He lives in secret service to the Crown—a man of duty, deception, and an undeniable attraction to a woman who threatens to tear his whole world apart.
They call him the Devil of Dorset. He stands alone, a man of undeniable power. Moving in and out of shadows, back alleys and ballrooms, he is unstoppable and one of the Crown’s most dangerous weapons. However, when he sets his sights on the undeniably beautiful Countess of Mont Claire, Francesca Cavendish, he doesn’t realize that he has met a match like no other.
TRUE LOVE WEARS NO DISGUISE
Francesca is a countess by day and stalks her prey—those responsible for the death of her family—by night. What she does not expect is to be thrown into the path of the devil himself, the Earl of Devlin. She has secrets of her own and he seems determined to lay them bare. Can her heart survive finding the love of her life and losing him when all is revealed?
Title : The Devil in Her Bed
Author : Kerrigan Byrne
Series : Devil You Know (book three)
Format : eARC
Page Count : 419
Genre : historical romance
Publisher : St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Release Date : March 9, 2021
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★
Hollis’ 3 star review
I have to say, on the one hand, it’s refreshing for the male of the pairing to be the drama queen. But on the other hand.. wow, drama queen.
I think I’ve said in all my reviews that the highlight of this series is the strong female characters, and the friendships, and while I think this one didn’t showcase as much of said friendship as the previous installments, we didn’t really need it to. It had been well established. And it was actually sweeter to see the heroes from books one and two step into the limelight to support not only their partners but book three’s heroine, too. We love a supportive friend group.
As for this book’s hero, well. My complaint in book two was that character lacked the dimension of book one but I feel like this time Byrne went too far in giving this hero layers and angst. See aforementioned drama. But my struggle was also the dynamic of this relationship was complicated from the word go, with hidden identities and secrets, and nothing really made sense.. romantically. The sudden shift didn’t make sense and it felt like some revisionist history was shoved down our throats to conveniently make it all work and I’ll admit I didn’t swallow, I choked.
What also didn’t quite work for me was the big reveal of this secret society that was such a driving force behind all of the books leading upto this big confrontation. I appreciate that it’s sort’ve addressed on-page to be pointless and frustratingly simple and or stupid but still.. I struggled with this.
The first half of this book is why this rating isn’t lower. I felt it to be pretty strong, even if I rolled my eyes at some of the hero’s behaviour and dramatic internal monologuing. Seeing the lengths the heroine was going, had already gone, for revenge, for those she loved; what she had turned herself into, become, and without knowing the how or why (at the time), it was also rather lovely to see how the hero appreciated it. Even if he was suspicious. Additionally I was definitely swept away by some of the chemistry and pull between these two before some of the masks came off. All of that really saved this. And with a weaker heroine it wouldn’t have worked at all.. but she was truly the saving grace for this story and pairing; which is definitely the theme for most of this series. Sisters really are doing it for themselves. We love to see it.
While this wasn’t an all-around win, rarely does Byrne disappoint to the point where I find no enjoyment at all in her stories. And I’m forever here for how she always gives us fierce heroines to champion. And that’s just one reason I will continue to read this author.
** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
A Take from Two Cities 