husband.
Devil’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens
Series Name: Cynster, # 1
When Devil, the most infamous member of the Cynster family, is caught in a compromising position with plucky governess Honoria Wetherby, he astonishes the entire town by offering his hand in marriage. No one dreamed this scandalous rake would ever take a bride. And as society mamas swooned at the loss of England′s most eligible bachelor, Devil′s infamous Cynster cousins began to place wagers on the wedding date.
But Honoria wasn′t about to bend society′s demands and marry a man “just” because they′d been found together virtually unchaperoned. No, she craved adventure, and while solving the murder of a young Cynster cousin fit the bill for a while, she decided that once the crime was solved she′d go off to see the world. But the scalding heat of her unsated desire for Devil soon had Honoria craving a very different sort of excitement. Could her passion for Devil cause her to embrace the enchanting peril of a lifelong adventure of the heart?
