Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas

Book Description:
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.

The third in the ever popular Wallflower series, this is the story of Evie, who is desperate to get away from her abusive family that is forcing her to marry her odious and corpulent - not to mention cruel - cousin. She goes to the rake from the last book, It Happened One Autumn, Lord St. Vincent and proposes a marriage of convenience. Desperate himself for money, he takes her up on the offer and they speed off to Gretna Green for a quickie marriage and consummation.

I must say, I really enjoyed this book! Sebastian (St. Vincent) takes on the role of the reformed rake. He has had the worst reputation in the past and I liked watching his transformation with Evie. He winds up being considerate and caring, making sure she rests and her feet are warm in the cold in their carriage to Gretna Green. Their wedding is a quick affair, and he lets her sleep that night, but the next morning, he's considerate enough to wake her up most pleasantly and they consummate their marriage. He is irresistible, yet she tells him she'll only sleep with him this once, just to make the marriage legal so it cannot be anulled by her family. And so we have a bit of angst and sexual tension forming here, for she obviously enjoyed the sex with him (who wouldn't?), but is convinced he can never be faithful to her (she's gone into this marriage with her eyes wide open) and doesn't want to just become another unhappy conquest of his.

One thing leads to another and they begin to fall for one another. Her father is dying (he's a gambling club owner) and she wants to be with him and nurse him in his last days. Sebastian goes with her and winds up taking over the Club and has a flair for it. But, this crazy employee has it out for Evie and tries to kill her and winds up shooting Sebastian instead when he throws himself in front of the bullet to save her. It's touch and go there for a while, but St. Vincent lives and he also winds up making up with The Earl of Westcliff (from the last book) whose wife he tried to abduct. Once again, the Earl is invaluable in this book and saves St. Vincent's life (he's good at this in these books).

All in all, this was a really good reformed rake's tale with a different plotline as well. The shy and stuttering Evangeline finds her unlikely match. St. Vincent is virile, great in bed, blonde and oh so attractive - lucky Evangeline! If she's going to propose to someone for a marriage of convenience - at least she picked someone like St. Vincent! Onto the next in the series!

4.5/5

Note: I'm reading a bunch of romances for the next few weeks in light of the stress and business of the Christmas season - I just can't concentrate on anything heavy right now, but after the New Year, I'll be in action again.

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