Book Review: The Alastair Trilogy by Georgette Heyer

These Old Shades-Book Description:

Set in the Georgian period, about 20 years before the Regency, These Old Shades is considered to be the book that launched Heyer's career. It features two of Heyer's most memorable characters: Justin Alastair, the Duke of Avon, and Leonie, whom he rescues from a life of ignomy and comes to love and marry.

The Duke is known for his coldness of manner, his remarkable omniscience, and his debauched lifestyle. Late one evening, he is accosted by a young person dressed in ragged boy's clothing running away from a brutal rustic guardian. The Duke buys "Leon" and makes the child his page. "Leon" is in fact Leonie, and she serves the Duke with deep devotion. When he uncovers the true story of her birth, he wreaks an unforgettable revenge on her sinister father in a chilling scene of public humiliation.

Devil's Cub-Book Description:
Devil's Cub is one of Georgette Heyer's most famous and memorable novels, featuring a dashing and wild young nobleman and the gently bred young lady in whom he finally meets his match?

Like father, like son?
Dominic Alistair, Marquis of Vidal and fiery son of the notorious Duke of Avon, has established a rakish reputation that rivals his father's, living a life of excess and indulgence. Banished to the Continent after wounding his opponent in a duel, Vidal schemes to abduct the silly aristocrat bent on seducing him into marriage and make her his mistress instead. In his rush, however, he seems to have taken the wrong woman?

A young lady of remarkable fortitude?
Determined to save her sister from ruin, virtuous Mary Challoner intercepts the Marquis's advances and throws herself into his path, hoping Vidal will release her upon realizing his error. But as the two become irrevocably entangled, Mary's reputation and future lie in the hands of a devilish rake, who finds her more fascinating every day.
Infamous Army: A Novel of Wellington, Waterloo, Love and War -Book Description:

IN THE SUMMER OF 1815, with Napolean Bonaparte marching down from the north, Brussels is a whirlwind of parties, balls and soirees. In the swirling social scene surrounding the Duke of Wellington and his noble aides de camp, no one attracts more attention than the beautiful, outrageous young widow Lady Barbara Childe. On their first meeting, dashing Colonel Charles Audley proposes to her, but even their betrothal doesn't calm her wild behavior. Finally, with the Battle of Waterloo raging just miles away, civilians fleeing and the wounded pouring back into the town, Lady Barbara discovers where her heart really lies, and like a true noblewoman, she rises to the occasion, and to the demands of love, life and war...

My thoughts:
I recently read the Alastair Trilogy by Georgette Heyer. I bought These Old Shades and Devil's Cub for my Kindle and discovered later that there was a third book, Infamous Army: A Novel of Wellington, Waterloo, Love and War . Since I have a thing for series, I had to read them all!

I found These Old Shades to be a slower Heyer read. It took awhile to for the action to happen. I think this had a lot to do with being set in the Georgian period.  Once the plot was all laid out then the action surfaced it was an enjoyable read.

Devil's Cub is Heyer at her finest! Filled with her classic witty dialogue, this story starts off with a bang and just keeps going. This was a hard book to put down.

Infamous Army: A Novel of Wellington, Waterloo, Love and War was a very different Heyer novel. I would definitely classify this as a historical novel. At first it took me a while to figure out how Lady Barbara Childe, the heroine, fit into the Alastair family. Then when I got to the description of the actual battle of Waterloo my brain was spinning. So it sounds like I hated it, right? Actually, no. When I reached the final page I felt perfectly satisfied with the story.
Infamous Army: A Novel of Wellington, Waterloo, Love and War is a more meatier novel that shows the folly of deceit, the beauty of forgiveness, and survival of the human spirit in a time of war.