I’ve read most of Heyer’s classic books (i.e., the regency romances and her crime novels), and a handful of years ago I made I final sweep to buy her remaining books.
The remaining books were mostly her “serious” historic books and her very serious contemporary novels (and in particular the latter aren’t regarded very highly — I’ve just read one of them by now, and geez! that’s not her forté), but this was among that batch, and I’ve just forgotten to read it. I bought this in 2016, I see…
And it’s pretty good? It’s not among her best, because the plot is just so artificial even for a romance: A rich but undandified young man is sent to Paris to become dandified to please his father and prospective wife (yes, exactly), and then… basically no complication arise.
So she basically forgot to write a plot here, but instead just kept on typing witty things for 200 pages, and then it’s over.
I’m not complaining — this is a relaxing way to spend a few hours. And the book is so immersed in its setting, it’s kinda like an Aubrey-Maturin book, and that’s never bad.
This sort of thing, though, which is pretty rare in Heyer’s books, show that she was really grasping for something, anything, to fill these pages with, and that’s a bit tiresome.
Powder and Patch (1968) by Georgette Heyer (Buy used, 3.57 on Goodreads)