This was my 8th Heyer read and I'm sorry to say that it's my least favourite thus far. 
 In this case, I went into the book expecting to read Horatia and Rule's story as they go from a marriage of convenience to a real marriage. Instead, you don't really get to see all that much of Horatia and Rule, especially in the first half of the book, as the story is mostly told through the conversations taking place between side characters. 
 Furthermore, as soon as the marriage has actually taken place, Horatia's delightful character presented in the first chapter morphs into a very unlikeable spoilt brat - she's spending huge amounts of her husband's money on frivolities, gambling away yet more of his money at the card tables, and if he so much as hints that he would appreciate she act in a particular manner, she obstinately does everything in her power to act in the opposite manner. She came across as a foolish child and I came to dislike her immensely. Rule didn't appeal to me much either; I never felt like we got to know the real him because he hid behind games and lazy smiles. 
 Even when you get to the second half and you start to see more of Horatia and Rule allowing you to start to understand the two of them a little more, things didn't pick up much. Horatia's suddenly in love with Rule, and I didn't understand why because no attention had been given to the growth of their relationship. Moreover, the second half of the story is dominated by Horatia's brother Pel and though he was an entertaining character, he was a bit lourd. I'd quite had enough of his antics by the end of it all. 
 Heyer's fabulous style was the only saving grace here, and it couldn't save everything. Oh well, it won't put me off trying again with another novel at a later date.