skygiants

OH MAN okay let me see:

#5: "LOOK, I'M SORRY I STOLE YOUR EYEBROWS FOR MY NOVEL!" The premise of Sylvester. Which says it all right there.

#4: "CROSS-DRESSING LEADS TO COMPLICATED HIJINKS!" My favorite complication pops up in The Corinthian, which features a glorious combination of "the only way to fix this problem is for you to FAKE ELOPE with me!" AND "whoops, no, really, I'm not actually a dude!"

#3: "DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT LOVE RIGHT NOW! YOU HAVE TO HOLD THIS DUCKLING INSTEAD!" Basically the best part of The Grand Sophy.

#2: "THIS IS A VERY INCONVIENT ABDUCTION!" Best in Sylvester, where Phoebe and her BFF get carried off in a boat because their captors have no idea how to take care of a small child!

#1: "LET'S STICK ALL THE CHARACTERS IN AN INN TOGETHER UNTIL THEY BECOME BFF!" This adorable trope is one of my favorite things about Heyer and is put to best use in Sprig Muslin, where the young girl, her would-be rescuer, and her abductor all bond so much that by the time the end of the book comes around they're calling him Uncle Gary!


I am kind of surprised that I could not get tropes from either The Unknown Ajax or Cotillion on this list, which are some of my favorites! But though I think they're both really good, they are not such fonts of DETERMINED WACKINESS as many of her other novels.