Posts Tagged ‘regency’

I am excited to present to you fellow Avon Author Elizabeth Boyle today, who is visiting the Dashing Duchesses today!  Elizabeth is RITA-winning author who has penned twenty adventurous and romantic novels, with seventeen of them hitting bestseller lists. That might make her a Grand Duchess… and means we might want to offer her more than tea! Without further ado, I give you the fabulous Lady Boyle.

Everyone always asks, where do you get your ideas. Well . . . I get ideas in all sorts of ways—sometimes it is an item in the newspaper, other times it might be a pair of teens gossipy about their “BFF”, and for my new book, AND THE MISS RAN AWAY WITH THE RAKE, the idea for my correspondence match up came from two places: an article in the Jane Austen magazine about matchmaking advertisements at the time, and one of my favorite movies, Shop Around the Corner (and my less favorite remake, You’ve Got Mail).

I had just read the matchmaking article as I was beginning to write the first book in the series, ALONG CAME A DUKE. When I saw this actual advertisement from Regency times, I died—the very notion of a gentleman advertising for someone to find him a Lady of Fortune was hilarious, and wanted to work something akin to this into the story—using it eventually as a joke of sorts.

But that joke, the hero placing a matchmaking advertisement in the paper for his staid and proper uncle, Lord Henry Seldon, just kept prodding the idea hopper. What if someone actually answered such an ad? What if LOTS of women responded to his ad? What would poor Henry do with baskets and baskets of perfumed letters? The idea was just too much fun, too delicious to pass up and thus starts my latest book, AND THE MISS RAN AWAY WITH THE RAKE.

In actuality, placing ads was one way for lonely hearts to find a mate during the Regency time period, just as people go online now. And just like now, there were cautions about meeting a potential suitor that way. Several women responded to such ads and were never seen or heard from again, or arrived to find their future husband already had a wife.. . or two already.

So I have to ask—has anyone used online dating or answered a personal ad? What happened? And did you find your rake, as Miss Daphne Dale did?

Elizabeth Boyle is the author of 20 historical romances and an avid fan of all things Regency, especially quirky little bits of history like matchmaking via the newspaper. You can find a list of Elizabeth’s books at her website (http://www.elizabethboyle.com) or LIKE her on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AuthorElizabethBoyle) or follow her on Twitter(https://twitter.com/ElizBoyle) , where she waxes poetic and snarky, depending on her mood.

This is a special, duchess-approved version of the classic game show. Not that a duchess watches game shows, since the telly hasn’t been invented yet–but if she did, she would know all the answers to this one.

Since this is a Flash game, and I can’t work out how to embed it in the post, I’m going to link to it on another site. Amounts are in pounds, naturally. If you’d like to play along, you can keep track of your score.

Perhaps we can get a little friendly competition going! Not that any of us are competitive in the least.

Click this link for the game, and keep track of your score on paper. And be honest. No Googling.

Let us know how you did in the comments! To sweeten the pot, just a bit, I’m going to pick a commenter to receive a signed cover flat of my second book.

Join me, dear duchesses and friends, as I celebrate my release week for the latest story in my Secret Brides series, Secrets of a Runaway Bride. (3/26/13 St. Martin’s Press)

I like to refer to my work as Racy Regency Romps and if I do say so myself, this story delivers on all three of those promises.

Why romps, you ask?

Well, because they are the types of stories I most like to read. Many of our dear duchesses write such wonderful tales, though the duchesses’ styles range from the quite serious and dark to full-on drunken-night-of-revelry frolics! And we do adore our differences. But I’ve always been a huge fan of the farce, the comedy, and the romp. So much so that my entire next series is going to be based on famous comic plays. Read the rest of this entry »

Ash: Greetings, and welcome today. I’m very excited because my debut is coming out tomorrow, and…

Jen: Good day, your grace. What are you doing here?

Ash: Oh, you’ve heard. It’s the day before my book release. It’s called A Most Scandalous Proposal. Thank you for dropping by to congratulate me. *smile smile*

Jen: Erm, actually… It’s the day before my book releases, too.

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Today, author Susana Ellis has dropped in to tell us about her latest release. Susana is a former teacher who is now living her dream of writing full time.

