Rating: 
Summary: Possibly the best Heyer!
Review: I'm afraid bookjunkie said everything so perfectly and eloquently I have very little to add and yet I must add my voice to those who claim this as their favorite Heyer. In Frederica, you have an exquisite heroine - intelligent, humorous, well-looking but not a diamond, kind, and above all totally believable as a woman who could turn the world of an accomplished, arrogant, self-centered rake upside down. Heyer manages beautifully to make our hero, Alverstoke, all those things and yet absolutely marvelous at the same time. As usual, Heyer's secondary characters are perfection - interesting and amusing and so believable you feel she must know these people. This book is a must read for any regency fan - it is one of the best! An added bonus is that it hardly matters how much you pay for it - I don't think I could ever get tired of reading this book; I probably re-read Frederica twice a year: it never loses it's charm.
Rating:
Summary: Regency Romance at It's Best!!!
Review: If you like Regency Romance, you'll love Georgette Heyer. She sure is the creator of the genre and an inspiration for all those who followed. All her books are a joy to read and this one is no exception.It has all the Heyer ingredients. A really nice heroine with a funny and lovable family and a titled hero that has vowed never to marry. The dialog is witty and fun plays an important part in both the dialog and the plot. This book together with Arabella and The Talisman Ring are among my Heyer favorites.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Heyer
Review: Like the reader from Seoul, I began reading Georgette Heyer around age 13. I quickly discovered Frederica, and in fact, tried to use a passage from the book for an elocution contest (unsuccessfully). What is it about this book that stays with you over the ages? I believe it is not just Georgette Heyer's wit, sparkling dialogue, careful historical research (despite the occasional error), or her lively characters. Somehow this book transcends even her usual output. Both the hero and heroine are older and more mature, with Frederica believing that she is fit only to be a chaperone. The Marquess is bored, cynical, and shows more affection for his secretary than for any member of his family. And of course, he values his horses above them all, as famously said by his sister. While his intentions for taking up Frederica and her family are hardly benevolent, his continued interaction with her and her irrepressible younger brothers Felix and Jessamy gradually humanize him. In that sense, this is the Heyer book closest in spirit to Pride and Prejudice, my all-time favorite. Perhaps that is why I love them both. There is a thrilling chase after a balloon which results in near-tragedy, the usual minor characters who act in ways designed to exasperate the hero and heroine, and two sub-plots with two other couples falling in love during the book. The latter half of the book takes place with Frederica very preoccupied with family concerns. If you want a book full of drama and chases, this might disappoint you. However, this is the very part which shows me how much Alverstoke has changed. The part about the pork jelly is priceless, but I will leave it to the reader to find that out. In conclusion, if you like the mature Georgette Heyer with the older hero and heroine, this is probably going to become one of your favorites.
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