Devil's Cub

By: Georgette Heyer

Narrated by: Michael Maloney

Brought to you by Penguin.

Devil's Cub is read by Michael Maloney, who appears in Coronation Street and The Trial of Christine Keller.

Mary Challoner must protect her sister at all costs.

When she discovers that the notorious Marquis of Vidal is planning to run away with her little sister, Mary will not stand idly by.

To save Sophia's reputation without destroying her own, Mary will take her sister's place - and once the Marquis sees through her disguise, he will be humiliated and forced to return her home.

But the irresistible Marquis is a wilder rake than even Mary anticipated, and her growing feelings for him are proving an unexpected complication....

©1932 Georgette Heyer (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Georgette Heyer is second to none." (Sunday Times)

most favorite of Georgette Heyer

The Characters in this book are vastly entertaining. Michel Maloy's reading enhanced the drama so perfectly.
when I think of the plot it is typical of Heyer but this rendition and story made it hard to stop listening to.
I was Riveted

Favorite author

Several times the characters made me laugh out loud. Definitely my favorite author hands down

Fabulous performance of fabulous Regency romantic comedy

This audiobook is performed by a talented voice actor named Michael Maloney. He does an absolutely wonderful job! His performance is amazing.

Devil's Cub is a sequel to These Old Shades. The events in this novel happen 25 years after that story. The Duke of Avon is currently 65, and Duchess Leonie is around 44 years old. The Duke looks his age, but Leonie still appears young and vibrant. They are clearly devoted to each other. Their handsome son, Dominic, is 24. He is a dead shot, a "neck or nothing" horseman, an acclaimed whip, an infamous rake, never loses at cards, and can drink everyone else under the table. He gets into trouble by killing a man in a duel, and the Duke insists he must flee to the continent until the scandal dies down. Dominic agrees to go because it will keep his mother, whom he adores and measures all other women by, from worrying. But he decides to take the beautiful, willing, 18-year-old daughter of a "cit," a rich businessman, with him on the journey. Mary, the 20-year-old elder sister of Dominic's chosen mistress-to-be, is determined to foil her sister's dangerously naive scheme, which is to entrap Dom into marriage by letting him compromise her. Mary concocts a daring plan to take her sister's place and pretend to be such a coarse trollop that Dom will leave her behind in disgust and never come near her sister again.

Unfortunately, Mary goes too far, actually taunting Dom and laughing at him, pushing him into such a towering rage that he loses all common sense. He impulsively kidnaps her and takes her to France with him on his yacht, insisting she will do very well to replace her sister.

This is one of the most dramatic "first meets" I've ever read in a romance novel, and it is utterly delightful the way Dom's thoughtless act brings down on his arrogant head far more trouble than he has ever experienced in his entire, privileged life. Mary is a woman with enormous physical and moral courage who will do whatever it takes to defend her family and her own honor in a manner no other woman besides Dom's mother would dare to undertake. She is more than a match for dark-and-dangerous Dom. The battle of wits between the two of them is pure fun to experience.

No matter how many times I read this story--and I have lost count as to exactly how many--I never get tired of it. No one writes Regency romance as well as Heyer, who invented the genre. And when she writes romantic comedy, her skill is unparalleled. She especially excels at group scenes of comic mayhem, in which multiple characters are talking at cross purposes, to laugh-out-loud effect.

Best book she's done!!

This is my favorite book by far that she's written. Hilarious and engaging, definitely worth the listen!!

TERRIBLE Narrator.

Narrator TERRIBLE..I love this book and have read it multiple times. However, I won't listen again until a better recording is available. Hopefully Audible will exchange it at no cost.

Heyer at Her Best

I love all of Heyer’s work. I like the Regency novels best. This book is part of a series but can stand alone. I listened to a sample of another reader and did not like how he made Vidal sound a little shrill. This reader did an excellent interpretation. I’m a fast reader and his pace was not too much slower than I read. I am eagerly waiting to listen to some of her Regency novels of which many are hilarious.

Great story

Loved it. romantic and well written. Some of the spoken pronunciation was a bit off.

The authors amazing gift for characterization and humor in her charming stories.

The voice of the actor who spoke Vidal's part was very appropriate. This is a charming little story which allows the reader to indulgently smile at the wit and humor of the situations Heyer weaves into the plot. I am able to relax and enjoy a few hours of light hearted fun as I read this story.

One of her best!

The narrator had a lovely voice. His performance was acceptable BUT his interpretation of the dialogue was immature and histrionic when it should have been measured; dramatic when it should reflect icy distain. This author has such subtle high level writing dialogue it is a crime when the narrator doesn’t get it. He obviously doesn’t understand the point of the story or complex characters that draw it out. The story itself is brilliant. It lives in the context of its prequel ’These Old Shades’ and places its characters within the super upper class of the English/French world, where the characters walk the narrow line of privilege and tolerance, licentious wildness versus honor, where duty to place and name in the upper class play a tug of war among every other need or want or desire. This is a marvelous story, I recommend the book in any form, but I caution you. Georgette Heyer was a high level thinker. She can tell a light story within a complex world. Try not to miss out on that.

Such a joy to finally have unabridged Heyer available in the US!

While this can be enjoyed as a standalone, it's even better if you read These Old Shades first. In fact it's book two of a four-part series. The narration is fantastic and the story is classic Heyer.