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40th out of 50 books
—
296 voters
Beauvallet
What happens when a pirate falls in love with his captive?
During her return to Spain with her father, the lovely Dona Dominica de Rada y Sylva is horrified when their ship is set upon by pirates. Far worse is her discovery that their captor isn't just any pirate -- he is the notorious Sir Nicholas Beauvallet, an Englishman with a scandalous reputation for plundering Spani
...morePaperback, 272 pages
Published
January 5th 2006
by Arrow
(first published 1929)
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written in 1929, georgette heyer was only 23. (she published her first novel the black moth in 1921.) this one feels a bit off to me. i think it's mostly because she is setting it in the elizabethan era. and instead of writing in her own style, it feels to me like she is trying to imitate that of shakespeare. one of the results of this is that it's written in a strange mixture of novel and play that doesn't feel intentional. her characters speak aloud to themselves and to the audience and call...more
Jul 23, 2008
Abigail
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Georgette Heyer Fans / Elizabethan Romance Readers / Pirate Lovers
Shelves:
georgette-heyer,
romance
Review Temporarily Removed.
A well-written Heyer; but I would rate plenty of her other stories above this one. The plot was two-dimensional. Still, there are some good characterizations, (the greedy, but completely honest about it, aunt), and great swashbuckling scenes. However, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition—
...God alone knew what might be done to Beauvallet. She had heard that those who fell into the clutch of the Inquisition were sometimes never heard of again.
...God alone knew what might be done to Beauvallet. She had heard that those who fell into the clutch of the Inquisition were sometimes never heard of again.
It’s a pirate’s li…er, privateer’s life for me! A second son, Nicholas Beauvallet has acquired quite a reputation on the Spanish Main and Phillip II has put a high price on his head. Which explains why Don Juan puts his ship at risk even though he’s carrying the ex-governor of Santiago and his daughter.
Nick’s promise to set the governor and his daughter, Doña Dominica, onto Spanish soil simply confirms his bravado. Doña Dominica hopes this is enough to sustain her while she awaits Beauvallet’s a...more
Nick’s promise to set the governor and his daughter, Doña Dominica, onto Spanish soil simply confirms his bravado. Doña Dominica hopes this is enough to sustain her while she awaits Beauvallet’s a...more
Nov 15, 2010
Jane Stewart
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
high-seas-adventure-suspense-romanc
3 ½ stars. Not much romance or relationship development, but good as an entertaining swashbuckling adventure.
STORY BRIEF:
Sir Nicholas Beauvallet (Nick) practices piracy upon the Spanish as a form of unofficial warfare – at the behest of Queen Elizabeth I. He is captain of the Venture. The Spanish believe he achieves the impossible through witchcraft. When he captures a Spanish ship, he takes Dominica and her father aboard his own ship as guests. He promises to deliver them safely to the Spanish...more
STORY BRIEF:
Sir Nicholas Beauvallet (Nick) practices piracy upon the Spanish as a form of unofficial warfare – at the behest of Queen Elizabeth I. He is captain of the Venture. The Spanish believe he achieves the impossible through witchcraft. When he captures a Spanish ship, he takes Dominica and her father aboard his own ship as guests. He promises to deliver them safely to the Spanish...more
1 like · like · see review
A swashbuckling tale from Georgette Heyer! Featuring a blue-eyed, fortune-favored, English pirate. Mad Nicholas Beauvallet has captured a Spanish ship, which happens to be transporting a beautiful, spirited young lady and her ailing father from the West Indies to Spain. The luckless crew are put on a long boat and sent off to the nearest island, but Dona Dominica and her father are brought onto Beauvallet's ship as his guests. Beauvallet promptly falls in love with Dominica and declares his inte...more
Note to self: never take unread Georgette Heyer novels on trains.
I first read Beauvallet several years ago on a train leaving the capital for home. Unfortunately, not only was the train very over-crowded but it was stuck in Essex for approximately 3 hours if I remember correctly. I was feeling hot, tired, thirsty, claustrophobic and cranky. Poor Beauvallet was, as it were, in my hands, and ever since has been viewed with dislike by myself.
