Writing Regency England: my new favorite research source

 I don’t usually review non-fiction but as Writing Regency England by Jayne Davis and Gail Eastwood (two of my favorite romance authors) is such a useful resource, I’m going to plug it.

 I’ve been doing research for my mid-eighteenth century books since 2013 and when I beta-read Writing Regency England, I knew I was going to buy a copy as soon as it came out.

I read a lot of historical romance and it’s a rare read that doesn’t make me grit my teeth, even when I love the story. Granted, not everyone is as compulsive about research as I am (except, apparently, Davis and Eastwood), but getting the basics of Regency life wrong (like noblemen’s titles) is just…wrong.

This book belongs on the research shelf of anyone who writes Regency period novels. A lot of it is equally useful for those of us who write in the Georgian period, and some would be relevant well into the nineteenth century.

Did you know skunks are not native to Great Britain? Neither did I.

It's Out!

 

By Sword and Fan is now officially out and I'm just as thrilled as I was at the worldwide release of the previous eight. Maybe even a little more, because this one took longer to write and revise. Like the others, it's set in mid-eighteenth century England. 

 Here's a brief excerpt:

“Gone!” Archbold’s low, furious voice left Margaret in no doubt that he would have cursed if he had been alone or only with a man. She rode forward to join him.Two ponies with sidesaddles were loosely tethered in a little clear space between the trees and the foot of the rise. Ackerley’s hack was missing.

Campbell said, “I’ll be having a look at the road.”

The children had been abducted. No one needed to say it aloud.

The Scots groom was back in a trice. “No sign of them. Horses stood a whiles. Sh—droppin’s. A few spilt aits.”

And here's an excerpt from The Historical Fiction Company's review:

"[T]hat the characters are older and have experienced life more than many characters in romance novels makes them much more realistic...Buckley does a fantastic job developing characters and using a character-driven plot to engage readers and evoke emotions within the reader...“By Sword and Fan” by Kathleen Buckley receives four stars from The Historical Fiction Company."   The Historical Fiction Company  https://www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/post/a-delightful-historical-romance-an-editorial-review-of-by-sword-and-fan

Yikes! my 9th traditional historical romance is available for pre-order

 By Sword and Fan, my ninth novel (can it really be the ninth?) is up on Amazon (release date is 10/18/23) for $3.99. Somehow that makes it real. This novel was a particularly hard slog for me.

Despite the slightly Freudian cover, your twelve-year-old or your great-grandmother could read this without embarrassment. 

Meanwhile, I'm about 5,000 words from completing the first draft of  Hidden Treasures. Then I've got a novella (I think) with a Christmas theme in progress.

After that, I have an idea for a mystery with one of the minor characters from By Sword and Fan, a magistrate, as the main character. Magistrates had a good deal of leeway in the 18th century. 

 How do you plan a road trip in mid-eighteenth-century England? If it’s to take place on the Great North Road, it’s not difficult, as that was the main road running north, and the modern A1 motorway parallels it. But if your characters venture elsewhere, it’s more complicated. For A Peculiar Enchantment, I needed to trace Adelaide and Gervase’s route from London to Northumberland in detail and it couldn’t be by way of the Great North Road (for fear of pursuit).

Searching 21^st century maps for eighteenth century routes is seldom helpful. The Tradesman’s Guide; or The Chapman’s and Traveller’s Best Companion by Charles Pickman (1727), lists the towns between London and the traveller’s destination (if it was a market town or held a fair), mileage, and places where coach routes cross. With that information, I was able to work out where my characters might stop for the night and how long the journey might take.  

At Carlisle, they went east on the Stanegate, the old Roman road running east-west south of Hadrian’s Wall, and turned north at Corbridge. The Roman roads crisscrossing England were better built than those built later with less engineering skill and are easy to research online.  

I made use of the extensive network of Roman roads in my upcoming novel, By Sword and Fan (worldwide release date 10/18/2023). 

Sometimes the fan is more useful than the sword.

   

My last post contained an error; here's the (important) correction

 It started out all right:

And who doesn't like free books? Here's the link to the reader sign-up:

https://www.facebook.com/kathryn.knight.1297/posts/pfbid02nBfsSVThPTjspTuYd6oPjXYdU4VPTWi5UzdjKyejWdXCuZ6xvLsDWnd5q3AZeAkKl

The Summer Fling does run from July 4 to August 4, 2023 but the book I'm offering is my second, Most Secret, not A Peculiar Enchantment. Lots of other authors are participating and they're giving away ebooks, too.  

