Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Christmas Conquest | 2022 | Claire Delacroix | Buy |
| 2 | The Masquerade of the Marchioness | 2022 | Claire Delacroix | Buy |
| 3 | The Widow’s Wager | 2023 | Claire Delacroix | Buy |
The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction is a Regency romance series with a comedic premise built around a shared object: a scandalous guidebook that passes between heroines and gives them advice — or gets them into trouble with it. Claire Delacroix uses the device to link three otherwise separate stories in 2022 and 2023, giving the series a light, self-aware quality.
The Christmas Conquest and The Masquerade of the Marchioness both appeared in 2022, establishing the world and the guide’s reputation. The Widow’s Wager (2023) continued with a third heroine navigating the same Regency social world. The holiday-specific title of the first book signals that the series leans into seasonal romance conventions alongside its Regency setting.
This version of the series collects the first three books; the wider series continued with additional entries in 2024 and 2025.