As the eldest of eight siblings, Arabella knows that the fortunes of her brothers and sisters are riding on her ability to make a good match during her London season. While traveling from her home in Yorkshire, her carriage breaks down and she takes shelter in the hunting lodge of Mr. Beaumarais, the Nonpareil of the ton. When she overhears Beaumarais talking about how she's obviously just another young fortune hunter throwing herself at him Arabella pretends that she's an heiress to try and get her own back. Beaumarais is instead amused and decides to make Arabella the toast of the season. What he doesn't expect is to fall for Arabella's unpretentious charms. As a notorious flirt Beaumarais finds himself going to all lengths to prove the veracity of his intentions to Arabella and ends up protecting an urchin, a stray dog, and, eventually, Arabella's reckless younger brother all in his quest to win her heart.

Georgette Heyer delivers a pitch perfect novel here. I adored Arabella and Beaumarais and their charming romance had me delighted from start to finish. I could have done with a little less of Arabella's younger brother's hijinks, mostly because I found him digging himself further and further into gambling debt quite stressful. But other than that quibble, I'd highly recommend this novel as a great starting point if you've never tried Heyer before. ( )

although I usually love this era of book, I'm not a big fan of girlie girl romance. I found myself skimming quite a bit.... ( )

3.5 ( )

Although Arabella's Carriage break-down premise went on way too long and her brother got truly boring,

there were entertaining parts once Beaumaris opened up while staying remotely cool. ( )

Arabella is the oldest daughter of an impoverished country parson. She is headed to London to stay with her godmother and meets Robert Beaumaris. She lets herself be provoked by him and what she says begins a charade that is very entertaining.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved Arabella's character and I really liked Roberts as well. I liked that the romance evolved over time. One complaint I have with Georgette Heyer regency books is the romance often feels a little icky with the man being quite a bit older and treating the woman like a child. That was not the case in this book which I was very happy about.

I loved the relationship between Robert and his dog Ulysses. I found it very humorous. I also really enjoyed the scene with the chimney boy.
There was quite a bit of humor in this book. Most of the book is from Arabella's POV and some is from Roberts but there is also a bit from Arabella's brother Bertram. I didn't enjoy those parts as much.
There is some blasphemy and some thoughts of suicide by one character, other than that it is a clean read.
I would recommend this book as a very enjoyable read. ( )

I liked Heyer's other books better. This one was really slow to start, but was ok once it got going. My favourite thing about this book was the dialog 'between' Beaumaris and his dog. Quite funny. ( )

To Arabella Tallant, the eldest daughter of a penniless country clergyman, the invitation to stay with her London godmother was like the key to heaven, for in addition to living in the glamorous city, Arabella might even find a suitable husband there. Armed with beauty, virtue and a benevolent godmother, the impetuous but impoverished Arabella embarked on her first London season with her mother's wish in mind: snare a rich husband.

On her way to London Arabella's carriage breaks down outside the hunting lodge of the wealthy and socially prominent Robert Beaumaris, fate cast her in his path. Arabella's only fault is impetuosity, and her pride stung when she overhears a remark of her path of arrogant host, who accused her of being another petty female after his wealth, the proud, headstrong ingenue made a most startling claim -- she was an heiress! A pretense that deeply amuses the jaded Beau. To counter her white lie, Beaumaris launches her into high society and thereby subjects her to all kinds of amorous fortune hunters in London and other embarrassments.

Suddenly Arabella found herself the talk of the ton and pursued by some of the most eligible young men of the day. But only one caught Arabella's fancy: Beaumaris, the handsome and dedicated bachelor. She should know better than to allow herself to be provoked by nonpareil Beau. But would her deceitful charade destroy her one chance for true love...? ( )

This was far from my favorite of Heyer's work -- not terrible, but a bit slow moving and I don't care for the love interest at all. I like Arabella and her naive but strong opinions. I despised Beaumarais for not confessing before running off with her in a carriage. Definitely feels like early work to me, and while it's quite decent for a romance from the 40s, I didn't find it delicious.

Advanced reader's copy of re-release provided by Edelweiss. ( )

Another amusing if not entirely unexpectedly plotted Heyer tale of London intrigue and general bemusement. ( )

The Publisher Says: Georgette Heyer had a handful of unforgettable heroines, of which Arabella is one of the most engaging.

Daughter of a modest country clergyman, Arabella Tallant is on her way to London when her carriage breaks down outside the hunting lodge of the wealthy Mr. Robert Beaumaris. Her pride stung when she overhears a remark of her host's, Arabella pretends to be an heiress, a pretense that deeply amuses the jaded Beau. To counter her white lie, Beaumaris launches her into high society and thereby subjects her to all kinds of fortune hunters and other embarrassments.

