What a truly beautiful, romantic book, with so many sigh-worthy moments, so many humorous moments, lots of wickedly sexy dialogue...and featuring some very satisfying emotional growth from both the hero and heroine. I've always loved the stammering, shy, yet beautiful red-headed 'Wallflower' character of Evie Jenner, and could hardly wait to read her story. But when the hero of this book, 32-year-old Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent was introduced in It Happened One Autumn, I had my doubts about him. Sure, he was wickedly handsome (and he knew it!) with his blond, 'fallen angel' looks, and he was funny and charming, but he seemed to have no ambition in life except to go about seducing anything in a skirt. ****spoiler ahead*** And then when he betrayed his best (and only) friend, Marcus, by abducting his fiancee Lillian, I was so pissed at him!***end of spoiler*** Now how was Lisa Kleypas going to redeem this devilish rake and make me fall in love with him? And how was he ever going to find love with shy, timid Evie?Well, after reading It Happened One Autumn and seeing how she transformed Marcus, Lord Westcliff from a stuffy, uptight arrogant know-it-all, into a sexy, to-die-for-hero, I should've had a little faith--I totally fell for St. Vincent! I knew after his sad past was revealed that all he needed was a little lovin', a little 'mothering' a little encouragement, and a whole lot of expectations from the right woman to be all the man that he could be. And the formerly shy, timid Evie was just the right woman to turn this bad boy around! Sure the transformation at times seemed slow, and painful, but fascinating to witness. Sebastian went from uttering lines like ...I rarely like to bed a woman more than once. A crashing bore, after the novelty is gone..." to saying after a few month's time My God. I love you so much that I'm drowning in it. I can't defend against it... Now that's progress!A little plot summary here: Evie (23) is the shyest of the four looking-for-a-husband wallflowers (Annabelle, Lillian, Evie, Daisy) and is about to inherit the gambling hall owned by her infamous (but on-his-deathbed sickly) father, Ivo Jenner (Dreaming of You). But Evie's dastardly relatives want the inheritance for themselves, and have been doing everything in their power (even keeping her locked up) to keep her under their thumb and away from her father. They have plans to marry her off to her corpulent (and repulsive) cousin just so they can keep the money 'in the family'. Evie is desperate to break free from her abusive relatives, and figures if she marries a man who is powerful yet in dire need of her money, she would stand a chance. That's when she thinks of Lord St. Vincent--he's so desperate for money (his father has squandered their fortune) that he may agree to marry her. She doesn't care about his reputation as a skirt chaser (she wants nothing to do with him once they're married)--she just needs his protection from her greedy relatives. So she propositions him, he accepts, and then we the reader get to see whether this will be a marriage of convenience only, or maybe something will happen...and these two lost, lonely souls will find the greatest happiness in their lives.Some of my favorite moments in the book:***possible spoilers*****the interesting story behind Gretna Green, Scotland, and why so many English marriages occurred there**the Scottish marriage ceremony, with the joining of the wrists/hands**when we get a glimpse of Sebastian's compassion--carrying Evie over the threshhold; bringing the warming brick on the coach for her cold feet**the inscription on the wedding ring--you know we'll see that again**Sebastian's treatment of Evie on their wedding night (*sigh*)**the care he shows towards her dying father**the jealousy over her relationship with her friend Cam**his protectiveness of Evie**Evie coming into her own, showing tremendous strength of character**Evie getting St. Vincent to agree to a 3 month period of celibacy--how did she ever manage that?**Sebastian finally getting off his duff and working at something other than bedding oh-so-willing women**the sexual entendres throughout the book (the pool cue stick, etc.)**Evie's utter devotion when Sebastian needs her the most**the renewing of the friendship with Marcus**the bedroom scenes (steamy), especially when Evie takes the initiative**seeing St. Vincent totally fall under Evie's spell**Evie's refusal to take no for an answer, forcing Sebastian to face his feelings for herAnd finally, some of my favorite lines:**No one could fail to observe that whenever Evie entered the room St. Vincent practically vibrated like a tuning fork.**Evie, putting her cold feet on the hot brick that St. Vincent provided: "Oh...n-nothing has ever felt so good..." St. Vincent: "Women say that to me all the time."**Evie's declaration to St. Vincent: "You can s-send me away, but you can't stop me from running back to you. I want to spend every day with you. I want to watch you shave in the morning. I want to drink champagne and dance with you. I want to mend the holes in your stockings. I want to share a bed with you every night, and to have your children."**Sebastian: "My love is upon you..." (*sniff*)To sum up...romance lovers everywhere, do yourselves a favor and read this book--no--read this series! The writing, the plot, the little tidbits and factoids about 1840s England (the food, the dress, etc.) the wonderful characters, the smokin' hot love scenes...so far I've enjoyed each book of this wonderful series! What makes me sad is that there's only two more to go.:( This one rates another 5 big stars!St. Vincent...
