[6EI]⋙ [PDF] Free In Bed With the Devil Scoundrels of St James Lorraine Heath 9780061355578 Books

In Bed With the Devil Scoundrels of St James Lorraine Heath 9780061355578 Books

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In Bed With the Devil Scoundrels of St James Lorraine Heath 9780061355578 Books

Wow what a fantastic story! Catherine and Luke, their love is timeless and their devotion to each other beautiful. This author has woven a complex tale of intrigue, suspense and friendship among a group of former child thieves. Lucien Langdon was one of Feagan's gang but was rescued from hanging at age 14 by the Earl of Claiborne. The Earl claimed Luke was his long lost grandson. Luke never believed it but played along and helped this friends. The Earl taught them all until his death. Catherine has need of help for her lady friend who is being severely beaten by her monster husband; she remembers Luke from yrs ago at a ball. Society never accepted him as Earl of Claiborne but she was fascinated by him. This is on the level of Kathleen Woodwis, a cleverly written well thought out chain of events that will keep the reader glued to the very end. I have started book 2 and can't wait to see how Jack's story plays out. Diamondgirl


Tags : In Bed With the Devil (Scoundrels of St. James) [Lorraine Heath] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. They call him the Devil Earl—a scoundrel and accused murderer who grew up on the violent London streets. A proper young lady risks more than her reputation when consorting with the roguishly handsome Lucian Langdon,Lorraine Heath,In Bed With the Devil (Scoundrels of St. James),Avon,0061355577,Romance - Historical - General,Man-woman relationships,Nobility - England,AMERICAN LIGHT ROMANTIC FICTION,FICTION Romance General,FICTION Romance Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - Romance,Fiction-Romance,General Adult,Historical romance,MASS MARKET,RomanceHistorical,Romance: Historical,United States

In Bed With the Devil Scoundrels of St James Lorraine Heath 9780061355578 Books Reviews

In Bed with the Devil is the first book in the Scoundrels of St. James series. Lady Catherine Mabry, in her first season at age seventeen, met Lucian (Luke) Langdon, the Earl of Claybourne, at a ball. Luke had not been invited to the ball, because he was an outcast among the aristocrats. Luke made a grand entrance, looked around at every guest, and made eye contact with Catherine. She stared back, challenging him.

When Catherine's father became ill, she'd been able to attain independence that few ladies of the ton ever did. Catherine's brother Sterling was touring the world and not in England to serve as her guardian. Stewards assisted Catherine with the estate books, and she familiarized herself with the estates. At age twenty-two, Catherine has not had a suitor, because she was considered too opinionated. No man would consider her for marriage until Luke, the Earl of Claybourne, met Lady Catherine for the second time. There was a mutual physical attraction.

After five-years, the physical attraction between Luke and Catherine had not diminished. Catherine's best friend, Winnie, Duchess of Avendale, was in a physically and mentally abusive marriage. Catherine fears that Winnie's husband would end up killing Winnie, who was his third wife. His other two wives died suspiciously. Catherine visited Luke in hopes that he would kill Winnie's husband.

I found Jack, the secondary character, intriguing. The next book in this series, "Between the Devil and Desire," is Jack's story.
This was one of the better Victorian romances I've read in some time... but it had its flaws. See below.

In a nutshell, highbred Lady Catherine takes note of the Devil Earl when she's in her first season... and never forgets him. Scandalously, she holds his gaze without looking away, and therefore, he never forgets her, and she never forgets him. Years go by and Catherine maintains a fascination with the Devil Earl from afar. She even invites him to events... but he never shows face. Soon, however, she finds herself in need of a Devil. Her friend is being abused by her husband, and something must be done about it.

Meanwhile, the Devil Earl, Lucian, is a man caught between two worlds and mentally tortured without mercy because of it. He was raised in the gutter, committed murder, and is set to hang. The father of his murder victim comes to confront him and recognizes him as his long-last grandson. They convinced each other this is true and so the vagrant is raised as an heir and a gentleman, along with some of his gutter rat friends. Eventually he becomes earl, but of course the ton won't recognize him socially because of his scandalous past.

