Hmmm, whom to try next? You could look at Patricia Wynn, Carola Dunn or Lynn Kerstan. Kerstan has some lovely books but she’s a little more hit or miss. Dunn has quite a backlist. Wynn is a little less known but I’ve enjoyed all her books so far. And lots of them are available at Fictionwise or Regency Reads (a part of Belgrave Books).

I adore Barbara Metzger and Joan Smith but lots of their books have a more madcap feel to them.

Let me keep thinking to see who else I can come up with.

Lovely lovely books!!

Aside from authors like Sheila Simonson, Laura Matthews and Carla Kelly, who else can you recommend that specializes on witty, quiet and gentle regencies??

Looking forward to the new series, MJ.

Me too.

Janine, you’ve gone through how many copies of “Uncommon Vows?”
Three? Four? ;)

Actually, I cannot explain this given the multitude of times I’ve read the book, but somehow, some way, the binding of my first printing copy has held. The pages are tan, the cover is creased and chipped, the spine has many cracks, but the book has survived for seventeen years. Most of the books on my bookshelf are in great condition, since I know how to read without creasing spines. I keep thinking I should replace it, since it’s in such disrepair and since the cover of the new reprint is really pretty. But I have such affection for the book — I remember exactly how I sat in the living room chair in my old apartment and read it for the very first time, back in 1991, and how completely it transported me — that I find it hard to let my original copy go.

As you may have seen elsewhere, I’m starting a new paperback Regency historical series with Kensington. The first will be out in July 2009. I want to make this new series as strong as the Fallen Angels, but different enough to feel fresh rather than copying myself. (No fantasy elements.)

In the meantime, Simonson’s Tom Conway is still a delight. I’m definitely rereading that book!

I need to pull my copy and reread it!

Did demand become so great that standards went down? Was there a big turnover in editorial staff? I have no idea, but the decrease in quality is definitely noticeable.