I'm glad someone explained about April's Lady/Friday's Child clarification, because I was reading that going "But that doesn't sound like the book I read at all...?"
Hmm, I don't think I've ever read any decent regency apart from Georgette Heyer, but I have a couple of favorite authors in the light-hearted romance/mystery genre, if that helps -- particularly Mary Stewart and Elizabeth Peters. They are among my go-to happy books when I'm grumpy.
Mary Stewart's romances are a little dated now (they were written in the 50s and 60s), but still a lot of fun, and I love all of them so much it's hard to recommend a favorite. (She's more famous for her Arthur books, which I never liked nearly as much.)
Elizabeth Peters has written an unbelievable number of books, but my favorite are her series rather than her standalones. I have read Crocodile in the Sandbank (the first of the Amelia Peabody series) so often I've destroyed multiple copies: it is about a strong-willed spinster-turned-married-archaeologist in the Victorian era. (The whole family is so hilarious!) The series about the art historian who falls for the art thief is also awesome, though I have trouble remembering which of those books comes first in the series -- I can look it up if you're interested. Slightly less addictive, but still fun, is the series about the English professor who starts writing really bad romance novels to make money (again, I'll try to look up which ones are which in that series if you like the sound of it). The one where she goes to a romance novel convention makes me laugh SO HARD.
Thank you for the Heyer reviews! You are inspiring me to read back through my collection.
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Hmm, I don't think I've ever read any decent regency apart from Georgette Heyer, but I have a couple of favorite authors in the light-hearted romance/mystery genre, if that helps -- particularly Mary Stewart and Elizabeth Peters. They are among my go-to happy books when I'm grumpy.
Mary Stewart's romances are a little dated now (they were written in the 50s and 60s), but still a lot of fun, and I love all of them so much it's hard to recommend a favorite. (She's more famous for her Arthur books, which I never liked nearly as much.)
Elizabeth Peters has written an unbelievable number of books, but my favorite are her series rather than her standalones. I have read Crocodile in the Sandbank (the first of the Amelia Peabody series) so often I've destroyed multiple copies: it is about a strong-willed spinster-turned-married-archaeologist in the Victorian era. (The whole family is so hilarious!) The series about the art historian who falls for the art thief is also awesome, though I have trouble remembering which of those books comes first in the series -- I can look it up if you're interested. Slightly less addictive, but still fun, is the series about the English professor who starts writing really bad romance novels to make money (again, I'll try to look up which ones are which in that series if you like the sound of it). The one where she goes to a romance novel convention makes me laugh SO HARD.
Thank you for the Heyer reviews! You are inspiring me to read back through my collection.