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Carlyle, Liz - The Devil to Pay
Mon, May. 9th, 2005 04:51 pmSidonie Saint-Godard is a slightly impoverished widow in day, and an avenger of wronged women known as the Black Angel by night. She goes out and robs men who have mistreated women and donates the stolen goods.
Naturally (only in a romance novel, hee!), she runs afoul of the notorious Devil of Duke Street, aka the marquess of Devellyn. She mistakes the string of mistresses leaving Devellyn in a huff as Devellyn mistreating them, when it's actually them dumping him for being too drunk and too inattentive. Devellyn is bewitched by the Black Angel and by Sidonie, thinking them to be the exact opposites of each other.
I think one of the problems of the book is that the set-up very closely resembles that of Connie Brockway's All Through the Night. I personally haven't read very many romances with this set-up, so it is a little hard to look at this book in its own light, instead of in the shadow of the other book.
And it's a pleasant book, and Devellyn is actually rather pleasant, which surprised me, because usually I'm not much for the big hulking drunk rake type character. Sidonie is fairly interesting, but there's a certain depth missing from the entire book, a certain dangerous element that Brockway did so well. Everyone seems just a wee bit too nice, the danger seems to be too romance-novel-y to be real, and everything is resolved nicely. I mean, I am not exactly arguing with this, because I liked that Devellyn didn't act completely stupid when he found out Sidonie was the Black Angel, even though he was mad (completely understandable). I mean, thank heavens there was no giant chip on his shoulder that went on for the rest of the book.
But on the other hand, I never quite felt that Sidonie was in danger, I never felt that her brother George was dangerous (I suspect he's going to be a future hero). And because of that, the book doesn't quite live up to All Through the Night.
A fun read anyhow.
ETA: I will say, however, that I absolutely adored the moment when Devellyn discovers that his body can feel one thing but his mind/heart can feel another! Sounds common sensical, and yet, so many romance heroes and heroines mistake lust for love.
Naturally (only in a romance novel, hee!), she runs afoul of the notorious Devil of Duke Street, aka the marquess of Devellyn. She mistakes the string of mistresses leaving Devellyn in a huff as Devellyn mistreating them, when it's actually them dumping him for being too drunk and too inattentive. Devellyn is bewitched by the Black Angel and by Sidonie, thinking them to be the exact opposites of each other.
I think one of the problems of the book is that the set-up very closely resembles that of Connie Brockway's All Through the Night. I personally haven't read very many romances with this set-up, so it is a little hard to look at this book in its own light, instead of in the shadow of the other book.
And it's a pleasant book, and Devellyn is actually rather pleasant, which surprised me, because usually I'm not much for the big hulking drunk rake type character. Sidonie is fairly interesting, but there's a certain depth missing from the entire book, a certain dangerous element that Brockway did so well. Everyone seems just a wee bit too nice, the danger seems to be too romance-novel-y to be real, and everything is resolved nicely. I mean, I am not exactly arguing with this, because I liked that Devellyn didn't act completely stupid when he found out Sidonie was the Black Angel, even though he was mad (completely understandable). I mean, thank heavens there was no giant chip on his shoulder that went on for the rest of the book.
But on the other hand, I never quite felt that Sidonie was in danger, I never felt that her brother George was dangerous (I suspect he's going to be a future hero). And because of that, the book doesn't quite live up to All Through the Night.
A fun read anyhow.
ETA: I will say, however, that I absolutely adored the moment when Devellyn discovers that his body can feel one thing but his mind/heart can feel another! Sounds common sensical, and yet, so many romance heroes and heroines mistake lust for love.
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