A review by readingwithopinions
April Lady by Georgette Heyer

2.0

I'm normally a huge fan of Georgette Heyer, but this book was incredibly disappointing. Though the main conflict of the book should have been between the two main characters, Nell and Cardross, the bulk of the book was focused on the most annoying character I've ever read in a Heyer novel, Cardross' younger sister Letty. Heyer has done the "annoying-yet-charming" trope in many of her other novels (ex: Phoebe in Sylvester, Pen in The Corinthian, etc.), but I have never before read a character that was as annoying as Letty, yet was supposed to be likable. The Earl's complete absence in the middle of the book made it impossible to develop the relationship between him and Nell, which made the reconciliation at the end seem incredibly forced. By far my least favorite from this author. At least the writing style, as always, was extremely witty and charming, which is the only reason this book isn't lower than two stars.

Why in God's name did the Earl allow Letty and Jeremy to get engaged at the end of the book? We'd spent the whole book being told that Letty was too immature for marriage, and then she proves it definitively by stealing a family heirloom and running away to force her "fiance" to marry her. And then Cardross allows them to get married??!?! WHY. Moreover, the book provided absolutely no reason for Nell and Cardross to be in love with each other. We don't get to see them fall in love at ALL, we're just told that they did during the season previous. All we get is Nell acting nervous around Cardross because money, and him being a dick. Ugh I hate it.