Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas | Fall into Historicals
Romance at a Glance is a podcast where hosts Bridget and Shani review romance novels and interview some of romance’s biggest authors diving into candid conversations about life, relationships, and sexual desires. Expect 100% honest reviews, spontaneous singing, life lessons, indecent anecdotes, and bawdy humor. Leave us a rating and review on iTunes.
Full transcript available below.
Book Review at a Glance
Worth the Read?
Shani: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bridget: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Heroine Rating: Evie
Shani: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Bridget: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Hero Rating: Sebastian
Shani: 🍆🍆🍆🍆
Bridget: 🍆🍆🍆🍆
McDreamy to Mc Steamy:
McSteamy
Classy to Nasty:
Vanilla but hot
Romance at a Glance Reviews Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Wallflower heiress marries desperate viscount rake to save herself
[Trigger Warning: Child abuse/neglect in heroine past, family abuse, kidnapping/attempted murder]
Man Lisa Kleypas can write a book!! We had such fun following Evie's journey from stuttering wallflower to empowered viscountess!
This book was fun because it started right in the action of Evie proposing a marriage of convenience to Sebastian. We both didn't read book 2, so we only heard about his abduction of her friends, so we were fine with the explanation of how everything shook out.
Friends, we had so many FUN tangents while recording this. This is Shani's first episode back in LA (even though we were in separate places) and we couldn't have been more excited! And I think it showed.
Enjoy!!!
Some major points we discussed:
The proposal - Love how practical she was in laying out her predicament and standing up to him.
Her relatives are the fucking worst and so grossly/aptly described.
The journey to Gretna Green, Scotland to get married! What a cool thing this actually was! (not the need to flee but the weddings in Scotland industry). The feet warmers, the cuddling!
The wedding night - he’s all I’m too tired to do anything and she’s relieved.
The pop of the cherry the next morning was super hot
Sebastian being hurt she doesn’t wanna bang again after the first time. She says if you can be celibate for 3 mo I’ll have sex with you.
Doesn’t stop them from oral and kissing!
Back at the club the glint in his eye appears and he finally finds a purpose.
Her nursing her father in his dying days.
Sebastian taking care of Evie through it.
Her stutter going away around Sebastian and then gradually around everyone as she is safe from her family and comes into her own
“You’re not the same as you were a few days ago,” he murmured. “You’re no longer a wallflower, nor a virgin, nor the helpless child who had to endure life with the Maybricks. You’re a viscountess with a sizable fortune, and a scoundrel of a husband. Whose rules will you adhere to now?”
When they get back, the marriage of convenience or not, he shuts shit down when someone isn’t nice to her or threatens her or flirts with her!
Evie’s actual half brother is gross and sad he goes nuts from illness and not half brother who is half gypsy who she loves as a brother and Sebastian keeps getting jelly over.
Liked the Wallflower friends - def would be into reading about
Sebastian getting shot tackling her out of the way (also the fights to prove himself and keep her from her uncles)
Evie seducing Sebastian after he recovers (not very long!) from his injury despite his protests and riding him
She’s all, actually, we’re going to share a room, you aren’t sending me away.
Half bro coming back one more time (double tap!)
Ended a little lackluster.
Cute though that he is still a “rake” just only for her and is going to ravish her at all these gatherings.
Liked the connection to Derek Craven in Dreaming of You which we didn’t realize but Bridget is reading for a crossover episode with LitWallflowers Podcast
Quick Guide Review of the Book and Notes
Book Title: Devil in Winter
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Audio Narrator: Rosalyn Landor - Highly recommended by Shani!
Part of a Series: Book 3 of the Wallflowers series
Genre: Historical Romance
Cover Art:
Shani: The artwork is very pretty and in general I accept these about historicals. The one thing I like about these covers is my imagination can draw the characters as I like.
Bridget: Pretty and gave me that soft focus historical vibe without people so no real telling what it was about!
Synopsis: 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.
Heroine Rating:
Shani: 🍑🍑🍑🍑 There was so much growth in Evie.
Bridget: 🍑🍑🍑🍑 I enjoyed that she had an actual arc of coming out of her shell once she escapes her family’s abuse and has the protection of being Sebastian’s wife - she blossoms. I also liked that she didn’t just fall into love/lust with him after one banging, that it took time to develop. Enjoyed her friendships with the other women and her quasi-brother.
Hero Rating:
Shani: 🍆🍆🍆🍆 He had a code of ethics he lived by and grew up!
Bridget: 🍆🍆🍆🍆 Yo people were suped on him so hard on Goodreads! I thought he was a good character, though I assume I wouldn’t have liked him as much had I read the previous book first. But I really liked that he immediately started taking care of her and protecting her when she became his wife even though he was put out that she didn’t wanna bang more!
McDreamy to Mc Steamy:
McSteamy
Classy to Nasty:
Vanilla but hot
Favorite Lines in the Book:
Shani:
Bridget:
Favorite Review:
Shani’s from Goodreads:
Amy | Foxy Blogs 4 stars
I really enjoyed listening to this audio. Evie’s growth from an intimidated young woman to a strong woman not afraid to speak her mind happened gradually over the course of the book. At the beginning of the book, you notice Evie stutters a lot but part way through you forget that she ever had that issue prior.
Bridget’s from Goodreads:
Phrynne rated it 4 stars
My first book by this author and of course I had to start in the middle of a series! But that's okay as the story stood on its own. This is a a funny, entertaining romp of a book written in the style of Georgette Heyer but with more sex. Lisa Kleypas writes her characters well and Evie and Sebastian quickly develop into people you would like to know personally. The dialogue is smart and funny and the story moves along nicely until the last few pages where I began to think the author did not know how to end it. It kind of dribbled to a close which was a shame.
Worth the Read?
Shani: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Yes, love Lisa Kleypas
Bridget: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I didn’t like this as much as everyone else in the free Goodreads / book-loving world did and actually preferred the adjacent “Then came you” and Dreaming of You’ from the Gambler’s of Craven series which I’ll be talking about on our crossover episode with Litwallflowers podcast, but it was still a great read.
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Full Podcast Transcript
Recommendations:
Welcome to Romance at a Glance, a podcast that uses romance novels to dive into candid conversations about life, relationship dynamics, and sexual desires.
As hosts Bridget and Shani review books and interview some of romance’s biggest authors, they explore the breadth of the genre, openly embracing the sex, diverse couplings, and taboo in order to create a safe space for listeners to be exposed to different lifestyles, fantasies, and to pique their naughty curiosity.
Expect 100% honest reviews, spontaneous singing, life lessons, indecent anecdotes, and bawdy humor.
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