4 Adventure Plotlines For Regency Romance Novels (Writing Prompts)

The adventure plotline is perfect for the bored regency romance writer. When you are tired of writing about the London ballroom, assembly rooms, or even the countryside Christmas house party, then dive into an adventure plotline or two for your upcoming regency romance novels. Multiple subcategories within the adventure plotline can really spark new ideas for your books and act as writing prompts. 

1. The Pirate Infused Regency Romance Novel

The Pirate-themed regency romance novel is a trendy addition to many a regency series because it allows for a male lead that is a little bit on the roughed wild side to be introduced into a friend group or even be a long lost friend. However, it also allows the English and French Regency genres to blend because both sides had pirates. Many romance novels take the stance of an English lady falling in love with a French privateer or even a french lady falling in love with an English and sometimes Scottish privateer. 

A privateer was a pirate who engaged in a commissioned war and usually received the commission from the country it flew a flag for. So English pirates went under the English flag, and french pirates went under the french flag. If a Scotsman in the regency era was aboard a ship, they were just joining in a side as a lone wolf character. 

If you long to take on a multi-European regency novel, then tying in a Pirate love story might just be your next idea.

One such example from the literature that takes on the stance of a pirate love story is Trapped and Liberated: The Privateers Bold Beloved by Bree Wolf. It is part of an entire Pirate-themed series, the Loves Second Chance: Tales Of Damsels And Knights. It is a fantastic read! 

2. Elopement Themed Regency Romance

The elopement theme, regency romance, and the tales of traveling to Gretta Green are “tales as old as time.” If you are in for a fast-paced, heart-melting romance, then go ahead and dive into writing a novel with a wedding elopement. Gretta Green is right over the Scottish border, where the marriage laws were far less strict than in regency era England so a woman could marry her beloved if she was under the age of 21 at a simple blacksmiths shop. 

Even fictional books say a couple was married in Scotland if they proclaimed to be married before a group of people, though the marriage laws seem a little loose on this matter. The elopement was interesting because if a couple was married in Scotland and the marriage was consummated, it was also valid in England—most of the time. However, if they didn’t consummate the marriage before arriving in England again, it could be annulled or considered void.

For matters of dowery, and a father not wanting to hand it over to his daughter’s choice but instead make a business deal out of the wedding, he would attempt to go for an annulment of the marriage.

But those are just some of the messier details that might surround your elopement story if it is a high drama tale. It can have as much drama as you like. For instance, you could include:

• Family chasing after the couple to prevent the marriage
• Stops at unique pubs and towns along the way
• Have the couple camp outside for the journey
• Have the couple running from someone who just wants the dowery

One fantastic story that incorporates a journey to Scotland where the couple got married with his Scottish bride’s family present—so not really an elopement—but still, a traveling story was Rise of de Wolfe by Alexa Aston. You can read about horse riding, camping out, walled cities, and even wars and boundaries in this tale. It is written by an author that writes a lot of regency-related work. However, this book is set about 200 years before the Regency era, telling how a famous English family started in one of her series.

3. Searching For Family Or Treasure

You may also have your characters be searching for something in a novel. These novels often center around a central character or lady lead longing for something, like a missing family member, knowledge, or treasure. The story’s hero swoops in and ends up escorting her on the journey. Typically these adventure stories also double as the bodyguard-themed Regency-era romance novel because the men are strong and face down bandits, highwaymen, or ruffians to save the women. 

One fantastic tale that incorporates a strong hero leading a damsel in distress and even fighting for her life is Stealing the Heiress by Samantha Holt. In this book, you will get to witness a cross-country road trip, as an example of traveling in a regency romance novel, a kidnapping, a fight scene, and the power of searching for a family member. You should read it if you want to see how these fantastic elements are woven together by an excellent author. 

4. Traveling During Trials

Traveling during trials makes for another excellent adventure tale to weave into your regency romance novel. This plotline can include a variety of problems:

• Illness
• War
• Kidnapping
• Running away from a dangerous enemy
• Escaping prison

There are so many options you can take with this. One great regency romance novel that comes to mind which utilizes the adventure plotline, running from trials, is Earl of Excess by Anne St. Claire. It illustrates a couple who have to face the possibility of meeting enemy soldiers on the front lines of the colonial war to make it back to England. One of the main leads is struck with multiple terrible and debilitating injuries. Overall, such a novel leads to an exciting and quick read because it holds the reader’s attention.

Do You Need To Read More Romance Novels?

If you are new to the regency genre, you may struggle to grasp the major plotlines that are popular among its readers. You may also flounder with the jargon. Perhaps the historical elements are not yet your cup of tea.

The way to solve all of these problems is to read many books in the same genre you want to write in. It will make you a stronger writer, and you will have a growing passion for literature the more time you spend with it. Books can be pretty expensive, though, if you pay for them outright. So don’t do that. Instead, get Kindle Unlimited, where you pay a small monthly fee like a Netflix subscription, and you have access to a library of over 2 million books. Many of them are from best-selling Regency romance writers. Plus, there are so many fun ways to read Kindle Unlimited books. If you are new to this subscription, you can get deals on your first few months:

• 5% off a 6 month pre-paid Kindle Unlimited plan
• 10% off a 12 month pre-paid Kindle Unlimited plan
• 20% off a 24 month pre-paid Kindle Unlimted plan

Now, go forth and read the genre and study up on your plotlines before you pick up your pen.

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