When Dukes Demand: Regency Power & Passion

My Wicked Marquess — Gaelen Foley

The "presumed dead" lover returns, but now he's a government assassin with zero interest in explaining himself. Lady Daphne Wade spent years mourning the boy she loved — until the Marquess of Rotherstone walks back into a London ballroom, very much alive and radiating the kind of danger that makes chaperones clutch their smelling salts. Foley leans hard into the espionage angle (the Inferno Club is less "gentleman's retreat" and more "covert ops"), so if you want your dukes morally complicated and your heroines willing to break into government offices, this is your entry point. The mass-market edition shows typical shelf wear — creased spine, minor foxing — but the pages are clean and the drama lands on every one of them. Explore our current copy of My Wicked Marquess or browse more Romance books at Patina.

Last Night with the Duke — Amelia Grey

A heroine chasing scandal meets a duke allergic to gossip — naturally, anonymous love letters throw them together. Esmeralda Swift isn't looking for a husband; she's looking for a story worth telling. The Duke of Griffin, meanwhile, has spent years dodging romantic entanglements with the efficiency of a man who's read too many cautionary tales about peers ruined by marriage. Grey keeps the tone light and the banter sharp — this is drawing-room comedy with just enough heat to justify the Mass Market Paperback format. The copy in stock has the expected wear (creased covers, minor edge scuffing), but the binding's tight and the pages turn without protest. Explore our current copy of Last Night with the Duke or browse more Romance books at Patina.

The Scottish Duke — Karen Ranney

Victorian Scotland, an American heiress, and a duke with a secret dark enough to justify an entire ancestral pile of locked rooms. Ranney shifts the timeline forward to the Victorian era and the geography north to the Scottish Highlands, which means you get brooding castle atmospherics alongside your titled hero. The American heiress brings the outsider's refusal to accept "that's just how things are done" as an answer, and the duke's secret is the kind that involves family trauma, not just a mild gambling habit. The mass-market edition shows its age — some yellowing on the pages, minor spine creasing — but the Gothic mood survives intact. Explore our current copy of The Scottish Duke or browse more Romance books at Patina.

Sins of a Duke — Suzanne Enoch

A duke whose control is his brand meets a woman who refuses to be charmed, bought, or intimidated — classic immovable object, meet unstoppable force. Sebastian Griffin, Duke of Melbourne, has built his reputation on unshakable composure, which makes Lady Josephine Ember's indifference a personal affront. Enoch's Griffin family series (this is book one) thrives on sibling dynamics and the slow-burn realisation that control is just another word for "hasn't met the right person yet." The mass-market copy in stock has typical wear — creased spine, minor cover scuffing — but the pages are clean and the banter still snaps. Explore our current copy of Sins of a Duke or browse more Romance books at Patina.

The Duke Goes Down — Sophie Jordan

The vicar's daughter becomes the heiress, the duke loses everything, and suddenly the power dynamic is deliciously inverted. Imogen Bates was doing fine as a proper village girl until a surprise inheritance makes her the wealthiest woman in the county — and every fortune hunter descends. Jordan flips the usual script: the duke is the one scrambling for security, and Imogen is the one calling the shots. It's a reversal that works because Jordan commits to it fully, letting the heroine relish her newfound leverage without turning her into a caricature. The mass-market edition shows minor shelf wear but remains structurally sound. Explore our current copy of The Duke Goes Down or browse more Romance books at Patina.

Never Seduce a Duke — Vivienne Lorret

A rakish duke with a gambling problem, a bluestocking heiress with a rescue plan, and absolutely zero interest in making this easy for each other. Lorret's Mating Habits of Scoundrels series (this is book five) specialises in prickly heroines and heroes who've earned their bad reputations honestly. The gambling subplot is treated with actual stakes — debts that matter, consequences that linger — rather than as a quirky character trait. The heiress isn't here to fix him so much as survive him, which makes the romance feel earned rather than inevitable. The mass-market edition has typical wear (creased spine, minor foxing), but the pages are intact and the sparks still fly. Explore our current copy of Never Seduce a Duke or browse more Romance books at Patina.

Nothing Like a Duke — Jane Ashford

A house party where everything goes wrong and a heroine who refuses to play by society's increasingly absurd rules. Ashford's fourth Duke's Sons novel leans into farce — if you want your Regency romance laced with slapstick and social commentary, this is the one. The duke would rather be literally anywhere else, the heroine has no patience for performative propriety, and the house party becomes a sustained exercise in watching rigid social codes bend until they snap. The trade paperback format (larger than the others on this list) means more room for margin notes if you're the annotating type, and the copy in stock shows minor cover wear but clean, intact pages. Explore our current copy of Nothing Like a Duke or browse more Romance books at Patina. These seven duke romances weaponise title, power, and the rigid social machinery of Regency England in different ways — some lean into melodrama, some into comedy, all into the fantasy of a man with ultimate social leverage meeting a woman who simply will not bend. As of April 2026, Patina's Romance collection includes rotating stock of vintage Regency, Victorian, and Georgian-era titles across mass-market and trade paperback formats. Shop all Romance books at Patina Paperbacks →

Where can I buy vintage Regency romance novels in Sydney?

Patina Paperbacks stocks a rotating selection of secondhand Regency romances, shipping Australia-wide from Sydney. The collection includes mass-market paperbacks from authors like Gaelen Foley, Suzanne Enoch, and Karen Ranney, with free shipping on orders over $29. Browse the current Romance collection here.

What's the difference between a duke and a marquess in Regency romance?

A duke outranks a marquess in the British peerage — dukes sit at the top of the non-royal hierarchy, making them the ultimate power fantasy in Regency-set novels. The Regency era (1811–1820) had only 24 non-royal dukedoms, so authors lean hard into scarcity and social dominance. A marquess (like Gaelen Foley's Rotherstone) ranks just below, but still commands serious clout — and often more narrative flexibility, since they're not quite as untouchable.

Are Regency duke romances historically accurate?

Honestly, no — they're fantasies rooted in Georgian-era aesthetics, not documentaries. Authors compress timelines, exaggerate social mobility, and ignore the era's grimmer realities (child mortality, lack of modern medicine, rigid class barriers) in favour of ballroom drama and brooding aristocrats. The appeal is the fantasy of power meeting resistance, not a history lesson. If you want accuracy, read Georgette Heyer with a historian's footnotes; if you want escapism, grab a vintage mass-market paperback and let the dukes command.

What's the Inferno Club series by Gaelen Foley about?

The Inferno Club series blends Regency romance with espionage — think Mission: Impossible in cravats. The "club" is a front for government agents handling covert ops during the Napoleonic Wars, and each book follows a different member falling for a woman who gets tangled in the danger. My Wicked Marquess (2009) launches the series with the "presumed dead" lover trope and a heroine willing to break into government offices. It's melodrama with decent pacing and enough historical texture to sell the stakes.

Do you stock other Sophie Jordan or Vivienne Lorret Regency titles?

Stock rotates — as of April 2026, Patina carries The Duke Goes Down (Jordan) and Never Seduce a Duke (Lorret), but the Romance collection turns over regularly as preloved titles come and go. If you're hunting a specific book or series instalment, check the collection page or reach out — we can't promise we'll have it, but the 13,000+ secondhand titles mean surprises turn up often. Browse current Romance stock here.