Happy birthday, Georgette Heyer! In honor of Heyer’s birthday, Sourcebooks has discounted all of her titles to $2.99 until August 28th! You can see all the sale titles at Amazon here. Below are four titles that are usually recommended around SBTB and in the comments. But please, definitely leave some recs in the comments below because I’d love to do another Heyer sale post with reader recommendations!
We also know that not every romance reader uses Amazon. Below are bookstore links that help support the site with your purchases. If you use them for your Heyer purchases, that’s so awesome of you, and if you’d prefer not to, no worries!
These Old Shades
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer is $2.99 or $2.51 depending on the vendor! This is a Regency romance and I have such a soft spot for this book. It was my first Heyer and I loved the âheroine disguised as a boy/manâ trope. LOVE IT. Thereâs also an age difference between the hero and heroine, if thatâs your bag. However, I also know that some readers weren’t a fan of the heroien.
Justin Alastair, Duke of Avon, is called ‘Satanas’ by enemy and friend alike. In the aristocratic circles of London and Louis XV’s he has a reputation as a debauched rake.
Late one evening, the Duke stumbles across Leon, a red headed urchin fleeing a certain beating at his brother’s hands. On a whim, Avon buys the boy and makes him his page. But it soon becomes clear that Leon is not what he seems…
When the grubby Leon turns out to be the enchanting Leonie, the Duke is not prepared for the breathtaking transformation or the tender emotions she awakens in him, or the unconditional love she has for the man who saved her.
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Devil’s Cub
Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer is $2.99! This is technically a sequel to These Old Shades, as the hero is the son of Shades‘ protagonists. Sarah gave this book an A and I definitely agree with the grade:
Aside from the utter novelty of reading a book first published in 1932, the story was set in a period a good bit before the much-written-about Regency. No mentions of Prinny here â but powders, patches, fans held by men, and the wonderfully-named Macaronis are everywhere. Since this isnât a period of historical metrosexuality that I have often read about, it was particularly fascinating.
But by far the most fascinating part was reading a book held in regard so highly by so many different writers and readers. Thereâs no small amount of disagreement in tastes in romance novels, as weâve amply demonstrated here a few times, but Iâve heard nothing but sighs and squee about this book, and others by Heyer. Iâm happy to add my own sigh-age and squeeage to the crowd. Damn, this book was wonderful.
THE ABDUCTION
Dominic Alistair, Marquis of Vidal is a bad lot a rake and seducer, reckless, heedless, and possessed of a murderous temper. He is known by friend and foe alike as the “Devil’s Cub.” Yet as the handsome and wealthy heir to a Dukedom, he is considered a good prospect on the marriage market. Vidal currently has his eye on the young, lovely, and unintelligent Sophia Challoner, and Sophia’s greedy mother is more than happy to encourage his dubious attentions.
When lovely, saucy Mary Challoner had practiced her hold deception upon the hot-blooded, fiery-tempered young Marquis of Vidal–substituting herself for her young sister he had thought to carry off to France–she had little notion he would grimly hold her to her part of the bargain. Now he had left her, and she was alone, a stranger in a strange land, prey to the intrigues of glittering, heartless, 18th century Paris.
Only one person could rescue her–the Marquis himself. But how could she ever trust this man? How could she even hope to overcome the contempt in which he held her? And how could even the sudden flowering of her love ever bridge the terrible gap between them?
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This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Cotillion
Cotillion by Georgette Heyer is $2.99! This has a fake relationship trope and was recently the inspiration for a Rec League on unassuming heroes. Readers who love beta heroes and low-key, relaxed romances might love this one. However, some readers mention that the first quarter of the book takes some effort to get through.
Kitty Charing can inherit a fortune from her irascible great-uncle Matthew when she marries one of her cousins. Kitty is not wholly averse, if the right nephew proposes. Unfortunately, Kitty has set her heart on Jack Westruther, a confirmed rake.
To make him jealous and to see a little more of the world, Kitty convinces cousin Freddy Standen to pose as her fiance. In London with his family, she hopes to render the elusive Jack madly jealous.
