I love all Georgette Heyer novels; noth romance and mystery. I'm not sure I could say I have a particular favorite because I like them all. You should read Bath Tangle as well as the rest of them! ( )

This book may be best thought of as Heyer's take on "Much Ado About Nothing," where the "merry war" of a man and a woman--once engaged and now volatile friends--leads inevitably to the altar. Unfortunately, off-putting characters and forced plotting make this one of Heyer's least successful books.

Of the brawling hero and heroine, Serena is easier to like because we often see events through her eyes and because we are told why she is the way she is. (Told too often, in fact, rather than being shown. There's a LOT of character exposition in this book. I have the feeling Heyer felt the need to make excuses for her heroine.) Ivo, on the other hand, is a bad-tempered jerk, without explanation or leavening. He also sexually menaces a timid virgin--with an ulterior motive, but still. . .

For all that, there were a number of characters and situations I did enjoy. Hector, like the Man with the Mumps in "The Grand Sophy," is one of those Heyer second-lead gentlemen who has enough grace, intelligence, and humor to be appealing in his own right. (And in this book, he's more appealing than the nominal hero, but clearly less a temperamental match for the heroine.) And, really, the whole book is worth the appearance of Mrs. Floore, one of the rare "vulgar" characters in Heyer who is sympathetically portrayed and one of the most delightful cases of the deus ex machina I've come across. There are in fact a number of very funny moments, and they come along often enough to keep the reader's interest.

There is more than usual in this book about the social world of which Serena and Ivo are a part. We don't see that world first hand, but glimpse it via letters and conversations. As another reviewer suggested, it can be distracting if you don't know the personalities being referred to. It didn't bother me, particularly, and I was tickled by the discussion about Caroline Lamb. I also felt that the gossip about the ton--which even Ivo engages in--underlined how much the lead pair enjoy being a part of that world, and how suited to one another they really are.

If Serena and Ivo are meant to be Heyer's Beatrice and Benedick, Heyer fails to provide her characters with the right notes of charm and wit. Heyer does succeed, however, in persuading me that Serena is the goddess (in both good and bad ways) that she says she is. And it is amusing to imagine Serena and Ivo as an important political couple, given how volatile they are. I see some future wit remarking that one man's Caroline Lamb is another man's Serena Rotherham.

Delightful, well-written fluff. Just the thing to escape for a bit. Still, Heyer always informs her audience and we never lose from reading her prose on manners, couture, architecture, geography and more.

A bit of the Grand Sophy, in that Serena is a strong, capable woman. This one comes with a twist...or two or three. Good, but not the best of the best.