Our love for this author does not blind us to her faults. Almost every Georgette Heyer is readable and engaging, even those that veer into the formulaic. But there are a few elements in her novels that are likely to trouble the contemporary reader. The soldiers were armed and ready in the waist and on the forecastle. There were gunners, grimed and stained with sweat, standing by their culverins; the brief panic had been swiftly quelled. Let the Venture come! In our latest Bookshelf show ( episode 78), we got happily lost in a tangent about the time we both spend secretly reading Georgette Heyer novels. Having outed ourselves we thought it a good idea to put together a list of our favourites. My favourite heroines: Ancilla Trent, Venetia Lanyon, Abigail Wendover, Sarah Thane. Intelligent, believable, witty. I love the young heroines, too – who wouldn’t love Kitten???, but the heroines with a touch more life experience are more interesting.

It is the same with Venetia and Demerel and even to an extent with Annis Wytchwood and Oliver Carleton, Lady Serena and Ivo Rotherham where the men are rude and overbearing as well as totally disreputable, while the ladies are entrancing. There is a wonderful tension to the fact that we know the men are very experienced lovers dealing with women who are beautiful and feisty but sexually have no experience at all. It gives the story a feeling of Beauty and the Beast and most of your contributors probably like that story as well. Take him away,' said Sir Nicholas, bored. ‘God speed you, señor.' Narvaez was led away, protesting. ‘Señora, be pleased to go aboard the Venture. Diccon, have their traps conveyed at once.' She was carried down the companion into the waist, where the men were busy with the treasure – China silks, and linen-cloths, ingots of gold, bars of silver, and spices from the islands. ‘Robber!' said Dominica softly. That said, it never got its legs. I kept plodding along, waiting for that catch behind the breastbone, the moment when the narrative jolts to life and drags you along for the ride. But it never materialized: even in the midst of Beauvallet's escape from 'prison', I was able to put the book down for a week.My first Heyer was Civil Contract and I was twelve. I remember telling a friend all about it on a bike trip; I must have bored her to tears but I was sooo excited about the book. Like Lydia, I had a schoolgirlish admiration for the beeeautiful Julia and recognizing plain Jenny’s real value was a measure of my own maturation process. Adam is of course a horrible little snob, just like his mother, but Lydia and Mr Chawleigh make more than up for it. Oh, and Brough would have deserved his own book (“m’mother… m’father…”). The figures of the ton who people Heyer’s Regency Romances spare few thoughts for the less privileged classes of society – although to be fair Arabella does prod Mr Beaumarais into rescuing a young chimney sweep from the workhouse, while Sir Waldo Hawkridge in The Nonesuch uses his fortune to set up charity houses for orphans. He keeps it a secret, though, it wouldn’t do for it to be known. Heyer, ever the scrupulous researcher, was careful to reflect the manners and mores of the people who were her inspiration without much intervention on her part. I'd heard that Heyer's historicals weren't as good as her romances and since this was the next in my Heyer Author Read (I haven't actually got very far through it yet), the whole thing had kind of languished. I’m having such fun enhancing my Heyer library with delightful, unexpected second hand thrift store finds. Will it please you to come below, señora?' Dangerfield said shyly, and bowed to them both. ‘Your chests will be here anon.'

