The that historical romance master Jo Beverley has died. Oh, my gosh, does that make me sad to hear.
From from all her Word Wench sisters:
There was no one quite like Jo, with her calm English good sense and quiet warmth and dry wit, not to mention her taste for port wine and very dark chocolate. She and I were friends for almost 30 years, and our careers have always tracked very closely. In fact, my first book was published the month before Jo’s first book, which pleased Melinda Helfer, the Regency reviewer for Romantic Times Magazine, because that way she could give each of us her Best New Regency Author award for two different years.
Her full name was actually Mary Josephine (mine is Mary Jo), and I’m grateful that she went by Jo, because we were confused often enough as it was! I would graciously accept compliments on my Rogue books, pointing out that they were actually Jo’s Rogues. It was an honor to be confused with her. (Add Mary Balogh to the mix, and the confusion grew exponentially!)
(I’d like to say very quietly that I am a little bit relieved to learn that I’m not alone in mixing Mary Jo Putney, Jo Beverley, and Mary Balogh’s books up. Apologies to all of them.)
Jo Beverley wrote so many incredible historicals, and The Company of Rogues series was a tremendous reader favorite. Her most recent book, The Viscount Needs a Wife, was the 17th book in that series, and came out just last month.
The Word Wenches are inviting fans and friends to share their favorite memories – and the pictures of all of them together are just lovely.
My favorite memory, and I cross posted this at their site as well, isn’t so much a memory as it is a bookmark. I found this page a long time ago, and I don’t even remember what I was looking for at the time – probably names for a historical romance that I started when I was in grad school that never made it past the middle of chapter one.
Beverley’s website (JoBev.com! What a great URL!) has this wonderful “Regency Names” page, and it has been one of my bookmarks for years and years, through multiple computer upgrades and browser file imports. Why?
Among the women’s Regency names, to quote Ms. Beverley herself: Uriana (Yes, really.)
And then, farther down: Busick (I think Uriana and Busick would make a great couple!)
YES. Yes, they would. I never failed to laugh at the idea of Uriana and Busick. So I’m raising a quiet toast to all the hours we’ve spent in Jo Beverley’s Regency, and to Uriana and Busick.
I know many readers who are “Jo Bev” fans will probably find their favorite for a re-read soon. If a reader here hasn’t read a Jo Beverley book before, which would you recommend first? Please share recommendations in the comments if you have them.
Farewell and thank you, Ms. Beverley.
Oh no! Oh, this makes me genuinely sad. I have the Rogues all sitting on my shelves.
I haven’t read any Beverleys so I can’t offer any titles, but I can offer condolences to her fans and family and friends. 🙁 Condolences to all who loved her work!
I’d recommend My Lady Notorious, the first book in the Malloren series. Because once you start with the first book, you’re hooked all the way up through Devilish because you’ll want more Rothgar, and boy does Jo Beverley deliver.
But also, since the Malloren series is set in the Georgian era, it was such a different England than the Regency/Victorian and Medieval England I was familiar with when I first discovered her almost 10 years ago.
Off to go reread now. Thank you Jo Beverley for all the wonderful stories.
Oh no! Her books were some of the first romances I read, and unlike many of the other first romance authors, I continued to enjoy Jo’s books. I always enjoyed her author’s notes as well. Time to reread the Rogues and the Mallorens…
I fell in love with Jo’s traditional regencies in my earliest years as a budding romance reader. Later, I made my way through the Mallorens and the Rogues, and loved them too. She was one of two authors who made me crave Georgian romances and expanded that time period for me. <3
Though her books are wonderful and varied and rich in history and romance (and OMG the solid world-building! *swoon*), Jo Beverley's greatest contribution might have been her page about titles and peerage: http://www.jobev.com/title.html (I wish more writers had read it!)
I recommend Emily and the Dark Angel, one of her traditional regencies, for its delightfulness, charm, and humor—the “pudding conversation” is not to be missed!
I haven’t read any of her books but I’m still sad at her passing.
“Secrets of the Night” was the first Jo Beverly I ever read and is still my favorite one. I was scandalized (in a good way) by this book and never looked back. She will be missed.
So sad. I remember her telling me off when I asked on the Beau Monde loop if most men were circumcised in the Regency period (yes, it was a long time ago, and yes they were).
Oops, that should have read UNcircumcised. Of course.
I am so very sad to hear this news. A wonderful writer whose historicals are really historical, and whose characters are many-layered and compelling. My personal favorites are the Malloren books (“My Lady Notorious” is the first of the series, and a good place to start)–and “Devilish” (Rothgar and Diana’s story) is my favorite of those. Her death is an enormous loss to the romance community, not only in terms of her writing, but because of her graciousness and generosity in her interactions with other writers and with fans. Her bright spirit lives on in the hearts of those who knew her, but also in the wonderful books she leaves behind. Thank you, Jo, for so many hours of joy and pleasure.
