Third Time's the Charm

  

I started out with the easiest category for me in the Classics Challenge 2017: #6 A Romance Classic.  Previous to this challenge I had read a couple of Georgette Heyer books and loved all of them, so I thought I would read another one for this category.  Even though Jane Austen wrote during the Regency era, Georgette Heyer (1902-1974) is the mother of Regency Romance as Historical Fiction.  The woman was prolific and very well loved.  I personally love her biting sense of humor that is often tongue in cheek.

I didn't have a particular Heyer book in mind for this challenge, so I found three books that were in print at my local library and decided to read those ones.  I started with The Convenient Marriage, and as fate would have it, I didn't care for it all that much.  Heyer still had some witty lines that had me laughing out loud, but I found that I really didn't care for most of the main characters. Lord Rule is the only intelligent one, but he's so far superior in wisdom than the others that I couldn't believe him to be even remotely amused by Horry.  I walked away from the book dissatisfied, but luckily for me I had 2 more books on hand.  I then read The Talisman Ring, and I found it a bit more to my liking.  It still wasn't my favorite Heyer book, so I continued on to my last option which was Regency Buck.    This was by far my favorite Heyer book of the three.

The back of the book synopsis:
"After their father's death, Miss Judith Taverner and her brother Peregrine travel to London to meet their guardian, Lord Worth, expecting an elderly gentleman. To their surprise and utter disgust, their guardian is not much older than they are, doesn't want the office of guardian any more than they want him, and is determined to thwart all their interests and return them to the country.

"With altogether too many complications"

But when Miss Taverner and Peregrine begin to move in the highest social circles, Lord Worth cannot help but entangle himself with his adventuresome wards..."

Regency Buck's got a bit of mystery along with Heyer's typical characters (the cunning one, the nincompoop, the headstrong heroine, and the slimy suitor).  I felt like the two main love interests were equally suited in intelligence and temperament, so it was enjoyable to read about the war of their wills pitted against each other.  This book is why I first loved Georgette Heyer as author to begin with, so I'm glad I ended on a high note.