Austen-Inspired Historical Romance for Fans of The Other Bennet Sister

Much like in The Other Bennet Sister, Mary takes center stage—along with Charlotte—in this sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Lizzy and Jane already got their love stories. Even Lydia found her match. Now, it’s Mary’s turn. But when the middle Bennet sister comes to stay with the recently widowed Charlotte, she’s not the ungainly kid sister Charlotte remembers. Mary has gone to live with her aunt and uncle, has discovered herself, and has possibly, even, a thing or two to teach Charlotte these days. It’s an unlikely match I never would’ve guessed, but McLeod brings them together seamlessly.

Set in the same time period as Pride and Prejudice but in Korea, Behind Five Willows follows two young people in love with stories. Haewon secretly spends her free time as a scribe in the back of a bookshop—a job as exciting as it is illegal. When she meets Seojun, she dislikes him immediately. He’s wealthy, privileged, and stuck-up. But he’s also harboring a secret just as dangerous as hers: he writes fiction under the pen name Black Lotus. As his alter ego, he’s been writing to his favorite transcriber, Magpie, for some time. Through their immediate antipathy, neither of them realizes they might already know the other. Will learning the truth be enough to overcome the differences between them, especially with the threat of discovery hanging over their heads?

Few Pride and Prejudice retellings are able to capture the social and class dynamics at play between Lizzy and Darcy as well as Behind Five Willows does. That and its rich exploration of a time and place as unique as Regency England make it one of my all-time favorite Pride and Prejudice retellings.

Speaking of my favorite Pride and Prejudice retellings, meet this beautiful book about a young trans man who meets—and befriends—the standoffish Fitzwilliam Darcy on entirely different terms. Any Austen retelling that can add depth and richness to my understanding of the Regency period is a winner in my book, but the exploration of LGBTQ history and culture in Georgian England is woven so seamlessly into the story that this book skyrocketed to the top of my favorite retellings list. I’m sat here ready for any other historical retellings Gabe Cole Novoa wants to write in the future, especially his upcoming Persuasion retelling, Half-Agony, Half-Hope.

This reimagining of Sense and Sensibility, set in Ming-dynasty China, follows two sisters torn between their differing ideas about duty and following their hearts. Ailin’s heart has already been captured, but her sense of familial duty—and the need to make a strategic marriage for the sake of her family—holds her back. Meilin has no such compunctions, but her own heart is torn between a dashing playwright and a surly army captain. It’s a historical romance retelling that captures the heart of Austen’s story while exploring the realities of womanhood and cultural expectations in historical China.

Scarlett Wilcox is more interested in studying medicine than searching for a husband, but she’s willing to accept a marriage proposal from a duke if he’ll allow her to continue her studies. When she’s exposed as a woman at a lecture at the prestigious Royal Academy of Science, though, it’s the quick thinking of Trinidadian-born physician Stephen Carew that saves her. Stephen has no time for the frivolous ladies of the ton, but Scarlett isn’t at all what he expected. Scarlett never thought she’d marry for love, but maybe it’s time they both reconsider their expectations.

To the ton, Lord Christopher Eden is seen as an eccentric man, peculiar and reclusive. But he doesn’t mind what anyone aside from his few beloved servants thinks as long as they leave him alone. Then he learns of a clause in his late father’s will that requires him to find a wife, and a wife—as much as he doesn’t want one—requires a more fashionable reputation than he currently possesses. Enter: James Harding, Christopher’s infuriatingly handsome and traditional new valet. A wife may be what he needs, but what he deserves is an entirely different matter.