I constantly mix up Mary Jo Putney and Mary Balogh and can often be heard to say “It was one of the Mary’s. Jo Putney? Balogh? I don’t know. Google the title.” when recommending books to others.
And on that note, I haven’t read any Jo Beverly that I can recall but she seems like she’d be right up my alley. Does anyone have a suggestion on where the best place to start is?
The Malloren series for sure. And oh, no to this news. She created complex and likable characters, a writer who made me re-examine my alleged avoidance of historical romance. Such a loss. Thank you, Jo Beverly, for everything.
Her holiday novellas have been favorites of mine for years. The last one I read was “Miss Finch and the Angel” from The Last Chance Christmas Ball last Christmas. Godspeed, Jo Beverly.
wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! i am a long-time fan, avid reader of everything jo beverley and lucky enough to have most of, if not all, of her books.
her stories taught me to love historical romance and she will be sorely missed. no more mallorans, no more rothgar – rest in peace.
Oh, sad! I don’t have much experience with her work, but perhaps oddly, earlier today I suddenly thought “I should check out this one book that’s been on my Want To Read list”, so a Jo Beverley book is currently sitting on my kindle waiting for me.
Godspeed, Jo!
Sad days, first Roberta Gellis and now Jo Beverely. I want to thank them and all the writers who give me such joy in their books. These two writers in particular will be greatly missed.
This is so sad. Jo Beverley was the first romance author I ever read, the one who got me hooked on the genre, with An Arranged Marriage (so not only romance novels, but long inter-connected series!). She has always had pride of place on my romance shelf. Thank you so much, Jo Beverley, for sharing your characters with us.
I can’t remember which I read first – “Lord Wraybourne’s Betrothed” or “An Arranged Marriage”. Either way, I was hooked, and I eagerly looked forward to her new books. What a tremendous loss, but her words will survive.
As much as I loved her Regency novels, one of my favorite Jo Beverley books was a medieval, The Shattered Rose. It was different, and won’t appeal to all readers, but I loved the troubled marriage and the steps the hero and heroine had to take to repair it.
She was so very talented. She’ll be greatly missed. 2016 is turning out to be a sucky year for fans of music and romance novels.
I’m taking this one hard. I’ve been reading her since I was a preteen and one of my most cherished memories is of reading AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE in the hammock of the beach house where my family was staying one summer. I must have been about fourteen and was still young enough to feel like the sexytimes in that one were scandalous. But as much as I loved the Rogues, my personal favorite is still–as ms. bookjunkie recced upthread–Emily and the Dark Angel. It’s very nearly perfect. And I still think of Poudre de Violettes whenever I see violets. Or scented powder. Or hear a reference to Melton Mowbray. Rest in Peace, JoBev
She wrote so many wonderful books and it is so sad that there won’t be any more of them. (That’s a very selfish reaction, I know.) I think my favorites are a few that don’t seem to be mentioned as often as others—An Unlikely Countess (one of her more recent ones), Winter Fire (in the Malloren world), and An Unwilling Bride (the Rogues series). But all the others are good too. I don’t think she ever wrote a bad book. And they certainly aren’t wallpaper historicals.
My heart is broken….
Oh this is sad indeed. I have enjoyed her books for years. I highly recommend the Malloren series: Georgian setting, the awesomeness of Rothgar somewhere in every book, and the disguises! JoBev loved to put characters in disguise – women in breeches, men in dresses, nun outfits, fake pirates, rich old ladies with glued on warts and so much more! Don’t get me wrong, I love the Rogues, too, particularly Christmas Angel and Hazard, but (as all the grandmas in Regency books are always saying) the Regency just isn’t as rollicking a time as mid 18th century.
That said, she really has bequeathed us with a fantastic legacy of marvelous books, but still I wish she would have stuck around for a bit longer. You will be missed, Jo Beverly!
Sad to hear that. One of my favorite historical writers!
My heart is also broken. I believe Forbidden was the first book of hers that I read, but went back and found the earlier Rogue books and am currently reading the latest one. My youngest son can thank her for his name, Leander, but goes by Leo which was my grandfather’s name.
RIP Ms. Beverley. Your novel “The Devil’s Heiress” brought me back to the genre after a 10+ year romance hiatus. Intelligent and riveting. I was so hooked. Your books have their own shelf on my bookcases.
Your writing gives me great joy. Say hi to Roberta Gellis and Prince for us.
I have not read any Jo Beverly, but I am still saddened by this news.
I am already starting my amazon shopping list. Thanks to those of you who are sharing recommendations and memories.
