A Regency Romance Writer Goes to Texas

Regina Scott here. Many of you know me from my dozen or so Regency romances over the years. But that’s not the only period of history that fascinates me. I love a story about knights in shining armor, pioneers heading west on the Oregon Trail, and cowboys riding across the plains. That’s why I was thrilled to be asked to write the third book in the Lone Star Cowboy League: The Founding Years series, A Rancher of Convenience, out this week.

So, how did a Regency author fit in Texas? The Texas Hill Country in 1895 is a far cry from the English drawing rooms of the early nineteenth century. For one thing, there are no butlers, maids, or other servants hanging about ready to dress and clean and cook for my hero and heroine, just a couple of cowboys tending the herd. But that just means Hank and Nancy have to be more resilient. If they want something done, they have to find a way to do it themselves. And those cowboys were so sweet to Nancy when she lost her first husband.

And the language! It was a lot of fun to use a more common dialogue than the elegant sentences my Regency lords and ladies are used to uttering. But that doesn’t mean those cowboys and the ladies they love aren’t witty. Take this exchange between Hank and Nancy.

“For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,” he murmured, releasing her.

She’d said those vows twice now, but never had she felt them more surely. “That’s right. I mean to honor those commitments.”

His smile inched into view. “Even the obey part?”

“Don’t be absurd.”

Then there’s the food. Those ladies in Little Horn sure know how to cook! In fact, Renee Ryan (Stand-In Rancher Daddy), Louise M. Gouge (A Family for the Rancher), and I had a grand time coming up with recipes for our heroines to cook. Here’s one of my husband's favorites:

You can find eight more recipes, along with extended excerpts from our books, in the Lone Star Cowboy League: The Founding Years Sampler, free on Amazon. 

Because even a Regency author can get carried away in Texas.

How about you? Do you have a favorite time period or setting?