Home › Historical Sapphic Romance › Regency
Ballrooms, bluestockings and bargains, with the period checked for every book.
12 books · all 12 with full LRR reviews · 6 main picks, all HEA · 2 novellas
The best Regency lesbian romance books are The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite, The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley and Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti. For a short sapphic Regency romance, A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian is a perfect evening read.
Regency is a real period, 1811 to 1820, not a label for any book with a ball gown. We checked the setting of every book here and moved the Victorian and Edwardian ones to their own pages.
All twelve have full LRR reviews.
Regency Lesbian Romance at a Glance
The formal British Regency ran from 1811 to 1820, and publishers often stretch the label a little either side. Every book here is set in or right around that window.
| Book | The hook | Length | Heat | Ending |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics | Astronomy translation with a countess | Novel | Open door | HEA |
| The Perks of Loving a Wallflower | Disguises and ciphers with the Wynchesters | Novel | Open door | HEA |
| A Little Light Mischief | A reformed thief and a lady’s companion | Novella | Explicit scene | HEA |
| The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows | Two widows in middle age, Queen Caroline’s divorce | Novel | 4/5 | HEA |
| Ladies in Hating | Rival novelists in a “haunted” house | Novel | 4/5 | HEA |
| The Covert Captain | A Waterloo veteran living as a man | Novel | 2/5 | HEA |
The Best Regency Lesbian Romance Books
Six sapphic Regency romances, all reviewed by LRR, all with happy endings.
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics
Olivia Waite · Feminine Pursuits #1
Lucy Muchelney arrives at the home of Catherine St Day, the Countess of Moth, hoping to translate a French astronomy text. Working side by side turns into much more.
The gold-standard entry point for sapphic Regency romance: intellectual partnership as the source of attraction, and a woman’s ambition taken as seriously as her heart.
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The Perks of Loving a Wallflower
Erica Ridley · Wild Wynchesters #2
Philippa York, a bluestocking, and Tommy Wynchester, a master of disguise, get tangled up in a mystery full of ciphers and secrets.
Joyful, clever and pure comfort reading. Other Wild Wynchesters books follow different couples, not all sapphic, so check before buying the series.
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A Little Light Mischief
Cat Sebastian · novella
Molly, a lady’s maid and former pickpocket, teams up with her employer’s companion, Alice, on a small and satisfying act of revenge.
Short, sexy and feel-good, about women without fortunes. The author lists content notes including an alcoholic parent and harassment.
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The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows
Olivia Waite · Feminine Pursuits #2
A widowed London printer and a beekeeping sailor’s wife, both in middle age, fall in love against the politics of Queen Caroline’s divorce in 1820.
The pick if you are tired of debutantes. Warm, clever and properly romantic.
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Ladies in Hating
Alexandra Vasti · Belvoir’s Library #3
An aristocratic gothic novelist discovers her literary rival is her teenage crush, and they end up in a supposedly haunted house together in the 1820s.
Yearning and witty, with a Lambda Literary Award behind it. It is the only sapphic book in its trilogy.
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The Covert Captain
Jeannelle M. Ferreira · 2018
A cavalry officer who has spent years living as Captain Nathaniel Fleming comes home after Waterloo and falls for her major’s sister.
Tender and clever, with dialogue that feels like the period. The prose is clipped, so it rewards patient readers.
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More Sapphic Regency Romance
The Language of Flowers
Hannah Briar
A countess runs a secret network of women who talk in the language of flowers.
Ending: HEA guaranteed by the author.
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The Miseducation of Caroline Bingley
Lindz McLeod
Caroline Bingley from Pride and Prejudice finds love with Georgiana Darcy.
Ending: HEA.
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Mortal Follies
Alexis Hall
A cursed debutante, a scandalous witch and a scene-stealing fae narrator in 1814.
Ending: Not confirmed in our summary.
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The Worst Spy in London
Anne Knight
A lady and her modiste foil a plot to prolong the war with Napoleon.
Ending: HEA.
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Her Spell That Binds Me
Luna Oblonsky
A Regency-era magic college rivalry with very high heat.
Ending: HEA.
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Lady Jane’s Seduction
Norman Burns
A very explicit romance between a domineering duchess and a sheltered debutante.
Ending: Not verified.
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Regency, Georgian or Victorian?
The Regency is 1811 to 1820. Victorian Britain starts in 1837. Books set in the 1850s, like Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend, belong on our Victorian lesbian books page, and Proper English (1902) is Edwardian. Getting this right matters if you love the specific feel of the period: the empire-waist gowns, the marriage mart, the wars with Napoleon.
History and romantic possibility
A historical romance is a love story, not a documentary. Authors make different choices about how much prejudice, community and freedom their characters have. You do not have to choose tragedy to read sapphic history: every main pick here ends happily.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best Regency lesbian romance books?
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite, The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley and Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti.
What years count as Regency?
The formal British Regency is 1811 to 1820. Publishers sometimes use the label for nearby years too.
Are there sapphic Regency romances with older heroines?
Yes. The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite follows two women in middle age.
Is there a spicy lesbian Regency romance?
Her Spell That Binds Me and Lady Jane’s Seduction are both 5/5 for heat. Ladies in Hating and Waspish Widows are 4/5.
Is Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend Regency?
No. It is set in 1857, so it is Victorian.
Related Genres and Guides
Continue with Victorian lesbian books, or see the full historical sapphic romance guide. For history without a romance promise, try lesbian historical fiction.
How We Chose These Books
This selection uses our own full reviews wherever LRR has reviewed a book, plus author and publisher descriptions where a specific trope needs direct support. Every card says why the book fits this exact trope. Cards marked “LRR full review” link to a review where we went through Goodreads, StoryGraph, trade reviews and reader discussion before scoring it. Cards marked “Publisher description” or “Author description” are researched picks that we have not reviewed yet, and we say so rather than pretend otherwise. Ending notes come from our review or from an explicit promise in the book’s own description. Theme notes are not complete content warnings.
Know a book that belongs here, or spotted a wrong label? Tell us in the comments.