Probably, yes. Though strictly speaking, the 'Regency Period' of English History spans only those years between 1811 and 1820 when King George III (affectionately known as ‘farmer George’ and less so as Mad King George) was deemed unfit to rule and his son, the Prince of Wales, ruled as Prince Regent.

Even though The Regency came to an end on the death of his father, when the Prince became King George IV, the name is generally applied to years up to 1837 when the crown passes via George’s brother, William IV, to Victoria and a new era begins. And for romance writer’s, the period begins long before the formal Regency; from about 1795. This later part of the George III’s reign is marked by the style of architecture, literature, fashion, furniture, political upheaval and social culture now labelled The Regency Era".

Historically, the period follows after the French Revolution and American War of Independence, but includes Napoleonic Wars with its battle of Trafalgar (1805) and Waterloo (1815). It’s a period of abject poverty for much of Britain's working classes as the impact of the Industrial Revolution demolishes centuries old social certainties and working practices.

In contrast, the era is a time of unparalleled excess for the aristocracy. Huge estates are established and mansions constructed; typified by the iconic Brighton Pavilion, built by Prince Regent himself. The rich are discovering foreign travel and the pursuits of a leisured class including spas, the seaside... and gambling.

Elegance and achievement in art, literature and architecture are the era’s lasting and most visible legacy, providing ideal settings for today’s novelists. But these years include massive social inequality, world war, political instability and economic development.

Society was strictly divided by wealth, power, status with boundaries marked by fashion, behaviour and social manners. The dark side of Regency elegance was criminality, immorality, alcoholism and a massive population boom. Beneath the glamour and gloss of Regency society was a level of squalor and exclusion that the powerful and moneyed classes largely ignored leading to serious concerns – and serious outbreaks, of riot and rebellion.

Differences of social class provide the source of division, rivalry, tension and even comedy, especially in relation to central concern of any Regency romance novel: marriage. The plight of the poor and the need for social improvement rarely drive the central plot or appear in the character list.

But in truth, for women of any social strata of the early nineteenth century, the importance of marriage is more about securing a position in society and a sufficient income than with the trivialities of love and romance. It is fear and desire that really underpin the motivation and emotion of Regency period and connects with our own times.

Christian fiction adds another layer to the complexities of society, manners, carriage rides, morning calls, assemblies, galmorous balls of the tension between aristocrats and the ‘New Rich’ of commerce and industry: the essential aspect of faith and trust in something higher. Across this landscape of inequality, passion, desire, fear, uncertainty and the strictures of society shines the light of a God that knows none of these boundaries or behaviours. The question is, will anyone in the story look up and notice how much greater is God.

Amelia Barrett gave her word. Keeping it could cost her everything.

Darbury, England, 1814. Amelia Barrett, heiress to an ancestral estate nestled in the English moors, defies family expectations and promises to raise her dying friend s infant baby. She ll risk everything to keep her word even to the point of proposing to the child s father, Lucas a sea captain she s never met.

Tragedy strikes when the child vanishes with little more than a sketchy ransom note hinting to her whereabouts. Fear for the child s safety drives Amelia and Lucas to test the boundaries of their love for this infant. Amelia s detailed plans would normally see her through any trial but now, desperate and shaken, she examines her soul and must face her one weakness: pride. Lucas s strength and self-control have served him well and earned him much respect but chasing perfection has kept him a prisoner of his own discipline.

Both must learn to accept God s sovereignty and relinquish control so they can grasp the future He has planned for them.