TheWell Bookshop

Series · historical romance

Waverley Women

by M. C. Beaton

The Waverley Women series by M. C. Beaton has 3 books and is best read in publication order, starting with The First Rebellion (1989).

Books
3 books
First published
1989
Status
completed
Last checked

Start here: The First Rebellion (1989) — then read straight through in publication order.

Cover of The First Rebellion, the first book in Waverley Women

Reading order

The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.

  1. The First Rebellion

    Novel

    View book

  2. Silken Bonds

    Novel

    View book

  3. The Love Match

    Novel

    View book

About the Waverley Women series

The three-book Waverley Women series follows sisters from the Waverley family as each pushes back, in her own way, against the narrow expectations Regency society sets for well-bred young women -- beginning with The First Rebellion, in which the eldest sister's refusal to simply accept the marriage arranged for her sets the tone for the siblings who follow. Across the trilogy, the Waverley sisters test how much independence a Regency woman can claim for herself before it costs her the match, and the happiness, she actually wants, with each book resolving in a romance that lets its heroine have both on her own terms.

Written under the Marion Chesney name in the late 1980s, the series is a tighter, more focused set than some of Beaton's larger sister sextets, giving each of its three heroines more room within her single volume while keeping the family's shared theme of quiet rebellion against convention running through all three books.

How to read this series

Publication order, starting with The First Rebellion (1989). Each of the three novels follows a different Waverley sister and is a complete, self-contained romance, though the family's shared theme of testing social convention runs through the whole trilogy and is easiest to appreciate read start to finish.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in M.C. Beaton's Waverley Women series?

Three, published in 1989 and 1990: The First Rebellion, Silken Bonds, and The Love Match.

What is the Waverley Women series about?

Three Waverley sisters who each push back against the narrow expectations Regency society sets for young women, and find romances that let them do so on their own terms.

What order should I read the Waverley Women books in?

Publication order: The First Rebellion, Silken Bonds, then The Love Match.

Is Waverley Women connected to Beaton's other sister series, like Six Sisters?

No shared characters -- it's a separate, shorter trilogy from the same Marion Chesney Regency period.

Were these books originally published under a different name?

Yes, originally as Marion Chesney; later editions have been reissued under the M.C. Beaton byline.

Reading order last verified .