The romance genre can be divided into five main subgenres: contemporary, historical, Regency, suspense, and paranormal. Each offers readers an emotional connection with characters, an expected story arc that, while providing plenty of room for twists, turns, and innovation, also offers the comfort of familiarity and the assurance of a happy ending. Romance novels are built around the relationship between hero and heroine and the conflicts within that relationship. They are ultimately positive and optimistic novels that involve the reader on an emotional level. Fans of this genre love the snappy dialogue, well-crafted scenes, connection between the characters, and details of the character’s lifestyles.
Traditional Regency Romances
Tracing its origins from the witty, perceptive social commentaries of the critically observant Jane Austen, the traditional Regency romance often is considered to be the most elite of the romance subgenres. Graced with sparkling dialogue; intelligent, well-turned phrases; a glittering, though highly restrictive, social backdrop; and a preoccupation with the importance of social consequence and behavior, these chaste, refined comedies of manners have captured the imaginations of writers and readers alike; while few now are being published, they still have a small but militantly devoted fan base.
Despite its current decline, the traditional Regency is one of the earliest of the classic romance subgenres, and, as such, helps provide a foundational introduction to the romance genre as a whole. Also, with the rise in popularity of the Regency-set historical, it is increasingly important that readers’ advisers know the differences between the two.
In the strictest sense, Regencies are set during the “reign” of the Prince Regent (later George IV), and span only a brief period, 1811-1820; however, in the hands of current writers, particularly of Regency-set historicals, the boundaries have expanded by at least a decade on each side of that date line.
As the popularity of the traditional Regency waned, the Regency-set historical stepped up to take its place. Bolder, sexier, more adventurous, and less restricted, these lively tales kept the trappings of the period but often forfeited much of the traditional subgenre’s core appeal in order to fit the broader historical mold. Some writers wrote traditional Regencies almost exclusively (for example, Evelyn Richardson, Allison Lane, Anne Barbour); however, many authors wrote both or switched to historicals as the direction of the market became clear. Loretta Chase, Mary Jo Putney, Sophia Nash, Carla Kelly, Candice Hern, Mary Balogh, and Jo Beverley are a few of the better-known authors who have had a foot in each camp.