Any bespectacled heroine and hero?

There are many heroes and heroines who wear spectacles. If only I had easy access to my historical list I'd do a quick copy and paste and share them here.

But, you're right. I don't think the covers show them wearing spectacles very often, if at all.

Hi All,

Found the list. It is a sadly out-of-date Historicals Only - Glasses - Spectacles List that I maintained on the old RT Forums Themes Page.

Glasses - Spectacles (Historical Only)
Began: 10-01-05
Most Previous Update: 1-09-11
Last Update: 1-07-15

Medieval
Touch of Enchantment by Teresa Medeiros (7/97) -- (TT Medieval) -- Heroine goes back in time to a medieval period and the hero she meets there discovers he can see much better wearing her glasses.


Georgian
Gather The Stars by Kimberly Cates (6/96) -- Gavin Carstares, Earl of Glenlyon wears glasses.

With Eyes of Love by Corey McFadden (6/03) -- Elspeth Quinn -- 1799, Bath, England

Reckless by Anne Stuart (9/10) [ House of Rohan - 2 ]-- Charlotte Spenser is shortsighted and needs her gold-rimmed glasses for reading; however, she wears them all the time as a Plain Jane weapon, do not pay attention to me -- 1804, England


Trad Regency

A Lady's Point of View by Jacqueline Diamond (HRE 14 - 11/89) -- Meg Linley is a beauty but she can barely see without her spectacles and is forbidden to wear them when she attends a ball where she accidentally cuts Beau Brummel. The scandal sends her packing to the country, but her faulty eyesight causes her to enter the wrong coach, where she finds herself mistaken for a governess from London once she reaches Lord Bryn's estate.

The Holly and the Ivy by Elisabeth Fairchild (11/99) -- Charles Thornton Baxter, fifth Viscount Balfour, also known as Lord Thorn is a kind, but prickly hero. The heroine Mary Rivers aka Merry breaks his quizzing glasses and helps then buying spectacles. The hero was neglected by his parents and is very lonely. Because he can't see very well and when he tries to focus he scowls.

Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand by Carla Kelly (12/94) -- Lord Fletcher Winn wears glasses.

Lady Sparrow by Barbara Metzger (8/02) -- Lord Lowell wears spectacles and he really needs them. He really is handicapped by his poor eye sight.

Married by Mistake by Melinda McRae (5/92) -- Thomas, Viscount Alford standing in proxy for his brother as groom, signs on the wrong line and finds himself married instead... all because he was too vain to wear his glasses.

Enterprising Lady by Eva Rutland (6/90) -- Secondary heroine, Priscilla, needs spectacles but her mother won't let her wear them. Secondary hero, Percy, buys some for her.

Lord Logic and the Wedding Wish by Melynda Skinner (2/03) -- Hero, glasses.

Valerie by Joan Smith (COV 123 - 7/81) - Reissued in 2007 -- Welland Sinclair, a supposed scholar whose well-built physique and aura of command no amount of green-tinted glasses.

Grand Deception by Rebecca Ward (9/92) -- Hero, Earl of Severn but the spectacles may be as a disguise, not sure about that.



Regency
Friday Dreaming by Elizabeth Bailey (HHS 84 -1994) -- Friday (heroine) wears spectacles.

Only in My Dreams by Eve Byron (6/98 ) -- Adrian Rutland, Viscount Dane wears glasses.

So Wild a Heart by Candace Camp (2/02) [ Aincourt Curse Trilogy - 1 ] -- Miranda wears spectacles when she does close work.

A Woman Scored by Liz Carlyle (5/00) -- Lord Mercer, Captain Cole Amherst wears glasses.

Tempted all Night by Liz Carlyle (3/09) -- 1830, England -- Phaedra wears spectacles.

The Bride Thief by Jacquie D'Alessandro (3/02) -- Spinster heroine wears spectacles.

Sleepless at Midnight by Jacquie D'Alessandro (7/07) -- Spinster (26) heroine, Sarah Moorehouse wears glasses.

Who Will Take This Man by Jacquie D'Alessandro (10/03) -- Philip Whitmore, Viscount Greybourne wears glasses.

Once a Gentleman by Candice Hern (5/04) -- Pru, the heroine, wears glasses.

Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly (HH 998 - 6/10) -- 1812, England and Portugal -- Polly Brandon's spectacles are ever in the story.

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas (5/94) -- Sarah Fielding wears glasses.

Like No Other Lover by Julie Ann Long (11/08 ) -- Miles is the bespectacled scientific type.

All Things Beautiful by Cathy Maxwell (7/94) -- Hero wears spectacles when reading.

Some Like it Wicked by Teresa Medeiros (8/08 ) -- Hero, Sir Simon Wescott wears reading glasses.

Ace of Hearts by Barbara Metzger (9/05) -- Alexander "Ace" Earl of Carde wears glasses.

To Wed a Wicked Earl by Olivia Parker (9/09) -- Charlotte has bad eyesight and often hides her glasses.

