[C7H]∎ Libro Gratis The Masqueraders Georgette Heyer 9780373836062 Books

The Masqueraders Georgette Heyer 9780373836062 Books

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The Masqueraders Georgette Heyer 9780373836062 Books

I have yet to read a Heyer romance that isn't funny, sweet, and full of adventure, but the I think the Masqeraders is one of the best in terms of fun plot concepts and romantic sweetness (the humor is good, but other Heyer romances are funnier).

Prudence and Robin are mid-20s sister and brother travelling to London, each dressed as the opposite sex in compliance with the latest of their scheming father's plans, when they rescue Letty Grayson from a misguided elopement. It's not long before they meet Sir Anthony, Letty's family friend, also bent on rescuing the young girl. Adventurous and outrageous Robin, flirting his way through high society as Miss Kate, falls in love with Letty, who has no idea that the mystery man who had caught her attention is one with the kind lady who has befriended her, while prudent Prudence becomes attached to the easygoing but surprisingly perspicacious Sir Anthony, who, unlike Letty, is very much aware that not all is as it seems with his new friend Master Peter.

With an amused French protectress to present them to Society, a faithful but judgmental old servant, a couple of unimaginative but generally non threatening "villains," and a father at once gregarious, kindly, and entirely egomaniacal, the siblings are surrounded by an entertaining cast of characters. With two young people trying to navigate the ton as the wrong sex (without doing anything too too improper) and that very clever and conceited father pulling everyone's strings, the adventures keep coming. With two love stories unfolding throughout the book (rather than a sudden revelation of growing affections at the end, like in many Heyer romances), the sweetness of the romance permeates the tale well. And with the greatest of their father's plans to date unfolding, Robin and Prudence are set up for a happy ending of love and security at last.

All of this is delivered in Heyer's delightful prose. I particularly enjoy that the chapters have titles, which add a little extra fun. While I generally prefer Regency-set romances (and this is pretty early Georgian), I do enjoy that's it's mostly set within the London Season. It's both a lovely romance and adventure.


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The Masqueraders Georgette Heyer 9780373836062 Books Reviews

I love Georgette Heyer regency or period novels.....usually. The subject matter of this particular book seemed a bit odd when I was looking at it for purchase. I should have saved my money. The premise of the storyline is ridiculous and the normal humorous banter was missing and some of the characters were just plain unlikeable. In short, it was a sophomoric attempt at an out of the ordinary story for this author. I finished it out of determination, but was wholly glad that it was over. I gave it 3 stars just because of who the author is, not for content.
This book begins as a brother and sister are escaping to a new life, after being on the losing side with Bonnie Prince Charlie in his attempt to regain the English crown. They encounter a number of surprises and interesting experiences as they await the arrival of their father, an idiosyncratic self-proclaimed “adventurer”. One thing that particularly appeals to me in this book is the matter-of fact self-reliance, and courage of the female protagonist. Another is Heyer's mischievous sense of humor.

Georgette Heyer is known for her impeccable research and authentic portrayal of the historical periods in which her books are set - politically-incorrect details and all. The ones written in her youth are a little melodramatic, but still excellently written. Violence is negligible by modern standards and is not graphic. The Masqueraders is one of my many Heyer favorites. She was only 26 when she wrote this book, but her development since the ones she wrote in her teens and early twenties is already obvious. The Masqueraders (Historical Romances)
Among my Heyer books there is a group of favorites, and among these there are a handful that I find myself re-reading more frequently, especially when I want a comfort read. The Masqueraders fits in this category.

The story begins with Robin and Prudence traveling to London to stay with old family friend Lady Lowestoft. They are "masquerading in a preposterous guise" as Kate and Peter Merriot - Robin is Kate, Prudence is Peter – because Robin was a combatant in the recent Jacobite rebellion and his exposure would be a death warrant. At an inn where brother and sister stop for the night, they encounter Letty Grayson, an heiress who'd agreed to elope with Mr. Markham but has now changed her mind. Markham becomes belligerent and Kate and Peter Merriot rescue Letty with the aid of their resourceful servant John, using the kind of subterfuge at which they excel. With Markham disposed of, they next meet Sir Anthony Fanshawe, a friend of Letty's father who has come in pursuit of the runaway couple. Having thus made the acquaintance of the Merriots, Fanshawe soon befriends Peter, becoming something of a mentor and protector. There are two love stories here, with Robin falling for Letty and Prudence for Fanshawe.

