A review by goldencages
Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas

2.5

As I wrote in my review for It Happened One Autumn, I had to read a bestseller historical romance as part of a reading challenge. I was not surprised that I didn't like it but felt it was only fair if I at least read one more of the genre to really be sure that it's not for me. I decided to go with The Devil in Winter; online reviews seem to favour this one the most of this series. I have to say that I also prefer The Devil in Winter to It Happened One Autumn, simply because the characters and plot seemed slightly more interesting and bearable to me (though I was still skim-reading some parts). However, that said, after reading these two books back to back, I felt like I've had my fill of heteronormative (steamy) romances for the next five to ten years. It feels weird to list heteronormativity as a criteria for a book rating but that's what kept popping up in my head. Reading these books in this age - and much later than their publication date – for some reason left a stale aftertaste to me that unpleasantly lingered on and doesn't really make me want to pick up more books of this genre. That is not to say, that people can't or shouldn't enjoy these books: I can totally see their great escapist properties. However, they are simply not for me.