fb2Many eager suitors have vied for the hand of the enchantingly lovely Serena Carlow—but none so unconventional as the dangerously attractive Marquis of Rotherham, a man Serena once jilted and never expects to see again. But now her father's sudden death has left her Rotherham's ward, and she cannot collect her rightful inheritance until she weds ... with his concent and approval!
But the fiery-hearted Lady Serena is not so easily controlled. The independent-minded miss is off to Bath, where she becomes caught up in a series of romantic entanglements—and leads her irate lord on a merry chase. What she cannot know is that the besotted Rotherham has a passionate scheme of his own for capturing the heart of the woman he loves.
Abigail Wendover, on the shelf at 28, is kept busy when her niece falls head over heels in love with a handsome fortune hunter and Abbie is forced into a confrontation with his scandalous uncle.
Miles Calvery is the black sheep of his family- enormously rich from a long sojourn in India, disconcertingly blunt and brash. But he turns out to be Abbie's most important ally in keeping her niece out of trouble.
But how can he possibly be considered eligible when she has worked so hard to rebuff his own nephew's suit for her niece? And how can she possibly detach from an ailing sister who needs her? This is a heroine who has to be, literally, swept off her feet...
A story set in Regency England. When a chivalrous impulse saddles Viscount Desford with a homeless waif in the engaging shape of Cherry Steane, he asks his childhood playmate, Henrietta Silverdale, for help. Although they refused to oblige their parents by marrying, they remain the best of friends.
Young Kitty Charing stands to inherit a vast fortune from her irascible great-uncle Matthew--provided she marries one of her cousins. Kitty is not wholly adverse to the plan, if the right nephew proposes. Unfortunately, Kitty has set her heart on Jack Westruther, a confirmed rake, who seems to have no inclination to marry her anytime soon. In an effort to make Jack jealous, and to see a little more of the world than her isolated life on her great-uncle's estate has afforded her, Kitty devises a plan. She convinces yet another of her cousins, the honorable Freddy Standen, to pretend to be engaged to her. Her plan would bring her to London on a visit to Freddy's family and (hopefully) render the elusive Mr. Westruther madly jealous.
Left destitute by the death of her father, and having unsuccessfully tried the career of governess, Katherine Malvern (Kate) seeks refuge with her old Nurse, Sarah, now the wife of a carrier, Joe Nidd. Sarah, Joe, and Joe's father Josiah, with Kate's best interests at heart, inform Kate's aunt (Kate's father's half-sister) of Kate's situation. Kate is 'rescued' by her aunt, Minerva, Lady Broome, who takes her to Staplewood, situated in Leicester, near Market Harborough, where Kate meets Lady Broome's husband, Sir Timothy Broome, their son Torquil, and Philip, Sir Timothy's nephew.
Kit Fancot returns home to England from diplomatic service in Vienna to find that his twin brother Evelyn has disappeared. Although this would not normally be a problem, Evelyn is supposed to meet the autocratic grandmother of the lady to whom he has proposed. Kit is obliged to impersonate his brother to save the betrothal.
Faro’s Daughter is one of Georgette Heyer’s popular Regency romances. Faro was a popular card-game of the day, and the chief character in the novel is Deborah Grantham, a tall young woman with laughing, dark eyes, who sits all night at the tables in-the polite gaming-house in St James’s Square run by her aunt, Lady Bellingham. Young Lord Mablethorpe has fallen madly in love with Deb and announces that he intends to marry her. His mother, frantic with apprehension, begs her nephew Max Ravenscar (who manages her fortune) to intervene and to try to buy Deb off. Max is a bachelor of middle age, who prefers the pleasures of the cockfight and the racecourse to those of the ballroom and the usual haunts of fashion. He thinks his task is easy. But Deb is as spirited as she is beautiful: boiling with indignation, she refuses to be bribed, and plans revenge on the man who has thus insulted her. So the charming comedy proceeds to its amusing end. The author’s skill in reproducing the gay atmosphere of the Regency years is so great that we feel we are actually living among the elegant, leisured and wealthy denizens of London’s West End at that time.
What begins as an adventure soon becomes a nightmare...
Locals claim it is haunted and refuse to put a single toe past the front door, but to siblings Peter, Celia, and Margaret, the Priory is nothing more than a rundown estate inherited from their late uncle-and the perfect setting for a much-needed holiday. But when a murder victim is discovered in the drafty Priory halls, the once unconcerned trio begins to fear that the ghostly rumors are true and they are not alone after all! With a killer on the loose, will they find themselves the next victims of a supernatural predator, or will they uncover a far more corporeal culprit?
