Lucifer's Champion

Fleeing from her predatory cousin after the death of her father puts him in control of her childhood home, Vanessa Tremaine encounters the notorious Duke of Lyndhurst when their coaches collide on the road to London. Her misfortunes continue when she arrives in the great metropolis, only to find that the godmother with whom she had hoped to find refuge is not willing to take her in, given her brief association with Lyndhurst. Known as 'Lucifer' for his many unworthy deeds, including the kidnapping of a number of young women, the duke unexpectedly steps in to help, making Vanessa his ward, and putting her in the care of his married sister. As our heroine experiences her first London season, she inevitably falls in love with her rescuer, show more only to believe that he has his eyes on another. Lyndhurst, in the meantime, believes himself unworthy of this innocent that had fallen into his hands...

Published in 1989, under the pseudonym of "Juliet Blyth," Lucifer's Champion is the third novel I have read from author Stella Riley, following upon her The Parfit Knight and The Mésalliance. Much like the latter book, I found it to be heavily influenced by Georgette Heyer's work. Specifically, The Black Moth, These Old Shades, and to a lesser extent, The Devil's Cub. Francis "Lucifer" Courtenay, Duke of Lyndhurst, is clearly a reworking of Tracy "Devil" Belmanoir, Duke of Andover from The Black Moth, and Justin "Satanus" Alastair, Duke of Avon from These Old Shades. The physical description of Lyndhurst and Andover is markedly similar, and their sartorial choices are also alike. The history of kidnapping women is something all three characters share - Avon himself was influenced by Heyer's earlier creation, Andover - and all three have devilish nicknames, as a result. The narrative here, in which the duke takes in a beautiful innocent, as part of a larger effort to be revenged upon his enemies, and falls in love with her, mirrors that in These Old Shades, while the scene in which Vanessa dines with Lyndhurst at the wayside inn suggested a similar episode in The Devil's Cub. Some of the dialogue between Vanessa and Lyndhurst here even duplicates that between Mary and the Duke of Andover, in Heyer's book!

I have no real problem with the idea of authors reworking Heyer's stories, although These Old Shades is not a book I admire, and I understand that Lucifer's Champion is one of Riley's earlier titles. Apparently it was not initially intended for the public, and was written as a kind of pre-internet fan-fiction - an homage to Heyer, whose family and estate gave permission for its publication, after reading through it. Given that this is so, the copious similarities cannot really be objected to, although they do make the book feel formulaic for those readers already familiar with Heyer's work. The story itself, much like that upon which it is based, does not appeal to me, and I find myself at a loss to understand Vanessa's willingness to overlook her duke's past behavior, given that she herself was fleeing from a sexual predator when she met him. I gave this one more star than I did These Old Shades, mostly because I think Riley did a better job of trying to address a possible change of heart in her devilish duke, although I still wasn't entirely convinced.

Riley does better work when she tells her own story, as in The Parfit Knight, and I do enjoy her writing style. Perhaps I will give her English Civil War story, A Splendid Defiance, a try. show less

After her father dies and his home is left to a mercenary cousin, Vanessa flees to stay with her godmother in London. But along the way, a carriage-crash drops her into the lap of a notorious Duke of Lyndhurst. So notorious is he, in fact, that he is widely known as "Lucifer." Surprising himself, he offers to make her his ward--and she, having no where else to turn, accepts. But plots of love and money interfere with their burgeoning relationship. Can Vanessa teach "Lucifer" the value of steady, monogamous love?

Heh, it's very silly and id-riffic--Vanessa has delightful red ringlets and is immediately loved by everyone (except the eeevil antagonists), Lyndhurst is constantly drawling and raising one eyebrow. But Blyth spends time on show more their relationship, so that the progression of their banter into mutual trust and affection seems plausible. I found "Lucifer" laughably melodramatic (although everyone else takes him very seriously), but I liked Vanessa, who spends time visiting the Duke's tenants and helping friends with their love lives. She's the rare heroine who is actually *shown* to be friendly and generous.

My one big problem with this book (SPOILERS AHEAD) is that from the very start, Vanessa knows that "Lucifer" has made a practice of abducting women. In fact, a big plot point is that two years before, he'd forcibly abducted a woman he loved, and her fiancee barely "saved her" in time. And Vanesssa is totally fine with this! But then Vanessa herself is kidnapped and threatened with rape. The terror Lyndhurst feels while he's chasing after the kidnapper makes him realize how wrong he'd been two years ago. And so he makes a heartfelt apology to...the fiancee. Not the woman he abducted, oh no. Just the dude. And everyone is very proud of him for doing this! Scary stuff, and it made it very hard for me to root for Lyndhurst's romantic endevours. show less