Saving Her Sister’s Reputation Just Might Destroy Her Own

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Publisher

Dominic Alistair, the Marquis of Vidal, has done it again… After engaging in a most dishonorable and unceremonious duel over cards, he is banished to France by his father, the Duke of Avon. His behavior of late has been more scandalous than usual and his latest transgressions coupled with his profligate behavior has caused his mother, Duchess Leonie, undue distress. Dominic, however, plans to enjoy his banishment by taking a mistress with him to France.

Mary Challoner, the older sister of Dominic latest coquette, thwarts her sister’s plan to runaway with Dominic by not informing her of Dominic’s intended time and place of departure. Mary, instead, devises her own scheme to prevent Dominic from ever pursuing such a clandestine and nefarious affair with her sister ever again.  However, there is one slight glitch in our heroine’s plan… Mary is not aware of Dominic’s intended destination to France and unfortunately for her, it is no longer her sister Sophie’s reputation that needs saving, it is her own!

This is my very first Georgette Heyer novel. Her novels seem to be a little known secret and I am so happy to finally be in “the know.” Reading this novel was a delightful and lighthearted experience for me. I especially took pleasure in Georgette Heyer’s usage of verbal irony and dramatic irony, she is quite masterful at it! In addition, I found that Georgette Heyer is similar to Jane Austen in that they both create wonderful, realistic, and comedic characters. I loved the minor characters in this book. Justin, the Duke of Avon, a former rake before he married, is proud to see his son following in his footsteps, yet he finds it quite tiresome to be saving his son’s hide and reputation all the time. Leonie, Dominic’s mother, loves that her son takes after her fiery spirit and temper, and she often seems pleased by his wicked behavior! Dominic’s Aunt Fanny is a paradox; while professing her concern about how wicked Dominic is and how something should be done to save the family’s reputation, she is all the while secretly hoping he marries her daughter because it would be a most excellent match for her (sounds like Mrs. Bennet, doesn’t it?). Uncle Rupert (one of my favorite characters) is absolutely hysterical with his all-consuming concern over his next meal and obsession with good wine.

Devil’s Cub was an exciting and entertaining adventure complete with confusion, flaring tempers, a copious amount of chasing, and many misadventures. While I would have liked the love-story between the two main characters to be focused on a little more, I understand that the action of the story and many events that took place were important and required some page time. Nevertheless, I immensely enjoyed this lively and amusing Regency tale, and I am so very happy that I finally discovered the joy of reading Georgette Heyer. I look forward to reading her many other works! Furthermore, I understand that “Devil’s Cub” is the second book in a trilogy by Georgette Heyer; I cannot wait to get my hands on the other two books!!