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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
title: Devil's Cub
author: Georgette Heyer
published: 1932
genre: regency romance
pages: 310
first line: There was only once occupant of the coach, a gentleman who sprawled very much at his ease, with his legs stretched out before him, and his hands dug deep in the capacious pockets of his greycoat.
rated: 4 out of 5
The young, wealthy and handsome Marquis of Vidal is known as the Devil's Cub. He enjoys gambling, drinking, driving his carriage too fast and women, he is your textbook 'bad boy'. The Marquis, a.k.a. Dominic, also enjoys dueling and after another deadly shooting over a game of cards, he is banished by his father to France. His father insists that he leave right away for his own safety.
Dominic decides to have some fun and take a mistress with him. The Marquis invites the silly Sophia Challoner, who is only too happy to go along with him hoping that he will eventually marry her. Sophia's sister, Mary, sees that the Marquis only wants one thing from her sister, and decides to stop his plan. On the day that the Marquis is to set sail to France, he sends a letter to Sophia telling her where to meet him.
'Love'-the Marquis began-'It is for to-night. My coach will be at the bottom of your street at eleven. Join me there and bring nothing that you cannot hide beneath your cloak. Vidal.'
Mary however, intercepts the letter and decides to go instead to meet the Marquis. She disguises herself with a mask and heads off to meet him, hoping to trick him and tell him that Sophia doesn't want to leave with him after all. He doesn't realize that it's not Sophia until Mary unmasks herself after they've driven all night. Mary tells him that Sophia doesn't want to leave with him and she insists on going back home herself. Once he realizes he has the wrong sister with him, The Marquis figures he'll take her along with him anyway. So Mary unwillingly winds up on a boat to France.
After some research, I learned that Devil's Cub is a sequel to Heyer's 'These Old Shades'. I wish I had known that and read that book first, since I like to read books in order and might have learned a bit more about the characters that were in this story, like Dominic's parents. I felt like in the beginning there were too many characters being introduced at once and it got confusing. Though this book started off slowly for me, it started to take off during chapter four and I enjoyed reading the Devil's Cub.
I thought Dominic's character was alright, except for the fact that he enjoyed drunk driving and shooting people. Doesn't that sound crazy? lol I found myself laughing out loud at some of the things he would say.
"Ask the judges," shrugged the Marquis. "I warned you that I drive best when I am drunk."
or to Mary when he finds out she tricked him into taking her to Paris:
"You elected to come with me," the Marquis said, "and by God you'll obey me, if I have to lay my whip about your sides!"
I thought Mary was a likeable character and was entertained by how the two interacted once they began to like each other. This was classic Heyer, the hero, the heroine, meddling family members, some romance and a twist to the plot. I enjoyed it! Frederica still remains my favorite Heyer though.
About the author:
http://georgetteheyer.com/
Author of over fifty books, Georgette Heyer is the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, who made the Regency period her own. Her first novel, The Black Moth, published in 1921, was written at the age of fifteen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. Although most famous for her historical novels, she also wrote eleven detective stories. Georgette Heyer died in 1974 at the age of seventy-one.
Special thanks to Danielle over at Sourcebooks for sending me this book to read and review.
