Georgette Heyer

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    One of the most successful romance novelists of the 20th century, Georgette Heyer‍'‍s books were famous for her intelligent comedy, the genuine sweetness of her romances and her meticulous research on the Regency period. She also wrote a few detective novels here and there, but these aren't nearly as well-known, which is a shame.

    Heyer's heroes and heroines (occasionally dubbed Heyeroes and Heyeroines) tended to come in two types each:

    Hero #1: Tall, usually dark, and definitely handsome. Almost always has a past. While highly unlikely to actually mistreat the heroine, they're not above scaring her into submission (however, as they're often dealing with Heroine #1, it's unlikely to work).

    Hero #2: This is the consummate gentleman, who invariably comes up with the perfect response to any situation. Their usual role is to provide the heroine with an escape from any difficulties, whereas Hero #1 is frequently the cause of those difficulties.

    Heroine #1: A lively young woman. She naturally gets herself into many a social scrape, from which the hero must rescue her, and either bounces back or feels humiliated deep down inside that he saw her in such a state.

    Heroine #2: Overlooked and ignored, she may seem quiet. However, once the hero talks to her, or needs help, Heroine #2 comes into her own and reveals Hidden Depths.

    Heyer was not above mixing and matching types, as well as subverting the expectations of her readers. In Sylvester, for example, the eponymous hero appears to be a Hero #1, whereas he's actually a Hero #2 (he merely has an unfortunate pair of eyebrows).

    Georgette Heyer provides examples of the following tropes:

    Heyer used a lot of tropes in various ways, so listing them by novel seems the best way to go.

    Present in Most Heyers

    • Asshole Victim: Always present in her whodunnits.
    • Author Appeal Expect at least one kiss to be described as "crushing".
    • Deadpan Snarker -- Hero #1 almost certainly; frequently Hero #2 as well. Less common but far from unknown among the heroines; it may come up as part of Heroine #2's Hidden Depths.

    A Blunt Instrument

    April Lady

    Arabella

    Bath Tangle

    Beauvallet

    Behold, Here's Poison (detective novel)

    The Black Moth

    Black Sheep

    Charity Girl


    A Civil Contract

    The Conquerer

    The Convenient Marriage

    The Corinthian

    Cotillion

    • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted.
    • Le Beau Geste: Parodied: Camille makes extravagant proclamations of what he would do to save Olivia, but is surprised when practical Freddy suggests simply eloping with her. Also played subtly straight with Freddy submitting to a day of sightseeing with Kitty.
    • Converting for Love: It's mentioned in passing that Olivia will probably have to become a Catholic to marry Camille.
    • Genius Ditz: Freddy.
    • Hands-On Approach: Freddy and Kitty dancing.
    • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Freddy tries to do this for Kitty, despite genuine reservations about Jack beyond simple jealousy.
    • Kick the Dog: Jack blackmails Camille and insults Freddy.
    • Loving a Shadow: Kitty's realisation that she only ever loved her childhood hero, not Jack himself.
    • Masquerade Ball: Kitty has a miserable time at one of these until Freddy rescues her.
    • Operation: Jealousy: Kitty tries one of these on Jack.
    • Poirot Speak: Camille.
    • Reformed Rakes: Subverted: not only is Jack not planning to reform for Kitty's sake, he's actively trying to seduce a friend of hers while courting her.
    • Runaway Fiance: Sort of: Kitty is running away from the possibility of being forced into an engagement to please her guardian, before coming up with a better plan.
    • Secret Relationship: Freddy and Kitty pretend to have one of these.
    • "Shut Up" Kiss
    • Wrong Guy First

    Cousin Kate

    Detection Unlimited {detective story, duh.)

    There are some who may believe that this book is about them. They are, in fact, mistaken.

    Devil's Cub

    False Colours

    Faro's Daughter

    The Foundling

    Frederica

    Friday's Child

    • Alpha Bitch: Isabella could be, but most of her unpleasant moments are also her most sympathetic.
    • Beta Couple: George and Isabella, Gil and Ferdy.
    • The Bro Code: Essentially the reason why Sherry throws a fit at the idea of George and Hero having an affair - that, and he's in love with Hero, of course.
    • Byronic Hero: Invoked and parodied - George would love to be this.
    • Cloudcuckoolander: Hero, Ferdy.
    • Coming of Age Story: Sherry, Hero to an extent.
    • Defrosting Ice Queen: Isabella.
    • Friendless Background: Hero seems to have only had two friends in her life prior to marrying Sherry, one of whom was him, the other being Isabella, and neither of them seem to have paid her much attention.
    • Kick the Dog: Revesby, first when he rejects his discarded, pregnant mistress and second when he arranges for Hero to get into debt.
    • Lovable Coward: Ferdy, who Sherry can't even stay angry when he finds out Ferdy hid his wife from him for weeks because Ferdy is so shamelessly trying to placate him.
    • Marry for Love: Isabella eventually cracks and admits that this is what she wants.
    • Masquerade Ball: Hero gets into trouble at one of these as a result of Sherry ditching her.
    • Meet Cute: While not a first meeting, Sherry accidentally comes across Hero crying on a wall and proposes marriage.
    • Reformed Rakes: Part of Sherry's Character Development.
    • Relationship Upgrade: Sherry elopes with Hero in the first few chapters.
    • Shrinking Violet: Hero.
    • Tsundere: Isabella.
    • Victorious Childhood Friend: Hero.

