What Is Historical Romance and How Do You Choose a Series to Start?

Historical romance is a love story set in a past era, where the romance is the main plot and the ending is emotionally satisfying for the couple. If you want a concrete entry point, Lauren Royal's Chase Family Series begins with When an Earl Meets a Girl, set in London in 1666, where Colin Chase, the Earl of Greystone, finds his carefully planned life upended when the Great Fire of London lands a jeweler's daughter in his arms. Choose a series by matching its time period, tone, and reading order to what you already enjoy.

What makes a book historical romance

Three conventions separate the genre from neighboring shelves:

• A past setting. The story takes place in a historical era, and the period shapes the plot rather than serving as decoration.
• The romance is central. The developing relationship drives the story. Other threads—family, politics, mystery—support it.
• A satisfying ending for the couple. Genre readers expect the relationship to resolve in a way that feels earned. This is the convention that most sharply separates historical romance from historical fiction, where a love story may end in separation, ambiguity, or tragedy.

Historical romance vs. historical fiction vs. contemporary romance

If you want the emotional payoff of a romance plus the texture of another century, historical romance is the intersection. If you want the period to dominate and are open to a bittersweet ending, historical fiction is the better fit.

Common subgenres and time periods

Historical romance is organized largely by era, and era signals tone as much as date:

• Regency (roughly 1811–1820, often stretched wider in practice): ballrooms, titles, marriage-market stakes. The most crowded subgenre, so it offers the widest choice and the most variation in heat level.
• Restoration (the reign of Charles II, 1660–1685): a looser, more theatrical court culture. This is the era of the Chase Family Series' opening book.
• Victorian (1837–1901): industrialization, social reform, and stricter public morals, often paired with darker or more socially conscious plots.
• Medieval and Tudor: castles, arranged alliances, and court intrigue.

Lauren Royal's site lists four related series lines—Chase Family Series, Chase Family Series: The Regency, Sweet Chase Brides, and Sweet Chase Brides: The Regency—which shows a common pattern: one family or world spun across multiple eras and heat levels. The "Sweet" line signals a gentler, less explicit reading experience than the main line, so the label itself is a selection tool.

How to read a series order and decide where to begin

Series pages usually present books in one of three ways, and knowing which you're looking at prevents most confusion:

1. Chronological by story events. The safest default. Start with book one unless the author says otherwise.
2. Publication order. Sometimes differs from internal chronology, especially when an author writes a prequel later.
3. Loose connected standalones. Each couple resolves within their book, so you can enter anywhere without losing the plot—though you'll meet earlier couples as side characters.

For the Chase Family Series, the stated starting point is When an Earl Meets a Girl. That's the clearest signal available: when a series page names a "Start with" title, treat it as the intended entry rather than guessing from publication dates.

A quick decision path

• New to the genre? Start with the era you already like in film or TV. Regency for drawing-room drama, Restoration for a livelier court.
• Sensitive to explicit content? Look for "Sweet," "clean," or "inspirational" labels, as in the Sweet Chase Brides lines.
• Want humor with your history? Lauren Royal's site also tags romantic comedy, so comedic tone is a filter you can apply within historical romance.
• Committed to a long world? Begin at the named starting book and read forward; connected-family series reward sequence.

What to check before you commit

• Heat level. Often indicated by line names or publisher imprints rather than the blurb. Check the series label first.
• Tone. Romantic comedy, sweeping drama, and gothic-adjacent romance all sit under the historical umbrella. The keywords on an author's site are a fast read on this.
• Time period accuracy vs. atmosphere. Some books prioritize period detail; others use the past as a stage. Neither is wrong, but they read very differently.
• Series vs. standalone. Confirm whether the couple's story closes in one book or continues across several.

Finding similar authors and verifying order

Once you know your preferred era and heat level, the fastest route to more books is to search by those two filters together rather than by "historical romance" alone. Author websites often carry the most reliable reading order, since they list the author's own series lines and starting titles—Lauren Royal's site, for example, names the Chase Family Series entry point directly. Retailer series pages and reader communities are useful for cross-checking, but when they disagree with the author's own page, follow the author's page.