These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer

When I read The Devil's Cub everyone yelled at me to go and read this -- the prequel -- immediately! And I was like, "What? No, I loved that one so much; no way will I like this one better!"

I think I liked this one even better.

I mean, the plot features a cold-hearted Duke and the orphan he saved, crossdressing, duelling, kidnapping, and Leonie, a character I love SO MUCH I almost can't talk about it. She's fantastic. She's sparkly and adorable and hilarious, and as she wins over the hearts of the people in the book it's never a case of a narrated attribute; she is genuinely darling and fantastic. She's a red-headed sort-of-orphan who is never sickly sweet or cloying, but instead hilarious and wonderful.

I suppose some people might be weirded out by the huge age difference between Leonie and Avon; it didn't bother me at all. But then, my father is 20 years older than my mother, and they've been married for over 30 years, so I have reason to believe that relationships like that can work out.

Grade: A

Originally posted 2008