Lady Of Quality

Lady Of Quality went flat on me. Did appreciate the dynamic between the two leads and how the love story proceeded along quite straightforward lines. That was refreshing. But really there was no spark to the narrative as such, the subplots quite unexciting. And as different as the guy was in terms of his shocking bluntness, I did miss the character insight that came from so many novels beginning from the guy's point of view. I didn't feel as close to this guy as I have with the others and I missed that. I like how Heyer as a romance novelist completely flies in the face of convention with her beginnings.

Sylvester or The Wicked Uncle

Sylvester or The Wicked Uncle I found vastly entertaining. I love how Heyer writes children, they're so real and screamingly funny. I mean, the Button incident had me gasping at the page, it was so perfectly set up and executed. And oh christ, the fire between those two was just exhilarating and damned near overwhelming. And they were both utterly wonderful in their own rights, especially the fact that she was determinedly unattractive for a good long while.

That was the library copy I read but the one I bought was this cover. Which I have to say is the only one so far that doesn't match the novel at all. How peculiar.

Charity Girl

Charity Girl was another disappointment. Mostly because the plot itself necessitated the separation of guy from girl for about threequarters of the novel. In fact, I don't think they had more than three scenes together. Which was a damned shame cos they were pretty cool in their own right. Made for a pretty unengaging narrative. I felt a bit sorry for Heyer having written herself into a corner as such. Even if she might disagree.

Frederica

So I spent the evening being absolutely delighted by Frederica and so very very glad that my momentary disappointment has been proved uncharacteristic. Loved her, loved him, loved the young boys, totally gratified by the absolutely caustic humour. And oh man, how the hell does she do it? Come up with such different characters and such different scenarios time after time after --- no, I'm not going to follow that thought any further because if I do, I'll never write again.