Wednesday, December 31, 2008

2008: Top Reads


As 2008 draws to a close, we thought it would be a good idea to make a list of our favourite books of the year. Usually such lists include mostly new releases, but for Regency Romances that is not possible since no traditional regencies are being published anymore. So instead we simply decided to list our best reads of 2008.

Alex's Favourite Regency Read of 2008:


I didn't read many trad regencies during 2008, only four to my great shame. But I did have the chance to finally find a copy of Lady Elizabeth's Comet, a delightful and believable story about a lady astronomer. For those interested, my review of this book will be published this friday.
  • Lady Elizabeth's Comet, by Sheila Simonson

Ana T's favourite Regency reads of 2008:


I read quite a few books this year and found a few new authors to enjoy, I'm looking forward to more in 2009.
  • Devil's Cub, by Georgette Heyer

  • These Old Shades, by Georgette Heyer

  • The Emerald Necklace, by Diana Brown

  • My Lady Domino, by Sandra Heath

  • A Certain Reputation, by Emma Lange

Ioanna's favourite Regency reads of 2008:


I read about 120+ Regencies this year, so 2008 was quite productive for me. Although I have to confess I have not finshed every single book I started. Even so, I consider 2008 a success since apart from the quantity of books there was also quality, in some of them at least. And I discovered some new to me authors, whose books turned out to be a pleasant surprise, since I usually start a book by an unknown to me author cautiously and not very optimistically. But in some cases I discovered some hidden gems. So below are the books that I thought very much worth reading.

"The exceptional"
  • The Discarded Duke, by Nancy Butler

  • The Whitbourne Legacy, by Marjorie DeBoer

  • A Prior Attachment, by Dorothy Mack

  • The Great Lady Tony, by Dawn Lindsey

  • The Impulsive Miss Pymbroke, by Norma Lee Clark

  • The General's Grandaughter, by Dorothy Mack

and "The very good"
  • My Lady Gamester, by Cara King

  • The Reluctant Heroine, by Dawn Lindsey

  • Sweet Lavender, by Margaret Evans Porter

  • Miss Treadwell's Talent, by Barbara Metzger

  • The Irish Earl's Ruse, by Emma Lange

  • The Irish Rake, by Emma Lange

  • The Vengeful Viscount, by Leigh Haskell

  • The Ruthless Lord Rule, by Michelle Kasey

  • The Unlikely Chaperone, by Dorothy Mack

  • Bath Charade, by Amanda Scott

  • Lord Lyford's Secret, by Amanda Scott

  • The Beleaguered Lord Bourne, by Kasey Michaels

  • St. Martin's Summer, by Diana Brown

  • An Uncommon Courtship, by Martha Kirkland

  • Miss Thornrose and the Rake, by Geraldine Burrows

  • The Arrogant Lord Alistair, by Sheila Walsh

  • Rogue's Delight, by Elizabeth Jackson

  • Lord Abberley's Nemesis, by Amanda Scott

  • The Cockermouth Mail, by Dinah Dean

2 comments:

Cara King December 31, 2008 at 7:55 PM  

Alex, I agree with you on Lady Elizabeth's Comet! Definitely one of my favorites ever, and the book that I think more than any other converted my husband to loving Regencies.

And Ioanna, I'm so glad you liked my book! (And I'm stoked to be in the same list as authors like Barbara Metzger and Margaret Evans Porter!)

Happy New Year, everyone!

Cara

Ioanna January 3, 2009 at 5:08 PM  

Happy New Year to you to Cara!

It is fascinating to hear from the author of a book herself! I really liked your book, and I was very pleasantly surprised when I had started reading it. From my experience the later Signet Regencies (eg post 2003) were not very good. Of the few I had tried, I had not managed to read past the first couple of chapters. So when I picked up your book, I confess I did not have high expectations. As soon as I started reading though, I knew I had stumble upon an exception to my rule/conclusion (my conclusion being 'the later Signets are usually not worh reading'). I really enjoyed your book, and I immediately looked to see if you had written any more regencies, but unfortunately I saw you have not written any more. Do you plan to write any more in the future maybe?

As for Lafy Elizabet's Comet, it sounds exactly like the type of regency I would love. I have ordered a copy from ebay, so I should be able to report back on it soon :) And you are very lucky to have husband who loves Regencies! Where on earth did find such a rare specimen of the male species ? I guess there can not be more than about a dozen in total in the whole world.

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