The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't have a shelf for Romance, but I'm thinking perhaps I ought to make one. I'm such a bad boy for ignoring such a huge genre.

Yes. That's right. I just read Romance. I'm challenging myself.

But, to be honest and fair, this is really more of an offshoot of the old Regency Romances and full of the whole comedy of errors that we all know and love. Too good to be true? Rich grandfathers, viciously maligned cousins, onerous duties, mystery, theft, and yes, of course, Marriage.

Marriage is what brings us here today. :)

No, no I certainly cannot, she says, I must have more in my life. I must have ADVENTURE!

Oh goodness. Goodness, goodness, goodness... she has adventure, all right, and in true heavy-handed domino fashion, the most outrageous of fortunes follow her around, and to today's sensibilities, I'm almost over-willing to say that she's TSTL, but no! This is Romance, and it slowly dawns on me that Georgette Heyer is Playing With Us.

I admit, I should have seen it earlier. That this is a comedy and it's light-hearted and most especially, it's very, very aware of itself, the conventions of all Regency Romance, and all the popular fiction of the day. The 30's obviously needed a some humor, and this definitely fit the bill, never going over the top and always holding true to the sense of mystery, miscommunication, happy outcomes, and, of course, Romance.

If all Romance is like this or Pride and Prejudice, then I'm almost certain that I'm grossly misjudged the entire genre, and it looks like I'm going to have to ask for more goodies like this. :)

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