Robin and Prue are going to London because they had been instructed by their father to meet him there. They have no idea where their father is or what venture he plans next but they are used to living with such uncertainty. They don't even know their true surname because they have lived their entire lives under different guises as their father swept them across Europe, at times keeping a gaming house, sometimes setting up as a fencing master but always playing at being an adventurer.

So this masquerade is nothing new for them. Prudence had often masqueraded as a male because it was safer than living as a female in many of the places they had inhabited. She is well-equipped for the role, skilled at gaming and dicing, at wielding a sword in self-defense (though she lacks the necessary stamina and skill for a real contest) and at tipping her glass of wine down her sleeve to keep her head among the hard-drinking set that befriends Peter Merriot. Robin is equally convincing as Kate Merriot, Lady Lowestoft marvelling "at the perfection of his acting, the rigid attention to every little feminine detail...and all its attendant mannerisms." But the best description of Robin as Kate is this one "Miss Merriot was seated in the window, supporting her fair head on one delicate hand. An enchanting profile was presented to the room. There was the straight nose, the beautifully curved lips, and the drooping eyelid...She did not look as though she could kill a man in a duel."

When their father finally appears in London, at a ball where Kate and Peter Merriot are in attendance, they are astounded to hear the host present him as Robert Tremaine, the "lost" Viscount Barham. The last known Barham had died several months previously and both title and estate had descended to a Barham cousin named Rensley. While the claim is being investigated by the Barham family lawyers, they encounter their father everywhere as he cuts a swath through London society. He is audacious and boastful almost to the point of being irritating but he's always entertaining; you can't help but laugh at his affectations and acknowledge his ability to keep outmaneuvering everyone around him, or as Robin notes, "the old gentleman had once more shown himself to be too clever for the rest of the world, and for him that was the breath of life." The scene where Markham tries to get the best of him and instead plays right into his hands is a masterpiece.

I especially liked the relationship between Robin and Prue, the loyalty and closeness, with Robin even prepared to abandon his quest for Letty to take Prue to France if things get too dangerous. As he tells Lady Lowestoft, "I was, after all, born to this game. But Prue's not. She hankers now after the secure life, wedded to the mountain, I suppose." And once Fanshawe is in on the masquerade, the pointed teasing between the two men is always fun the tall, broad-shouldered Fanshawe calling the more diminutive Robin "young Hop o' my Thumb" and Robin (in his guise as Kate) explaining a remark he'd just made in Fanshawe's hearing, "My tongue - oh, my luckless tongue! Only a mountain, dear sir. Would you have me call you a mole-hill?"

An all-around entertaining read, this is a story that never bogs down or becomes predictable with an ending that satisfies on all counts.
I have yet to read a Heyer romance that isn't funny, sweet, and full of adventure, but the I think the Masqeraders is one of the best in terms of fun plot concepts and romantic sweetness (the humor is good, but other Heyer romances are funnier).

Prudence and Robin are mid-20s sister and brother travelling to London, each dressed as the opposite sex in compliance with the latest of their scheming father's plans, when they rescue Letty Grayson from a misguided elopement. It's not long before they meet Sir Anthony, Letty's family friend, also bent on rescuing the young girl. Adventurous and outrageous Robin, flirting his way through high society as Miss Kate, falls in love with Letty, who has no idea that the mystery man who had caught her attention is one with the kind lady who has befriended her, while prudent Prudence becomes attached to the easygoing but surprisingly perspicacious Sir Anthony, who, unlike Letty, is very much aware that not all is as it seems with his new friend Master Peter.

With an amused French protectress to present them to Society, a faithful but judgmental old servant, a couple of unimaginative but generally non threatening "villains," and a father at once gregarious, kindly, and entirely egomaniacal, the siblings are surrounded by an entertaining cast of characters. With two young people trying to navigate the ton as the wrong sex (without doing anything too too improper) and that very clever and conceited father pulling everyone's strings, the adventures keep coming. With two love stories unfolding throughout the book (rather than a sudden revelation of growing affections at the end, like in many Heyer romances), the sweetness of the romance permeates the tale well. And with the greatest of their father's plans to date unfolding, Robin and Prudence are set up for a happy ending of love and security at last.

All of this is delivered in Heyer's delightful prose. I particularly enjoy that the chapters have titles, which add a little extra fun. While I generally prefer Regency-set romances (and this is pretty early Georgian), I do enjoy that's it's mostly set within the London Season. It's both a lovely romance and adventure.