Devilish

by Jo Beverley

Mallorens (5)

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A RITA award-winning novel from the New York Times bestselling author of An Unwilling Bride. Two of the strongest wills in England clash when Lord Rothgar is commanded by the king to escort the fiercely independent Diana Westmount, Countess of Arradale, to London. Though Rothgar has become a master at resisting temptation, Diana proves a challenge to his steely resolve. A moment of peril - and a night of passion - melt his icy self-control, and he must find the strength to surrender his show more heart to another... show less

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9 reviews
I've gone through a spate of disappointing romances and so picked up an old favorite for a reread. It didn't disappoint. Devilish is the finale of the Malloren saga. Rothgar, so smooth, controlling and indeed, sinister and devilish, is the last in his family not married. He has sworn not to wed for fear of carrying his mother's insanity down to his children. His mother strangled his sister when she was a newborn and he witnessed it. Rarely are romance characters so well fleshed out. Rothgar has a legitimate psychological barrier to marrying and it would take and extraordinary woman to match him. Diana, Countess of Arradale, a peer in her own right, might not seem so extraordinary because she appears just like a modern woman. But instead show more of being a 21st century woman in corsets, she harkens more to the Virgin Queen, aware that she will have to sacrifice marriage in order to hold on to her possessions. So both have reasonable positions and both challenge each other.

I really enjoyed their romance and their fights and their joy in each other. You just want to spend more time with them, and it was lovely to see Rothgar finally happily settled. I also liked the Georgian feel, which is quite different to the regency setting and handled well. This is reread and a keeper for me, A+
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I loved this book! Rothgar is a compelling, complex character who has suffered loss and desperately needs love. Diana, Countess of Arradale, is a woman after my own heart: fiercely independent, yet very much in need of love. Jo's story-telling gifts shine through in this beautiful love story. It is one of my favorites! I have re-read my copy so many times the cover is taped on. :)
I liked this book on its own, but after reading the others in the series I was slightly disappointed. I wish there was more Bey/Rothgar in it. I wanted to know more about him after reading the the other books, in fact I was dying to know more of him. Maybe I had too high of expectations of his story and that was hard to live up to. I still liked it though and it is worth the read.
This is one of the Mallorens clan, Lord Rothgar is the head of the family consisting of his (half) brothers and sisters for whom he has been responsible since the death of their parents(HIS STEP-MOTHER). Lord Rothgar has sworn never to wed and have children as his own mother was mad and killed her infant daughter when he was a young lad. Lady Diane Westmount is a Countess who wants to be seated in the house of Lords and is summoned to Londen by the King for her audacity.She also has declared that she will never marry, as all of her power and holdings would come under the control of any man she choose as her husband, she has too much to lose to get married. Rothgar escorts her to Londen, while on the way they are set upon by highway men show more indent on killing Rothgar as he is very influenctial with the King. This action took close to 200 pages and I gave up on this very slow moving book. The focus is on these two characters and with the rest of the cast so far in the background the story does not hold my interest. show less
I totally adored Rothgar - this one is my favourite of the series.
This is really 3.5 stars for me. It was good but I had higher expectations.

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99+ Works 14,705 Members
Jo Beverley was born on September 22, 1947 in Lancashire, England. She received a degree in English history from Keele University in Staffordshire in 1970. In the mid-1970s, she moved to Canada with her husband. She wrote over 30 historical romance novels during her lifetime including Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed, The Stolen Bride, The Shattered show more Rose, Lord of Midnight, and Forbidden Magic. She also wrote several series including the Company of Rogues series and the Malloren series. She received numerous awards for her work including five RITAs, two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times, The Golden Leaf Award, and the Readers' Choice Award. She died from cancer on May 23, 2016. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Jo Beverley is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.

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Series

Common Knowledge

Original publication date
2000-04
People/Characters
Beowulf "Bey" Malloren, Marquess Rothgar; Diana Westmount, Countess of Arradale
Important places
England, UK

Classifications

Genres
Romance, Fiction and Literature
DDC/MDS
813.54Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English1900-19991945-1999
LCC
PR9199.3 .B424 .D3Language and LiteratureEnglishEnglish LiteratureEnglish literature: Provincial, local, etc.
BISAC

Statistics

Members
462
Popularity
66,363
Reviews
7
Rating
(4.00)
Languages
5 — Czech, Dutch, English, German, Spanish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
12
ASINs
2