I can only conclude that I was blind as well. What Beauv...more
I first read Beauvallet several years ago on a train leaving the capital for home. Unfortunately, not only was the train very over-crowded but it was stuck in Essex for approximately 3 hours if I remember correctly. I was feeling hot, tired, thirsty, claustrophobic and cranky. Poor Beauvallet was, as it were, in my hands, and ever since has been viewed with dislike by myself.
I can only conclude that I was blind as well. What Beauv...more
In a word, wonderful! The tale of a daring (and dashing) privateer determined to seek out his lady-love in the heart of enemy Spain is superbly written and expertly narrated. Georgette Heyer may be a master at Regency romances, but this one set in Elizabethan times may be one of my all time favorites. The book is full of wonderful characters, wry humor, witty scenes and clever dialog. While the romance is sweet, and a driving force behind the action, this book is different from many of Heyer's o...more
2 likes · like · see review
Known as the scourge of Spain, the pirate and nobleman, Sir Nicholas Beauvellet, loses his heart (and some worry - his head) to the spirited and courageous Dona Dominica de Rada y Sylva of Spain.
Not only does "Mad Sir Nick" take Dominica and her dying father on board his ship after rescuing them, but he laughs in the face of King Philip of Spain when he vows to return within a year and claim the lovely Dominica for his bride.
Set in Elizabethan times, Beauvallet did not quite capture me in the s...more
Not only does "Mad Sir Nick" take Dominica and her dying father on board his ship after rescuing them, but he laughs in the face of King Philip of Spain when he vows to return within a year and claim the lovely Dominica for his bride.
Set in Elizabethan times, Beauvallet did not quite capture me in the s...more
On the high Seas no man is more feared and loathed then the notorious Sir Nicholas Beauvallet, a Englishman with a reputation for taking over Spanish ships for queen and country, but never did Nicholas think that the next vessel he over took would hold a treasure far beyond anything he could have imagined, one that would capture his heart and him willing to risk his life for Dona Dominica de Rada y Sylva.
Dominica will be no one’s captive, and she fights El Beauvallet at every turn, but with h...more
Dominica will be no one’s captive, and she fights El Beauvallet at every turn, but with h...more
13 likes · like · see review
Georgette Heyer is known for her Regency Romances. In this book, she moves backwards about 200 years to Elizabethan times and adventure on the high seas, but the results are less than optimal. The romance between a dashing English captain and the Spanish lady he captures is painted with a broad brush: bosoms heave and eyes flash aplenty, but the characters don't rise above the two-dimensional. Aside from the heroine and her (soon to die) father, the Spanish are all cowards, fops, and hypocrites,...more
Quite a yarn! Georgette Heyer out-does Ian Fleming in this swash-buckling spy adventure set in the late 16th century, with Nick Beauvallet taking the James Bond role and a Spanish lady Dona Dominica de Rada y Silva taking the role of the Bond girl. The best character in the book is actually Nick's body man, Joshua Dimmock, who is priceless. Joshua gets the epilogue all to himself, so I think Georgette Heyer realized that he was the best character in the book too.
The book is somewhat lacking in...more
The book is somewhat lacking in...more
Feb 12, 2010
Haley Mathiot
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Boys/girls ages 13-Adult to lovers of Historical fiction, romance, adventure
Recommended to Haley by:
Sourcebooks
Shelves:
5-star-bookshelf
When Dona Dominica sets sail on the Santa Maria, she wonders if she will ever meet the infamous El Beauvallet, the English pirate with a reputation of being able to do anything because of witchcraft. But she does not expect her ship to be taken by him, Nor does she expect to be kidnapped by him and taken abord his ship the Venture.
