Elizabeth Chater: Milady Hot at Hand

Milady Hot-at-Hand was published by Fawcett in February 1981 and is the story of Andrea, who disguises herself as a boy in order to find the murderer of her father.

Allan Kass paints our couple outside near a river with our heroine in male riding clothes. She has short curly hair and is holding a branch while our hero is tall and strong. He wears clothing of the Georgian period: a long waistcoat and outer coat. His hair is long and in a queue. It's a pastoral scene and quite a different illustration from Allan's usual elegant regency covers!

Elizabeth Chater: Lord Randal's Tiger

Lord Randal's Tiger is the second book I have by Elizabeth Chater that Allan Kass illustrated and it was published in May 1981. Chloe is found by Lord Randal and he dresses her as his servant to keep her from her wicked stepbrother.

Allan Kass creates an interesting cover, since obviously the servant is a woman and not really disguised! She is still pretty and wears a typical white full mans shirt and breeches. Her hair is done as pretty as any regency lady's! Our hero is horseback and handsome in a red coat. Allan was great at illustrating horses, too! A cute cover for a cute story!

Elizabeth Chater: The Elsingham Portrait

The Elsingham Portrait is the first of three books that Allan Kass illustrated for Elizabeth Chater. This book was published in February 1980 and I have the republished version from September 1987. It is a different kind of story since it is a time travel for a modern day lady back to regency times. A portrait in a gallery sends her back into the arms of the portrait lady's husband! It's one of the first paranormal romance books I remember being published.

Allan Kass creates a handsome cover for this book with our couple and the infamous portrait! The heroine is prominent in a gold gown duplicated in the portrait while our hero is handsome in brown and red. The style of the clothing is more Georgian, with the fuller skirts and jackets.

The 1990's saw a rise in authors reaching for the paranormal in their stories and the regency/modern time travel story line was somewhat popular. Unfortunately, the popularity in paranormal romance in the 2000's killed the publication of regency romances, with all of the main publishers quitting their series. A few still get published under Harlequin and some historical romances are set during regency times.