Author: Regina Jeffers
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New Year’s Celebration in the Regency Era
Celebrating New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in the Regency was not as we picture the celebrations today. Those were two days of what was (and still is to a lesser extent) Twelfthnight. Twelfth Night is a Christian festival on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas, marking the coming of Epiphany on…
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New Year’s Resolutions from Classic Literature Characters
New Year’s was not always celebrated on 1 January. Ancient cultures celebrated the New Year in mid-March with the planting of a new crop. It is said that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year’s resolutions. That would be more than 4000 years prior. They would hold a 12-day religious festival, which is…
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“First Footing” It into the New Year with Hogmanay Traditions
I come very proud Scots. I am from a direct line of Clan MacThomas from the seventh chief of the clan, John Mccomie (Iain Mòr), who has passed into the folklore of Perthshire. Therefore, in my family, New Year’s (or Hogmanay as it was once called) played a popular part of my childhood. Although I admit to overspending…
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“Lyon in Disguise: The Lyon’s Den Connected World” from Dragonblade Publishing, Releasing December 17 from Regina Jeffers
Lyon in Disguise: Lyon’s Den Connected World A handsome rake meets his match in a red-headed enchantress who is his enemy! They may be on different sides of the law, but Lord Navan Beaufort is not going to permit that to stop him from protecting Miss Audrey Moreau. Navan has never thought truly to love…
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London’s Slums in the Regency Era
Lyon’s Obsession was the second book in my Dragonblade romantic suspense/mystery series. Each of the heroes in the books are “adopted” sons of Lord Macdonald Duncan, a Scottish lord, who trains them to serve the United Kingdom’s interests. They were each in danger of being killed before they could claim their respective earldoms. [Book 3,…
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York Castle’s Role in the Final Chapter of “Lyon in Disguise” from Dragonblade Publishing (Arriving 17 December 2025)
The final chapter of Lyon in Disguise, which releases December 17 and is currently on preorder, is set around the York, England, and specifically York Castle. At the time the story is set, meaning late 1812 and early 1813, York Castle was used as a prison and a place for hanging of criminals. The last…
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Crossing the Irish Sea in the Early 1800s, Not for the Faint of Heart
I have written several books of late that feature my characters traveling to Ireland from different points in England. One of the more recent ones was my Taming Lord Truist, the second book of the Strong Women Duo that accompanied Loving Lord Lindmore. In Taming Lord Truist, I had my main characters come into Ireland…
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Research: The Bane of Historical Fiction Writers
One of the best parts of being an historical writer is learning new things. However, one of the worst parts of being an historical writer is researching those new things. As I am sure everyone on this site may attest, I have spent hours and hours and hours searching for a fact that turns out…
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Fitzwilliam Darcy, Esq. (Esquire) … Correct or Not?
According to etymonline.com, the work “Esquire” is a noun. It came to use “in the late 14C., from Middle French esquier “squire,” literally “shield-bearer” (for a knight), from Old French escuier “shield-bearer (attendant young man in training to be a knight), groom” (Modern French écuyer), from Medieval Latin scutarius “shield-bearer, guardsman” (in classical Latin, “shield-maker”), from scutum “shield” (see escutcheon). For initial e-, see e-. Compare squire (n.). Originally…
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Why is Thanksgiving on a Thursday?
Halloween is over and we are already preparing for the next celebration/holiday. For me, November is a month of more than “Thanksgiving,” for it holds the date of my mother’s birth, my son’s birth, and my grandson’s birth. Thanksgiving is the month of sweet potatoes and fruit salad and pumpkin pie and . . .…