Heyer created the historical romance genre and writes enjoyable escapist trash. What I particularly enjoy is the cynicism and efficiency with which she creates it. She has various types that she recycles across her 50+ novels. Here’s wikipedia:
“Heyer specialised in two types of romantic male leads, which she called Mark I and Mark II. Mark I, with overtones of Mr Rochester, was (in her words) “rude, overbearing, and often a bounder”. Mark II by contrast was debonair, sophisticated, and often a style-icon. Similarly, her heroines (reflecting Austen’s division between lively and gentle) fell into two broad groups: the tall and dashing, mannish type, and the quiet bullied type”
VENETIA is basically a Mark I, with the bullied type. I can’t recall much about it other than that, but it filled up a dull afternoon most pleasantly for me and most remuneratively for her estate.