The Devil in Winter is my first book of 2009 and I'm happy to report a book from a
reading challenge as well! I wish I would have liked the book, though.
The Devil in Winter is the third book in the Wallflower series and follows Evie, a shy, uncommon beauty with red hair. Her father is dying and in order to overcome unscrupulous relatives from stealing her inheritance, she strikes a deal with the Viscount St. Vincent which includes marriage. The Viscount is a scoundrel and womanizer so this will be a marriage in name only...or will it?
Who doesn't love a good romance where the bad boy is tamed by the unexpected heroine? I just love this type of romance--when it is done well. I found the story and character development lacking, quite frankly, and was very disappointed. In fact, I'd even say this book was, gasp, boring. Below are my issues with it.
The Viscount was so unlikable in the beginning, very arrogant and selfish. Then, overnight, he's mush for Evie. It was very unbelievable. In fact, everything in this book was either black or white and there was no shading at all. In addition, Evie was rather bland and that was a shame. So much more could have been made of her stuttering and shyness.
Moving on to the story itself, it was somewhat morose. This was expanded by the fact most of the book takes place in the gaming house and it felt stifling. It would have been much more interesting to see how "polite society" reacted to this unusual coupling now and then.
The Wallflower series started out with such a bang. It's always fun to find a series that contains characters we love to follow, even in the periphery after their spotlight has been turned off. But authors need to be careful not to sacrifice the development of the romance of the new hero and heroine while covering the comings and goings of previous characters. They need to make us fall in love with a new hero/heroine and root and cheer them on as their romantic journey progresses. (The other Wallflowers didn't overtake this particular book, but the lack of chemistry bothered me throughout.)
I had a hard time finishing this and consider it a less than average read.
Rating: D
This book will be part of a book ring for an online group I run. I just started it yesterday but am already sucked in. I hope to finish it in a few days and then get it off to the next person.
This was an odd year for me. I didn't get to read anywhere near as many books as I have in past years. Life got too busy now that I have 2 jobs and the girls are in so many activities. However, reading gives me great pleasure so it is a goal of mine to get back to what makes my soul sing this year.
