Dearest gentle reader,
The first half of Bridgerton’s highly anticipated season 3 has finally arrived. As usual, drama, secrets, and scandals abound. If you’re anything like the rest of the ton, you have binged through the first half and are now pining away for the second half of the show. You need some more Penelope and Colin in your life, but alas, you must wait for June 13.
Fret not, readers! If you love the romance and drama of a Bridgerton novel, chances are you are in the mood for a similar regency romance. Look below for our list of novels that are just as swoon-worthy as the gazes Penelope and Colin send each other.
The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews
The Siren of Sussex is the first in Mimi Matthew’s Belles of London series. Evelyn is new to London and has been sent to find a husband.
Evelyn is a skilled horsewoman but needs a new wardrobe to catch a new husband. She procures the help of half-Indian tailor Ahmad Malik, who is just as handsome as he is talented. Will Evelyn find a suitable husband, or will she succumb to Ahmad’s smoldering charms?
If you love the diversity of the cast of the Bridgerton show, The Siren of Sussex will be a perfect fit as Matthews masterfully balances the history and romance of marrying outside your race in regency London.
A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin
What is a highborn lady to do when her ancient husband dies after being married to him for ten years, leaving her a wealthy widow at twenty-eight? Miss Eliza Balfour gets to find out in A Lady’s Guide to Scandal.
Rules go out the window when Eliza’s husband dies, leaving her in charge of her own life, for the first time. Eliza is free to retreat to Bath with her cousin Margaret and engage in scandalous flirtations. But news soon reaches the new heir, her husband’s younger cousin and her old lover, and Eliza is forced to grapple with what she really wants and what society wants.
If you love the scandal and gossip that permeates Bridgerton, then you are sure to gobble up the scandals that Miss Balfour gets up to.
Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore
A marriage of convenience is the theme in Dunmore’s third novel, Portrait of a Scotsman, in her League of Extraordinary Women series. Hattie accidentally finds herself marrying rich but untitled Lucian Blackstone, despite his murky past.
Lucian is all too willing to marry Hattie, a woman who thinks will be the answer to the problems he has in London’s high society, but he doesn’t count on losing his heart to her. Hattie is not as brainless as he initially thought and their chemistry sizzles off the page.
If you love the social mores and manners of Bridgerton, and all the complexities that come with social status, then Hattie and Lucian are sure to steal your heart.
There you have it, gentle reader! A few tomes to tide you over while you wait in anticipation for the next part of Penelope and Colin’s saga.
Check it out 