"Soulless" "If you like Soulless for [insert element here], try [insert suggestion here]!"

[whimsicalmeerkat]

If you like Soulless for the romance, try Refining Felicity by Marion Chesney. It contains no fantasy, so believe me those of you who thought there was too much romance in Soulless should steer clear. Refining Felicity is a silly Regency romance. It doesn't take itself very seriously and it has the most hilarious set of old spinsters to set it off.

[[deleted user]]

I've been trying to think of another series that this is similar to and nothing comes to mind

[whimsicalmeerkat]

it's the thought that counts...or something

[mark]

i haven't read any of these, but they sound sorta similar:

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker
Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
The Iron Duke

as far as Regency romance that is actually good, there's always Georgette Heyer

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I like the 'Stangely Beautiful' books, but you won't like them if you don't like the romance in this book. SB is very heavy on the romance, and of the OTT gothic variety.

"I love him... but I can't... but I must... "

[Sonia]

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± wrote: "I like the 'Stangely Beautiful' books, but you won't like them if you don't like the romance in this book. SB is very heavy on the romance, and of the OTT gothic variety.

"I love him... but I can..."

lol Never read it, but I might give it a shot.

[J.A.]

I've read Celia and Sorcery. It's cute. It's a epistolary novel involving two cousins exchanging letters as they explore why this mysterious wizard Marquess is up to involving the aforementioned chocolate pot. The setting is basically the Regency but they have a Royal College of Wizards, et cetera (all out in the open).

There's some mild romance, but it's more a mystery.

Yeah, the Percy Parker books I enjoyed, but they definitely are going for Wuthering Heights-level melodrama. Also, they are rather different from Soulless in that Alexia is a very proactive heroine where Percy is he Platonic Form of the Cringing Doormat.

Galen Beckett's work would likely appeal to fans of Soulless. It's set in an Regency-influenced setting that is more high fantasy in flavor (vs. the vague steampunk/PNR of Soulless):

The first two:

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent
The House on Durrow Street

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I do enjoy the Galen Beckett books. I'm looking forward to the third.

Also, A Matter of Magic by Patricia C. Wrede is another Regency romance with magic for those who like YA-type romance (but without tons of angst). It's an Omnibus and the first is more a murder mystery (with far too many names to keep track of), but the second is more romance.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Wuthering Heights-level melodrama sounds terrifying!

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Well, I liked the Percy Parker books and didn't like Wuthering Heights. I found the PP books more sort of tongue-in-cheek with the melodrama - purposely overdone in a parody-ish sort of way. Of course, it could be that I only interpreted it that way because it's the only way I could tolerate such things... but, still, I found them more light and fluffy than anything.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

I rather hated Wuthering Heights which is why the phrase made me shudder. I'll check them out though since you say they don't take themselves seriously.

[J.A.]

I disagree with the idea they don't take themselves seriously.

There's no tweaking of the conventions to generate humor or even imply that. If anything, if those elements were supposed to be parody, it'd undermine the fundamental dramatic axes of the books.

To me, it just came off as a interesting Gothic melodrama with rather prominent supernatural elements.

Now that being said, I really, really disliked Wuthering Heights, but I liked the PP books.

It could be that the direct supernatural elements buffer a lot of the melodrama because some of their reactions and behavior are a lot more justified in the context of destiny, magic powers, et cetera.

Plus, Healthcliff and Catherine in WH have the major handicap of being not particularly likable (not always necessary in a book but it helps) whereas the leads in the PP books are more likable, particularly Percy who is a bit of a doormat but still very sweet.