    The Grand Sophy

    • Beta Couple: Celia and Charlbury, among others.
    • Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends
    • The Chessmaster: Sophy, of course.
    • Licked by the Dog: Everyone thinks Charles is a domestic tyrant, but Sophy knows better...because every animal in the novel loves and trusts him, of course!
    • Locked in a Room: Subverted: Eugenia and Augustus are locked in a wood, but emerge only extremely annoyed.
    • Love At First Sight: Parodied with Celia and Augustus.
    • Only a Flesh Wound: Sophy shoots a friend in the arm with only the noblest of intentions.
    • Pair the Spares
    • Poirot Speak: Sancia.
    • Slap Slap Kiss: Sophy and Charles.
      • The last dialogue in the book is Charles refusing to cooperate with another of her schemes. Sophy exaggerates, saying it's proof that he doesn't love her (her phrasing makes plain that she isn't serious), and he, between kisses, agrees that he dislikes her "excessively." Followed by more kissing....
    • Triang Relations: Sophy/Charles/Eugenia, Celia/Augustus/Charlbury.
    • Wrong Guy First: Celia and Augustus.

    The Great Roxhythe

    An Infamous Army

    Lady of Quality

    The Masqueraders

    My Lord John

    The Nonesuch

    Penhallow

    Pistols For Two

    • Accidental Marriage: In "Hazard", the hero is so drunk when he wins the card game that he and the heroine are halfway to Gretna Green when he wakes up the next morning.
    • Arranged Marriage: The hero of "Hazard" is about to go through with one of these; luckily for him, he has a Runaway Fiance.
    • Lost Him in a Card Game: "Hazard".
    • Platonic Life Partners: Annabella and Tom from "Full Moon", who are very fond of each other and plan to elope only because Annabella is so horrified at the idea of marrying an old man.
    • Repetitive Name: Carlington Carlington in "Hazard".
    • Right in Front of Me: Annabella and Tom complain bitterly to a friendly stranger about the "horrid old friend" of Annabella's father whom she's expected to marry. Neither of them have ever met him, leading to predictable results.

    Powder and Patch

    The Quiet Gentleman

    Regency Buck

    • Actually, That's My Assistant: Judith chats with a pleasant gentleman at one party, telling him she's heard a lot about Beau Brummell, the epitome of style, but what she's seen of the man doesn't impress her. She hasn't yet been told that Brummell is quietly elegant, not flashy like the fellow she mistook for him. Luckily, he's amused rather than offended and they become good friends.
    • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Judith really does not get on with Worth for about half the book.
    • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Worth, who is busy being an arse to Judith's face while behind her back protecting her from fortune-hunters and her brother from murderers.
    • Meet Cute
    • Reverse Psychology: How Worth gets Judith to take the house he wants in Brighton.
    • Slap Slap Kiss

    The Reluctant Widow

    Royal Escape

    Simon the Coldheart

    The Spanish Bride

    Sprig Muslin

    • Annoying Younger Sibling: Hester's brother, despite being older, fulfills this trope; Hildebrand at one point pretends to be this to Amanda and Gareth.
    • Betty and Veronica: Subverted: Amanda may be far more beautiful and exciting than Hester, but Gareth has no romantic interest in her whatsoever.
    • Blatant Lies: Amanda.
    • Celibate Hero: Gareth.
    • Christmas Cake: Hester.
    • The First Cut Is the Deepest: Hester's fears about Gareth.
    • First Girl Wins: Subverted.
    • Friendless Background: Hester, who isn't close to anyone but Gareth, and not that close to Gareth when the book begins.
    • I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship: Hester's main anxiety about rejecting Gareth's first proposal.
    • Mistaken for Cheating: Hester's family are shocked that Gareth would bring his supposed mistress to their house.
    • Nobody Thinks It Will Work: Gareth and Hester.
    • Parental Marriage Veto: Amanda's grandfather refuses his consent to her marriage to Neil.
    • Sarcastic Confession: Gareth: "Yes, I have kidnapped this young lady and am keeping her with me against her will." Amanda is furious that he would abuse the truth this way, instead of lying fluently like she does.
    • Shrinking Violet: Hester.
    • The Tale: Amanda spins about a dozen of these throughout the novel.
    • True Companions: Gareth, Hester, Amanda and Hildebrand. Neil would probably have been adopted one way or another had the book been longer.
      • Probably? Another fellow says something stupid and intrusive, and Gareth requests that Neil toss the idiot out, preferably onto a garbage heap. Neil's response is, "With the greatest of pleasure!" He's been adopted, all right.