Sir Nicholas Beauvallet captures Dominica and her father and proclaims that he will take them home to Spain, as Dominica has demanded. But falling head over heels in...more
Sir Nicholas Beauvallet captures Dominica and her father and proclaims that he will take them home to Spain, as Dominica has demanded. But falling head over heels in...more
Beauvallet is the distant descendent of Simon the Coldheart. Set during the Piracy period of Elizabethian England it's plot is played out to woo a captive Spanish maiden while ensuring all promises are kept. This also entails squash buckling adventures which would be the pride of any spy to ensure his release and ensure to ensure his claims are not thwarted before his true love finds herself caught in a cynical marriage mill made to ensure the wealth of family remains the same. It's all treacher...more
When I was little I watched 'Captain Blood' with my dad. Classic Errol Flynn. The beginning of this book reminds me of that movie.
Beauvallet is intriguing--he takes challenges, he is confident, people stand in awe of him. Heyer makes him the perfect hero.
Heyer does well in her research of the time period and period slang. Its definitely not the same voice as other Heyer books. Its different. But that isn't a bad thing. She still has an ease about writing, whatever story at the time, that makes r...more
Beauvallet is intriguing--he takes challenges, he is confident, people stand in awe of him. Heyer makes him the perfect hero.
Heyer does well in her research of the time period and period slang. Its definitely not the same voice as other Heyer books. Its different. But that isn't a bad thing. She still has an ease about writing, whatever story at the time, that makes r...more
Jul 19, 2012
Lynne Tull
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-romance
Reading Georgette Heyer novels is no easy task. She is the Queen of this genre. She writes true to the period. She does not make it easy by translating the English of the time to modern times. In this case, El Beauvallet is a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I's court. Even written in the Queen's English Ms. Heyer keeps you on edge from beginning to end. El Beauvallet is a 'swash buckling' pirate. His antics from his capture of Dominica de Rada to her rescue keep you gritting your teeth, holding your...more
I'm a huge Heyer fan but this one took me a bit longer than usual to get into. It starts out a little slow (although I did really enjoy Beauvallet's visit to his family in the first part) but it picks up half-way through and becomes a fun swashbuckling adventure. I think the main problem for me were the leads... they were likable enough but I wasn't in love with them.
I seem to have problems when Heyer heads to Spain for some reason... I've been reading The Spanish Bride forever! Still, Heyer at...more
I seem to have problems when Heyer heads to Spain for some reason... I've been reading The Spanish Bride forever! Still, Heyer at...more
2 likes · like · see review
I've been a fan of Heyer's historical romances since I first read my mum's old copy of Beauvallet when I was a teenager. If you've never read one you don't know what you're missing! My edition is very old, actually it's the First Australian Edition from 1948, it has no dust jacket, and the pages are brown and brittle. I have 39 of her romances (she also wrote about eight detective books with the help of her detective husband, but I've not read any of them); there are about three or four I don't...more
Loved this one, probably next to The Masqueraders my favorite. The main character, Nick Beauvallet, is one of Elizabeth I's notorious sea-dogs and his adventures undercover in Spain to rescue his fiancee from her wicked cousin Don Diego at times reads more like a Rafael Sabatini adventure than the usual Heyer fare.
This book was awesome! Lots of stupid daring manliness from Beauvallet, and a brave heroin to boot!! Although I do wish she had used the knife on him before she decided he was super enough to love, you can't go wrong with the good old corny romance. Senora Disdain, you do your name honor! ...Just do the world a favor and kill your evil cousin at the BEGINNING of the book next time, instead of leaving it to the poor Englishman with too much to deal with as is. Geez.
Unlike most of Georgette Heyer novels which are slow moving, this novel was not at all. Though Sir Beauvallet is from England, the story doesn't centre in England as most Heyer novels do. Beauvallet is a pirate who attacks ships from Spain as a mission from England. In capturing one Spanish ship he falls for a Spanish woman named Dona Dominica. She spurs his advances and yet falls helplessly in love with her. Beauvallet returns her and her father to Spanish soil and promises to return to her in...more
Lots of adventure. I couldn't put it down about half way through. With so much Georgette Heyer books to read, its hard to keep all the characters straight when remembering a book. She does have some characters that are almost identical but I've not met one quite like Beauvallet.