When compassionate Arabella rescues such unfortunate creatures as a mistreated chimney sweep and a mixed-breed mongrel, she foists them upon Beaumaris, who finds he rather enjoys the role of rescuer and is soon given the opportunity to prove his worth in the person of Arabella's impetuous young brother...

I CHECKED THIS BOOK OUT OF MY LOCAL LIBRARY. USE THE LIBRARY! SHOW SOME SUPPORT FOR THEIR MISSION.

My Review: There is no need to review this decades-old delight. If you have read it, you know; if you have not, I urge you to the deed, and with all possible haste; and now I address those whose lips curl at such pedestrian, nay plebeian, entertainments:

The more fool you.

Time had done more to enlarge {Arabella's godmother and patroness's} figure than her mind, and it was not many days before her young charge had discovered that under a superficial worldly wisdom there was little but a vast amount of silliness.

–and–

Whatever the cause, social success was sweet; and since Arabella was a very human girl she could not help enjoying every moment of it.

–and–

"...Not as though he was a taking brat, either!’

‘What does that signify?’ said Arabella contemptuously. ‘I wonder how taking, my lord, you or I should be had we been brought up from infancy by a drunken foster-mother, sold while still only babies to a brutal master, and forced into a hateful trade!’

( )

The star of this Regency romance is Arabella Tallant, one of eight children of a vicar without much fortune. Thankfully for Arabella, she has a well-placed godmother in London - Arabella Bridlington, after whom she was named - who offers to sponsor her for a London season, i.e., the opportunity to snag a well-placed husband. As for Lady Bridlington, she has no daughters, and welcomed the opportunity “of chaperoning a young protégée to the balls, routs, and Assemblies she herself delighted in.”

On the way to London after a carriage mishap, Arabella and her chaperone stopped and asked for succor at a posh hunting lodge as they waited for repairs. They overheard their host, the young and handsome but apparently full-of-himself Robert Beaumaris, telling his visiting friend Lord Fleetwood that he was sick of women contriving to trick him into marrying them for his fortune. Upon hearing this, Arabella decided she would pretend to be fabulously wealthy and complain about all the fortune-hunters who have plagued her.

Beaumaris, also called the Nonpareil reflecting his influence in society, was possibly wise to Arabella's deception, but he was amused by her. He decided to show her favor in London, thus assuring her popularity. Indeed, she was soon fielding marriage proposals, albeit mainly from men clearly after her money.

In the meantime, Beaumaris found he was more than just amused by Arabella in spite of his usual resistance to women, even as Arabella warmed up to him, in contrast to her initial repugnance.

The plot moves in a predictable but fun manner as the season progresses and Arabella is ever more plagued by a bad conscience over her lie.

In the course of the story we get to know the “ton,” or upper crust of society, which is consumed not at all by work but rather by gambling, parties, and shopping. Heyer also introduces reader to a lot of the “flash” argot popular at the time, and can’t resist adding a gratuitous antisemitic slur, as she often does in her books, marring an otherwise pleasant and diverting story.

Evaluation: Heyer’s books occasionally bog down, especially when it comes to the rapturous descriptions of men’s clothing. In addition, as indicated above, she can vitiate the reader’s good will because of her antisemitism. Otherwise, her stories have the (apparently timeless) appeal of the Regency period; a generally plucky female heroine and a handsome male protagonist; and a predictably happy outcome. ( )

Ehhhh. Several well- known fans and friends not so well known really think this is one of her best. But it's so slow starting out and there's so much unnecessary info at the beginning. Not only that but the major negative event upon which all the resulting action happens is related to one of my last favorite characters... and I honestly couldn't care less about the resolution of HIS issues.

But the humor and aplomb that develops at the end is really fun so that part gets 4 stars. Rounded out it's probably 3.5 stars really. ( )

Classic Heyer. A bit bogged down at the start setting up her family situation. While important for context, there were so many brothers and sisters to keep track of or care about. Most of whom are never seen again after Arabella sets off to London to find an eligible husband and help the family support the crew that will follow. Things pick up as soon as Arabella first encounters Beaumaris, the Nonpareil. From that point on, their interactions and their interactions with those around them drive a fun rom-com with Heyer's amazing attention to period detail. Brief though her appearance is, it's hard to forget the doxy named Leaky Peg.

Recommended if you like Heyer. If you don't know, this is a good one to sample. ( )

My third Heyer and not my favorite. I think I might have read too many of them back-to-back and so this one shared too many of the familiar tropes. A sweet girl accidentally makes everyone think she's an heiress. A rich man falls in love with her despite that. Fun, but not memorable. If you're trying her out for the first time, I definitely recommend The Grad Sophy. ( )

A Regency romance first published in 1949. Romance combined with humor is the signature of Georgette Heyer.

