Review: The Devil in Disguise by Stefanie Sloane

Filed in Review , Stefanie Sloane , The HEA Lover Posted on June 15, 2011 @ 6:00 am 2 comments

Format read: Print copy from the Publisher
Number of pages: 320 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Release Date: May 24th 2011
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s website, Amazon

Book Blurb:

Lord William Randall, the Duke of Clairemont, is a rake with little regard for society—a most unlikely suitor for Lady Lucinda Grey. But his latest assignment for the Young Corinthians, an elite spy organization, involves protecting her from a kidnapping plot. To do this, the notorious “Iron Will” must use his devilish charm to seduce Lucinda and convince her he’s worthy of her attention. William never planned to become enthralled by the lovely Lady Grey—or to lose his own heart in the bargain.

Beautiful and fiercely intelligent, Lucinda has managed to gracefully sidestep even the most persistent suitors. Until the Duke of Clairemont, that is. She’s tempted by his sinfully sensuous mouth and piercing eyes, and finds it hard to resist the champion thoroughbred he offers her in exchange for the honor of courting her. Can she keep him at arm’s length when his touch begs her to let him so much closer?

My Thoughts:

The Devil in Disguise is the 1st book in the Regency Rogues series. Now the title of the series and the title of the book led me to believe that our hero would be a rogue, a bad man, a devil who the heroine would reform. Yes I know, I shouldn’t have expectations based on a title. Now don’t get me wrong I enjoyed reading this book, but I wasn’t swept away.
William is the Duke of Clairemont, he is also part of the Young Corinthians. He’s a spy and is assigned to protect Lady Lucinda Grey who’s the next target of a well known murderer. I’m not a huge fan of spy stories because it’s easy to fall into ridicule. It’s not the case for this book, thankfully! I liked the characters and I wanted to love the story but some parts were just too rushed for me.
Will is ready to court Lucinda to be able to protect her. My problem was that he is supposed to be the ‘Iron Will’, a rogue, ruthless but he’s really not and he didn’t look the part for me. And I’m not even sure how he got his reputation to stick. I wanted more details about his ‘supposed past’ of debauchery.  Anyway, Lucinda is a strong-willed woman, she doesn’t need a husband she has money and is perfectly happy to live her life with her 3 aunts (nicknamed the Furies! Those women are very funny).  Will knows she is reluctant to marry anyone and his chances of getting close to her are very very slim. So he makes a deal with her, if she can resist his seduction for a period of time he will give her his horse (I should mention she really wants the horse for reasons I won’t mention), if not then they’ll get married and she’ll have that horse anyway. Hey it’s a win-win situation for her, is it not? 😉
See, this started good, I liked that he was going to try and seduce her any way he could and she would have to resist. Very good plot, my kind of plot! But for me it all went too fast. Their feelings for each other appeared out of nowhere, even the lovemaking was rushed. I mean it’s her first time and we don’t even know what happens after they did it. Maybe it’s just that I needed more smex scenes, but even without more smex I still think we should have gotten at least more about the psychological consequences of this seduction.
This is a good story, I enjoyed reading it, I just wanted (expected) a bit more. I wanted this ‘devil’ the title promised.  I’ll still want to read the next books in the series because Stefanie Sloane’s writing is entertaining. The Devil in disguise will please  many historical romance lovers. If you like spy stories this IS for you.
I give The Devil in Disguise 3 1/2 Bookies.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

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About Caro The HEA Lover


Caroline is a HEA loving, yarn addicted French who's desperately hoping to get a HEA of her own. If she's not reading then she can be found knitting while listening to Audiobooks or watching Tv shows. Her secret addiction is reading websites that make fun at other people's expense (DYAC, Failbook)! Caroline also blogs at the Secret HEA Society with Susi.

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2 Comments

Join the Discussion
  • Blodeuedd June 15, 2011 at 8:48 am

    Too bad the devil never lived up to his name 😉 I do love a good devil

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  • pattepoilue June 15, 2011 at 11:28 am

    @Blodeuedd me too me too! *dreamy sigh* I think if the name of the book hadn't been the same I wouldn't have had expectations of a wicked hero. Or I'm just devious and I love my heroes way more devilish. 😉

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