Oh oh oh! How could I forget Black Sheep? Miles and Abigail must be some of my favourite fictional people of all time-- smart, funny and irreverent... which I suppose comes with having a sense of humour. That they were the leading couple was merely an added bonus. And I agree, verbal sparring is a necessity. Venetia delivered quite excellently in this respect, too.

I quite like the more humorous & adventurous Heyers, too, The Talisman Ring first among many. The Corinthian, the love story felt glued on but the rest was hysterical. Although I have to admit I have not yet found anything written by Heyer that I didn't enjoy, but some novels of hers I certainly enjoyed more than others.