This is just one way it differs from Heyer's usual Regency era tales, another being that it's about a hero traveling into enemy territory to claim his love. Though usually it is the bad guy (often played by Basil Rathbone) who shows off like that, not the hero. He's a master at using deception and charm to lull his opponents into complacency and then seizing on whatever opportunities present themselves. But she does not expect her ship to be taken by him, Nor does she expect to be kidnapped by him and taken abord his ship the Venture. The scene where she defies the villain at the hunting lodge, she fairly crackles with dignity and courage.

Still, there were good characterizations, (I will admit to laughing at the greedy, but totally honest about it, aunt), and the swashbuckling was great. Then most of the story is how he gets a fake identity, travels to Spain, gets captured, escapes, and what he does when he finds Dominique.

Audible is a seller and producer of spoken audio entertainment, information, and educational programming on the Internet. Kratovo, where Georgette lived from 1928 to 1930 and where she wrote her sixth historical novel, Beauvallet. e., not 21st-century-modern-fiesty but rebellious in ways a woman might be in that era--at least to my romance-educated eyes! I have even read a few random pages from Devil's Cub (one of my favorite Heyer's books) to check if I am not exaggerating. One night they to the local cinema in Kratovo, not to see a movie, but instead to see it burn down after the owner, having insured the building for a handsome sum, announced to the town that he would set it on fire and invited everyone to come and watch.

Mad Nicholas' to his friends, 'Scourge of Spain' to the enemy, Sir Nicholas Beauvallet has never been known to resist a challenge. I kept plodding along, waiting for that catch behind the breastbone, the moment when the narrative jolts to life and drags you along for the ride.The first Georgette Heyer novel I have read which was not set either in the Regency or Georgian periods, Beauvallet is a swashbuckling Elizabethan adventure, and provided me a few hours of lighthearted reading. Dominica is spirited, fiesty and intelligent, quick-witted and interesting - it is not hard to see why Beauvallet would fall for her so quickly. Her first novel, The Black Moth, published in 1921, was written at the age of seventeen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. This certainly wasn't my favourite Heyer novel so far, given the hero's grabby hands and ego, but at least the heroine was a match for him in many ways, and it is a fun set up. Living in Macedonia may have meant depending on Ronald more than usual for when the book came out she inscribed his copy of Beauvallet with an appropriate acknowledgment: ‘”To Wonaldy-pet, Our joint effort”‘ and signed herself ‘George’ – a name reserved for use by only her closest friends and relatives.

Dialogues were funny as usual, secondary characters quirky, the basic plot rather simple but nonetheless effective. Well worth a read, especially for Georgette Heyer fans or readers interested in the Elizabethan Age. She had an adventurous spirit in those early years of her marriage which is reflected in the novel she wrote in Kratovo. The dashing reckless privateer Nicholas Beauvallet has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth the First for his daring adventures for England! Reading Beauvallet is a bit like watching Blackadder the Second for me, from references to men's plate-sized ruffs to sneaky asides about Raleigh and here and there a "beshrew me!As I commented in the GH group, she would have been truly terrifying and efficient; instead, her son, Don Diego, is merely contemptible and inept. The final third of the book is the best when the pace picks up and there are plenty of threats and escapes. Later, I can easily picture Nick, in his Chevalier du Guise persona, chatting with the king of Spain. It drags a little in places and the language can slow the story down a bit but this doesn't spoil it.