Regency Romance

From Guidevines

Traditionally, "Regency romances are a subgenre of romance novels set during the period of the English Regency or early 19th century. Rather than simply being versions of contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, Regency romances are a distinct genre with their own plot and stylistic conventions that derive from the works of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, and from the fiction genre known as the novel of manners. In particular, most Regencies feature a great deal of intelligent, fast-paced dialog between the protagonists and very little explicit sex or discussion of sex." Wikipedia: Regency romance

Both Zebra and Signet have shut down their specifically Regency romance lines. However, historical romances set in the Regency, with the emphasis on the upper classes and witty situations, continue to be bought as parts of general lines of historical romance. The post-modern Regency tends to have as much opportunity for sensual romance as any other period, and is more likely to involve more lower upper-class "squirearchy" characters, à la Austen, than the wealthy dukes and earls favored by Heyer.

However, the more traditional novel of manners seems to be doing nicely with paranormal elements, whether vampire heroes or wizardly heroines.

For those still writing sweet Regencies, we might suggest Avalon.

For those willing to cross over the line of respectability, any publisher of historical romance will usually take one. As Harlequin Historical says, "Regency tales remain ever-popular and cover the range from drawing-room antics that scandalise the ton, to the salacious underworld inhabited by pickpockets and prostitutes, to the hazardous battlefields of the Peninsular War." This is no longer what Austen or Heyer would read, but it's the main survival of the genre: all the stories some readers would wish could be told back in the Regency's heyday of the late 1970s-early 1980s.