I hadn’t read any Jo Beverly books until her latest one, The Viscount Needs a Wife. I was just starting to get into the back catologue and was really enjoying the books. I’m not very familiar with the author but was liking what ive read so far. I’m so sad that she passed away.
That Regency naming matrix she created is totally invaluable. This is so sad to hear.
I gasped when I saw this news. “My Lady Notorious” was one of the first historical romances I read. And I’ve relied on the page about titles and the peerage for years.
This is such sad news. I ‘knew’ Jo Beverley through the UK Romantic Novelists Association email loops. She was a big believer in paying it forward and has helped most of us out with things at one time or another. A lovely lady and a brilliant novelist. She will be missed.
[…] and stunning historical detail, it became a world we were happy to get lost in time and time again. And we’re not alone. With over twenty years of writing and thousands of fans, Jo Beverley has not just touched the lives […]
Like many others, Jo Beverley was the first romance novelist I read. I was a new mom and my only outings for a while were to the grocery store. On a whim I perused their small book section and decided that a novel called The Devil’s Heiress was just what I needed. And it was! An Arranged Marriage remains one of my all time favorites. RIP Jo and thanks.
Like many others, Jo Beverly was my introduction to romance. The Secret Wedding was the first romance novel I ever read. I love her books and I’m sad to hear of her passing. Condolences to her loved ones.
This is such sad news, but I did laugh about mixing up the author names. I posted earlier on DA that I always mentally boxed Jo Goodman and Jo Beverley as the two Jo’s. Now, I guess I’ll have to add Putney and Balogh to the mix.
Some of my favorite Jo Beverley books are My Lady Notorious (Mallorens), Lady Beware (Rogues world), and Deirdre and Don Juan (which *needs* to be released in digital). From the very beginning with her trad Regencies, there was a lot of interweaving of characters and storylines, but a new reader could still jump in almost anywhere–and I suggest they do.
Ms. Beverley’s website was a delight to readers who like history and I hope it remains available as part of her amazing legacy.
I only knew Ms. Beverley through her books, but I feel a genuine sense of loss with her passing. My sincere condolences to her family, friends, and, yes, my fellow reader. Thank you and Godspeed, JoBev.
I love hanging out at the Word Wenches blog and interacting with some of the best writers around; now there is one less of them. They also have a monthly ‘whatcha reading’ post, where they come up with the most obscure and excellent romances ever. It was probably Jo Beverly or MJ Putney who sent me in search of “Red Adam’s Lady”.
I love Jo Beverly’s Regency and Georgian and Medieval books, and I’ve read every single one of them. I recommend “Lord Wraybourne’s Betrothed” and “Emily and the Dark Angel” among the traditional Regencies. And I highly recommend “My Lady Notorious”, it’s a rollicking action-packed story, but with a serious theme about women’s lack of power over their own lives in that era. As one of the commenters at WW said earlier, Jo had a great sense of humor, but there is also anger, dealing with how the heroine is mistreated by her family. There is the cross-dressing @Teev mentions by both the hero and the heroine, and towards the end there is a great sexy food fight. I dug it out and reread it last night after hearing the sad news.
I hope I’m not guilty of confusing Mary Jo Putney with Jo Beverly here, but I’m pretty sure it was Jo who had one of my favorite puns ever in one of her books. The hero and heroine have just made love for the first time, and she had been a virgin. Afterwards the hero tells her that now they should think of a secret pet name for his penis, so they can talk about it in public without people knowing what they’re referring to. So the heroine thinks a moment and says, she’ll call it “the Thames”, because it goes through Maidenhead.
You really can’t go wrong reading anything Jo Beverly wrote. The first 5 books in the Malloren series are a tour de force. Any other writer could just rest on her laurels for the remainder of her life after those. Yet she had dozens more. “Christmas Angel” is comfort book of mine, “An Unwilling Bride” is great, and once you’ve read one Rogue book you’re hooked on all of them. I will miss her and her stories.
I loved reading her books.
My current re-reading of the entire Rogues series has taken on a sad undertone. Jo Beverley has long been one of my favourite “go to” romance authors for the wit, charm, and enduring strength of her stories. As with the works of both Edith Layton and, earlier this month, Roberta Gellis, I will miss the anticipation during the wait for “the next Jo Beverley” to be released (so it could be devoured in very short order).
So So Sad I am a Brit and I have all her books, I live in Vancouver and I loved every one of her books and she was just a wonderful Lady.
My favorite of her books is Forbidden Magic. The characters are so likeable and the element of magic in it is written so believably that it’s sheer joy to read. It’s not related to any series so it’s a good starting point to get your feet wet, so to speak.
@Karin – I think there was at least one joke about “the river Thames is rising” in that book!