Narrated by Mary Jane Wells
This time of year always brings the happy arrival of a new Lisa Kleypas book to enjoy. It generally causes a bit of a scuffle among AudioGals reviewers as to who gets it – this year I was the lucky one. (There may have been a few elbows thrown.) Devil in Disguise, which features Lady Merritt Sterling as the heroine – she’s the daughter of Lillian and Marcus Marsden (from It Happened One Autumn) is described on Goodreads as Ravenels #7 but the link is a little tenuous. There are Ravenels in the book however and it’s set within that same next generation, in Victorian England. Alas there is no cameo from West (*heartfelt sigh*).
Merritt is a widow, her husband Joshua a shipping magnate having been lost at sea some years earlier. Since her husband’s passing, she has been running Sterling Enterprises. It’s been something of a scandal given she’s a woman but her pedigree has largely protected her from the gossip. More recently, her younger brother, Luke, has been training with her to take over the business. Merritt is looking to step away and go on to the next thing – whatever that is.
Keir MacRae is a whiskey distiller from a small island off the coast of Scotland. Sterling Enterprises are warehousing some of Keir’s whiskey and after a mix-up at the docks Merritt has to soothe an angry Scot – something she’s very good at – and then arrange a fix that works for everyone. Keir is handsome and well-built, if a little rough around the edges, and something about him stirs Merritt in a way she’s never experienced before.
For his part, Keir is instantly attracted too, but Merritt is far above his touch and he can see no future for them and knows better than to try. His house has a stone floor and no servants. He can’t provide anything like what Merritt is used to or deserves. And, he has no desire to move from his beloved Islay.
But Merritt is tenacious and tempting and Keir is irresistibly drawn.
When there are attempts on Keir’s life for unknown reasons, he is injured and Merritt determines to make sure he is cared for properly – by overseeing it personally.
I won’t go further into the plot other than to say there are cameos and more-than-cameos from the previous Wallflowers generation, most especially Sebastian (Devil in Winter). The part that made me laugh out loud was Sebastian and Evie in fact. Sebastian is delightfully ridiculous when it comes to Evie.
The romance between Merritt and Keir was fairly smooth notwithstanding the difficulties originally identified by both of them. They fall in love quickly but it is obviously a deep and abiding emotion. I believed in their HEA absolutely. The conflict however is mainly from the suspense plot rather than the romance.
There’s plenty of steam in this novel. Keir is a creative and generous lover. While Merritt had enjoyed sex with Joshua, what Keir shows her is on a whole nother level.
Mary Jane Wells narrates. I have enjoyed her prior Kleypas narrations and expected the same here. I’ve previously been impressed with her wide range of accents: Welsh, various English accents, Irish. I don’t think her Scottish accent is as good as her Welsh however. It didn’t sound natural and it didn’t always feel authentic. It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t what I’d call good either. For that reason, the narration grade is a bit lower than usual.
However, when it comes to the emotion of the piece, the humour, the intimacy and the characterisations, Ms. Well’s performance was its usual delight.
I liked Merritt and Keir very much. He’s not West Ravenel but then who could be? However, for all that Keir wasn’t raised with the aristocracy like Merritt, he’s nonetheless a sweet talker when he puts his mind to it.
“How could it be late, when you’re the sunrise? There’s no morning sky or lark-song before you appear. No butterfly would dare unfold its wings. The day waits on you, my heart, just as the harvest waits the reaper.”
Kaetrin
Buy Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas on Amazon
