Reviews with content warning for Murder - 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

fritopie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful slow-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

cepbreed's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Now this is what I'm talking about! After the trainwreck that was the last book I was seriously having doubts about my determination to give Kleypas another chance, and I wasn't disappointed! Unlike in It Happened One Autumn the main characters are actually very likable! Shocking considering how much redemption St. Vincent had to go through, yet Kleypas managed it. Everything he did in the previous book was terrible, and it made me hate him, yet the new side of him we saw, with the help of Evie's perspective made him an instant favorite for me. Maybe it's my bias for the shy girl and bold guy trope but this novel was infinitely better. St. Vincent became a male lead I actually loved, the slow realization that he's falling for Evie had me in such a chokehold, I eat that shit up everytime! I'm sorry for doubting you Lisa Kleypas 🙏 If I had read this before It Happened One Autumn maybe I would've given Lillian and Marcus more grace

Songs:

Sparks Fly - Taylor Swift
Norman fucking Rockwell - Lana Del Rey
Million Dollar Man - Lana Del Rey

Content Warnings

lauramparis's review

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emotional lighthearted medium-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

4.0

Content Warnings

sararead's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

Okay fine I loved it! They didn't redeem the MMC but still a Kleypas book at it's peak. Plus with an early book marriage lots of time for the spicy scenes

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