Lady Merritt Sterling is a widow running her husband’s shipping company. Jennie: The story opens in London in 1880. It should really be considered part of a series called Children of the Wallflowers, except that that would be a clunky series title. Janine: Ethan Ransom, a Ravenel by blood if not by surname, his wife Garrett, and Phoebe Ravenel, a member of the Ravenel family through marriage and Merritt’s close friend, have roles to play in this book, but I agree that Devil in Disguise is at least a squint and a half away from being a Ravenels book. I have some ideas about how it might be tangential to the Ravenels series, but Janine, possessor of a mind like a steel trap, will know. I will confess that I had to think hard about how this book, #7 in the Ravenels series, *was* a Ravenels book. I enjoyed my recent return to Kleypas historical romanceland – I gave most of the 11 books in the Ravenels and Hathaways series B range grades, which isn’t bad for me. (I did read a couple of her contemporary romances a few years later.) I checked my book log I read Devil in Winter in March of 2006 and gave it a B. Jennie: Before Janine got me into reading the two most recent Lisa Kleypas historical series (the Ravenels and then the Hathaways-Kleypas had a couple of contemporary series in between these), I hadn’t read one of Kleypas’ historical romances since 2006.

Note: Since we had fun reviewing Chasing Cassandra together, Janine and I decided to do a joint review of Devil in Disguise. Jennie B- Reviews / Book Reviews / C+ Reviews 1880s / Across the Tracks Romance / businesswoman / class differences / fish-out-of-water / historical romance / joint review / Late Victorian / long-lost heir / romance series / Scotsman / The Wallflowers meet the Ravenels 19 Comments

AugJOINT REVIEW: Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas

Lisa kleypas devil in disguise