Lady of Quality

published	2005 by Arrow
first published	1972
binding	Paperback
isbn	0099474468 (isbn13: 9780099474463)
pages	320
description	When spirited, independent Miss Annis Wynchwood embroils herself in the affairs of a runaway heiress, she is destined to see a good deal of Lucilla...more [close] When spirited, independent Miss Annis Wynchwood embroils herself in the affairs of a runaway heiress, she is destined to see a good deal of Lucilla’s uncivil and high-handed guardian Mr Oliver Carleton. [close]
date added	01-09-07 edit book

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Kelly rated it:

05/12/08

bookshelves: brit-lit, fiction

Read in May, 2008

Meh. Heyer, you can do better than this. And I'd wager that you knew that when you wrote this, too. Was the rent due soon or something? You've done this better elsewhere... about twenty times. It is a classic cats and dogs fighting couple who hate each other on sight and then soften and fall in love pretty quickly. I liked the hero a lot, which is the only reason I finished the book. Simple, no nonsense, no heroics, rude, seemed like an actual man. The heroine sucked. If only because Heyer felt ...more Meh. Heyer, you can do better than this. And I'd wager that you knew that when you wrote this, too. Was the rent due soon or something? You've done this better elsewhere... about twenty times. It is a classic cats and dogs fighting couple who hate each other on sight and then soften and fall in love pretty quickly. I liked the hero a lot, which is the only reason I finished the book. Simple, no nonsense, no heroics, rude, seemed like an actual man. The heroine sucked. If only because Heyer felt the need to tell me how amazing she was every few pages, I ended up distrusting that statement and realized that she wasn't really that great- she was just a lot more sensible and only a little less silly/insipid than average, and just as concerned about propriety as everyone else, she just showed it less (but we heard about her thinking/talking about it the most of everyone in the effing book- after going on about how silly everyone else was for caring about silly proprieties). It was just that she was surrounded by such horrors of women that she looked good by comparison.

Also, can we discuss? Why is it that in many of Heyer's novels if a female character is single at an unreasonable age, she must be one of two extremes? Either: She must be beuatiful, rich, personable, funny, smart, and have a lot of suitors that she's turned down and could have at a drop of a hat if she wanted to.... she just chooses not to. Or if she is of average looks, she must be only quietly witty, never think of herself and serve everyone else to death, and of course as soon as the hero comes on the scene everyone discovers that she's beautiful after all after one scene where she is forced to dress up- because of course she would never do so unless she was forced! And then it turns out that she is like girl A after all, just nobody knew? And then of course she must accept the first offer of marriage made to her.

I just... why does the heroine have to be beautiful and have all the advantages of life to remain single? Couldn't she be plain and of competent means? Perhaps not dazzlingly witty? Give her a flaw! You don't need to justify your heroine at every turn, Heyer! I would have liked her better if you hadn't.

PS- What kind of name is Annis? Was that supposed to make her excitingly exotic?
PPS- Damn. I sound jaded. I hope I'm not getting sick of Heyer romance novels! That would cancel out many happy reading hours from my life. ...less

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Eleanor rated it:

(review of isbn 0370014790)

04/01/08

bookshelves: romance

Read in March, 2008

This was well-written and diverting, as I expected, but less satisfying than Frederica. The romance seemed a bit rushed, and indeed this was the shortest Heyer book I've yet read. The hero was more excessively rude than usual and managed to win the heroine over without charming me first; a serious flaw in a romance novel.

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