SRSLY not more Heyer gambling plots :/

[cimorene]

Like, okay, Regency plots and gambling, right? I get it. Bread and jam.

But sometimes you just want bread and butter, you know? I mean, c'mon, Heyer. Really.

The Convenient Marriage is a charming Heyerian romance, but it steps rather heavily on that innocent childish heroine kink, with a semi-squicky fatherly vibe from the hero. I dislike that vibe a lot, but have become, shall we say, inured, through a lifetime of reading Regencies.

"I was drunk," said the Viscount, "and I took a dislike to Crosby's hat - Damn it, what's he want with pink roses in his hat? Answer me that!"

"Just what I said myself," agreed Sir Roland. "Fellow can wear a hat at Almack's if he likes. Do it myself sometimes. But pink roses - no."

This heroine is Horry (for Horatia) Winwood, a memorably artless and kind of bratty seventeen-year-old with a stutter. She's quite engaging despite that, and although most of the plot involves her being spoiled and foolish in the fast-paced town life for which she's too unsophisticated (mistresses, greed, cicisbeos, jealousy, etc - all these things are beyond her comprehension), which can be frustrating to read, the emotional storyline between the principals is remarkably sweet.

Comments

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Heh. Horry.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

If her name were Honoria and her siblings were dyslexic her name could've been "Horny."

[kmazzy.livejournal.com]

wow i learnt a new word. cicisbeo. that is a very silly word.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Regencies are a bottomless source of silly French slang.

[kmazzy.livejournal.com]

so which book should i start with? we have bazillions of the reissued ones in the library and i thought i should try one since you and other people have been mentioning them a lot.

i vaguely recall some crazy lesbian one with something to do with fondant?

but what do you recommend?

[cimness.livejournal.com]

The Grand Sophy, Sylvester, Friday's Child, The Reluctant Widow, Devil's Cub. I'm in the process of rereading myself, so that is not a selection made with clear memory of all of them!

[kmazzy.livejournal.com]

thanks cim. i'll see what we've got tomorrow. i need books to read in between chunks of War And Peace. that books has taught me lots of new words too. i keep reading Devil's Cub as Devil's Club though.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think that one's the sequel to another that I haven't reread yet, because his dad has the real feel of "I've written this character before" about him. Anyway, that's why it's called that, because Back In The Day Daddy was even more of an asshole. Of course they're both kickass and the Dad is even more awesome than the kid in DC, IMO.