The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer

Genre: Regency Romance

Publication Date: 1962

GoodReads Synopsis: Tiffany Wield's bad behavior is a serious trial to her chaperone. "On the shelf " at twenty-eight, Ancilla Trent strives to be a calming influence on her tempestuous charge, but then Tiffany runs off to London alone and Ancilla is faced with a devastating scandal. Sir Waldo Hawkridge, confirmed bachelor and one of the wealthiest men in London, comes instantly to the aid of the intrepid Ancilla to stop Tiffany's flight, and in the process discovers that it's never too late for the first bloom of love.

Kathy’s Review: I started out really liking this one. I liked Sir Waldo and Ancilla, I thought they had good chemistry together and I liked the direction their story was going. Somewhere along the line they became overshadowed by all the many other characters and they were hardly together. By the end, I didn’t really feel much connection between them, I guess by that point it was expected that they loved each other and therefore no need to actually show emotion? The misunderstanding that separated them was interesting and I was hoping for a little more confrontation when Ancilla finally confronted Waldo about it, but I was disappointed with how the whole thing was handled. I did enjoy some of the side characters, even the spoiled Tiffany, who added some amusing moments to the story. Overall, it ended up being enjoyable read, but not my favorite Heyer novel.

Bookworm Rating: 3

Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer

Genre: Regency Romance

Publication 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)?

The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer

Genre: Regency/Mystery

Publication Date: 1946

One Word Review: Good

Synopsis: In The Reluctant Widow, Elinor Rochdale, a young woman of good birth but straitened circumstances, sets out to accept a position as a governess and ends up plunged into a tangle of foreign intrigue instead. Elinor's adventure begins when she inadvertently mistakes the carriage waiting at the coach stop for one sent by her prospective employer, Mrs. Macclesfield. She finds herself carried to the estate of one Ned Carlyon, who Elinor mistakes for Mr. Macclesfield. Carlyon, meanwhile, believes Elinor to be the young woman he hired to marry his dying cousin, Eustace Cheviot, in order to avoid inheriting Cheviot's estate himself. Somehow, Elinor is talked into marrying Eustace on his deathbed and thus becomes a widow almost as soon as the ring is on her finger. What starts out as a simple business arrangement soon becomes much more complicated as housebreakers, uninvited guests, a shocking murder, missing government papers, and a dog named Bouncer all contribute to this lively, frequently hilarious tale of mistaken identities, foreign espionage, and unexpected love set during the Napoleonic Wars.
--GoodReads

Kathy’s Review: I was excited when I started reading this and realized it had a little mystery thrown into the mix. Although I enjoyed the story at times it was a little slow and I admit to skimming over some rather long passages here and there. I was a little let down in the ending, kind of anti-climatic and things were tied together a little too quickly. I enjoyed Lord Carlyon and Elinor’s banter throughout, I liked that she was falling in love with him while at the same time hating him. The love story took a back seat to the mystery and other characters and I wish it would have been developed a little more. It was still an enjoyable a read and I am curious to see what her true mystery novels are like.

Click here for Jessica's review.

Bookworm Rating: 3

Arabella by Georgette Heyer

Genre: Regency Romance

Publication Date: 1949

One Word Review: Charming

Synopsis: Arabella Tallant, the beautiful daughter of an impoverished clergyman, comes to London for her social debut and almost immediately runs afoul of Robert Beaumaris, a wealthy, eligible aristocrat. Beaumaris suspects that Arabella engineered a carriage accident in order to meet him; Arabella, in a rage, leads him to believe that she is the heiress to a massive fortune and thus quite uninterested in his own riches. -GoodReads

Kathy’s Review: I LOVED this book! It was such a fun read with a very likable heroine, not to mention a very agreeable leading man, Mr. Beaumaris. Arabella is full of spunk and is not afraid of speaking her mind when she feels an injustice has been made, and somehow Mr. Beaumaris is the lucky one she turns to for assistance. I’m getting a little ahead of myself though, when first meeting they don’t care for one another. When Arabella overhears a *shocking* conversation between Mr. Beaumaris and Mr. Fleetwood, Arabella concocts an outrages story that she is an heiress and goes about trying to put Mr. Beaumaris in his place. There are a lot of fun interactions between the two, and like Mr. Beaumaris you can’t help falling in love with Arabella. The story moved along quickly and I was sucked in after the first couple chapters. I liked Mr. Beaumaris from the beginning but really grew to love him as the story went on. I couldn’t help thinking what a fun movie this would make. So far I have loved all three Heyer books I’ve read, I can’t wait to pick up another one!

