What is it about re-reading Georgette Heyer that is so very satisfying? At least 3-4 times a year I'll pull one of her classics off my keeper shelf and fall back into the dialogue, the description, the characterization that she did so well.
This week it was Regency Buck. One might almost call this the ur-Regency. Even more than Jane Austen, much of what we as modern romance readers and writers consider the quintessential elements of a good Regency are found in this novel. There's the worldly hero who's a top-of-the-trees Corinthian whom all the young bucks aspire to be like. There's the heroine who while lacking in actual experience of the world isn't lacking in sense and can go toe to toe with the hero. There's references to Prinny, the war, fashion, curricles, Wellington,Almacks, the Season, The Beau, patronesses and all the usual trappings of the Regency world. There's even a good mystery.
*Sigh* I almost envy those people who haven't yet read Georgette Heyer for the first time. You could do a lot worse than to start with this novel.
Review--Queen's Hunt
Queen's Hunt by Beth Bernobich My rating: 4 of 5 stars Ilse Zhalina's tale continues in Queen's Hunt , and the second River of Souls book lives up to the promise of Passion Play . The tale is expanded to introduce more characters (and more POV), but the author manages to keep juggling all the narrative balls without dropping any. One of the best parts of the book for me was the development of strong female secondary characters, especially in the scenes where three women are traveling together, depending on each other and their own skills rather than on a man's assistance. It's a fantasy trope we don't see often enough. My favorite line from the novel regards Ilse and her lover, Raul: "He does not come to rescue me. He comes to deliver me weapons." Hunky, and not clueless. Now, that's a hero! View all my reviews
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Currently reading THE WATER DEVIL by Judith Merkle Riley, which is the recently published final book in her Margaret of Ashbury novels (back in print now that TWD is out, so I've read all three back-to-back.) Do you read her? She writes historical fiction with whimsical, supernatural elements. Fun reads.