5 stars!Wow. I'm on a roll. Love reading back-to-back 5-star reads! :D YAY! Devlin Kimball, Lord Strathmore *sigh* What is it with me and black-haired blue eyed guys that just gets me all a flutter? Guh. And what? He has long hair? And has a pierced ear? Excuse me... Where to start? There was so much about this story I thoroughly enjoyed. I don't even know where to begin. The characters, their back story, the never-ending plot full of twists and turns dealing with revenge, murder, secrets and oh yes a lovely love-triangle thrown in there too. Still with me? I truly think this is one of Gaelen's strongest works and it is very underrated I must say. This will forever be a favorite of mine. There is a serious dark heavy edge to the tone and story that had me glued to my seat. Devlin and the story kept circling around in my head when I wasn't reading. That's always a positive for me. And of course I was expecting a HEA but there were several moments that I had no idea what was going to happen next and was a little nervous, somewhat anxious to see what played out next. Devlin suffers an unimaginable loss at the age of seventeen, losing his parents and sister in an 'accidental fire'. He pretty much goes on a downward spiral of drinking, gambling and whoring as a rebellion after dropping out of school for a few years until he decides to uncover the real truth behind the accident. As a hero Devlin had a lot of layers and substance that made him so relatable and 3 dimensional. I could picture him clearly in my head and felt his sorrow and loneliness like a tangible thing. Besides the fact that he's drop dead gorgeous *quivers* (I WANT), there is real true heart and a vulnerability and sorrow to his character that had me fascinated and had me wishing I could hold his head to my chest and go woo woo woo. He puts on a calculated air of a careless rakehell to fool certain people in this but what lies beneath is so much more and very endearing. He's got a big heart, is incredibly selfless and very honorable and has a playful mischievous personality that makes you wish this guy was real. I honestly was expecting to get an arrogant dandy Lordly alpha male who is reckless. Devlin proved me wrong a few chapters in. Loved seeing the connection between him and Lizzie. I don't know any two characters more perfect for each other. Both so alone, outsiders looking in and wanting so badly to find a place they belong to, a family to call their own. Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Carlisle is everything that Devlin needed and vice versa. I utterly adored Lizzie, such a root-worthy relatable heroine. A bluestocking in her own right, who stands by her principles but has a compassionate generous kind gentle heart. She amazed me with her endless capacity to show Devlin the kindness and love he so desperately needed and was unfailingly patient with him. I love that she didn't judge or put on airs which sometimes comes with heroines who are written as virtuous bluestockings who are leery of men in HR set ups. Loved seeing Devlin slowly become enamored by his Aunt's lady companion. What started out for him as a simple 'seduction' game turned into something much more real and has him scared yet in awe of what she is to him and he goes through the greatest lengths to put her first and protect her. "I can't believe I get to marry you." The words slipped from her in a soft tone of amazement.He reached out and cradled her cheek in his palm. "I was just thinking the exact same thing." I was seduced by them both. Their story, the trials they go through separately and together and the wonderful all-consuming love they find for each other. I'm sorry for sounding so damn sappy but there it is. This book is chalk-full of surprises which is something I generally love to discover while reading. And I really enjoyed seeing the Knight's in this. Alec Knight plays his part in this and I'll be honest I was skeptical of him after the stunt he pulled with Lizzie but his earnest guilt and attempt at winning her back was really sweet and so much fun. There were moments were I was just as conflicted as Lizzie, just a *little*. :P That's the kind of love triangles that I love to see. It amused me to no end to see two well known gorgeous 'rakes' fighting for the quiet unassuming Lizzie, who the ton only viewed as Jacinda's best friend and nothing more. Ha. Go Lizzie! :P And I have to truly applaud and praise Gaelen for her characterization of the villains in this. There are very few villains that stand out to me while reading HR, there are the typical haughty villains who cackle and throw feeble threats and then there are these guys. Lord Carstairs, Quint Randall and Tarquil were truly terrifying because they came off so real and would do absolutely anything to hide their secrets. Gaelen actually gives them POV's and dives into their headd and almost has readers sympathizing with them at certain points. That's certainly not easy to pull off. There were certain parts that had me fidgeting and almost scared to find out what happens next. Naturally I couldn't put this book down because of that. There so many faucets of this book that had me sitting with a numb ass, glued to my seat not wanting to put this down. The 3 leaders of the reckless Horse and Chariot Club are as menacing and vile as you could possibly imagine. You have a child molester who has a penchant for young attractive men, a rapist, a sharp shooter who happens to have an incestuous affair with his own sister (and fathered her child) and thinks nothing of killing someone to cover his secrets. Oh and one of the 'steps' to gaining entry into this freak show hell hole is to rape a virgin in front of all the members. If that doesn't make your skin crawl and want to fidget I don't know what does. Gaelen seriously knows how to write dark gritty characters and she manages to write them so real and not in the least bit contrived or cartoonish, which is something HR villains generally suffer from. These guys have plenty of substance and are intelligent, cunning and predatory. There was nothing caricature-like about these three. The members of the club practice every form of debauchery imaginable and manage to hide their worst offenses because they happen to rub elbows with the ton and most of them have titles of their own.I was amazed how even the villains were multi-layered and had their own inner demons to fight and each separately try to deal with the mounting guilt of what they did 12 years ago. Not many authors are willing to go that far. Bravo to Gaelen for going there. While I do think the final climax of the story took a *little* too long to draw to a final conclusion, it was wonderfully well written with so much drama and hair-ripping suspense. I almost felt like passing out after finally finishing it. There is so much that happens in this story that I can't describe or do it justice. I really wish this level of writing and edge comes back into Gaelen's recent work because it certainly is missing what is so present in her earlier works like this one. Devlin and Lizzie made me melt, swoon, gush and get flustered a hundred times over like a little girl. I truly hope to see them in Alec's book which I will definitely read after reading this. I truly do hope he finds the right girl after seeing his 'Bits' find her HEA. ;)I don't have anything negative to say about this. Only thing I did notice is the amount of typos I kept finding especially in the first half. It did become a little distracting because they were very obvious and a handful of them which surprised me but other than that amazing read!I highly recommend this to any Gaelen fans or even new readers. So much happens in this story and if you like drama, angst, suspense and romance then this is the perfect way to go!
