I went on a cruise, and decided to have some very light reading for the trip. So I chose--you guessed it--Georgette Heyer. This one is classic Heyer. A slightly more mature wealthy gentleman, Sir Gareth Ludlow, decides that it is his duty to marry, even though his heart was lost long ago when the fiance of his youth died before they could wed. He chooses to propose to an old friend, Hester, who is also a confirmed old maid. On the way to propose he meets a young girl, Amanda (age 17) who has run away from home and clearly needs a protector. It is quite a scandal when he arrives to propose to Hester with the amazingly beautiful Amanda in tow. Amanda turns out to be rather headstrong and creative in her attempts to free herself from Gareth's protection. Will Gareth fall for the fiery upstart, or will he remain true to the quiet and faithful Hester? You never know with Heyer and I wasn't sure which way she was going to take it until about 2/3s the way through.
All Heyer's leading men are the same, and there isn't much variety in her women as well, but as long as you expect and embrace that, it is just fun to see what variations Heyer comes up with using the same ingredients. There were some truly funny scenes in this one, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. (268 p.)
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