Thursday, March 21, 2013

A Wild Night's Bride (the Devil DeVere #1) by Victoria Vane

blurb courtesy of Goodreads

What happens when a struggling actress and a grieving widower come together in a night of unbridled debauchery orchestrated by a bored and machinating rake? With the devil in charge...there will be hell to pay!

She’s a lonely lady down on her luck... Phoebe Scott, alias Kitty Willis, is a struggling Covent Garden actress with a bruised heart and a closely guarded secret. 

He’s steadfast and eminently respectable.. Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is guilt-ridden over his beloved wife’s death and avowed to live out a rustic and mundane life … of celibacy. 

With the devil in charge — there will surely be hell to pay. Devil in disguise, Viscount Ludovic DeVere, is determined to return his best friend, Ned, to the land of the living. His meddling machinations result in a night of mind blowing passion after which “dull dog Ned” awakes to find himself in the King of England’s bed!


A Wild Night's Bride starts in the morning and then retells the story of a night of debauchery lived by Sir Edward Chambers, Viscount Ludovic DeVere and Miss Phoebe Scott.  It's a tiny bit convoluted just like my quick retelling but it doesn't take long to sort out and become wrapped up in a rollicking tale of depravity set in Georgian England.  Phoebe and Ned meet at a brothel where Phoebe is interested in meeting Viscount DeVere to recruit him as a protector in order to further her career as an actress.  Ned is attending the party with DeVere under duress as Ned has been faithful to his late wife Annalee for the three years she has been gone.  Sparks immediately fly between Ned and Phoebe, DeVere notices and hatches a plan to throw Ned and Phoebe together.

Ned is understandably reluctant, but once the passion explodes Ned is helpless to contain his desire for Phoebe.  Ned is a very very naughty boy beneath that respectable facade.

A Wild Night's Bride is a sexy, funny story that moves at a snappish pace with enjoyable characters and a great deal of steam.  It sets you up nicely for book 2 which is the story of Ned's daughter Vesta and DeVere's brother Hew.  Be sure to pick up the all four books because you won't want to waste a minute before starting the next installment of the Devil DeVere!

With this Kiss Part II by Eloisa James

Blurb courtesy of Goodreads...

Lady Grace Ryburn has accepted another man's proposal after the love of her life, Lieutenant Colin Barry, asked for her own sister's hand in marriage.

But when Colin returns home from the wars, injured in body and spirit, will she be able to turn her back and marry another? Or will she throw away every rule her mother taught her and try to seduce a man who has shown no interest in her kisses?

This is the second installment of a serial novella about the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Ashbrook (The Ugly Duchess) and the adopted son of Sir Griffin and Phoebe Barry (Seduced by a Pirate).  Eloisa James has penned a classic tale of unrequited love fraught with misunderstandings and striking sensual tension.  Colin and Grace are believable and enjoyable and this installment ends with a painful cliffhanger.  Can't wait for Part III.

eARC provided by Avon Books via eidelweiss, in return for an honest review.

Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt


blurb courtesy of Amazon:

WHEN STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

He lives in the shadows. As the mysterious masked avenger known as the Ghost of St. Giles, Godric St. John's only goal is to protect the innocent of London. Until the night he confronts a fearless young lady pointing a pistol at his head-and realizes she is his wife . . . 

BECOME LOVERS . . .

Lady Margaret Reading has vowed to kill the Ghost of St. Giles-the man who murdered her one true love. Returning to London, and to the man she hasn't seen since their wedding day, Margaret does not recognize the man behind the mask. Fierce, commanding, and dangerous, the notorious Ghost of St. Giles is everything she feared he would be-and so much more . . . 

DESIRE IS THE ULTIMATE DANGER

When passion flares, these two intimate strangers can't keep from revealing more of themselves than they had ever planned. But when Margaret learns the truth-that the Ghost is her husband-the game is up and the players must surrender . . . to the temptation that could destroy them both.

At the end of Thief of Shadows, Godric St. John is attending a party where a lovely young miss by the name of Margaret Reading faints into his arms. Later that night Godric is coerced to marry Margaret as she is in an interesting way and her fiance has been murdered by the Ghost of St. Giles. They marry in haste then go on with their separate lives.
Opening Lord of Darkness in St. Giles with Margaret holding the Ghost at gunpoint all unknowing that he is her husband was a stroke of genius, and the genius just goes on and on. Lord of Darkness is at times funny, witty, sexy and intense. Godric and Megs simply come alive in ways that not many authors manage. They are both well written characters with strong motivations and clear voices. There is no TSTL heroines or Too Alpha heroes here these are real people with real flaws. Godric is funny, wry and amazingly sexy for an old man of 37 years. Megs is sweet, smart and amazingly resilient as only an Elizabeth Hoyt heroine can be. The story unfolds with delicious heat and tension and the suspense is well written and not too obvious. Secondary characters are vividly drawn and only add to the atmosphere of the book. This is not just another fluffy romance novel, there are serious issues at play here, child abuse, neglect, poverty and greed and they are gracefully dealt with.
The chapters open with a story "The Hellequin" and it really adds to each chapter. The story in a story idea is one that Ms. Hoyt has done in all her books and I really enjoy the chance to read fairy tales that I didn't learn as a child.
I really didn't think I could love a character or a book in this series more than I loved Winter Makepeace in Thief of Shadows but Godric St. John and Lord of Darkness outshone even that amazingly wonderful story.
If you haven't read all of Elizabeth's backlist, I encourage you to do so. Whenever I'm in a reading slump, I find myself reaching for any one of Ms. Hoyt's novels.