New friends embroil her in their romantic troubles, sprinkling witty banter with Parisian phrases. Her French cousin, Camille, a professional gambler, has won the heart of Olivia, in turn the object of Jack’s dishonorable intentions. Doltish cousin Lord Dolphinton has fallen for a merchant’s daughter in conflict with his mother. Kitty herself wonders who is really right for her.
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Venetia
Venetia by Georgette Heyer is $2.99! This is another Heyer that comes up a lot and has been featured on previous podcasts. However, Sarah had mixed feelings about this one and gave it a B-:
I liked very much how intelligent Damerel, Venetia, and Aubrey were, and how interesting their conversations were. But the rest of the characters were tiresome, and were more a functional role to play in the plot than fully-fleshed individuals.
I found myself flipping ahead, not missing much as these other parties droned on for a few paragraphs or six or ten or GOOD GOD SHUT UP ALREADY. Once they were off the scene, they were forgettable, and when they were in a scene, I wanted them off as soon as possible in favor of more scenes with Venetia and Damerel. For that reason, I didnât enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed the main characters themselves.
Her beauty rivaled only by her sensibility, Venetia Lanyon is nearly resigned to spinsterhood, thanks to the enormous amount of responsibility she inherited with a Yorkshire estate, an invalid brother and the lackluster efforts of two wearisomely persistent suitors. Then she meets her neighbor, the infamous Lord Damerel, a charming rake shunned by polite society–exactly the type of man that a woman of quality should stay away from.
Though his scandalous past and deepest secrets give Venetia every reason to mistrust him, a rogue always gets what he wants. Without warning, his demanding kiss threatens to become a bachelor’s undoing…and a spinster’s most passionate awakening.
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Other than These Old Shades, Frederica is the one I’ve been waiting to pick up as soon as it went on sale. That is one of my all time favorite books .. with the Balchustian Hound and “restorative calves’ foot jelly” for Felix.
Thanks for the heads up on these!
Just hit up Kobo for 6 titles that I didn’t yet have in digital (though I have long had in print editions). I’m happy, my wallet isn’t. Oh well, how could I resist at that price?
Oh, lord! Frederica was the very first romance I ever read. My aunt gave it to me for Christmas. I was 13. I still have that paperback version.
I also loved The Toll Booth, and Arabella, and The Unknown Ajax, and… oh hell, all of them!
These should be couponable at Kobo. There are promo codes listed in the deals forum at mobileread.com. I believe the 90% and 75% off codes may still be active and there are some lower value codes as well.
Frederica is still one of the funniest books I’ve ever read – the Baluchistan hound makes me laugh every time I read it. Also one of the final scenes, when Mr. Trevor describes the would-be elopees encounter with the bridegroom’s mother. And of course, the Duke of Avon (These Old Shades) is THE definitive alpha hero for all of historical romance; any devotee of the genre should read it to see where the “hot duke” trope originated.
I didn’t discover Heyer until Sourcebooks started republishing them but have really enjoyed the ones I have read – particularly The Nonesuch and The Unknown Ajax. I need to get to These Old Shades soon as I love a good Georgian set romance.
It’s always been The Grand Sophy for me.
Talisman Ring, Faro’s Daughter, The Masqueraders, The Black Sheep, Silvester. I could go on and on! Give any of these a try and you won’t be disappointed â„ïž
The Talisman Ring! This is a perfect example of the secondary couple stealing the show. Stuffy Sir Tristram cajoled into acting outrageously by clever and amusing Sarah Thane. Even the proposal was hilarious.
Bought Beauvallet. I am a total sucker for fiction set in Spain.
A Civil Contract! Arranged marriage where the love story is a total slow burn. Probably my favorite Heyer.
If you’re into funny dogs, Heyer wrote great dogs. The aforementioned Frederica is a standout, but Arabella and The Reluctant Widow also have hilarious canines.
The audiobook version of Venetia is abridged AND read by velvet-voiced Richard Armitage…. #justsaying
Venetia is my number one favorite book by Georgette Heyer. I love them all. Fredericka was the first I’ve ever read and no matter how many times I read the Talisman Ring, it always makes me laugh.
