Georgette Heyer - give me your top five

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Heyer is my go-to when I’m down in the dumps and is like lying in a massive warm bath of comfort. Just finished re-reading Sylvester, Venetia and Frederica. What are your absolute top fives for my next read? Strong, dashing hero is compulsory of course.

Frederica (ultimate favourite! )
An infamous army
the grand Sophia
Arabella

such comfort reading!

Ooh, I don’t think I’ve ever read An Infamous Army come to think of it!

You’ve just read my three absolute most-adored favourites. I also love Arabella, The Grand Sophy and Friday’s Child. If you enjoy the more gothic/mystery/thriller ones, I like The Talisman Ring, The Toll-Gate and - left-field choice here - Cousin Kate.

Oh GOOD QUESTION.

The Reluctant Widow (the morning after her wedding / widowing) when she is in bed, sipping hot chocolate and not being at Mrs Macclesfield’s is so cosy.

The Talisman Ring. All that sitting about in a tavern, with drinks, chatting about how to catch the Beau out. Comedy Bow Street Runners lobbed in.

Cotillion. Freddie’s kindness winning out, managing to punch Jack really well and his wealth and fortune being secondary advantages throughout.

Just contemplating the last two. I will bend my mind to this crucial choice!

Have you tried Georgette Heyer's detective novels? They're very good and quite funny in places.

Cotillion, False Colours, Frederica, The Foundling & I think The Reluctant Widow.

Venetia, The Foundling, Frederika, The Unknown Ajax, The Black Sheep.

Cotillion. My absolute favourite comfort read.

Also love Devil's Cub and The Grand Sophy.

I’d love a sequel to Cotillion, where Kitty & Freddie honeymoon in Paris & meet Camille & Olivia, then come back to find that the Fish is expecting an interesting event. And the tale of Miss Plymstock’s triumph over Lady Dolphinton.

Oh I love this 😁

Oh that would be amazing!

Mine are the Nonesuch, Bath Tangle, Fridays Child, The Grand Sophy and the one with the girl who is running away from home that I can't remember the name of

An Infamous Army
Venitia
Bath Tangle
The Toll Booth
Frederica

My top 5 are:

Sylvester
the Grand Sophy
Frederica
Cotillion
oooh not sure what is the 5th. Could be Arabella, The Unknown Ajax, False Colours, the Nonesuch…

Frederica
The Talisman Ring
The Unknown Ajax
The Toll Gate
Cotillion

Probably. But there are so many fabulous ones. She's my go-to choice of comfort read. I've read them all so many times.

So many! I think my top 5 at any point depends on mood, but I love The Black Moth, The Nonesuch, False Colours, The Reluctant Widow, The Unknown Akax and that one where the terribly pampered young Lord runs away to find himself... they are the perfect comfort reading.

Also, if you read any written-later regency romances, they all draw on her writing so much. Half the time i can recognise the plot, and the rest I can recognise several characters.

Ahh amazing responses! There are a good few here that I’d either forgotten about or haven’t read. Going to start with Cotillion which I definitely hadn’t forgotten but love, then can’t decide what next from your excellent lists!

Charity Girl? Or maybe Black Sheep?

I can’t remember whether the girl in Sprig Muslin was running away too.

Friday’s Child
False Colours
The Unknown Ajax
Cotillion
Sylvester

And The Foundling.

Fredrica
Venetia
These Old Shades
Arabella
The Nonesuch

I think The Talisman Ring and The Tollgate might be my favourites. If memory serves, The Tollgate has the best (very tall???) hero of them all. And is The Talisman Ring the one with the brother and sister and some cross dressing, or am I mixing it up with something else?

There’s a fantastic audiobook of Cotillion read by Phyllida Nash that has me howling with laughter every time - she does Freddie especially well.

I haven’t read The Talisman Ring but The Masqueraders has a cross-dressing brother & sister. And yes to the very tall couple in The Tollgate.

Black sheep 😀Over and over and over.

These Old Shades and Devil's Cub