I re-read two of Heyer's classics in the last few weeks, False Colours (also a silly title, IMO, although I really shouldn't complain about that since I think a lot of my titles have been silly as well!) and Frederica.
False Colours is yet another marriage of convenience tale--or, at least, that's how it starts. Young Lord Denville (Evelyn) needs to marry a responsible and respectable young woman so that he can claim the inheritance that's being held in trust for him by his annoying uncle. Cressida Stavely needs to marry someone in order to get away from her annoying step-mother who DOESN'T WANT HER THERE. Cressy was hoping her grandmother would invite her to stay with her, but Grandmama thinks Cressy should be married and therefore doesn't want to make it easy for her to NOT marry.
She doesn't exactly want to make it easy for her TO marry, either, since she's withholding her approval for the proposed marriage until she gets a better sense of who Lord Denville is...she's only known him AND HIS MOTHER (who also happens to be Cressy's godmother) since they were children, but whatever. *eye roll*
When Evelyn goes missing and his identical twin, Kit, shows up at his family's London townhouse (in the middle of the night, without either a valet or a coach) his widowed mother hits on the perfect solution! Kit can take Evelyn's place and gain Lady Stavely's approval.
Look, I've loved twins-trading-places stories since the first Parent Trap movie. And this is a pretty good story with a great supporting cast and a likable and adult-seeming hero and heroine. But I was frustrated--as was Kit--by the fact that he couldn't go in search of his missing brother while pretending to BE his brother at the same time.
What results is a somewhat uneven story where most of the characters don't know anyone is missing, the ones who do spend far too much time IGNORING the fact that he's gone and NOT LOOKING FOR HIM at all. And by the time he gets back--and continues to throw spanners into everyone else's works--we just don't care. And neither, it seems, does the author because his story is never really wrapped up, it's merely implied.
It's a cute story, however, and the cover picture is shared by another KJ Charles story--Band Sinister--a super cute regency story that also happens to feature disagreeable relatives, injuries, secrets, and forced stays in uncomfortably rural environments.
Frederica is one of Heyer's best, IMO. The reason I sought it out, at this point, is because I'd just taken my grandson to a local hot-air balloon fest and there's a hot air balloon ascension in the book (and a young boy who ended up being a lot more interested in them than my grandson. Not a bad thing, all things considered!). The heroine is great. The supporting cast is great. The hero is exactly what a Regency Romance Hero should be: handsome, tall, titled, wealthy, with a rakish past a jaded world-view, a good sense of humor, and a heart of gold. He falls in love with the heroine (who is not the beauty of the family) and falls for her two younger brothers, as well. He accepts them as his wards, sponsors them with the ton, protects them with his position and his glacial stares--c'mon, you knew he had one, right? And he solves everyone's problems.
I, too, have a book with a hot air balloon disaster--Winter Heart--and it also features a precocious young boy who gets into trouble with one. It's a second chance, secret baby story and it's STEAMPUNK! There's also a free prequel available on my website and a sequel that is also currently free to members of my Readers' Group. You can find details on how to get those on my website: https://www.pgforte.com/winter-hearts
As always, if you have any thoughts on any of these books, PLEASE comment below. 
No comments:
Post a Comment