The story follows Lizzie and Devlin as they go through many ridiculous trials to finally be together. They meet when Lizzie writes a letter to Devlin telling him hat his aunt's health is failing, he shows up to find that she is lying to him. They have a quick connection early in the story, but he returns to London on his quest of revenge, leaving Lizzie behind. They meet again when his aunt dies, but he expresses no desire to forge a relationship with her until circumstances force his hand. When the story began I really enjoyed it and I really loved Lizzie, but as the story progressed she became a vapid giggling girl. Whenever there was a scene with Lizzie and her friend, Jacinda, the girl was a complete moron. Jacinda barely suppressed a girlish squeal of excitement. "Do you love him?""A little, I think!" She giggled, her eyes sparkling, cheeks aglow."Oh, Lizzie, he really is perfect for you! He's just dev-ine!"Lizzie elbowed her, fighting laughter. "Dev-astating""I'll bet you can hardly wait to dev-our him!"pg. 221-223Reading this scene was excruciating.I also felt that the two different story-lines, The love story and the revenge story, were not melded together well. The book would focus on one aspect for so long that I would forget about the other part. Also, when referring to Lizzie, Devlin would sometimes say "Clever girl." I read it more than once and It is impossible to read that line and not think of Jurassic Park. After the characters finally decide to get together(I am not calling that a spoiler, because honestly if you didn't know that was going to happen, You fail.) there is the constant "I love you"s. it is incessant and annoying. It's like being in high school and having to sit behind the couple who have been together for two weeks and constantly hold each others hand and giggle. I counted 5 times within the span of three pages. pg294-297. I suppose that doesn't sound like a lot but it felt like too much to me. (view spoiler)[ I think that the largest problem for me was the over usage of plot devices and common romance tropes. One or two of these is acceptable, but the amount that I found in this story borders on ridiculous. -Hero's family murdered -Hero-refuses to love-Total manwhore -pairing of the rake and innocent -pairing of the noble and middle class -Hero/Heroine have to marry to claim inheritance, but later comes love -Orphaned Heroine -Sister comes back from the dead (Figuratively, Definitely not a pararomance) -Revenge -Ruses -3 Kidnappings. Not even a joke. Lizzie gets kidnapped twice, once by Devlin and once by the Horse and Chariot club, and the club also kidnaps a little girl from a village. -2 brawls in 2 different inns. -secrets and lies -murder -child molestation -Heroine has 2 men fighting for her attention -Constant miscommunications -Runaway coaches/ Coach chase. -And of course none of these tropes would be complete without the token black best friend/freed slave. yep. It has everything. These plot devices are used constantly in romances and stories, But the amount of stuff that goes on in this story is just ridiculous. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Devil Takes A Bride (2004)?
