Like I mentioned in our post on book subscription services last week, I was able to access a lot of Georgette Heyer books to read over the last month. I have read and reviewed two of her books before, Arabella and The Convenient Marriage, and liked them, but didn’t love them. The three picks below were MUCH better. These will often show up as free or very cheap for Amazon Kindle, so keep them on your radar!
The Grand Sophy
Buy it on Amazon: Kindle Edition
Book Description:
When the redoubtable Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy is ordered to South America on business, he leaves his only daughter Sophy with his sister in Berkeley Square. Newly arrived from her tour of the Continent, Miss Sophia Stanton-Lacy invites herself into the circle of her relatives, the Ombersleys, and Charles Rivenhall, the Ombersley heir, vows to rid his family of her by marrying her off. But vibrant and irrepressible Sophy was no stranger to managing delicate situations. After all, she’d been keeping opportunistic females away from her widowed father for years. But staying with her relatives could be her biggest challenge yet.
When Lady Ombersley agrees to take in her young niece, no one expects Sophy, who sweeps in and immediately takes the ton by storm. Beautiful, gay, impulsive, shockingly direct, Sophy swept into elegant London society and scattered conventions and traditions before her like wisps in a windstorm. But Sophy discovers that her aunt’s family is in desperate need of her talent for setting everything right: her uncle is of no use at all, the ruthlessly handsome cousin Charles has tyrannical tendencies that are being aggravated by his grim fiancee; lovely cousin Cecelia was smitten with an utterly unsuitable suitor, a poet; cousin Herbert was in dire financial straits; and the younger children are in desperate need of some fun and freedom, and she’s arrived just in time to save them all.
What I Think:
The description definitely does this book justice. It perfectly outlines the book and I loved Sophy as a character, even if I probably emulate more Charles’ awful fiancee. The schemes she creates and her positive no nonsense attitude are refreshing and entertaining. It is a super fast and easy read for Spring Break or one to catalog for summer vacation. Enjoy!
Frederica
Buy it on Amazon: Kindle Edition
Book Description:
Frederica Merriville and her three siblings have come to London for the glittering social season, in order to give young and beautiful Charis a chance to make a good marriage. Frederica herself, a witty charmer, believes herself happily beyond marriageable age — she is twenty-four, after all. But when they are introduced to London society by their distant “cousin” Lord Alverstoke, Frederica is amazed to finds herself, unknowingly, falling in love. Likewise, Alverstoke, a cold aristocrat, finds himself thoroughly beguiled by Frderica and her young rascally brothers.
What I Think:
Out of the three, Frederica is my favorite. She seemed to have the most sense and responsibility while retaining just as much wit as her counterparts in the other books. And I especially enjoyed her brothers, they showed enthusiasm while also showing love and compassion for each other, what a great family!
Venetia
Buy it on Amazon: Kindle Edition
Book Description:
At five-and-twenty, Venetia Lanyon despairs of ever meeting the handsome hero of her romantic dreams. Then her long-absent neighbor, Lord Damerel, returns home to Yorkshire. An infamous rake, he is the most scandalous man in all of England and he has set his amorous sights on the lovely Venetia.
Determined to woo and win the fair Venetia, Lord Damerel pursues her with a passionate abandon that is soon the talk of the town. But Venetia has no intention of losing her heart to the rakish lord until she is sure that beneath his swashbuckling ways and shocking manners lies a tender heart belonging to her.
What I Think:
Out of the three, I’ll also admit that Venetia is my least favorite. In most of the Georgette Heyer books I’ve read, the tall dark and handsome hero is also a total jerk and just happens to like the heroine because she is “curious” and “amusing”. In this book however, I felt like he was even more lacking in morals than usual. Either way, I sped through the book and it still garnered 3 stars from me.
