A master of romantic historical fiction, Heyer has done it again. Venetia is an orphaned daughter and the acting head of a Yorkshire estate, living with her studious younger brother. At five and twenty she knows that spinsterhood is a distinct possibility, but she has embraced that fact with all the joviality and common sense that could be hoped for. However, when Lord Damerel, a near neighbor with a horribly rakish reputation, takes up residence again, all bets are off. They hit it off splendidly but the rules and ways of society are more than a little complex and never would a girl like Venetia end up with someone like Lord Damerel, right?
Of course, after we meet the wonderfully wicked Damerel, that's exactly what we WANT to have happen.
This book is delightful. No two ways about it. The dialogue is witty and smart. To be quiet honest, it wasn't a fast moving book, I was interested and intrigued but not dying to pick it up (well, about 3/4 of the way through I became very eager to find out how it ended). Even though it wasn't surprising me at every turn, it DID surprise me several times and was always a pleasure to read. Venetia is a complex and independent creature, a great heroine. And I wouldn't complain if Lord Damerel moved in next door to me.
copy given to me by Sourcebooks
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3 comments:
One of my favorite Georgette Heyer books. Did you know you can get the audio book from Naxos AudioBooks? It's an abridged version, read oh-so lushiously by Richard Armitage (of BBC Robin Hood and North & South fame) who does such a good job creating distinct voices for all the characters.
It's available to download at half the cost of purchasing the actual cds.
(I'm not being paid by Naxos to promote this, I just recently purchased and enjoyed the audio version of Venetia myself and really enjoyed it.)
I also recently featured Armitage's rendition of Heyer's Sylvester on my blog, as well.
I looked for this at the library this morning...but wasn't on the shelf. Oh well...still have yet to read a single Heyer!
I picked this one from Sourcebooks too. I love it when we are twinners like that! Can't wait to read it.
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