We're back with another book by Lisa Kleypas. As you know, I've had some mixed feelings about this author, but I'm still reading it because the dialogue is absolutely sparkling. In this book, Phoebe, the daughter of the couple from Devil in Winter in the Wallflowers series, is two years out from the death of her beloved husband, officially out of mourning, and she attends the wedding of her brother, the hero from Devil in Spring. Her brother is marrying West Ravenel's cousin, and West is brother to the hero in Cold-Hearted Rake. So, if you have not read all the previous books in The Ravenels and all the books in The Wallflowers, you are going to be overwhelmed by the billions of characters in these books. But let's carry on, shall we? Devil's Daugther is the fifth book in The Ravenels series.
Phoebe has two young children and her husband died before she gave birth to the youngest, just over two years ago. She has heard tales of West Ravenel, that he was a bully to her deceased husband, was a drunkard, lout, and all-around ass about town in London. She is surprised when she meets him, as he's charming, hardworking, and knowledgeable about running an estate. He is surprised when he meets her because he's instantly smitten and enjoys spending time with her children.
Interesting characters: These widows in these books. They're just so uninteresting. Phoebe is fine. She's a bit of a wet blanket, though, and it all makes sense because she's grieving, but her backstory just isn't clear. How was she educated enough to be able to run an estate? She seems to have skills, but it's not clear to me how those skills came to be. West is fascinating, though. I thought his brother was a bore in Cold-Hearted Rake, but I like West. He definitely has trauma issues, but those are explored thoughtfully. This one is a mixed bag: heroine boring, hero relatively competently written.
Believable conflict: Sure, I guess. West thinks his past prevents him from being good enough to be with Phoebe and Phoebe thinks West is a bully. Do I think it's weird that Phoebe is judging a grown man for his behavior when he was a child in boarding school? Sure. Do I think it's weird that West thinks Phoebe will look down on him because of his past when her own father was a kidnapper who owned a gambling hall? Sure. But humans are complex and you can know intellectually that a person has probably changed since boarding school, but sometimes that emotional reaction is still there.
Emotional tension: There was a lot of will they, won't they that was effective in this book. Yes, I think there was emotional tension aplenty.
Snappy dialogue: There were some great bits of dialogue, but it wasn't as jampacked as the previous book in this series.
"He likes it," West replied, although he gentled the movement.
"He also likes chewing on discarded cigar butts," Phoebe said.
"We all have our bad habits, " West told the baby kindly...(location 2085)
It's the addition of the word "kindly" that made me snort when I read this.
Ha ha ha ha!
Happily ever after: Yes, but now that West is going to take over Phoebe's estate, who will run Devon's? I'm so worried. (I'm not worried.)
Additional line of note:
"Kindness counts the most when it's given to people who don't deserve it." (location 553)
Pretty good. I think Kleypas has worn me down to her style of writing and now I'm all in. 4/5 stars
I have never heard of this author.
ReplyDeleteShe's quite a popular author of historical romances. I'd say Lisa Kleypas and Julia Quinn are big in that genre!
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