Dangerous by Amanda Quick (5/93) -- Prudence wears spectacles.

Ravished by Amanda Quick (7/92) -- Harriet wears spectacles.

Scandal by Amanda Quick (2/91) -- Emily wears glasses.

The Edge of Impropriety by Pam Rosenthal (11/08 ) -- Hero, Jasper Hedges, wears spectacles all the time.

Love Is Blind by Lynsay Sands (8/06) -- Lady Clarissa Crambray has her glasses taken away from her by her step-mother.

The Devil Earl by Deborah Simmons (HH 317 - 6/96) -- Prudence wears glasses.

The Last Rogue by Deborah Simmons (HH 427 - 9/98 ) -- Jane wears spectacles.

A Man of Many Talents by Deborah Simmons (6/03) -- Christian Reade, heir to the earldom of Westhaven wears glasses to get heroine's attention.

Whisper His Name by Elizabeth Thornton (3/99) -- Hugh Templar wears spectacles for reading.


Victorian
Bridal Favors by Connie Brockway (9/02) -- Evelyn wears dark glasses

Bound By Your Touch by Meredith Duran (7/09) -- Lydia wears spectacles.

Black Silk by Judith Ivory (7/91) -- Hero, Graham Wessit wears reading glasses.

Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas (5/10) [ The Hathaways - 4 ] -- Catherine Marks, paid companion to the Hathaway sisters, is practically blind without her glasses.

Where the Heart Leads by Stephanie Laurens (2/08 ) -- unknown

The Duchess War by Courtney Milan (12/12) [ Brothers Sinister - 1 ]-- 1863 Victorian England - Miss Minerva Lane is a quiet, bespectacled wallflower.

Allure by Jo-Ann Powers (10/99) -- Sculptor Cerise/Risa wears glasses.

The River Knows by Amanda Quick (4/07) -- Lucille wears spectacles.

The Devil Wears Tartan by Karen Ranney (9/08) -- Davina has to have her spectacles to read.


Edwardian
Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran (5/10) -- 1898, England, Paris and Monte Carlo -- Merchant heiress, Gwen Maudsley and Alex Ramsey both use spectacles in private only, for reading.


American West - Americana - Civil War
»» Fancy Free by Catherine Anderson (9/95) -- (A) Three Weddings and a Kiss (9/95) and (A) Three Times a Bride (5/10) -- Rachel Constantine, the sheriff's daughter, is half-blind without her thick lens spectacles, which she refuses to wear in public... resulting in a Shotgun Wedding after she waylays the wrong Rafferty brother one evening.

The Courtship by Anna DeForest (10/99) -- 1887 Colorado, Reformed outlaw turned teacher, Tobias Johnson, wears gold spectacles.

Heart Full of Miracles by Stephanie Mittman (9/00) -- unknown

»» A Second Glance by Kathleen Paul (6/02) -- (A) Woven Hearts (6/02) -- 1840, Chicopee, Massachusetts -- Young Dr. Lucas Steadman takes over as doctor to the orphanage where nearly blind, Ginger Finnegan, was raised and now works; and a new world opens up for both of them after he gives her glasses. (Victorian Inspy)

Redeeming Gabriel by Elizabeth White (LIH 20 - 11/08 ) -- Camilla Beaumont wears glasses. (Civil War)

--Janie


--Ja

Shoot no, Covers are meant to sell the book! Used to be meant to tell us the level of "heat" in the book, but that's long gone! And there for a while, the cover was a flower, or rich-looking fabric, or a jewel. You had to open to the 2nd cover to get the "good" picture! Those of us that can't get out of bed without glasses on rarely looked for glasses on the cover models! For that matter, think what those guys on the covers do to a normal guy's ego as he walks by? It says that's what we want instead of them. There comes a point you're looking for specific authors instead of the "cover picture"

I also see folks complaining that the h's are all blond & blue-eyed; not in a lot of my authors! Many of Laurens', Krentz/Castle/Quick, Roberts, etc are brunettes with hints of red, redheads, or black-haired. Being blonde myself (happily, green-eyed, not blue); I envied the black (my mother was black-haired) or red heads! Yep, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. So ignore the cover meant for selling to the masses, check out the descriptive blurb, and see what the book is really like...sometimes you need reviews to get what the book is really like--those descriptions can get pretty vague! And now I'll get off the soapbox & go back to my reading! Maybe I'll go open an Amanda Quick!

One of my favorite books, Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly has a h, Polly, who wears glasses, and yep, no glasses for her on the book's cover.  Another Kelly book, Libby's London Merchant, has a MC, Doctor Cook, who wears glasses.  

Hi All,

The book just finished tonight...

Victorian

When a Duke Loves a Woman by Lorraine Heath (8/18) (B+ Hot)
[ Sins for All Seasons - 2 ] -- Thorne, the Duke Hero, wears spectacles to see close-up.

--Janie