Due to his reputation (and I'm sure because she wants an excuse to visit him) Lady Catherine approaches the Devil Earl for a favor. She wants her friend's abusive husband "done away with" (murdered). Strangely, the Earl accepts IF, in exchange, Catherine teaches his friend how to be a lady so he can propose to her successfully. An interesting premise to be sure.

There were some issues I had with this plot. First of all, I found it REALLY hard to believe that the so-called "Devil" Earl would murder a man
1) and face the noose again?
2) and risk his future marriage which matters so much to him?
3) and disgrace the honor of the man (his grandfather) who saved his life?
4) without knowing WHY.
5) without knowing WHO.
6) for a chit he barely knows.
7) and actually think their "bargain" (turning his friend into a proper lady) is worth murder. (UM, hello, HIRE a finishing governess?)

Besides that huge logic flaw... there were other logic issues with the novel as well.

For example, Catherine dreamily asks her friend what it's like when her husband kisses her. But, er, this is the friend whose husband is abusing her and whom Catherine has just, um, hired Lucian to murder. Wa-what? Seriously? Wth?

Lady Catherine, dreamy "Pray tell, friend, do your knees grow weak when the monster kisses you?"
Abused friend, blushing "Oh, yes, darling... he rocks my world... except for when he thrashes me about and frightens the, ahem, Dickens out of me."
Lady Catherine, chastised "Never mind all that, what a scoundrel. I've just taken out a hit on him..."
Abused friend "Oh, Catherine, he's my HUSBAND. How very naughty of you."
Lady Catherine, smug "Well, as soon as I've trained the hitman's vagrant girlfriend to host a tea party it shall be done... shouldn't be long now. Luckily I'm the best hostess in town. Never fret, darling, we shall get that scoundrel murdered."

SIGHS. That's basically how I interpreted it. Just silly. Like it's a great idea in theory but it just wasn't developed right. Or enough for me to take it seriously. Because everything in the story was so LIGHT, fluffy and vanilla despite the fact that it deals with murder, betrayal, abuse, abandonment and even rape. The author gave me no place to stand while reading it. I kept flipping the pages but was left feeling confused and irritated.

After all this poking fun, you might wonder why I gave them novel three stars period. Well, despite the logic flaws in this novel... the chemistry between the hero and heroine was outright sizzling. I looooved seeing vanilla, sunshine Catherine posed against the dark and brooding Devil Earl. And I did love the obvious tension between them and the reasons the Earl fights his desire for her. (His stubborn resistance to Catherine's love did last one beat too long, for my taste though.) I also loved the daring midnight excursions the two go on... and even the friendship they form before they fall in love. Despite the pragmatic issues in the story line, the author didn't miss a beat in developing their relationship. They learn about each other by talking and communicating, which is actually rare in historic romance. Their attraction is at first sight... but their love grows by experience and time spent together. I really enjoyed that.

So IF you can throw logic out the window and just enjoy mindlessly as popcorn entertainment, then there is something exquisite to take away.
Wow what a fantastic story! Catherine and Luke, their love is timeless and their devotion to each other beautiful. This author has woven a complex tale of intrigue, suspense and friendship among a group of former child thieves. Lucien Langdon was one of Feagan's gang but was rescued from hanging at age 14 by the Earl of Claiborne. The Earl claimed Luke was his long lost grandson. Luke never believed it but played along and helped this friends. The Earl taught them all until his death. Catherine has need of help for her lady friend who is being severely beaten by her monster husband; she remembers Luke from yrs ago at a ball. Society never accepted him as Earl of Claiborne but she was fascinated by him. This is on the level of Kathleen Woodwis, a cleverly written well thought out chain of events that will keep the reader glued to the very end. I have started book 2 and can't wait to see how Jack's story plays out. Diamondgirl