These Old Shades

Rating:
Summary: Georgette Heyer is a treasure!
Review: Like Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer wrote about the Regency Period..But Miss Heyer was not a contemporary of Jane's.But Georgette made you feel that she actually lived in the 19th century!..Her descriptions of everyday life of that time period are uncanny. Her romances, without implicite sex, are more romantic than any of sexy junk of today's hackers..

Rating:
Summary: A book for keeps for all Heyer fans!!!
Review: One of Heyer's best romance novels, this book is full of wit and keeps the reader's interest thorughout. Leonie is a delight and the perfect match for the arogant and aloof Duke of Avon. Rupert is outrageous and brings a zest to the whole story.

Rating:
Summary: Alright
Review: Several of my favorite authors have mentioned this book(or this author) as one of their favorites. So...even though I had never read a harlequin romance novel before and I had never heard of the author and I wasn't too into the storyline from the blurb...I figured, it couldn't hurt to try it out.
When I first started reading the book, I was somewhat dissapointed. I wasn't too into the story at the start. It didn't really catch me the way some other books do...so as the days passed by, I very gradually read a few pages here and there. Sometime in the middle of the book it started to become more interesting, and I would actually make time to read the book, but that was half because I wanted to move onto other things.
Still, the book and the characters did start to grow on me. I wanted to see what happened. By the end of the book, I was almost dissapointed that it was over. I decided it wasn't a bad book after all, and I almost gave it four stars.
However, one of the things that turned me off from the start was the use of French in the book. I guess it was supposed to add a sort of authentic feel to the characters...and make them more believable...but if you don't know French at all, you might have trouble in these parts and be annoyed, even when you miss very small dialoge because of the language barrier. This is a book written in English. When I read a book in English, I expect to understand it.
Also, I wasn't so into their love. Like some of the other reviewers, the father-daughter relationship and the age difference just didn't do it for me. Half the time I tried to imagine that he was younger than he was...but part of me wanted her to end up with one of her younger suitors...
And I guess these are very small points, but sometimes the style of the writing sort of threw me off. The author, for example, would refer to the characters (whom she talked about in 3rd person for most of the book) as "my lady" or something of the sort. It took me a while to get used to that without stopping to consider the paragraph....
Additionally...I felt like the book sort of went along at too smooth a pace for the most part...there were some exciting parts and you knew when the book was sort of at the climax...but it never really did get THAT exciting to me. Perhaps more excitement would have done the book good.....

Rating:
Summary: Dark & Menacing, But A Great Read
Review: The Duke, also known as Satanas, recues a disguised damsel in distress, thus becoming an old enemy's nemesis. A wonderful read about characters you come to care a great deal about. I would recommend this to any fan of the genre! If you like this, don't forget about the sequel about the next generation, The Devil's Cub. Another great read!

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Fun!
Review: There is little that I can add to the previews above... I agree that if this is not the best of Heyer's novels, it is very close. This is the first Heyer book that I ever read, and I am still hoping to come accross more. My mother, who introduced me to Ms Heyers work, has a book called "The Private World of Georgette Heyer" that some of you may enjoy, as well.

Rating:
Summary: The best of Georgette Heyer's style, wit and emotion.
Review: THESE OLD SHADES includes the best of Ms. Heyer's considerable style. Her flair for witty dialogue, outrageous but believable characters -- and best of all -- real emotion is outstandingly displayed in this fast read of a book. The Duke of Avon, i.e., "Satanas" is a marvelous antagonist. His subtle, "bad boy" charm and engrossing intensity draws the heroine, Leonie, and the reader. The supporting cast of THESE OLD SHADES include figures from classic farce and classic Heyer: the foppish and hilarious brother, the society-conscious sister, the vulgar and wicked villain (Comte de Saint-Vire). All these characters romp, love and exchange funny, gorgeous dialogue with perfect period detail. Most satisfying of all is that at the heart of the story is very real, very passionate characters who will go to any lengths to win each other. For a Georgette Heyer fan, this book is a delicious treat. For those about to discover Georgette Heyer, you couldn't find a better place to start

Rating:
Summary: A riveting story
Review: These Old Shades is great story and one you will find hard to put down until you finish. However I disagree with the reviewer from Bismark ND. There is a third book in this series, An Infamous Army. Dominic Alastair returns as the Duke Of Avon and Charles Audley a secondary character in Regency Buck also appears.

Rating:
Summary: The beginning of many hours of pure reading pleasure.
Review: These Old Shades was my very first venture into the world of Georgette Heyer -- and I am very glad that I took that step. While not written during the Regency period, like so many of her other books, These Old Shades captivates from the beginning. It is a story of depravity, cruelty, unutterable sadness and unkindness, love, redemption, and an absolute triumph of good over evil. It is serious and witty by turns, and always captivating, made very much so by Ms. Heyers treatment of her richly human characters. Having discovered the writing of this creative and sensitive author, the purchase of almost all of the other book written by her was the easiest thing I've ever done.

Rating:
Summary: Not a trilogy.
Review: These Old Shades, and it's sequel Devil's Cub are excellent novels, but I would like to correct the review that states that there is a third novel, The Black Moth, that belongs to this series. The Black Moth is a separate story. The Duke is called the Duke of Andover. The Duke in the Devil's Cub and These Old Shades stories is the Duke of Avon.

Rating:
Summary: Absorbing, funny, witty, and heart warming
Review: This book offers it all to those who love a true historical romance. The Duke of Avon is arrogant and stiff but displays a sense of honor and justice tempored by compassion. The story is one you will relish long after you turn the last page. I have re-read this book over the last several years whenever I want to return to a wonderful absorbing description of a past era. The Duke's family is wonderful--funny and on the edge. He manages to keep them all in line. It's a love story and an adventure story.