Regency Romance

Due to a combination of circumstances I recently had access to several books of a subgenre I was not even aware of previously. You can probably guess from the title of the post what genre that is: Regency Romance.  Four authors: Elizabeth Gaskell, Georgette Heyer, Julianne Donaldson, and Sarah M. Eden. Seven books: Wives and Daughters, Venetia, The Grand Sophy, Edenbrooke, Seeking Persephone, The Kiss of a Stranger, and finally Friends and Foes. As the name implies they are romance novels set in the regency period, the early 19th century. I have of course previously read the original authors of Regency Romance, Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters but I didn't know that there was a whole group of other authors that wrote similar style books. I have decided that I enjoy the genre, although of course there are disadvantages to it. Most of the authors seemed to mix the manners and propriety of Austen, with the mysterious fastness of the Brontes with an added touch of extra sappiness and kissing of modern romances (which I haven't read much of).
The time period is fun. I have always enjoyed the subtle tension that cannot be directly addressed in this type of book/movie, for example when Elizabeth and Darcy are dancing. Also they are clean, and overall I was impressed with the variety of characters and types of relationships that developed. Venetia and Damarally for example had a relationship based on respect, and a commonality of looking at the world. While Sorrel and Philip's relationship from Friends and Foes was based superficially on teasing with an underlying concern, respect, and understanding of the other person. Anyway, they have been interesting, and fun mostly quick reads.
On the other hand, they were often slightly silly, romances in general seem to run along those lines. Some things were absolutely far-fetched, especially Eden's stories with wolves and deranged uncles around every corner, and an amazing disregard for the familiarity of Christian names. And there gets to be a certain amount of predictability. Plus an amazing lack of communication between the couples that could have solved several problems. But for the most part they all ended cute and happily and the characters are fairly well developed and interesting.
I think my favorite out of all these was Edenbrooke though. The relationship between Marianne and Philip was meaningful and deeper then some. Also I loved how not only did their relationship give each other the love each sought but it helped them overcome other issues that they had. For Marianne of understanding her own worth, and for Philip for learning that his family and Marianne loved him for who he was and not what he was.
Overall I have enjoyed discovering this new subgenre and will continue to read books from it as I get the opportunity. If you like a good romance now and again, you may enjoy it as well.