Retro Friday Review: The Convenient Marriage

Retro Friday Review is a weekly meme hosted by Angieville. This focuses on classics, out of print books or just old favorites that don’t get the attention they deserve. This Friday’s review is:

The Convenient Marriage

by Georgette Heyer

Genre: Regency Romance

Publication Date: 1934

One Word Review: Entertaining

Synopsis: Horatia Winwood is a plain girl with a stutter. When she rescues her sister from an undesired marriage to the Earl of Rule by proposing to him herself, he is thoroughly impressed by her spirit and enjoys watching her take the ton by storm. When Rule's archenemy, Sir Robert, tries to kiss Horatia, she spurns his advances, and in the ensuing scuffle loses an heirloom brooch. Horatia's brother's hare-brained scheme to recover the brooch fails, and then the Earl himself must step in, challenging Sir Robert in a swordfight that is Heyer at her most stirring. -GoodReads

Kathy’s Review: It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Retro Friday Review, so I decided that although I just finished this book today I would count it as a “retro read” since it was originally published in 1934.

This was totally different from the first Heyer book I read, and I was pleasantly surprised. A lot of regency romances I read are rather mild in nature, so I was surprised by all the mischief, misunderstandings, and adventure that went on in this story. Our leading lady Horatia is kind of a dim-wit, but I couldn’t help liking her anyway. She says what’s on her mind, is playful, and has a big heart. The Earl of Rule totally won me over, I loved his character! He was smart, confident and loads of fun to read. He caught on to things rather quickly and really enjoyed watching the people around him scurry around to try and make things right. Marcus and Horatia had great chemistry together. You could tell Marcus was smitten with her from the start and was very protective of her. The additional cast of characters were also delightful. It really was a page-turner and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

The only thing I didn’t like was that Marcus Rule had a mistress, both before and after he was married. Although I don’t think he really had feelings for her, it still rubbed me the wrong way. I can kind of see why Heyer added that element to the story, but overall I could have done without it.

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

Genre: Fiction

Publication Date: 1957

One Word Review: Charming

First Line: “Sylvester stood in the window of his breakfast parlous, leaning his hands on the ledge, and gazing out upon a fair prospect.”

Synopsis: “He was every woman's dream but hers . . . Sylvester, the Duke of Salford, is a polished bachelor who has stringent requirements for his future wife -- she must be well-born, intelligent, elegant and attractive. And of course she must be able to present herself well in high society. But when he is encouraged to consider Phoebe Marlow as a bride, Sylvester is taken aback by the coltish woman who seems to resent him . . . When Phoebe runs away, circumstances find the two striking up an unusual friendship. Phoebe discovers that the duke isn't the villian she first thought. And Sylvester stumbles upon something he never dared hope for.” -GoodReads

Kathy’s Review: This is my first Heyer book, which was recommended to me by a new friend on GoodReads (Thanks Deb!). It took me a little while to get into the language and style of the book, but I was soon hooked. The story is told from a few different perspectives, which gives you a good insight into what exactly everyone is thinking. The story did remind me a little of Pride and Prejudice, but Heyer gives it a unique twist. I really liked Phoebe’s character; she isn’t your typical socialite. I enjoyed Sylvester’s character, it took me a while to warm up to him, but in the end I thought they had good chemistry together. It was a fun story and I was sad when it ended. I look forward to reading more of Heyer’s books in the future.

The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer

I must admit first off that I judged this book by it's cover. I was walking by a display at my local library and it caught my eye. I picked it up and on the back it said, "Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen." I thought, "Well, I'll be the judge of that!" It turns out that Heyer has written more that 50 novels, the first being published in 1921, and is a well known historical novelist who writes mostly in the regency period. I can see why the comparison has been drawn to Jane Austen. The Reluctant Widow was every bit as witty as anything I have read from Austen but is refreshingly more fast paced. By that I just mean that the plot moved along nicely unlike Austen who sometimes, in my opinion, can get bogged down in description and set-up. Don't get me wrong though...Jane Austen is one of my all time favorite authors and I think that Heyer failed to create such layered characters as Austen.


The Reluctant Widow opens as Elinor Rochdale boards the wrong coach and ends up not at her prospective employer's home but at the estate of Eustance Chevoit, a dissipated and ruined young man on the verge of death. His cousin, Lord Ned Carolyn, persuades Elinor to marry Eustance as a simple business arrangement. By morning, Elinor is a a rich widow, but finds herself in the middle of housebreakers, uninvited guests and murder. I really enjoyed The Reluctant Widow and plan on reading more of Heyer. The characters just plain made me smile and the novel felt like a Jane Austen except without the brain cramp of trying to grasp the meaning of things. I give The Reluctant Widow 4 out of 5 Stars.