Frederica is the best Heyer, just thinking about the book makes me smile, but again there are so many great Heyers. I love the Bath books and An Infamous Army which is incredible, as is A Civil Contract, probably her most under-rated book. The Nonesuch, Ajax and The Tollbooth are also hilarious and The Grand Sophy (in spite of some problems) is a classic. The audio versions of Venetia (unabridged) and Arabella are terrific. I wish the Heyer estate would allow more of her books to be re-recorded, but for some reason they are dragging their feet.
My library used to have all the old Heyer audios until Amazon bought Brilliance Audio and removed all their audios from Overdrive.
In honor of GH I’m off to read A Lady of Quality.
Don’t seem to be similarly reduced at Amazon UK unfortunately, unless Brexit has REALLY mucked up the exchange rate!
Why wont it let me buy The Cotillion đ
How is it possible that I did not know I shared a birthday with the incomparable Georgette Heyer!
Devil’s Cub was the first that I read — and is still a favorite. I second, third and fourth the love for Frederica and the Baluchistan hound. The Talisman Ring and The Masqueraders are also among my favorites. Off to shop now.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen any recommendations for Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle yet. Along with Frederica, Cotillion, and A Civil Contract,* it’s my all-time favorite Heyer. It’s a fantastically funny send-up of gothic novels, and it just has some really lovable characters. Plus Sylvester is kind of dreamy, even if he is a dick sometimes.
Note that A Civil Contract is very different from her usual offerings; it doesn’t have the sparkling humor and fluffy plot that most of them do, but it is really a wonderful book. If you’re a fan of slow-burning romance or heroines who aren’t the most beautiful girl in the room, you’ll probably like A Civil Contract.
I love all her books so much! Cotillion *might* be my fav, but it’s such a (grand) sophy’s choice.
Sorry notsorry.
Every time I try to figure out my favorite Heyer, all the little voices in my brain start yelling “But what about. . .” and “Did you forget. . .” It would be easier to list the ones I actively dislike. (Regency Buck=top of the very short list) Basically, I’ve hit every Heyer sale ever, and this time I just filled in the gaps. Thanks so much for the alert.
I second pretty much everyone; the less favoured is a much shorter list. Top rereads are the Quiet Gentleman (mystery, practical and smart hero and heroine); Frederica (funny, clever, tugs all the feels), Arabella, Sylvester (very differnent but both enjoyable romps);The Reluctant Widow (intrigue and mockery), and so many more…
Seconding the recommendation for Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle. Not only one of my top Heyers, but probably one of my very favorite books period. Frederica, Arabella, Cotillion, and A Civil Contract are right up there with Sylvester. Venetia, Devil’s Cub, and The Talisman Ring are also up there. I also love her mysteries (No Wind of Blame is probably my favorite of her mysteries).
Thanks, everyone, for mentioning all my favourites (except The Spanish Bride), but I have to say that the last 100 pages on The Unknown Ajax are the most sustained piece of comic writing I’ve ever read. And that, after all that laughing, Heyer can wind up the story with real sentiment and finish with a final joke from Hugo – it’s just brilliant writing.
Not for sale Down Under, Darn it!! Love all of them however These Old Shades and Devil’s Cub were my first. A Civil Contract is marvellous (as an aside Lois McMaster Bujold wrote “A Civil Campaign” as a tribute to Ms Heyer as she is a fan). Her writing is wonderful however it is her dialogue that I worship.
Heyer is my FAVORITE (I am still hoping for a Rec League that points me to hitherto unknown writers who are producing, basically Heyer-quality material with sex scenes!) – but some of these descriptions are so odd. THESE OLD SHADES is definitely not Regency, it’s full lace-heels-and-jewels Georgian – I love it, but it’s also one of the books where Heyer’s fairly intense class snobbery is most on display, so if that’s something you can’t overlook, beware.
