Devil in Winter

Devil in Winter (2006) Lisa Kleypas

Set in London in 1843

Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent is an unrepentant rake whose only interest is pleasure. But he’s also broke, and needs a rich wife immediately.

“Do you ever think of anyone other than yourself?”

The question seemed to pull him out of his absorption, and his face became inscrutable. “Rarely, my love.”

Evangeline Jenner has escaped from her Aunt & Uncle’s house before they can force her to marry her cousin, so they can get her hands on their fortune when her father dies. She needs a husband strong enough to stand up to her relatives, to protect her from them.

“When was the last time you ate?” he asked.

“Yesterday m-morning… I think—”

One of his tawny brows lifted. “Don’t say the family was starving you?” He glanced heavenward as she nodded.

He concluded the speech with an irritated motion of his hands.

Unfortunately, Evie had been conditioned by too many encounters with Uncle Peregrine to discern between angry gestures and the beginnings of a physical attack. She flinched instinctively, her own arms flying up to shield her head. When the expected pain of a blow did not come, she let out a breath and tentatively lowered her arms to find Sebastian staring at her with blank astonishment.

Then his face went dark.

The fact that Sebastian is enraged by the way her family treated her allows one to overlook his self-absorption to some degree. He might be self-centered, but he does know what is right and what is wrong.

I decided to read this one because I very much enjoyed the story about Evie and Sebastian’s son, in The Devil in Spring. Interestingly, I found this story quite lacking in comparison to that one.

Yes, I liked seeing Cam starting out, and I liked Evie’s strength and her caring for her father and those around her.

And I found the bits about the rebuilding and running of a a gaming establishment to be fascinating.

But I didn’t find the story and the characters anywhere near as compelling as I did those in other books.

Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating: 7/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• Counting on a Countess » »
• « « Tempt Me at Twilight