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My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Book Review-Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas

by | Nov 26, 2017 | Book Reviews | 29 comments

Book Review-Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas

Book Review-Devil In Winter by Lisa KleypasDevil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Also in this series: Scandal in Spring, A Wallflower Christmas, Again the Magic, It Happened One Autumn
Series: Wallflowers #3
Published by Avon on February 28th 2006
Genres: Historical Romance, Regency Era
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Self Purchased
ISBN: 006056251X
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five-stars

Four young ladies enter London society and band together to each find a husband. Has the third "Wallflower" now met her match?

A Devil's Bargain

Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!

Sebastian's reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden's good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.

But Evie's proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine's callously discarded broken hearts—which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions... or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.

Librarian's Note: Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here.

Devil In Winter brings together the most unlikely couple you could ever imagine…..a heartless rake who has recently damaged his relationship with his closest friend and an innocent shy wallflower who can barely speak two words to a man without stuttering.

Over the holidays I decided to reread some of my favorites and this included the Devil In Winter, out of all the romances that I have read over the years….this book is at the very top of my list and when I realized that I had yet to do a review for this book I knew that I needed to change that. Many of my favorites I haven’t reviewed so I have been meaning to change that. So I hope that I can give this book the love and justice it deserves. Now Lisa Kleypas is one of the most talented romance authors you could have the pleasure of picking up. Her writing is so lyrical and mind pulling, and her sex scenes are the best out there in my opinion. She writes the love scenes in a way that is hot without being super explicit. Your heart and emotions are just as involved as the characters actually involved.

The Key Players that occur in Devil In Winter:

  • Sebastian, Viscount St. Vincent, a rake and rogue and in desperate need of funds and need to marry for money and his reputation with women is legendary.
  • Evangeline Jenner, is shy and innocent wallflower, she struggles with a stutter and lives with abusive relatives

 

Devil In Winter takes off right after book two ends. So let me recap the ending of It Happened One Autumn so you can get some background information. Our hero, Sebastian, desperate to marry for money and with the help of Westcliff’s mother, kidnaps Lillian Bowman to take her up to Gretna Green, and ends up home nursing his wounds from Westcliff getting vengeance. When Evie comes to him, alone and offers him her fortune if he marries her. Sebastian knows that he is without many options, and even though he barely looked at Evie before, now he takes a good second look and agrees. Thus begins a marriage that becomes apparent that there is strong passion between them. Sebastian is used to being with women who are very worldly and knows the pleasures of the bedroom, but Evie is innocent but eager and its a new experience for Sebastian and he is almost spellbound by his growing feelings for Evie. As Sebastian surprises Evie in the small ways, she begins to see a new side to Sebastian that he never lets anyone see. And Sebastian is unnerved by his feelings for Evie, feelings he has never felt before and is almost like a “lost child” in coming to terms with what he is discovering in his marriage to Evie.

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.

This is the true strength of Lisa Kleypas and this is one of the best books that she has ever written here. This is where she takes a character you don’t really like, Sebastian, and pairs him with the most unlikely heroine out of the wallflowers. When I first read these books, Evie would not have been my pick for Sebastian at first, but once you see them together they are just one. Like honestly, there is something so special and unique about their pairing that just stays with you. Even after all these years of reading this book, it still leaves me with all the feels. What is most remarkable about this story is the growth and change of the characters. I have always felt a kinship with Evie. I was so shy growing up and most due to some emotional problems so I could connect with Evie more than the other wallflowers because I understand how difficult it is to overcome shyness. So to see Evie go from being shy and stuttering to becoming more confident in her own femininity and strength and fight for what she wants is pretty remarkable. Also to see how comfortable she becomes with Sebastian, like a second skin almost. Then we have Sebastian that goes from being selfish, doesn’t care to work and loves his countless women to being a man that starts to fun Evie’s fathers club to get it back to what it needs to be, breaking up fights and staying up late hours and even agreeing to Evie’s demand to go celibate for three months. We see him truly change to a man that learns to care for others before himself and truly let himself love and its so beautiful to see these changes and before you know it a hero you hate at first develops into one of the most redeemable heroes you will ever read and fall in love with. He is so careful with Evie, protective and seeing to her needs, wants and desires so gently and its such an admirable quality in a hero that you see even in the beginning.

No one could fail to observe that whenever Evie entered the room St. Vincent practically vibrated like a tuning fork.

If you haven’t read the Wallflower series yet or even Devil In Winter then go to the store right now and grab up this book because I one hundred percent guarantee you will fall in love with Sebastian and Evie as I have and still love them to this day!!

I want to fill every part of you… breathe the air from your lungs… leave my handprints on your soul. I want to give you more pleasure than you can bear. I want to make love to you, Evie, as I have never done with anyone before

Devil In Winter is a romance that will stay with you for years after reading it, a gentle and sexy romance that gives the reader every emotion and vibrates with sensuality and vivid emotion!!! ONE OF THE BEST ROMANCES EVER WRITTEN!!

