Interest among romance readers in special editions and subscription boxes has surged in recent years. Now, Bridgerton author Julia Quinn is hoping that historical romance can cash in on the enthusiasm.
JQ Editions, which Quinn launched earlier this month, is a curated subscription-based book box featuring Quinn’s “favorite historical romance novels, reimagined and repackaged as elegant special editions,” per the release. The author's own Regency-era romance series was adapted into a hit Netflix show, the fourth season of which premiers today.
The service will kick off this year with three books: The Last Lady B by Eloisa James, illustrated by Shea O’Connor; An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole, illustrated by Lisbeth Checo; and Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, illustrated by Ann Shen. Currently, the boxes can only be acquired through memberships that are running through Kickstarter, with the first boxes set to ship in July.
“While the romance field as a whole is booming, it's not extending to historical romance in the same way, and there's so many incredible authors who are not seeing their contracts renewed," Quinn told PW. She said she hopes that JQ Editions can highlight the whole range of what historical romance has to offer, including both new releases and backlist titles.
The Last Lady B, a "witty historical romance with a gothic twist," per the publisher, comes out on May 12 from Gallery Books. An Extraordinary Union—a “recent gem,” in Quinn’s words—came out in 2017 with Kensington, and Lord of Scoundrels is a "classic of the modern [historical romance] genre." The inaugural list represents the "three different types of books that we're trying to bring in," Quinn added.
JQ Editions will ship out six titles in 2027, by authors including Julie Anne Long, Tessa Dare, Lisa Kleypas, Sherry Thomas, Mackenzi Lee, and India Holton. 2028 titles will be announced mid-2026.
Quinn hopes that her recommendations can serve as a path for Bridgerton readers to more widely explore the historical romance genre. "The section is big. It's hard to find the books you want, specially the older books, because they're not necessarily in stores," she said.
For modern classics like Lord of Scoundrels, which Quinn said has two other special editions comes out this year, JQ Editions is giving romance readers more of the high-quality design they want.
"Romance readers feel very passionately connected to the books that they love. There are many parasocial relationships going on," she said. "These titles are made to display and to be read over and over again.”
