Such a cute book. It's not my favorite Heyer, but I still enjoyed it.

Sir Waldo has inherited a run-down house in the country and travels there to fix it up, bringing his cousin with him. The town is thrown into tithers upon the arrival of The Nonesuch and all kinds of shenanigans arise, in true Heyer style.

Sir Waldo, the hero, was absolutely delightful and probably rates at the top of my favorite Heyer Heroes. Such a witty gentleman with a bit of a mischievous sense of humor.

The heroine was nothing to sneeze at. I couldn't quite make out her personality. She was a perfectly nice, bland governess. Her ward, though, lord have mercy, what a brat! I wanted to smack the dickens out of her.

The 'misunderstanding' cracked me up. It was such a Heyeresque twist.

A good, solid Regency comedy. ( )

Lady Wombat says:

Since Georgette Heyer is considered the mother of regency romance, and because Sourcebooks has begun republishing handsome new paperback editions of her books, I decided to try a few of her works. This one, one of her later books, features an older heroine (a governess/companion) being romanced by an older hero. But much of the energy of the novel focused on depicting (and condemning) the heroine's wayward charge, a younger, spoiled girl named Tiffany. Not one of Heyer's better novels, I'd guess... But Heyer's clearly a strong writer, one well-grounded in Regency period language and conventions. I'll have to try other of her novels before deciding whether I like her or not.

Marvelous characters. Stock melodrama but with fascinating dialogue. Definitely not a bodice ripper. Heyer does a lot of research into clothes, manners, slang and general attitudes towards life, and it shows. This book also has two love stories, both of which are likely to end happily. ( )

It now seems strange to say, but three or four months ago I had never heard of Georgette Heyer, who writes historicals, historical mysteries, and Regency romances. Then, suddenly, her name was EVERYWHERE. I saw reviews, I saw people in just about every group on LibraryThing referencing her, I saw her in bookstores, and I heard people talking about her in real life. Evidently she was this absolutely beloved author and I had no idea why I had never heard of her or read any of her work. Because of everyone who LOVES Heyer I had high expectations and was originally a bit disappointed, but changed my mind by the end of the book.

The title character of “The Nonesuch” is Sir Waldo Hawkridge, who earned his nickname by being an unparalleled sportsman. He has recently inherited an estate from a now-deceased cousin and traipses across the English countryside to a small village in Yorkshire with his younger cousin to view said estate. The arrival of two such prestigious men as The Nonesuch and his cousin Julian, Lord Lindeth cause a great deal of commotion in the town, particularly among the young ladies.

The first thing that made me think I would NOT like this book was the simpering of the ladies when they discovered that The Nonesuch was coming to their small town. Yes, simpering. No other word would describe it. “I cannot go on,” I thought, “if the rest of the book is anything like this!”

Luckily, it wasn’t. It took me until almost the midway point to get into “The Nonesuch,” but I’m glad I gave it a chance. I can definitely see why Heyer would be on the top of so many lists for a comfort read. The works are a bit reminiscent of Jane Austen, since she basically wrote Regency romances as well. They are fluffy, but not as fluffy as something like “Shopaholic” or other modern day chick lit. They are romances without sex and nudity, no gratuitous love scenes, and everyone gets what they deserve in the end.

It took me a bit, but I enjoyed my first foray into Heyer’s work, and I would definitely like to have a few of her books in reserve, ready for when I need a comfort read. ( )

Please read my review here:

http://exlibris.typepad.com/ex_libris... ( )