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Title: Devilish
ISBN: 0451199979
Author:
Jo Beverley
Publicate Date: 2000-04-01
Publish: 2000-04-01
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $6.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.74
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Doormat in huntress' clothing
I bought this book based on recommendations on the Amazon romance forum. Though I have several Jo Beverly books in my TBR pile, this is the first I have actually read. I was greatly disappointed.
There was no heat between the H/h. Very restrained and much too talky. The longest sexual scene took place between Diana and her kidnapper. I thought Diana's reaction to her near rape completely unrealistic.
I did not like the fact that the bond between the charaters began before the start of the book. The attraction was not shown in flashback, but rather reflected upon in conversation. This techigue did nothing to draw this reader into their relationship.
Another thing I did not like was the way Bey had complete control of the relationship. Other than putting aside his fear of bad blood, there was really nothing on the line for him. He was so confident of Diana's regard for him that he announced their engagement without even asking her to marry him. She, of course, did not find this arrogance in any way offensive.
The writer tried to present Diana as this strong women, but Diana's actions contradicted this portrayal. Diana begged Bey to kiss her(he declined more than once), asked him to have sex with her and practically begged him to marry her. Bey, meanwhile was free to ponder marriage to her at his liesure(practically the entire book) and his family sat around feeling sorry for her.
This is not my idea a strong woman or a strong romance.
When it comes to romance, I like the man to want or love the woman at least a little more than she does him. I want him to pursue her, risk all for her, come into his own because of her. That was not the case in this book where Diana did all of the running. In my opinion, there are few things more pathetic than a woman who pursues a relcuatant man.
Finally, all of the royal intrigue was a distracting turn off. It was as if the writer had nothing to say about these two and needed filler.
I hope the other Beverly books I have are better than this one. Otherwise, this writer is going on my "Do Not Buy" list.
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2: Rothgar wins again
I did enjoy this book, although I wonder if it's just impossible to be absolutely satisfied with the story of Rothgar's HEA. He's been an intriguing character through the other Malloren books, and now that his story is finally told it's got a lot of baggage.
One problem I think is that we just don't get enough of his point-of-view. We get a lot of Diana's thoughts and observations but they often just repeat what we've already learned about Bey. I would definitely have liked more inner monologue from the Dark Marquess.
But that's my only real complaint. The love story is still very compelling and Diana's character -- introduced in Secrets of the Night -- continues to be enjoyable. She comes close to being a Mary Sue, but her extraordinary talent and behavior is handled so honestly she comes off as more of a bull-in-a-china-shop alternating with a perfectly lovely -- and loving -- lady. It's no wonder Rothgar falls so hard for her.
There's a nice mystery and adventure woven through and the threads get pulled together nicely by the end. I like that Rothgar has accepted a happy future for himself, even as his concerns don't completely vanish. In later books he remains the lovable puppet-master he can't help being and that's why the Malloren series is so addicting.
Rothgar is a "deadly man in lace" who never fails to keep me interested. I highly recommend the entire Malloren series starting with "My Lady Notorious". Even the ones that don't quite make it for me (i.e. "Tempting Fortune" for its detestable, shrewish heroine) are worth the read for the Malloren characters.
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3: Not the same Bey from previous books
Devilish is not a bad book, but it turns out as a disappointment after all. The main problem for me was the high expectations raised from previous books. In previous Malloren novels Bey appeared as a man larger than life, the absolutely perfect hero. Unfortunately in his own book, he never appears as anything out of the ordinary and thus hardly interesting. Fort in Something Wicked seemed much more tortured and passionate to me (except at the last pages) than Bey in Devilish. So, minus one star for the ordinary hero. Another star is gone for the excessive political intrigues that took so much space in this book that almost bordered on boring.
Not a bad book, but it delivers much less than promised in the previous books of the series. Perhaps if I've read before the others I would rate it higher.
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4: Slow to Please
I usually give a novel three chapters to grab my interest. I'm on chapter 5 and I'm putting it down. There is too much history that doesn't interest me. As an American, European history (especially trivial history) isn't something I crave to read about. I was impatient to get to the people in the book.
I don't feel warmth for her characters and I like feeling compassion for the characters. I can tell that the author is a very educated person as her writing reflects that, but lacks the warm and fuzzy most of us romance readers love. Sometimes I had to stop and read a sentence two or three times to get the meaning as the writing is sometimes a bit vague. Like talking about two women in one part and the next sentence starts out with "she"... now which one is she talking about?
In this book Diana is a arrogant woman who's main desire his having power and becoming a female "earl". Not very feminine or soft or warm. I don't like her right from the get go.
This is my second novel by Ms. Beverly and I think the last and I will not even finish Devilish.
Perhaps I've read too many books by authors who weave more likeable characters... I think I'll go back to them.
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5: Fitting End
This is the final book in the Malloren series and is Rothgar "Bey" the family head who finally has his own story. Diana who was introduced to us in one of the former books is Bey's love interest and she is a wealthy independent woman who was vowed to hold the title herself and never marry. The old fashioned minded king decides Diana needs to marry and in order to save her from a forced marriage, Bey takes it upon himself to coach her into handling the king. If a marriage is forced, Bey vows he will marry her himself to save her, but Bey will never allow a real marriage because he fears he will pass on his mother's madness to any of his children. Diana and Bey travel to London together and discover to both of their dismay that they are one another's mate. Diana would forgo her vow not to marry for Bey but she will not force the man she loves into an unwanted marriage. Bey struggles with his feelings and is haunted by Diana because he knows she will have no other but he cannot risk having children. It becomes apparent very soon that someone in the French government is trying to eliminate Bey and will resort to harming Diana if necessary to get to him....Bey and Diana are forced to examine their feelings and fight for their chance together.
This was a really good book and quite sad at times with the sacrifices they make knowing they will suffer. The only flaw is Bey never quite allows himself to lose control which seemed necessary for him to heal, but still quite moving.
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