Enjoyed. ( )

Another delightful study of life and courtship in the Regency period by an author who excels in this genre. There's a lack of the usual breast-beating soap opera type of drama so typical of many Regency romances, and it's refreshing. Enjoy. ( )

A Regency romance from Georgette Heyer. ( )

Fun but so many descriptions of fashion that I wanted some illustrations to give me an idea what she was talking about. ( )

A typical Heyer, with a naive heroine who has a mind of her own; well-paced in the development of a romance. I gave 3-1/2 stars instead of 4 because I found the character Bertram (Arabella's brother) a tedious interlude. Although he was young and immature in a big city, the extent of his high-jinks often derailed the main plot. ( )

Adorable, adorable, adorable! I think Arabella is my favorite heroine of all the Georgette Heyer books I've read thus far. She is spunky and impetuous, and the way she comports herself throughout the book is refreshing! The story, too, between her and Robert Beaumaris (Again, I giggled at the name. Beaumaris? I think I preferred Ravenscar...) was unique and charming, and kept me engaged until the very end. It definitely threw me for a loop once or twice (the hero proposing marriage a little more than halfway through the book? What?), but the dialogue sparkled and Arabella as a character definitely kept me coming back for more. To be fair, I wasn't the hugest fan of the Bertram plotline, and there were moments where I felt Beaumaris was being particularly unfeeling towards the whole thing (which made it a tiny bit difficult for me to accept that he'd come around at the end), but nonetheless this is a charming and sweet story, and definitely one of my favorites. ( )

Not a favorite. Not as bad as I thought it would be near the start, but Arabella is an utter idiot on several levels, and Beaumaris is an entirely different sort of idiot (why _should_ she confide in him, when her last declaration got spread around? He may have blamed Fleetwood, but...). Bertram is also an idiot. Fleetwood and Scunthorpe are just stupid (as distinct from idiots - the idiots are at least theoretically intelligent people). In fact, I can't think of a single person I really liked in the entire book. I don't think I'll reread this, though I'm glad I did - if only for completeness. ( )

Took a little while to get into this, what with the exclamation points every few sentences! Turns out, everyone was always exclaiming! Became somewhat exhausting! But after the first few pages it either settled down, or I became acclimated to the punctuation. Nice little regency romance, well written and full of historical detail. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed Arabella by Georgette Heyer, it was the perfect light read for my busy life right now. Rather than the heroine of the piece, this time it was the male main character that raised this book up a few notches. Robert Beaumaris is one of Heyer’s most swoon-worthy heroes. His kindness, humor and intelligence put him heads and shoulders above all the other London gentlemen and his conversations with his dog, Ulysses, were my favorite part of the book.

The story is about Arabella a vicar’s daughter who is given a season in London with the objective of snaring herself a rich husband in order to help launch her brothers and sisters. Through a misunderstanding she allows herself to be taken as an heiress and soon she is besieged with men. Of course she only has eyes for Beaumaris but as she feels guilty about the lie she is living as well as having been warned off of him by her godmother, she holds herself at a distance. When Arabella’s brother comes to London and gets in trouble financially, Arabella finally turns to Beaumaris for help.

With perfect period detail, witty and engaging writing and wonderful characters, Arabella was another Georgette Heyer masterpiece. ( )

First I thought that there were so many tropes of Regency Romance in this story and then I realised that this is the source of several of them. The rescued pet, the little lie that grows beyond all recognition, the slow growing romance between the two main characters where they suddenly look up and realise that romance has blossomed despite the two leads trying to resist. Overall it's a sweet story of the daughter of an impoverished parson, Arabella and Robert Beaumaris, the most eligible man about town.

It did take me a while to get into it but once I got in I found it hard to put it down. ( )

One of Heyer's best. Full of period detail,especially of the London fashions, but also really funny. It's rare that a book makes me laugh out loud, but this one did.

The thing I like best about Heyer's characters is their lack of self-deception. In so many romance novels, there are endless variations of characters who fail to spot the obvious: namely that they love the other person and that the other person loves them.

Heyer sensibly uses other means to keep her potential lovers separated. A tall story of wealth, created on the spur of the moment to insult a rich man who is well used to women using all kinds of fake accidents and excuses to make his acquaintance, comes back to haunt Arabella when she realises that she could love this man, but will have to confess to her lack of money after the 'heiress' story has spread all around London.

The real joy of this tale lies in the fact that Mr Beaumaris spots the lie right from the start, but enjoys playing along with it.

It's Araballa's principles, a result of her upbringing in a vicarage that really draw her to Beaumaris's attention. If she believes something to be right, she will do it regardless of what society thinks. To a man who is so rich that he can ignore society himself, but also suffers from everyone always trying to imitate and flatter him, this is entertaining and a big point in her favour. ( )