Genre: Regency RomancePublication Date: 1972
One Word Review: Okay
GoodReads Synopsis: Miss Annis Wychwood, at twenty-nine, has long been on the shelf, but this bothers her not at all. She is rich and still beautiful and she enjoys living independently in Bath, except for the tiresome female cousin, who her very proper brother insists must live with her. When Annis offers sanctuary to the very young runaway heiress Miss Lucilla Carleton, no one at all thinks this is a good idea. With the exception of Miss Carleton's overbearing guardian, Mr. Oliver Carleton, whose reputation as the rudest man in London precedes him. Outrageous as he is, the charming Annis ends up finding him absolutely irresistible.
Kathy’s Review: Lady of Quality wasn’t my favorite Heyer novel. It seemed a little boring most of the time and only livened up when Mr. Carleton and Annis were sparring, when they weren’t together the story kind of dragged by. I am not really a fan of “rakes” and don’t find it romantic when they are purposing they are promising never to stray again. Yeah, right. Other than that, I actually thought Oliver and Annis were perfect for each other and again enjoyed their interactions.
I thought Annis was a little short with some of the characters, acting almost like she was better than everyone else. I thought her cousin, Miss Farlow was annoying, but harmless and I felt bad about how she was treated by everyone. I was also hoping for a little closure with Lucy and Ninian (dumb name), throughout the story I suspected that maybe they would end up together, but their story never really gets resolved. This story was packed full of Heyer’s trademark odd vocabulary, more so than usual. Normally I don’t mind spending the extra time reading an Heyer novel, but this one seemed a little more tedious and I was looking forward to finishing it so I could go on to other books.
Bookworm Rating: 3
Would you marry a rake (not the garden tool...the other kind)?
This was the first Heyer novel I read and I really enjoyed it at the time. Now, having read more of her novels I realize that it definitely is not one of her best but the sparring is quite good. When I was single I read a lot of Regency romance and would fantasize about a "rake" finding me so irresistable that I would make him change his ways. I know, so pathetic. Now that I've lived longer and have seen more of the world I realize that it truly is a fantasy and a "rake" would be the absolute worst of husbands. But I do still like their characters in books.
ReplyDeleteKim- I totally agree. The problem with Rakes is they tend to be rather charming, witty, handsome and not afraid to flirt. I enjoy them in novels but definitely not in real life.
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