About Lisa Kleypas

LISA KLEYPAS is the RITA award-winning author of 21 novels. Her books are published in fourteen languages and are bestsellers all over the world. She lives in Washington State with her husband and two children.

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29 Comments

  1. Mallory M

    You’re Holiday theme is BEAUTIFUL! You always have a great looking blog. Loved this book and Wallflowers Christmas is next on my list for this week. Is the picture you showed from an earlier version of Devil in Winter? It’s perfect for the book! I just have the edition your showed for the main image. 🙂

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Oh Thank you Mallory!! I just love Christmas so I always need to do a design for it. So I am glad that you love it.

      Yes the image on the upper right, is the stepback cover. Its part of the original cover. Most stepbacks would be on the back of the book or behind the front cover. And I adore those couple poses. Such a great book right? I adore Wallflower Christmas, such a festive book and I love seeing the wallflowers get back together for Christmas.

      Reply
  2. Kimberly Caffeinated Reviewer

    I love this quote: I want to fill every part of you… breathe the air from your lungs… leave my handprints on your soul. I recently read a short holiday story by her, my first and liked it. I am going to grab this.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh it is a great quote right? I really hope you grab this one I just know that you will love it for sure!!

      Reply
  3. Jenea Whittington

    I want to read this series so badly! It sounds more amazing with each book.

    Reply
    • Vellum Voyages

      It really is!! It just keeps getting better with each book!

      Reply
  4. Nise'

    This was the series that introduced me to Lisa! Loved it.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh YAY!!! I was lucky enough to start reading her in my early years of reading romance. So I have adored her work for many years now.

      Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Yeah she is one of my favorites…and this book is the bomb!!

      Reply
  5. Melliane

    I have a book by the author that I want to try but well it’s been a while. I really should try!

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      You really should…which book is it?

      Reply
  6. Vellum Voyages

    Omg I love this series and this is next to read on my list! I’ve been saving it!!!! Will definitely get to it next year I think! Can’t wait!!!

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Isn’t this series so wonderful. I honestly can’t wait till you read this one I just know you will LOVE it!!

      Reply
  7. Anna@herding cats&burning soup

    Oh I think I could get into this one. It’s always interesting to me to see a character with a stutter. I’ve only read heroes with them. I’ll have to check this out.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh I know you would love this one Anna….this book is my favorite book from Kleypas. So I really hope you pick it up, I know you will love this author.

      Reply
  8. Michele H

    I just *love* this book. 🙂 Kleypas was a genius at pairing these two unlikely characters together. And boy did it work! Loved the emotions and getting to see different sides of Sebastian & Evie’s personalities.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh I know…its fantastic right? This is the awesome sauce of Kleypas. And seeing how well Sebastian and Evie compliment each other and seeing them in books after this one is so sweet.

      Reply
  9. Quinn's Book Nook

    Oh man, this is such a wonderful book. I remember when I first read it, I was so nervous because St. Vincent was such an awful person in It Happened One Autumn, and wow was I totally blown away. I need to re-read it too.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      It is so wonderful right? I just adore it so much. I was nervous too before reading it, but when I read these, I knew it was Kleypas and I knew she could make me fall in love with Sebastian and boy did i…we see a whole different side to him and I love that we see how he opens himself up and accepts himself and only Evie could do that for him 🙂 And boy seeing them together in books after is so heartmelting.

      Reply
  10. Adria @ Adria's Musings & Revs

    This one is my favorite out of the series and it is always one of the first books I recommend people.

    Reply
  11. Bookworm Brandee

    *hangs head* I’ve yet to ready Kleypas, Renee. I know! She’s been on my tbr forever though…don’t know why I haven’t picked her up. But I’m going to change that if only to meet Sebastian. 😉 Oh Evie sounds like a delight as well but I really like heroes who are difficult to like but who are redeemable. I’ll start at the beginning of the Wallflowers series though. Lovely review!

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      You are such a crazy girl hehe And I guarantee that Sebastian will become one of your favorite heroes. Both characters are just wonderful in this story. But yes it is better to read this series in order.

      Reply
  12. Lorna

    I just recently started reading some historicals and I started with this author. Read two by her so far and this book is definitely going into my tbr stack. Hopefully you don’t have to read them in order. This sounds wonderful! Thank you ?

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh goodie!!! I know you will love it especially if you enjoy her writing. I wouldn’t say you have to read them in order but most reader prefer it. I only read this series in order originally because I read these books when they were first published so I had no choice….so go and read this one first if you like!! Its spectacular.

      Reply
      • Lorna

        No worries. I, of course bought not only this one but the first in the series as well.

        Reply
        • Lover Of Romance

          Oh Yay!!!! Hope you enjoy them both and I am pretty dang sure you will hehe

  13. The Book Disciple

    I really need to catch up on Kleypas’ back list! I have heard amazing things about this book in particular!

    Reply
  14. Corina

    I loved this book sooooooo much ♡♡ ♡♡ ♡♡ ♡♡ It’s one of my all time favorites with RAVISHED by Amanda Quick and Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. I’m actually in the middle of Devil in Spring – and adoring it so far.

    Reply

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