What is Regency Romance?

And do I write it?

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Amazon telling me that I wasn't allowed to classify By Marsh and by Moor as Regency Romance. Which is fair enough, I suppose. Regency Romance is a broad, rich, and varied category, but I know that Jed and Solomon's story is pretty far removed from the settings and subject matter that most often characterise the genre.

Indeed, in the past, I've hesitated over the same categorisation question for my 'Old Bridge Inn' series (and not just because those books are set in 1798-1799, which only falls into the Regency era if you take its broadest possible definition). I've generally gone with the 'Regency Romance' category anyway, because, for most retailers, that's the closest one available. It's not like there's a romance-set-during-the-Regency-era-that-isn't-Regency-Romance category.

So that's not the frustrating part. The frustrating part is that Amazon has decided to classify By Marsh and by Moor as 'Military Romance' instead! A story about a man who hates the military so much that he deserts before the start of the novel and spends the rest of the story desperately trying to avoid being forced to return... I'm not sure that's what readers are looking for when they type 'Military Romance' into a search bar.

Oh well! There isn't much I can do about it. I have little or no control over Amazon categories. I just hope not to disappoint too many readers looking for actual Military Romance...