John Jeffery Farnol (1878 - 1952) was an English author, known for his many romantic novels, some formulaic and set in the English Regency period, and swashbucklers. He with Georgette Heyer founded the Regency romantic genre; two of his early books, The Amateur Gentleman and The Broad Highway. The success of his early novels led Farnol to become a professional writer; he settled on the south coast. He produced around 40 novels and volumes of stories, and some non-fiction and children's books.