Heyer's Simon the Coldheart opens with a 14-year-old Simon, bastard and stubborn, approaching Fulk of Maltice for a place as his squire. Thus begins the adventures of the Lord of Beauvallet, which include knighting, lording, fighting, digging, wardening, . Joined by his half-bro Geoffrey and his adopted bro Alan, he meets the tiger-lady of his dreams, Lady Margaret, except she's FRENCH and EVERYTHING'S RUINED. The sweat was in Don Juan's eyes; he brushed it away, and could see the truth of this statement. All over the galleon his men were laying down their arms. The rage and anguish that convulsed him were wiped suddenly from his face. By a supreme effort he recovered his sosiego, and stood straight and looked impassively as should befit his breeding. He achieved a bow. ‘I am in your hands, señor.' So, what kind of book is this, really? I'd call it Historical Adventure, along the lines of Robin Hood, Zorro, Sabatini's books, and other early tales of chivalry. Not for readers who have strict ideas about how a romance should unfold, (What? It's Chapter Two and they haven't jumped into bed? How can they call this a Romance??? lol) I do recommend it to readers who are interested in a different type of historical novel. My late father (who introduced me to the works of Georgette Heyer) loved this novel as a young boy. Being blissfully unaware that this was one of the titles that the strong minded Heyer had suppressed, he spent many fruitless hours as an adult scouring bookshops trying to find another copy. So I was thrilled to find this . Dad was a fussy devil and I thought I had finally found the perfect gift! Well Dad read this book - & this time round, he hated it. I tried it and I hated it too! Simon is the unrecognized illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Malvallet. At 14 he hasn't much chance of being his own master unless he becomes a squire to someone of consequence. Simon compares his father to Fulk of Montlice (Malvallet's enemy) and decides that Montlice is the better man and goes to him, determined to become part of his household. Their meeting is just a promise of what is to come.Even better than the romance was Simon's relationship with Geoffrey and Alan, which was a lovely example of brotherhood, and Fulk was a wonderful character. I hadn't expected him to become one when he was first introduced at the beginning, but he was lovely, gout and false grumpiness and all. Simon the Coldheart is a historical fiction novel by Georgette Heyer published in 1925. Not a typical Georgie Heyer regency story, it is a tale of chivalry, intrigue and conquest. Set in the medieval period during the Hundred Years' War between England and France, [1] it is her fifth novel, and the first of only three set in that period. One of Heyer's best. Pleasantly different in style from her other books because of the historical difference. The style is hard to get into at first because of the use of Old English in dialogue, and general stiffness in narration, but that same stiffness becomes a subtle and powerful device to create historical ambiance by the end.

Beauvallet turned to her; the eyebrow was raised again, and the eyes themselves were twinkling. ‘Himself, señora. Wholly at your feet.' Until he meets the Lady Margaret. Determined to conquer her castle, Simon may have met his match in the stuborn, fiesty countess. Fulk comes to love Simon as much as he loves his son, the romantic poet Alan. Rather than being jealous, Alan also adores Simon (I swear I kept hearing that old memeFinally there's the character of our heroine, Margaret. Though thankfully not a teenager but a woman in her late twenties, she's still spoiled, haughty, and hard to like. I had to keep reminding myself of her situation because she does a lot of lying in this book. As a woman whose domain has been overrun by invaders from another country, I guess lying and sneaking around were about all she could do. But it makes it hard for me to like her, so I find myself enjoying the first half of the book a bit more than the last. That's why I'm giving the book 3 stars instead of the 4 it seemed to be earning in the first part. Two men went staggering aside, spun apart by an iron hand on the shoulder of each. The lady looked fearfully into the face of El Beauvallet. Don Juan recovered his senses to find himself unarmed, and El Beauvallet gone. He came staggering to his feet, an English hand at his elbow, and was aware of a fair boy confronting him. ‘You are my prisoner, señor,' said Richard Dangerfield, in halting Spanish. ‘The day is lost.'

Three stars because I, personally, enjoyed it, but not a very good book, and certainly not Heyer's best. If I read the forward correctly, she even tried to have it banned. Dominica forebore resistance. It would be useless, she knew, and her dignity would suffer. She permitted herself to be carried off, and liked the manner of it. They did not use such ready methods in Spain. There was great strength in the arm that upheld her, and the very carelessness of the man intrigued one. A strange, mad fellow, with an odd directness. One would know more of him. All in all, I am glad this was reprinted, and that I read it. If nothing else, it was a timely reminder that there is something in a strong woman and leader that makes men (and sometimes women) want to tear her down... I thought I was the only remaining Heyer fan in the world … how wonderful to find a horde of them at the end of this wonderful post!I had a bit of trouble persuading the Georgette Heyer Fans Group to read this title - I must be losing my touch! :D This was good as an adventure story. But there were a few times my mind began to wander. It reminds me of an Errol Flynn sword fighting adventure. It was fine as an audiobook to listen to while I was driving and doing other things. But I prefer some of the author’s other books. The narrator is very good. Beauvallet indicated Don Manuel and his daughter with a comprehensive sweep of his hand. ‘Convey Don Manuel de Rada y Sylva and his daughter aboard the Venture,' he said, in Spanish. As it happens, A Civil Contract, preferred by many of your contributors, is one of my least favourite GH books if there is such a thing; perhaps this is because I am a man and struggle to see the appeal of such a dowdy female although it is true that GH is so talented that even that story becomes romantic when she writes it.