Anybody Know Any Good Historical Romance Books?

I know that historicals seem to be a popular genre within romance, (especially with Americans) but apart from a very few select authors, whose books I would always read anyway, I must admit, I mostly try to avoid them, especially the historicals set in England.

The reasons I avoid historicals set in my country are because, A, the heroes are always bastards who make me want to shove an arrow up their arse, and B, the heroines are always so damn flaky, and virginal, and stupid.

In an effort to combat this predjudice, I would like some recommendations of good historical writers. Apparently Johanna Lindsey is a good writer of historical romances, but I can honestly say I’ve never bought any of her books. I think this is mostly because her covers are somewhat cheesy, so being somebody who generally does judge a book by it’s cover, it’s not surprising that I haven’t picked up any of hers yet.

When I was in Borders last week, I did actually pick up a historical, with the intention of buying it, for the life in me, I can’t remember who the author was, but then I spotted some Jeffrey Archer books that I hadn’t read yet, so back on the shelf it went.

So what are your recommendations then?