One thing I love about Georgette Heyer is how she gives her main characters real life attributes that make them personable, firey tempers, stuttering, tactlessness, etc.
One thing I love about Georgette Heyer is how she gives her main characters real life attributes that make them personable, firey tempers, stuttering, tactlessness, etc.
I think this must be one of Heyer's most gripping novels. I can't believe I've missed this one all these years that I've been re-reading some of her other novels! It was adventure from start to finish with many narrow escapes. El Beauvallet is a breath of fresh air amidst the stifling propriety of Spain during the Holy Inquisition and Dominica the perfect fiery and sensible damsel in distress. Thoroughly delightful.
Rollicking good fun! I loved the language and dramatic flair of this book. The romance could have had a bit more work, but I as a reader fell in love with both Beauvallet and Dominica, so I suppose it's understandable and completely natural that they'd fall in love with each other! I'll take a light-hearted hero and a haughty heroine over a brooding alpha male and special snowflake heroine any time!
Swash-swash, buckle-buckle, bang, crash, weep, kiss---it's all here. Summon Errol Flynn back from the grave, because this story was written for him. Beauvallet (English pirate) falls in love with Dominica (Spanish spunk), but has a heck of a time actually marrying her. The story is preposterous, the style is bloated, and the characters are larger than life, but hey, it's Heyer. She wanted to write a ridiculous high-seas romance, and that's what she did.
I tried this book on the basis of having heard good things about Georgette Heyer. The first 50 pages or so, I thought were dire. The characters were over the top caricatures and the dialogue grated. I especially disliked the frequent mentions of Beauvallet's pomander; it simply reminded me of how smelly everyone was back then! I assume it was meant to give him an air of whimsical mystery, or some such, but it just pulled me right out of the story and into present day thinking.
I dislike leaving b...more
I dislike leaving b...more
** This is just a QUICK REVIEW of my thoughts on the book **
I love Georgette Heyer novels but I couldn't get into this one. I think partly it was because the setting was in a different era where the hero wears ridiculous clothes, etc. But after a few chapters I got into the swing of the book, once the two main characters starting having it out with each other! But then halfway through the book changes direction again and it just lost me. I wasn't interested in Sir Nick's family or his friends or...more
I love Georgette Heyer novels but I couldn't get into this one. I think partly it was because the setting was in a different era where the hero wears ridiculous clothes, etc. But after a few chapters I got into the swing of the book, once the two main characters starting having it out with each other! But then halfway through the book changes direction again and it just lost me. I wasn't interested in Sir Nick's family or his friends or...more
This book is somewhat unusual for Heyer, as it's set in a much earlier period. Sir Nicholas Beauvallet is a swashbuckling hero. I enjoyed it, it was well written, although I didn't become involved deeply with the characters. The hero was incredibly reckless and perhaps had a death wish. I kept seeing Errol Flynne in the role. Not one of my favourites of hers.
A very excellent Heyer, this time hitting the Elizabethan era - with PIRATES! HURRAH! Especially worth reading for the manservant Joshua Dimmock, who is Heyer's tribute to Shakespeare's Dogberry, I think. She drags in TWO royal persons as well as our pirate hero and Spanish lady heroine.
A playful reminder that Heyer was interested in more than Regency history.
A playful reminder that Heyer was interested in more than Regency history.
When in high school I finally met another person who knew and loved Georgette Heyer. By then I had discovered that only very few were translated into Danish and our shared interest made me buy this book in English! And even though a lot of the language was to difficult for me I understood enough to love the book.
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Georgette Heyer was an amazingly prolific writer who created the Regency England genre of romance novels.
Georgette Heyer was an intensely private person. A best-seller all her life without the aid of publicity, she made no appearances, never gave an interview, and only answered fan letters herself if they made an interesting historical point. Heyer wrote very well-researched historical fiction, fu...more
More about Georgette Heyer...
Georgette Heyer was an intensely private person. A best-seller all her life without the aid of publicity, she made no appearances, never gave an interview, and only answered fan letters herself if they made an interesting historical point. Heyer wrote very well-researched historical fiction, fu...more
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