In DEVIL’S CUB, I think it’s totally inaccurate to describe Mary Challoner as saucy or bold. She’s a logical, sensible, strong-willed woman surrounded by extremely silly female relatives, who decides to substitute herself for her dimwitted sister (who believes that the handsome young nobleman showing interest in her wants to marry her instead of just abscond with her virtue), thinking that Vidal will immediately send her back when he figures out what has happened. Vidal and Mary are such a great couple. One of my favorite Heyer things is that she can actually sell me on that trope where a rake comes to respect and honor as a person and a mind the lady he becomes involved with, it works very well here. So romantic! This is what I’m talking about, if I could get this book but with some actual racy scenes in addition to the very sexy but PG-rated slow sexual tension burn… DREAM BOOK, you guys.
I love VENETIA and can’t agree on the side characters. I think it’s one of the Heyer books that addresses some uncomfortable realities of the time period we love to read about – if you were a female person, even a person of privilege, and you didn’t have an opportunity to marry because you were trapped in your rural home, taking care of grouchy fathers and brothers, your life was likely to be very, very small. Also, Damerel is so sexy, one of Heyer’s actually-rakey-rakes. He’s not a very nice man, and there are some nods to him wrestling with this in the book that I find genuinely poignant. It also has some of the sexiest sexual tension for a book that features, at most, a kiss or two.
I’d also recommend FREDERICA (my longtime favorite, a wonderful comedy in addition to the romance), THE GRAND SOPHY (a managing heiress and a stern hero), A CIVIL CONTRACT (but it’s quite sad – it isn’t a book where the marriage of convenience magically resolves into passionate romance. It’s a very grownup book that is really more of a novel than a straight romance, IMO). I will stop before I recommend everything!
I have almost every Heyer book in paperback thanks to my grandmother who is a big collector and passed them on to me (she introduced me to her books when I was around 14)…but unfortunately those boxes are in my dad’s attic because I have no space in my house. I recently re-read Frederica and Arabella as ebooks, two of my favorites. Venetia is next on the list. Her books really stand the test of time.
This is all kinds of awesome! I just picked up 6 from Kobo to go with the other 4 I splurged on during the past few years. It was hard to narrow it down, but Venetia, Cotillion, Tollgate, and and An Infamous Army were the easy choices, adding the others took some time. Why can’t I just win the lottery and not have to choose?
All the wonderful things you all have to say about Heyer – yes and yes, again! Between Austen, Heyer and O’Brian, my Regency period and historical fiction cravings are nicely satisfied should I ever get stranded on a desert island.
I am a big Heyer fan. I have most of them in paperback but am slowly building up my ebook collection. So many awesome Heyer titles have been mentioned above! I will say that I noticed that several people mentioned A Civil Contract, and that’s one of Heyer’s novels that I don’t like. I’m guessing Heyer was writing it as a social commentary on marrying for money rather than for love, but in any event it does not work as a romance novel for me. I’m lucky it wasn’t one of the first Heyers I read because it annoys me so much I might have been put off the author. But the nice thing is that she wrote so many novels that there is something for everyone! I really enjoy her mysteries, as well, especially Behold, Here’s Poison!
Sylvester is another good one. I enjoyed the banter either Phoebe. The Great Escape is about Bonnie Prince Charlie escaping Britain with help from a brother and sister.
Agree with so many others about SYLVESTER, and FREDERICA, and THE GRAND SOPHY, and I’ll add a fondness for THE MASQUERADERS â I canât quite describe what it is about Prue and Robin but theyâre just…wonderful.
Hello, one click, good-by, bank account. Yes, I already own them but not in THIS format.
Faro’s Daughter is hands-down my favorite (love me an “older” heroine), but Venetia, Frederica, and The Grand Sophy (whistling past the anti-Semitism, bleh) are runners-up. And I have soft spots for Sylvester, Sprig Muslin, and Cotillion.
I grew up on Georgette Heyers. My mother considered them acceptable because the convent she used to hang out in had them all, on the basis that they were “well written”.
My favourites vary, but The Masqueraders is right up there, as is Cotillion. Also the one with the 17 year old with the speech impediment. Can’t remember the title.