The Hoyden's Awards

As promised on the Tuesday Thingers entry here, here's my shortlist of swashbuckling, silly, or general feel-good books with well-disguised Growth (if they bother with any). In no particular order:

The Princess Bride - William Goldman: Most of you have probably seen the movie, and therefore know all about the ROUSs (Rodents of Unusual Size), the Dread Pirate Roberts, and the general zany hijinks involved in this story. But rest assured there's a whole new level of zany involved in the novel. For the author (in his role as 'abridger') inserts vast quantities of funny bits in parentheses all about the invention of stew, jeans, and the political satire of Florin. It's stuffed with adventure and hilarity.

The Bloody Jack Adventures - L.A. Meyer: a series of young adult novels starting with Bloody Jack about a girl who decides to better her life on the streets by signing up to be a ship's boy on a Navy ship. She has a quirky, funny way of looking at things, particularly her Great Deception (disguising herself as a boy), and as is the nature of seafaring books, Jacky becomes involved in a ton of adventures. Great fun.

The Perfect Rake - Anne Gracie: Both touching and at times downright hysterical romance novel. Were he not fictional, I would definitely marry Gideon. There are mistaken identities, mock-earnest conversations about the danger to cats at various musical evenings (as it sounds like someone is stepping on their tails), and my favorite part - which is when Gideon decides to 'beat his eyes' for their impertinence in staring at the heroine by batting his eyelashes at her. Sooo funny. And sweet. What more could you ask for?

Something About Emmaline - Elizabeth Boyle: Another romance novel. Here the Earl of Sedgwick has made-up a fictional wife to keep marriage-minded mothers and their debutantes from dogging his every move. But craziness ensues when someone moves into his townhouse and starts running up the bills claiming to be his wife. It all wraps up in a vaguely Oscar Wilde sort of way, and personally...I love Oscar Wilde, so I was all for it.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation - Lauren Willig: a combined chicklit/historical spy adventure story set in the world of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Amy is miffed that the boys won't let her take part in their spy rings against Revolutionary France, so she determines to start her own with sometimes disastrous results... Very screwball comedy.