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nnngh. I hate cold.
I was thinking about Reforming Lord Ragsdale, a regency by Carla Kelly. For some reason, I think I was dreaming about it, as well. It was one of the first regencies I read and rather set my standards high: smart, intelligent heroines who weren't wilting lilies or idiots. Charming rogue men. Witty banter.
Of course, RLR has a massive amount of ANGST as well, but unless it's a Carla Kelly, I tend to avoid the angstier ones (most just don't do it as good as she does, or are pointlessly angsty. Anne Bishop is good at it, but still not as witty or as fun, sadly).
I devoured a lot of regencies in the early days of my mania, as you will. I'd gone off fantasy and SF, though I don't remember why (I can make guesses about the stupidity in most SF/F, and the sexism).
RLR is annoyingly out of print as it is one of the few Kellys I don't own (amusingly, if I'd bought more than one copy of With This Ring I could make a nice, tidy, sum now).
Monique Ellis was fluffy, witty, but fairly conventional.
Elizabeth Fairchild was angstier and more conventional.
Marian Devon liked being conventional with a witty flair (I've heard hers compared to Heyer), though some of them were quite angsty.
Marion Chesney was much the same, though with a sharper bent towards angst (and one or two dabblings in the lower classes irrc)
Elizabeth Mansfield was conventional and angsty with the occasional witty banter and sometimes plots that made no sense.
Cindy Holbrook was ridiculous, witty, and predictable after the second book (I once made a list of the scenes that she always uses: for instance, they always wake up in bed together at some point). And some of her "heroine is too stupid to understand social graces and must be tamed by hero" under-current is a bit less than enlightened. (I'm looking at you, My Lady's Servant, which was almost thrown across the room).
And then there's the ones I happily have on my book shelf.
Carla Kelly who is really lovely, with well-drawn characters, plot, wit, angst, social commentary on the treatment of soldiers...
Michelle Martin who is insanely ridiculous, but also fun as hell. If you can find them, The Mad Miss Mathley, The Adventurers (the heroine is a gun-toting bodyguard for the heir and cross-dresses for a large portion of the time) and The Butler Who Laughed are all excellent (come to think of it, I haven't re-read them in a while. hrm)
Barbara Metzger loves plays on words and repeated themes and ridiculous plots. I don't like everything she's done, but I do love large portions of her work. She's almost slapstick comedy, at times.
I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but I'm going to be late for work if I don't wander off.
Of course, RLR has a massive amount of ANGST as well, but unless it's a Carla Kelly, I tend to avoid the angstier ones (most just don't do it as good as she does, or are pointlessly angsty. Anne Bishop is good at it, but still not as witty or as fun, sadly).
I devoured a lot of regencies in the early days of my mania, as you will. I'd gone off fantasy and SF, though I don't remember why (I can make guesses about the stupidity in most SF/F, and the sexism).
RLR is annoyingly out of print as it is one of the few Kellys I don't own (amusingly, if I'd bought more than one copy of With This Ring I could make a nice, tidy, sum now).
Monique Ellis was fluffy, witty, but fairly conventional.
Elizabeth Fairchild was angstier and more conventional.
Marian Devon liked being conventional with a witty flair (I've heard hers compared to Heyer), though some of them were quite angsty.
Marion Chesney was much the same, though with a sharper bent towards angst (and one or two dabblings in the lower classes irrc)
Elizabeth Mansfield was conventional and angsty with the occasional witty banter and sometimes plots that made no sense.
Cindy Holbrook was ridiculous, witty, and predictable after the second book (I once made a list of the scenes that she always uses: for instance, they always wake up in bed together at some point). And some of her "heroine is too stupid to understand social graces and must be tamed by hero" under-current is a bit less than enlightened. (I'm looking at you, My Lady's Servant, which was almost thrown across the room).
And then there's the ones I happily have on my book shelf.
Carla Kelly who is really lovely, with well-drawn characters, plot, wit, angst, social commentary on the treatment of soldiers...
Michelle Martin who is insanely ridiculous, but also fun as hell. If you can find them, The Mad Miss Mathley, The Adventurers (the heroine is a gun-toting bodyguard for the heir and cross-dresses for a large portion of the time) and The Butler Who Laughed are all excellent (come to think of it, I haven't re-read them in a while. hrm)
Barbara Metzger loves plays on words and repeated themes and ridiculous plots. I don't like everything she's done, but I do love large portions of her work. She's almost slapstick comedy, at times.
I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but I'm going to be late for work if I don't wander off.
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I love Barbara Metzger - my first read of hers was Saved By Scandal and I was hooked! I like how she finds a different comedic hook for each book, and now that she's being published in "big" novels, I've really enjoyed her Truly Yours and The Hourglass.
Sandra Heath is good for mysteries with some sort of mythological hook, and Allison Lane did a good set about the family that I enjoyed.
I fell in love with Amanda Quick's regencies as a beginning romance reader, and still love them.
DV
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