Set at the outset of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, it involves treason, murder, romance, and arson. And it’s even occasionally funny:

 They rode north by the highway that ran from Kirkcaldy to Newport, where a ferry crossed the Tay to Dundee. Through the whole journey, some fifteen or eighteen miles, Alex tried to decide what to do. He was guarded by a corporal and several privates, making any attempt to escape a forlorn hope.

…

“It’s a fine, new building,” the corporal said chattily as they reined in before a great, steepled building fronted by an arcade. A number of men were idling there, talking in low voices. Even without being able to make out the words, there was an air of palpable tension. He’d sensed something very like it as they had ridden through the town: a sensation like that when amber is rubbed on silk.

 “They call this the Town House, and the official offices are here. I’m told the cells are not bad. As cells go,” Corporal Fisk added.

A chance to get free books for review

 And who doesn't like free books? Here's the link to the reader sign-up:

https://www.facebook.com/kathryn.knight.1297/posts/pfbid02nBfsSVThPTjspTuYd6oPjXYdU4VPTWi5UzdjKyejWdXCuZ6xvLsDWnd5q3AZeAkKl

The event begins July 4, 2023 and ends 8/4/23, and my book, A Peculiar Enchantment (no, not paranormal or fantasy, despite the cover), is one of them.

  

Another Excellent Regency Romance

 An Unsuitable Heiress, a recent release by Jane Dunn, is very much in the Georgette Heyer tradition, with above-average writing, rich detail, vivid characters, and more depth than the standard cookie-cutter Regency romance. There's also a lot more going on than in the usual historical romance.

I’m not going to describe the plot because you can get an idea of that from reading the blurb or a summary of the story in any other book review. I think anyone who loves Georgette Heyer’s historical romances or traditional historical romance in general will find this a treat.  

Ordinarily, I would quibble about one detail regarding a special license to marry but in this case, the novel’s many strengths far outweighed that one issue. Instead, the next time I run out of something to read, I’m going to re-read it. In the meantime, I'm going to buy her first book, The Marriage Season.  

An Excellent Traditional Romance in the Style of Georgette Heyer

 The Country Gentleman by Dinah Dean received a rave review on a social media site which intrigued me enough that I bought it.

I’m a cranky critic and I’d give it six stars if book ratings went that high. It’s that good.

What did I love about it?

This is a traditional Regency romance set in a village among gentry and common folk. No titles, no fabulous balls, and no sex. A Georgette Heyer or Jane Austen sort of novel, with some wit, deft characterization, and a smooth, clear style.   

Excellent writing in addition to the style: no grammatical infelicities, no typos that I noticed (except one or two introduced by the scanning process (the book was originally published in 1986).

Ms. Dean’s grasp of the period goes well beyond the average. The characters are not 20^th or 21^st century people in costume; their attitudes and behavior feel right for the period. They eat what people actually did eat at the time (not a chocolate or a scone in sight, because bon-bons and scones as we know them did not yet exist).  She knows that while in the Regency “Corinthian” referred to a sporting gentleman, earlier it meant something quite different (“a very impudent, harden’d, brazen-fac’d fellow”, from a 1699 dictionary of cant terms).

Her descriptions of Woodham and the surrounding countryside are so rich and convincing that the background is almost another character.    

If you enjoy romance in the Georgette Heyer manner, you should not miss this book. I’m going to go on a Dinah Dean reading binge.

PS: I don't know if I ever posted a link to my (very occasional) newsletter. If you're interested in Georgian trivia, news about my upcoming releases, special offers, etc., here it is: https://18thcenturyromance.com/subscribe-to-my-newsletter-2/

Review: The Nightingale Girls: 5 stars

 I bought the e-book of The Nightingale Girls by Donna Douglas because it was on sale for $0.99. A novel about nursing students in 1930s England sounded potentially interesting and sometimes I discover my new favorite author when I read a bargain book. 

This was one of those times. I finished that one and bought the next several. I’ve now read nine of the eleven in the series and the only reason I’m taking a breather is that I have stuff to do—like working on my own tenth novel.

The books in Ms. Douglas’s Nightingale series, while sharing a common thread (the Nightingale teaching hospital and its students and employees) are all distinctly different and they’re all fascinating. They feel authentic, with good historical background and detail. The characters are well-developed and believable. There are plot twists. There are elements of horror: chiefly in the medical care as described. There’s romance. There’s good writing. I’m smitten with admiration.  

