Devil's Cub [Mass Market Paperback]

Georgette Heyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2003

Intelligent, practical Mary Challoner knew wicked Dominic Alastair, Marquis of Vidal, wouldn't marry her sister, despite her mother's matchmaking schemes. So Mary coolly prepared to protect her sister by deceiving Vidal. But, she certainly hadn't expected the infuriated nobleman to kidnap her! Reluctantly awakening to his responsibility -- and realizing just how serious Mary was about her virtue -- Vidal postponed marriage. But after all the carefully laid wedding plots he'd dodged, Vidal had never expected to be refused by a chit! Baffled, bewitched and frustratingly tempted, Vidal swore that Mary would be his wife. Even if it was the last thing either of them ever did. . .

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The Marquis of Vidal is a bad lot a rake and seducer, reckless, heedless, and possessed of a murderous temper. He is known by friend and foe alike as the "Devil's Cub." Yet as the handsome and wealthy heir to a Dukedom, he is considered a good prospect on the marriage market. Vidal currently has his eye on the young, lovely, and unintelligent Sophia Challoner, and Sophia's greedy mother is more than happy to encourage his dubious attentions. The colorful and eccentric characters fall over each other's plots, get involved in very peculiar coincidences, engage in colorful derring-do, and generally make life difficult for each other. Narrator Michael Drew manages to distinguish one character from another without the verbal gymnastics that the plot would seem to require, allowing the listener to concentrate on the Shakespearian plot and priceless dialog. Enthusiastically recommended for libraries where romance and/or Heyer are popular. Barbara Rhodes, Northeast Texas Lib. Syst., Garland
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Review

"If you've never read Heyer's books before, prepare to be charmed. Or come rediscover her magic." -- Linda Howard

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin; Reprint edition (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373835639
• ISBN-13: 978-0373835638
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,326,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of over fifty books, Georgette Heyer is the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, making the Regency period her own. Her first novel, "The Black Moth," published in 1921, was written at the age of fifteen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. Although most famous for her historical novels, she also wrote eleven detective stories. Georgette Heyer died in 1974 at the age of seventy-one.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant part 2 of the Trilogy, May 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Devil's Cub (Hardcover)

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?

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heyer spoils you for any other Romance author, August 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Devil's Cub (Mass Market Paperback)

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!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, witty, charming, vintage Heyer!, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Devil's Cub (Hardcover)

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.