    Sylvester

    The Talisman Ring

    • Arranged Marriage: Tristram and Eustacie. Quickly dropped when they each find someone more to their taste. It doesn't hurt that Ludovic, once his name is cleared, is heir to the Lavenham lordship and thus has the authority to overrule Eustacie's arranged marriage (and marry her himself)..
    • Clear My Name: Ludovic.
    • Great Way to Go: Old Lord Lavenham's dying words are a "gross" insult directed at the doctor attending his deathbed. His great-nephews are highly amused to hear this, one of them saying "how right, how fitting" it was for the old man's personality.
    • Hoist by Her Own Petard: Sarah, asked in front of several witnesses why she ventured outdoors in the middle of the night, tries to embarrass Tristram (as well as concealing her true reason) by hinting she went out for a flirtation with him. "Miss Thane found that she had underrated her opponent." Tristram not only immediately agrees that she came to meet him, but embarrasses her by going on to state that they're "deeply in love." (Well, they are, but at the moment he's saying that just for the amusement of seeing her outraged reaction.) Hilariously, her brother is completely unfazed and mildly scolds, "You've been flirting again."
    • Improbable Aiming Skills: Ludovic's are renowned. At one point, a Mook exclaims in horror that Ludovic must have shot out the light, because no one else could have managed such a shot. Tristram, the actual shooter in this case, murmurs, "Oh, could they not?"
    • It's All About Me: Eustacie doesn't like Tristram because he has the discourtesy to point out when her self-centered attitude is unrealistic. She fantasizes that if she'd been taken to the guillotine, her youth and beauty (and the white dress she imagines herself wearing) would've made even the revolutionary mob feel sorry for her. To her mind, it's very callous of Tristram to say he'd feel sorry for anyone, not just her, about to be guillotined.
    • MacGuffin: The title ring. It's a family heirloom, and Ludovic treasures it, but unimpressive in appearance, as Eustacie comments. Its greatest importance is that, as Tristram puts it, the man Ludovic's accused of killing was murdered "by someone who wanted the talisman ring and only that." So the murderer will have kept the ring — find whoever's got it, and....
    • Snark-to-Snark Combat: Tristram and Sarah needle each other a lot; it's the closest they get to physical slapping in their Slap Slap Kiss (aside from a few threats of boxing ears). She says that at thirty-one, he's reached middle age (she's twenty-eight); he, when she pretends to faint, says they should throw cold water on her.

    "Middle—Has anyone ever boxed your ears, Miss Thane? ... You have been undeservedly fortunate...."

    • Title Drop: It being the MacGuffin, people mention the talisman ring a lot.

    The Toll-Gate

    • Altar the Speed: John and Nell are ... unexpectedly ... married by Sir Peter's bedside because he's decided he wants it done before he dies. Nell expresses qualms, actually saying John is being forced into it. John replies that he doesn't even need to be persuaded, but he will hold off if she really doesn't want to do it now.
    • Historical In-Joke
    • Stranger in a Familiar Land

    These Old Shades

    The Unfinished Clue (detective story)

    The Unknown Ajax

    Venetia

    Why Shoot A Butler? (detective story)

    • Amateur Sleuth: Frank Amberley - the person who solves the mystery - is a barrister, although it's noted in the story that he has some experience rounding up major criminals, having helped the police at least once.
    • Crazy Prepared: When the Big Bad tries to get away via a motorboat, Frank just happens to have a motorboat of his own ready. Justified in that he'd done some research during the previous day, and figured that would happen.
    • Genius Ditz: Frank's aunt Marion is often referred to as having a "vague" manner ... but it turns out she's figured out what's going on. She lets him do all the sleuthing anyway.
    • Police Are Useless: Averted. the police are just at sea because there are no clues to go on, and Amberley has quite a few of them... not that he tells the police most of them.
    • Slap Slap Kiss: It doesn't help that Frank is something of a Troll throughout the whole book, and not just to the girl.
    • Smug Snake: Frank Amberley is this, making him something of a Designated Hero.
    • Title Drop: In the second chapter, no less!

    …Oh, and Happily Ever After usually comes in somewhere... unless it's Penhallow.

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