This is the fifth book in the Knights Miscellaney series of Gaelen Foley. This book focuses on Liz Carlisle, who is technically not really a member of the Knight Family, but more or less is, because after becoming an orphan, she was raised with Jacinda Knight (the youngest Knight sibling featured in Lady of Desire). While I question why Liz's story was even included in this series, I can see that given Alex Knight (the youngest Knight brother) is featured and the events here continues his story from the previous book Lady of Desire and sets up his story for One Night of Sin, Liz's story is important for the series.As I keep saying in my other reviews of the other books in the Knight Miscellaney series, you can't help but admire how much effort Ms Foley puts into infusing the books in this series with historical references and contexts. (I strongly believe that the character of Devlin's very wealthy aunt is really based on some very wealthy heiress whose family made its fortune in mines during the Regency period and who married an aristocrat who turned out to be really abusive. I think her biography is in a non-fiction book called Wedlocked.) It really makes her books a cut above the rest than other Regency romances I read.I love Liz's character. She was so much more interesting than the spoiled Jacinda Knight and you can really admire her tenacity to try carving a life for herself given she doesn't have the same amount of resources/gifts (ie looks, noble lineage, fortune) available to her best friend (Jacinda). In some ways, she is the most intriguing female character in the series -- she is striving for independence and as described in the book really quite intelligent, but don't have the same striking beauty as the other heroines in this series (ie Belle, Alice, Miranda and Jacinda). I really admire her and in one part of the book really felt for her when she looked enviously at the Knight brothers and their wives and children. This is why I feel a bit bad that the second half of this book kind of bored me, and I can't give it the 4 stars I would have wanted to give it. (I can't give it a 5 because this would make this novel on par with The Duke and I don't think it is.)Sorry for the spoilers but I need to include them to give an honest review.The first part of the book was quite interesting -- Liz's life with Devlin's aunt, the story of Devlin's tragedy and how they gradually developed feelings for each other. But somehow towards the other half of the book I got a bit bored and found some of the book ridiculously written. I don't know why, but I just did. (Maybe I've been reading too many books in this genre and I'm getting a bit sick of them?)I suppose like other readers, the constant use of kidnapping as a device to advance the plot or add a bit of excitement got a bit annoying. I also had this problem with how Liz seemed to immediately warm up to Devlin after his failed attempt to kidnap her and force her to marry him to ensure he'll get his aunt's wealth. I mean she refused to marry him to begin with, because she felt insulted by him over his callous treatment of her during her aunt's funeral and knew very well he only wanted to marry her to get his share of the inheritance (which is why Devlin had to resort to kidnapping). Given that she knew Dev was still desperate for the inheritance, why did she even let him court her after the failed kidnapping? It seemed to look like then that her issue with him was not because he was after the inheritance, but more because she wasn't properly courted. I would have expected that someone as intelligent as Liz would always remain sceptical of his true motives, particularly after she was kidnapped!Then there was Devlin's actions. If he truly loved Liz, why didn't he just confess right at the start and let her know of his true motives and plans to avenge his family? I mean if he was scared that Liz would be harmed if she gets associated with him and his enemies are looking for his weak spot, isn't this reasoning not reasonable anymore the moment his aunt's will was read and he had no choice but to marry to get his inheritance anyway? I mean whether he marries by kidnapping her or properly wooing her, at the end of the day once he becomes his wife, wouldn't that make her a target? So why bother withholding his secret or his true feelings?Then towards the end of the book, when Liz gets kidnapped again, Ms Foley suddenly uses so many eye-rolling similes to describe Devlin's plight to rescue her, ie Devlin was described to be like a Bengal tiger, rode like one of the four men of the Apocalypse, and other similar over the top descriptive passages!I still like this book and in some ways it's better than its predecessor, Lady of Desire. But unfortunately, I don't think it's as good as the first 3 books in this series which is why I'm just giving it 3 stars.
—Antonia
Que novela tan fascinante!!Que protagonistas!!Devlin oh! Devlin quiero dibujar a Devlin!! Llevo ya ratos leyendo literaturas tan frescas como estas, de quienes tiene tipicas cosas, como la solterona que se cree mayor solo porque tiene más de 21 a hombre busca venganza de su pasado. A pesar de ello la historia tiene un contexto que sale fuera de los parámetros que ya he venido leyendo en este tipo de tramas.Sin duda Devil Strathmore es un personaje incomparable(view spoiler)[—Mírala, Ben —le dijo a su amigo cuando este llegó a su lado con expresiónaterrorizada—. ¿Has visto alguna vez algo más hermoso en toda tu vida? Obsérvalamientras se aleja. Por Dios, pero qué necio he sido.—¿Cómo dices? —preguntó Ben sin resuello.—Se lo merece. El título. El dinero. Y lo tendrá todo. A Dios pongo por testigo quevoy a casarme con esa muchacha. Qué espíritu. Qué corazón... —susurró.Ben no pareció asimilar del todo sus palabras.—Soltaré el caballo guía del grupo. Si vas detrás de ella, la alcanzarás en unosminutos...—No. —Meneó la cabeza despacio, con una sonrisa en los labios—. Deja que disfrutede su victoria. —Era incapaz de apartar los ojos de ella, y la alegría siguió brillandoen ellos aun después de que Lizzie hubo traspuesto la colina iluminada por la luna—.Me ha ganado la mano con todas las de la ley. De ninguna manera pienso arrebatarleeso. (hide spoiler)]
—Celestita Giron
This was a much more fun read than I expected. Lots of high drama. Like, Grey's Anatomy S5 high drama. Mustache twirling villains! Innocent virgins! Mistaken identities! Murder in the first! Kidnappings! Marriages arranged from beyond the grave! HEAVILY VEILED FORMER COURTESANS!The only thing that kept it being a four or five star was the occasionally and truly tone-deaf references the author made to race. Specifically, Ben the valet and the "savages" that Devlin ran with in the New World. On the one hand, it's wonderful to have a character of color with, like, actual speaking lines and a personality. On the other hand, the lily white heroine (multiple references to her perfect pearlescent skin) deciding that Ben's mother's advice is applicable to her... Tone deaf. Super-duper.
—KJ, Madame Librarian
