Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Devil in Winter

The writing is serviceable in this novel, slipping towards well-written at a few intervals. The most hard-to-read portions were ones that I assume tied the series together. While I understand that I started with the third in the series, the forced description of our MC as a “wallflower” and always a “wallflower” felt hopelessly strained and needless: we understand her character at this point and it only serves to connect the series, meaning it read as poor writing. Besides that, much of the writing slid towards the classic pitfall: telling and not showing. Kleypas hammers certain points over and over again to the point of annoyance, making several chapters hard to read.

Characters: 2.75⭐️/5

I want to love the characters more than I do. Evie has the potential as the shy heroine, but her development is offset by her inconsistent character. Same with Sebastian. I would have loved to see Sebastian show consistency in his character, but he quickly loses his “villain” archetype to become the rich noble who just happens to know how to fight. It felt so sudden that I wanted to understand then what his history really was. The side characters also fell subsequently short of feeling real.

Plot: 2.75⭐️/5

The marriage of convenience plot starts strong and instantly beocmes strained. While I love the bad boy turns to caring lover trope as much as anyone else, Sebastian’s motives make as little sense as his inconsistent character. While he looks to marry our heroine to settle debts, he immediately reveals that he’s not much of an overspender, immediately squashing his whole reason for marrying Evie in the first place. Honestly, it would be more believable that he had been secretly pining after her for years, even in the interest of a one-night stand. The flurry of action at the beginning also created a distinct lull in the middle and end of the novel. And, the wrapping up of the attempted-murder plot came quickly, too much so, leaving us with no time to really feel like Evie might have ever been in danger.

Oh, also Evie’s dad died and she moves on very, very fast, which is maybe one of the more annoying parts of the plot.

However, it’s fun.

Who Should Read This Book?

Someone looking for a bodice-ripping romance novel

Content Warnings?

Misogyny, sexism, sexual assault, sexual content, rape, death of a parent, death, murder, blood, injury, medical content, terminal illness,

Post-Reading Rating: 3.75⭐️/5

It was fun, if not well-written.

Final Rating: 2.75⭐️/5

Content Warnings

smuttymcbookface's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

what_karla_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

violetsto_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

disclaimer: i have not read the other books in this series and this is my first kleypas.

picked devil in winter as my start because it seems to be the most popular and i am HERE for like 85% of this book. the whole journey to gretna green was amazing, the smut is hot, and there are some surprisingly tender moments in this book. some of the side plot took me out of it, but we made it and i had a great time!

MCs: horrendously shy “wallflower” with red hair and a stammer and older villainous rake of a lord who doesn’t believe in love and

absolutely fucks

tropes: marriage of convenience, age gap, “sick” bed

likes:

● the first half was a fucking riot: journey to gretna green (the foot warmers!!!), the opposites attract vibe (but isn’t grumpy/sunshine), sebastian being a hot sinful dark angel, the humorous anvil wedding, sebastian being sweet and fun until evie starts challenging his husbandly authority, heheheheh good for her

"I'm certain you already have many women to f-fortify your vanity. You don't need one more."

"I always need one more, darling. That's my problem."

● i’ll say it once, i’ll say it again: i love pet names and sebastian’s pet names are amazing, even if they are freely given, okay?

● idk just watching that absolute asshole fall in love and turn into an absolute sap was a great time, while evie becomes more comfortable with him and herself

"Don't you dare send me away, you c-coward. Who else would love my freckles? Who else would care that my feet were cold? Who else would ravish me in the billiards room?"

● one the last chapters is literally one giant

love confession

and it was amazing!

● st. vincent blushes … please someone help me, i have to love every boy that blushes

dislikes:

● the roving pov wasn’t my favorite. we swerve in and out of characters in a way that makes it difficult to discern the “voice” … sometimes within the same paragraph. definitely a different vibe that dual 3rd pov.

● i wasn’t super invested in the villainy subplots … i guess most books have them, but i cared even less for these ones than usual.

steam:

● the smut in this book bumped this rating up to a 4. it is surprisingly scrumptious once you get passed the dubcon. (this is my first pre-2010 historical romance, so i am not sure if the dubcon in this is standard, worse, better, than other books by kleypas, other HR books at this time, etc.)

● the kissing in this book is basically smut, i am speechless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He wanted things that she didn't know how to give. Sensing her confusion, he drew back and possessed her mouth with small, persistent kisses, the bristle on his face scraping gently against hers. His fingers came to the fragile structure of her jaw, tilting her chin, his thumb coaxing her lower lip apart from the upper. The instant he gained an opening, he sealed his mouth over hers. She could taste him, a subtle and alluring essence that affected her like some exotic drug. His tongue pushed inside her, exploring in caressing strokes ... sliding deeper as she offered no resistance.

● so much more

cunnilingus

than i was expecting …

● the celibacy bet is amazing and more book should do it.

"Six months?" Sebastian's eyes widened, and then he threw her a scornful glance. "Sweetheart, what gives you the idea that you're worth a half-year of celibacy?"

"I may not be," Evie said. "You're the only one who can answer that."

● the … the billiards room … awakened me

“You said I could kiss you," came his gentle, wicked whisper near her ear. "But, my love... you didn't specify where."

Content Warnings

caseybykindlelight's review

Go to review page

4.0

Content Warnings

More...