The wait is finally over! Bridgerton has returned to our screens and we have spent the past week swooning over Kate and Anthony’s slow burning romance.

We, like many many others, love Bridgerton for its refreshingly modern take on period dramas, as well as its feminist, sex-positive, and diverse imagining of society in the Regency period.

If Bridgerton is your cup of tea, you will LOVE these historical romances below, filled with drama, complex characters and romantic entanglements to lose yourself in.

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Kate Sharma: A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera  

Like entrepreneur Luz in A Caribbean Heiress in Paris, Kate Sharma will do whatever it takes to secure her family’s future and save them from poverty. Both women travel to the big city to make their fortune, and both need the help of the most eligible bachelor available to do so. While Kate is looking to make a match between Lord Bridgerton and her younger sister, Luz also finds herself at the centre of a convenient marriage plot that will save her destitute family, only she is the bride. And both have secrets that threaten to ruin everything!

Daphne Bridgerton: The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh

Just like Daphne, Celeste in The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes is a society darling and beloved by influential members of the ton. But keeping a spotless reputation leaves little room for adventure. So when Kieran, her brother’s best friend, begs her for help in restoring his reputation after his latest scandal, Celeste strikes a deal with him. She’ll help him find a respectable wife by introducing him to the right social circles in exchange for him showing her the scandalous side of London.

Penelope Featherington: The Princess Plan by Julia London

As the elusive Lady Whistledown, Penelope loves employing a bit of subterfuge to get her gossip pages to print on time, just like Hollis Honeycutt in Julia London’s The Princess Plan. Hollis loves a gossip as much as the next lady of the ton, and her very own pamphlet Honeycutt’s Gazette of Fashion and Domesticity for Ladies is just as scandalous as Lady Whistledown’s pages.

Eloise Bridgerton: The Governess Game by Tessa Dare

Just like Alexandra Mountbatten in The Governess Game, Eloise Bridgerton is clever, perceptive and passionate. Both women are academic and share a passion for books and knowledge with their love interests. These bookish ladies of the ton are outspoken, witty, and single-minded. They love to learn and are particularly academic; both are quite the force to be reckoned with!

Queen Charlotte: Last Duke Standing by Julia London

There’s plenty of royal scandal in Last Duke Standing by Julia London as Princess Justine is sent to London to learn from Queen Victoria. Like Queen Charlotte, Justine is headstrong, spirited and not one to be influenced, especially in matters of the heart. Amidst the politics and protocol of royal life, Justine and Charlotte both find their one true love.

Simon Bassett, Duke of Hastings: A Marriage of Equals by Elizabeth Rolls

Gentleman Will Barclay and Jamaica-born business owner Psyché Winthrop-Abeni develop a connection that leads to a thrillingly passionate, yet temporary affair in A Marriage of Equals. It’s the perfect arrangement…until Will, much-like the Duke of Hastings, feels honour-bound to propose. Will and Simon Basset both take a huge personal risk when marrying, but both are rewarded with their perfect happily-ever-afters.

Benedict Bridgerton: Dare to Love a Duke by Eva leigh 

A masked stranger. A passionate encounter. A secret club… Sound familiar? There are some interesting similarities between Benedict Bridgerton and Thomas Powell, the new Duke of Northfield in Dare to Love a Duke by Eva Leigh. Both know they should be proper and principled, like their fathers. But neither are ready to give up their freedom just yet. Add in their passion for art and a secret society where fantasies become reality and you’ve got yourself the perfect pairing.

Colin Bridgerton: The Captain’s Impossible Match by Laura Martin

Just like Colin Bridgerton, Lady Emma Westcombe is unaware that her close friend has carried a flame for her for years. The friends-to-lovers romance in The Captain’s Impossible Match by Laura Martin also has a sense of forbidden attraction and will they/won’t they get together storyline.

Lady Danbury: Waiting for a Scot Like You by Eva Leigh

Like Beatrice Sloane, the Countess of Farris, Lady Danbury is free-spirited, wealthy, independent and determined to stay so! Wherever they both go, a good time is sure to follow. In Waiting for a Scot Like You by Eva Leigh, the older heroine Beatrice embarks on a road trip that involves carriage crashes, secret barn dances, robbers, and an inn with only one bed! Certainly a tale Lady Danbury would tell at one of her glamourous parties!

By Lauren Gardiner