This is not Cherry Ames, Student Nurse but it’s not steamy, either. It is, however, a really good read. Five stars.     

Sex and the Single Georgian

 2/4/2023

A Trusty Maid by George Hay, 1877

Today I'm a guest on Rachel Brimble's blog, https://rachelbrimble.blogspot.com/2023/02/its-guest-author-saturday-please.html, discussing a subject near and dear to my heart: sex and the single Georgian. The painting above, although painted in the late 19th century, is a fair depiction of that staple of fiction, the maid who connives to help her mistress meet her beau. 

And no, there's nothing in Sex and the Single Georgian to offend even your starchy great-grandmother.  

A fun, heartwarming read

 The first thing that caught my eye about The Real Me Because of You by M.J. Apple was the title. Very few novels have memorable names so I immediately gave Ms. Apple a point for creativity. Then I started to read and discovered a sympathetic first-person heroine and her believably unhelpful family. 

Toxic families in books are fun. Readers who never experienced toxic relatives can enjoy the horror and those who have suffered can enjoy the eventual triumph of the downtrodden. Then there’s the third group: those who give thanks that at least their family isn’t THAT bad. Already The Real Me Because of You was looking good.

Isa’s employment situation also resonates with anyone who works to pay the rent while longing for the career of her dreams. She teaches math at a private school when her real interest and talent lie in acting in and directing musicals. Then there’s her high school crush, Ryan, illegitimate son of a British diplomat, who’s turning into her grown-up crush, and the spoiled, rich, mean girl. Who could resist? 

It’s a fun, heartwarming read.

Introducing Victoria and Violet by Rachel Brimble

 Today I'm hosting Rachel Brimble, author of twenty-nine novels, most recently, Victoria and Violet. 

Introducing Victoria & Violet…

My latest book, Victoria & Violet, is the first novel in my brand-new Royal Maids series and I am super proud of it because it is the first book in which I have included real people and real events alongside the fictional. To do this has been an ambition of mine ever since my first book was published in 2007 so having achieved it feels like a very big deal.

Best of all, readers and reviewers are loving it, too!

Although Queen Victoria, Lord Melbourne, the Duchess of Kent, Lehzen and others feature in the book, the story really revolves around the lives and burgeoning romance of fictional housemaid Violet Parker and fictional assistant to Lord Melbourne, James Greene. These two characters were a joy to create, and their electricity was immediate which made a usually hard job all the easier!

Their paths have crossed a few times before the book opens, but the interest is firmly in James’s court (so to speak!), rather than Violet’s who has far more important and life-changing things on her mind than romance, such as escaping the clutches of her overbearing mother and forging a life of her own. Of course, it is not as though Violet would ever consider James a possible suitor considering his superior status…yet he really is most persistent!

All too soon, James and Violet are thrown together over and over again as their roles become ever more important to Victoria and Lord Melbourne. Amid a court that travels from the gardens of Windsor Castle to the corridors of Buckingham Palace to the wedding of the Queen herself, Victoria & Violet takes you on an adventure of drama, intrigue and romance that I hope has you quickly turning the pages!

Why not give it a try?

Happy reading,

Rachel x

It should be a dream come true to serve the Queen of England…

When Violet Parker is told she will be Queen Victoria’s personal housemaid, she cannot believe her good fortune. She finally has the chance to escape her overbearing mother, a servant to the Duchess of Kent.

Violet hopes to explore who she is and what the world has to offer without her mother’s schemes overshadowing her every thought and action.

Then she meets James Greene, assistant to the queen’s chief political adviser, Lord Melbourne. From entirely different backgrounds and social class, Violet and James should have neither need nor desire to speak to one another, yet through their service, their paths cross and their lives merge—as do their feelings.

Only Victoria’s court is not always the place for romance, but rather secrets, scandals, and conspiracies…

BUY: https://geni.us/u0GmS5

Rachel lives in a small town near Bath, England. She is the author of 29 novels including the Ladies of Carson Street trilogy, the Shop Girl series (Aria Fiction) and the Templeton Cove Stories (Harlequin). Her latest novel, Victoria & Violet is the first book in her new Royal Maids series with the Wild Rose Press and released 17^th October 2022.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association as well as the Historical Novel Society and has thousands of social media followers all over the world.

To sign up for her newsletter (a guaranteed giveaway every month!), click here: https://bit.ly/3zyH7dt

Website: https://bit.ly/3wH7HQs

Twitter: https://bit.ly/3AQvK0A

Facebook: https://bit.ly/3i49GZ3