Signet Books was an imprint of the New American Library (NAL), which was established as an autonomous American publishing house after branching off from its British-based parent company, Penguin Books. Signet had the longest running Regency series, beginning in the late 1970s and ending in February 2006. It generally published three books each month, though this varied over the years. Signet also produced reissues, both of their own previous releases as well as those of other publishers.
Authors such as Mary Balogh, Catherine Coulter, and Amanda Scott began their careers writing for this line of books. Each title averaged around 220 pages, with longer romances being called Super Regency. From 1989 on an anthology of 4 novellas was published at special occasions throughout the year, including Christmas anthologies (1989–1998), Valentine anthologies (1996–2005), and Summer anthologies (1992–1995).
Other authors who wrote for the Signet Regency romance line include: Jo Beverley, Nancy Butler, Marjorie Farrell, Sandra Heath, Candice Hern, Carla Kelly, Allison Lane, Emma Lange, Anne MacNeill, Amanda McCabe, Dorothy McFalls, Melinda McRae, Barbara Metzger, Nadine Miller, Patricia Oliver, Andrea Pickens, Mary Jo Putney, Patricia Rice, Evelyn Richardson, Irene Saunders, and Joan Wolf.
Related Research Articles
Julie Pottinger, better known by her pen name Julia Quinn, is a best-selling American historical romance author. Her novels have been translated into 41 languages, and she has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List 19 times. Her Bridgerton series of books has been adapted for Netflix by Shonda Rhimes under the title Bridgerton.
A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." However, precursors include authors of literary fiction, such as Samuel Richardson, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Brontë.
Mary Balogh is a Welsh-Canadian novelist writing historical romance, born and raised in Swansea. In 1967, she moved to Canada to start a teaching career, married a local coroner and settled in Kipling, Saskatchewan, where she eventually became a school principal. Her debut novel appeared in 1985. Her historical fiction is set in the Regency era (1811–1820) or the wider Georgian era (1714–1830).
Regency romances are a subgenre of romance novels set during the period of the British Regency (1811–1820) 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. These derive not so much from the 19th-century contemporary works of Jane Austen, but rather from Georgette Heyer, who wrote over two dozen novels set in the Regency starting in 1935 until her death in 1974, and from the fiction genre known as the novel of manners. In particular, the more traditional Regencies feature a great deal of intelligent, fast-paced dialogue between the protagonists and very little explicit sex or discussion of sex.
Judith McNaught is a bestselling author of over a dozen historical and contemporary romance novels, with 30 million copies of her works in print. She was also the first female executive producer at a CBS radio station.
The New American Library is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publishes trade and hardcover titles. It is currently an imprint of Penguin Random House; it was announced in 2015 that the imprint would publish only nonfiction titles.
Harlequin Enterprises ULC is a romance and women's fiction publisher founded in Winnipeg, Canada in 1949. From the 1960s, using a combination of high-quality editorial content and dynamic marketing, it grew into the largest publisher of romance fiction in the world. Based in Toronto Canada since 1969, Harlequin was owned by the Torstar Corporation, the largest newspaper publisher in Canada, from 1981 to 2014. It was then purchased by News Corp and is now a division of HarperCollins. In 1971 Harlequin purchased the London-based publisher Mills & Boon Limited and began a global expansion program opening offices in Australia and major European markets such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Netherlands and Scandinavia.
The Regency era in the United Kingdom is the period between 1811 and 1820, when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son, later George IV, was instated to be his proxy as Prince Regent. It was a decade of particular manners and fashions, and overlaps with the Napoleonic period in Europe.
Jean Catherine Coulter is an American author of romantic suspense thrillers and historical romances who currently resides in northern California.
Cassie Edwards is a best-selling American author of over 100 historical romance novels. She has been published by Dorchester Publishing, Signet Books, Kensington Publishing and Harlequin.
Julie Elizabeth Leto is a best-selling American author of over forty romance novels.
Mary Jo Putney is a best-selling American author of over twenty-five historical and contemporary romance novels. She has also published romantic fantasy novels as M.J. Putney. Her books are known for their unusual subject matter, including alcoholism, death, and domestic abuse.
Lynn Kurland is a best-selling American author of historical, time travel, and fantasy romance novels. The characters in most of her books all belong to one of three extended families and her love scenes are not as explicit as many other popular romances. She is a recipient of the RITA Award.
Carla Sue Kelly is an American writer in the Regency romance genre. She is the author of over forty books and short stories. Her books are what romance readers call "keepers," i.e. books they keep in their private collections, and accordingly they can be hard to find. Renowned for what she calls "dukeless" regencies, her stories often revolve around ordinary people solving their own problems. While many Regency romances feature soldiers returned from the Napoleonic Wars, several of Kelly's books include soldiers and sailors actively involved in the Peninsular campaign and in the naval blockade that prevented France from invading England, bringing this war to life in an unforgettable way. However, her regencies only reflect a part of her writing interests. She also has a strong interest in the American West, which is reflected in her earliest published works and in her non-fiction. Since 2011, Kelly, who has a Mormon background, has written four historical romance novels that focus on the lives of young Mormon women: Borrowed Light, Enduring Light, My Loving Vigil Keeping, and Safe Passage.
Elizabeth Rotter is an American author of romance novels. She has been published under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Walker, Elizabeth Neff Walker, and Laura Matthews. As Laura Matthews, she has released more than 30 Regency romance novels. Under her other pseudonyms, she writes mainstream women's fiction or contemporary romances, most of them revolving around people working at a hospital.
The RITA Award was the most prominent award for English-language romance fiction from 1990 to 2019. It was presented by the Romance Writers of America (RWA). The purpose of the RITA Award was to promote excellence in the romance genre by recognizing outstanding published novels and novellas. It was named for the RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada. It was not awarded in 2020, and was replaced by the Vivian Award, awarded for the first time in 2021.
Lori Handeland is an American author of romance novels. She has twice won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award.
Diane Farr is an American historical romance novelist. She is best known for her Regency romance, published with Signet Regency romances.
Zebra Books is an imprint of American publisher Kensington Publishing Corp. As the company's flagship imprint until the late 80s, it currently publishes women's fiction, romantic suspense and bestselling historical, paranormal and contemporary romance. In the past, it was also an iconic publisher of pulp horror, and it also published westerns and humor.
Donna Hill is an American author of romance, mystery, and women's fiction. She has written over seventy novels, twenty short stories, and edited multiple anthologies. Three of Hill's novels have been adapted for screen.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