The summer solstice, or Midsummer’s Day, is the longest day (the most daylight) of the year. The Midsummer Festival began as a pagan event, with bonfires on Midsummer’s Eve (June 23) to protect against evil spirits and magical beings who allegedly come alive during the night. Gold plants (as gold was the color associated with the day, due to the strength of the sun’s rays) were believed to have special healing powers if picked at that time. As Christianity gained in popularity, the powers-that-be deftly turned it into a Christian holiday, celebrating the birth of St. John the Baptist, who was born six months before Christ.

During the Reformation, the Midsummer’s Day Festival was discredited by many religious authorities due to its pagan beginnings and the lechery and gluttony associated with it. Nevertheless, it still persisted in Regency England on a limited basis as a quasi-religious holiday during the summer months. Vicars intent on following strict Anglican doctrines refused to endorse such celebrations; others took advantage of the day to reinforce the importance of John the Baptist and the Gospel of Christ.

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Happy (nearly) New Year Ladies and Gentlemen! May 2013 find you and your families in good health and good sprits. I, myself, have spent the last week a bit under the weather but realized about halfway through my bout of illness that sleeping, reading, and eating was actually a fantastic vacation after all. I quickly got over my melancholia at being bedridden.

Tomorrow is a big day for me! My first ever novella, A SECRET PROPOSAL, will be released on 1/1/13 by St. Martin’s Press and I’m so excited to share this story with everyone. It’s the tale of Amelia Templeton. Amelia was introduced as a minor character in my debut novel, SECRETS OF A WEDDING NIGHT, and in the novella, you finally get to find out what happened to her.

Amelia’s story is set against the backdrop of a Regency-era boxing saloon. I did a bit of research on the sport  to ensure that my premise was sound. The Regency did, in fact, have a great love of pugilism and pugilists, the most famous of the lot being John Jackson or “Gentleman Jack.” He owned and operated a boxing school of sorts from rented rooms on Bond Street and this is the inspiration for the boxing saloon operated by the hero of A SECRET PROPOSAL, Thaddeus Hammond. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, the Dashing Duchesses are pleased to welcome Regency author (and attorney) Ella Quinn.  Ella has agreed to share with us some fascinating tidbits about estate law, Regency style. So, pull up a leather chair in the study, dears, and let’s learn about the law.

During the Regency period, the Hardwicke Marriage Act of 1753 was in effect. The purpose of the Act was to regularize all aspects of marriage and the ending of a marriage. The Act itself was not very specific about many matters except that it had to be performed by clergy of the Anglican Church. The Church rules were specific as to marriages.

There were three ways to marry: reading the banns, buying a license, and elopement.

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Guests at a Regency era country house party were treated to any number of diversions. A host or hostess would have countless outdoor adventures planned for the houseguests, from archery to hawking, from exploring mazes to taking shopping excursions in the nearest town.

But the well-planned host or hostess would always be certain to plan for poor weather. Indoor activities were nearly as important as those for the out-of-doors, and at some house parties even more so.

Of course, there were a great many card games the guests could partake in, but the Regency era was also a time when various parlor games began to rise in popularity.

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Jane and Tom in the library from the movie Becoming Jane. Movie stars Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen and James McAvoy as Tom Lefroy. Credits: Miramax Films

Although it’s an interesting question, the simple answer is books. But since the English Regency was one of the more interesting times in history, it’s no surprise that something as simple as books and libraries became more complicated.

Up until the late 18th century, book authors and playwrights were sponsored by private patronage, such as Shakespeare and Marlowe who wrote for Queen Elizabeth. But when the government decided everyone should be able to read the bible, literacy rates for all classes soared. Read the rest of this entry »

Lighting is something a lady often requires but rarely thinks about. I, certainly, never gave it much consideration until the gloomy day I arrived at Bantry House in Ireland. Bantry House is a lovely 17th century ancestral pile in County Cork. On the day my family and I rapped on our coach’s roof to request our driver pull to a halt just outside of Bantry House’s expansive gardens, clouds hung low in the air. They roll in off Bantry Bay, which the charming property overlooks. (Please take no notice of the cannons. The staff were quite friendly!)

Once inside, my family and I marveled at the grand French furniture and shockingly lifelike portraits belonging to the Shelswell-White family, which owns the property even today. But when we left the checkered foyer and entered the drawing room, we came to a startling realization. Despite the overcast day, the drawing room glowed with light. We flipped through our guidebook and quickly learned why: the room had floor-to-ceiling windows, which is surely to be expected in a house this large, but the soft glow actually came from a reflection of the meager light cascading through the windows onto the gold carpet beneath our feet. Read the rest of this entry »