Devil's Cub

I personally hated "These Old Shades," a Heyer book that has many devoted fans, so I had low expectations before starting "Devil's Cub." "Devil's Cub" is the story of the Marquis of Vidal (a.k.a. Dominic), the son of Justin Alistair, Duke of Avon, and Leonie from "These Old Shades." Like his father, Dominic possesses a fiery temper and is a dreadful rake. After causing a terrible scandal at a gaming hell, Dominic's father decides that he must go to France until the gossip dies down. Before leaving England, Dominic decides to propose an elopement with the lovely, but stupid, Sophia Challoner. Sophia and her mother are desperate to entrap such an eligible and wealthy gentleman in their snares. Mary, Sophia's sister, being a sensible and intelligent girl, realizes that the Marquis of Vidal has no honorable intentions. Mary intercepts a letter from him asking Sophia to run away with him. Thinking to disrupt his carefully laid schemes, Mary disguises herself and takes Sophia's place. When her true identity is revealed, the enraged Marquis surprisingly decides to take Mary with him to Paris! What follows is a entertaining story of honor, passion, misunderstandings and, of course, eventually a happy ending. My complaints about "These Old Shades" were concentrated mostly on the main characters, which I just didn't find engaging. I found young Leonie too immature and boisterous, and I thought Justin Alistair was just too cold and calculating to be lovable. So I was incredibly surprised at how wonderful "Devil's Cub" was. I enjoyed it immensely! In my opinion, "Devil's Cub" is a vast improvement on the Alistair family saga. Leonie is older in this book, and thus more staid than her younger self. She possesses an air of grace and dignity that I didn't think possible after reading "These Old Shades." In addition, "Devil's Cub" reveals that the glacial Duke of Avon is a caring and concerned father. Moreover, the heroine, Mary, isn't forever getting herself into scrapes or throwing fits. At the age of 20, she's a lady that possesses common sense and sophistication. And Vidal, though very similar to his father, displays his emotions and passion more readily than his undemonstrative sire. As a hero, I thought he was more lovable than Justin Alistair. I recommend "Devil's Cub" to anyone that prefers Heyer's older, calmer, more dignified heroines to her younger, flighty, more silly heroines. And for those of you who, like me, were disappointed with "These Old Shades," I suggest that you give "Devil's Cub" a try. You'll enjoy it, without a doubt!

I admit to being hooked on Regency romances and historicals, and it's all Georgette Heyer's fault. The first one I ever picked up at the age of 13 was her novel 'The Grand Sophy', the second one was 'Venetia', and there was no looking back. She invented the Regency romance novel and although there are many newer authors I enjoy and collect, GH remains the best, the funniest, the most skillful at drawing vivid characters and using authentic period slang. She is often imitated, but never equaled, IMHO. Heyer's historical research was so thorough (unlike many later imitators) that one of her novels is included in the recommended reading booklist on Napoleonic warfare at Oxford University.'Devil's Cub' is part of the only trilogy she wrote -- 'These Old Shades' is the first, 'Devil's Cub' the second, and 'An Infamous Army' concludes the family history. I am glad to see these being reissued, and hope that younger readers will also enjoy Vidal's father, the extraordinarily menacing Duke of Avon, and his irrepressible and beautiful mother, Leonie. Vidal and Mary have a classic first-I-hate-you, then-I-love-you, relationship; yet the turns and twists are not only amusing but believable. Buy this and enjoy it, but be forewarned -- you may start collecting all of her novels!

This is the sequel to Heyer's 'These Old Shades' which was my introduction to her Regency writings. I liked 'Devil's Cub' almost as much as 'These Old Shades'. There are a lot of un-PC things that both Mary and Vidal do but at the time these books were written, a lot of un-PC things happened every day in normal life. Mary has her morals, Vidal is a charming rake, and they manage to fight more often than not in the first 7/8ths of book. The writing is superb and the plot moves along briskly. It would be wonderful to read the two books consecutively but it's almost impossible to find 'These Old Shades' nowadays.

Devil's Cub picks up the story of the Duke of Avon and his 'page' Leon some 25 years after Justin and Leonie have married. The traditional story of love conquering all - in this case the wild and infamous Dominic meeting his match in the apparently staid and prosaic Mary is beautifully handled by the author who was the 'Queen' of the Regency romances. Others try, but fail to match her exquisite use of language, fine characterisation and intricate plotting. The similarity to Jane Austen is there but Ms. Heyer's characters are more flesh and blood. The final part of the trilogy is 'An Infamous Army', set around the Battle of Waterloo with Dominic and Mary's daughter Barbara a worthy successor to the strong characters we meet in the first two books. Georgette Heyer wrote the Black Moth first and liked her anti-hero so much that she used him as a model for Justin and also borrowed the abduction story and used it as part of Justin's past. Romance, humour, drama and characters you care about - what more can you ask?

This is the second book in the trilogy. We first meet Justin, Duke of Avon, in These Old Shades. (He is NOT the Duke in The Black Moth.) These characters are delightfully developed and sustained in The Devil's Cub with the introduction of Justin and Leonie's son, Dominic. It is marvelous! The Infamous Army is the third book and introduces Dominic's grand-daughter during the war with Napoleon.