I have recently been reading Lisa Kleypas' “Wallflower” series and so far, I have enjoyed the series immensely! This time, I have read the third book in the “Wallflower” series called “Devil in Winter” and in this book, we are introduced to the relationship between Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent and Evangeline Jenner! Full of drama, forbidden love, and a rake that you would have never seen reforming himself, “Devil in Winter” will certainly go up any romance novel fans' alley!Evangeline Jenner (Evie, for short), the shyest of the Wallflowers, has escaped from her terrible relatives to marry someone powerful enough to get her out of her terrible situation and the one person that Evie encounters to make the dangerous proposition of marriage is none other than the notorious rake Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent! Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent may seem like the most dangerous man around London, but Evie will soon discover that there might be a warm side to Sebastian that no one else has ever seen.After reading "It Happened One Autumn", I kind of did not have any feelings for Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent after he kidnapped Lillian Bowman and I was wondering to myself about how Sebastian would be able to redeem himself after that fiasco. Well, when I read this book, I was just blown away by how Lisa Kleypas was able to make the former notorious rake into quite a charming and kindhearted hero of this story! I honestly loved the couple Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent and Evangeline Jenner and I will admit that I thought that the match was a little odd because Evie is so shy and Lord St. Vincent was so vindictive and cold when we first met him, but Lisa Kleypas was able to make that odd pair up work so well in this story that I found myself cheering on for the couple. Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent was truly a one of a kind hero in this book because it was so surprising for me to see him transform from a cold rake to a loyal and kind character the moment he met Evie and I just loved the way that Sebastian would do anything to protect Evie from any kind of danger that befalls her and believe me Evie is constantly threatened throughout the book, but Sebastian was always there to rescue her. I also loved seeing the deeper side of Sebastian, as he was at first frustrated with Evie because he did not know about what love is all about since he has spent most of his life chasing after women and never really getting into a serious relationship. Probably my most favorite moment with Sebastian was when Evie's horrible uncle, Uncle Peregrine tried to take Evie back to her relatives and Sebastian single-handily beats up the uncle and if that does not score sexy points for Sebastian, I do not know what does!Evangeline Jenner is currently my most favorite heroine in the romance novel universe because she may be shy at first, but as the book goes along, she become a strong and caring person. What I really loved about Evie is that she truly cares about Sebastian and all her friends and my favorite moment with Evie was when Sebastian got extremely ill after he got shot and Evie was there to comfort him in his time of need. That moment there truly showed me how much Evie truly cared about Sebastian and how she was always willing to help out anyone, no matter how dangerous the situation is. The true highlight of this book for me was Sebastian and Evie's relationship with each other as they started out as the usual bickering couple you would see in many romance novels, but as the book progresses, they became an extremely loving couple to puts all other romance couples to shame. What made Sebastian and Evie's relationship so magical was how Evie's stammering (which she was well known for) had immediately stopped when she started spending time with Sebastian and that right there proved to me that love can cure almost anything. I thought it was really cute about how Sebastian would literally crumble whenever he is near Evie since he has never known what it was like to love someone and that gave us a lot of cute moments between Evie and Sebastian.There are many sex scenes in this book so if anyone feels uncomfortable about reading these scenes, then they can skip over these scenes if it is too much.Overall, out of all of the “Wallflower” series I have read so far, “Devil in Winter” remains to be the most touching and emotional book of the series and it was magical to see both characters overcome their fears of society in order to be together! Lisa Kleypas fans, I would definitely recommend this book to absolutely anyone!! Now, I am going to read the next book in the “Wallflower” series,"Scandal in Spring"!Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
What do You think about Devil In Winter (2006)?
I just can't seem to help myself when it comes to starting a series out of sync, but the blurb along with the promise of a lascivious Lord made The Devil in Winter a temptation too hard to resist. Although Lisa Kleypas is a new to me Author, the fantastic reviews I've read from friends here on her works gave me comfort in regards to what to expect. When it comes to Historical Romance, I've dabbled in the past with standalones but wouldn't have imagined I'd have been captivated enough to be snared by an entire series. The Devil in Winter was such a pleasure to read. Evie and St. Vincent made wonderful characters to champion and I enjoyed the injection of drama and comedy to the story also.This goes down as one of my Goodreads finds, without the reviews & recommendations I'm sure I would have missed out on reading this.
—Eliza
I started AND finished Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas in one night. You all were right, it was a fantastic read and this has got to be the best Kleypas I've read so far. Almost didn't seem like the same author (for me). Extremely sensual and sexy if you can believe that! (I usually associate Kleypas's writing as more on the purply prose side, but not this one! She's upped the wattage with DIW!) I just adored Sebastian and of course Evie made my heart melt. Loved seeing her come into her own and find her inner strength, and yet allow herself to need Sebastian as well as vice versa. Of the Wall Flowers I probably relate the most to Lillian, but Evie? She's my favorite.Evie Jenner,the heroine of this tale, is the shyest of the Wall Flowers, the four women who struck up a friendship over the commonality of not being favored at dances and balls. Evie is a wall flower of the truest sense, stammering and blushing whenever someone talks to her, but she's also the most developed character in Kleypas's Wall Flower series, with her background garnering instant sympathy from the reader.The hero, Sebatian St. Vincent, is a notorious rake out for nothing but his own pleasures. However his self-indulgence and selfishness takes a turn after his desperate financial situation forces him to agree to Evie's plan of a marriage of convenience. Ah, but don't feel pity for Evie, because the proposed marriage is her way out as well- for her marriage to St. Vincent will allow her to escape her over-bearing and abusive relatives. (Yep they're after her money in the most cold manipulative way!)This is a classic historical romance at it's best and it's perfectly yummy. I picked this up at the library but I'm gonna have to buy it because it's a keeper!
—Zeek
OMG. This series is amazing. Seriously, I don't know why I've waited so long to read it.I adore everything about it, from the stories and the dialogs to every single character. I never thought I would like it this much. Maybe it is Kleypas's writing style or maybe I felt for the characters right away, but since 3 days ago I can't seem to stop reading about the wallflowers.In this installment, we have 2 very different characters. First we have Evangeline Jenner, which is the shy wallflower. I loved her. She got to grew so strong and to get through all those hideous things that were happening to her. Even though she might seem like a plain heroine, don't get fooled, you should not underestimate her, she might surprise you. Then we have Sebastian St. Vincent, which I got to hate due to the events that developed in the previous book, but got to love in this one. I guess I have a thing for bad boys turn nice. He tries to give this bad-boy look but you get to see that he's just the sweetest thing ever.I just can't wait to read the next, which will be starting it right away.
—valee