Written in Georgette Heyer's lightest vein, this is the story of the adventures in Regency London of the Merriville family: Frederica, riding the whirlwind and directing the storm; Harry, rusticated from Oxford and embarking with enthusiasm on the more perilous amusements pursued by young gentlemen of ton; the divine Charis, too tender-hearted to discourage the advances of her numerous suitors; Jessamy, destined for the Church and wavering, in adolescent style, between excessive virtue and a natural exuberance of spirits; and Felix, a schoolboy with a passion for scientific experiment. In Frederica, Georgette Heyer created one of her most engaging heroines; and in the Marquis of Alverstoke — a bored cynic who becomes involved in all the imbroglios of a lively family — a hero whose sense of humour makes him an excellent foil for Frederica.
Miss Annis Wychwood, at twenty-nine, has long been on the shelf, but this bothers her not at all. She is rich and still beautiful and she enjoys living independently in Bath, except for the tiresome female cousin, who her very proper brother insists must live with her.
When Annis offers sanctuary to the very young runaway heiress Miss Lucilla Carleton, no one at all thinks this is a good idea. With the exception of Miss Carleton's overbearing guardian, Mr. Oliver Carleton, whose reputation as the rudest man in London precedes him. Outrageous as he is, the charming Annis ends up finding him absolutely irresistible.
Adam Penhallow’s death seems, at first, to be by natural causes. But Penhallow wasn’t well liked — so bad tempered, that both his servants and his family hated him. It soon transpires that Penhallow was murdered, poisoned, in fact, on the eve of his birthday celebration, and there are more than a dozen prime suspects.
Affairs of honour, affairs of the heart, and all the gallantry, villainy and elegance of the age that Georgette Heyer has made her own are exquisitely revived in these eleven short stories of the Regency.
Judith Taverner and her brother, Peregrine, are orphans. The death of their eccentric father left them well provided for but consigned to the guardianship of a man they have never met, Julian St. John Audley, Lord Worth. When repeated requests for an introduction to him go unanswered, they set off to London to force a meeting. En route, they spend the night in the village of Grantham, where they make the acquaintance of their Uncle Bernard. Judith and Perry, knowing that their father had disowned his brother many years ago are reluctant to acknowledge the relationship, but Bernard proves to be polite and charming. They also run afoul of an arrogant aristocrat when Perry mishandles a borrowed gig on the road and causes a near-accident. On reaching London, Judith and Perry are amazed and horrified to discover that the insufferable nobleman who made their lives a misery in Grantham is none other than Lord Worth himself.
Sir Gareth Ludlow knows it is his duty as a man of honour to restore so young and pretty a girl as Amanda, wandering unattended, to her family. But it is to prove no easy task for the Corinthian.
Sylvester, Duke of Salford, has exacting requirements for a bride. Then he meets Phoebe Marlow, a young lady with literary aspirations, and suddenly life becomes very complicated. She meets none of his criteria, and even worse, she has written a novel that is sweeping through the ton and causing all kinds of gossip... and he's the main character!
When young, plain Horatia Winwood informs the Earl of Rule that her beautiful older sister, Lizzie, doesn't want to marry him and offers herself instead, the Earl, surprised and intrigued by the spirited, unconventional Horry, agrees, setting the stage for a romp rife with misadventure, jealousy, plots, duels, and romance.
Beautiful Penelope Creed had known Piers Luttrell from childhood. They had early pledged their love to each other, eagerly awaiting the day they could turn it into a lifelong reality.
But now there was another man in her life. A dashing figure of a London dandy, the witty, worldly, handsome Sir Richard Wyndham, a man who made his own rules of life and love, a man who was everything Piers was not.
How could she choose between them? How could she even compare these two who shared nothing in common? Nothing, that is, but her heart ...
A diffident young man of 24 years, easily pushed around by his overprotective uncle and the retinue of devoted family retainers who won't let him lift a finger for himself, the Duke sometimes wishes he could be a commoner. One day he decides to set out to discover whether he is "a man, or only a Duke."
Beginning with an incognito journey into the countryside to confront a blackmailer, he encounters a runaway school boy, a beautiful but airheaded orphan, one of literature's most appealing and well-spoken comic villains, and a series of alarming and even life threatening events from which he can extricate himself only with the help of his shy and lovely fiancé…
Sophy, the "little" niece of Lady Ombersley is sent to London to stay with her aunt. However, somewhere in the decade or so since her aunt last saw her, Sophy has grown into a rather tall, imposing woman, with a personality to match. She is good-natured, sociable, and utterly independent. She soon has the Ombersley household in the palm of her hand — well all except Charles, the eldest son who takes a rather dim view of her. Charles's pious fiancée, Eugenia Wraxton, is also not impressed by her and attempts to bring her into line with London manners — but Sophy, with unimpaired good-manners and immense charm usually manages to get her own way.
Having established herself in the Ombersley Household Sophy soon sees how much they need her. Charles is clearly about marry the wrong woman (Eugenia), his sister, Cecilia is caught up with a clearly unsuitbale poet, and younger brother has Hubert trapped in some clearly dark sort of activity which he cannot escape from. At the same time Sophy's soon to be mother-in-law, Sancia looks to be straying herself.
Sophy's ability to orchestrate this huge cast of characters all to fitting ends is truly marvellous - and highly enjoyable.