Another of Sebastian's children.
https://lisakleypas.com/
Once upon a time, Lisa Kleypas wrote only historical romance. Then she turned to the dark
side and started penning contemporary romance. When she did that, I was concerned because occasionally it is a sign that an author is bored and they are in the process of losing their magic. In Ms. Kleypas' case, she decided to write both contemporary and historical romances consecutively. That's a mighty hard thing to do, sometimes spreading author's creative juices way tooooo thin. I was worried. As much as I love Ms. Kleypas' writing, I must admit I haven't been all that fond of the Ravenel series. Except for Marrying Mr. Winterborne - which I loved - I have found this series to be a little ho-hum. But, all is not lost! With The Devil's Daughter, the fifth in the series, we are once again on top, or close to it. While not in the same class as Marrying Mr. Winterborne, The Devil in Winter, or Dreaming of You, this is still a good book and one of the better in the Ravenel series. And now on to the book.We have Lady Phoebe Clare, daughter of Sebastian and Evie from Devil in Winter. We also have West Ravenel, brother of Devon from Cold-Hearted Rake. West is one of the secondary characters from Cold-Hearted Rake who I was fascinated with. He was a scene-stealer. Sometimes those attention grabbing supporting characters can be problematic, especially when they are given their own book. In this case, Ms. Kleypas has been able to maintain the fascination I had with West in the previous book. Of course, the title implies the story isn't about West, but Phoebe - hence the word "Daughter" in the title. This book actually connects two series' together - the Ravenel series and the Wallflower series. The focus of the story is divided equally between West and Phoebe.
When the story begins, Lady Clare is traveling to her brother Gabriel's wedding. She's dreading it. It is her first public appearance since the death of her husband 2 years prior. And, she's not looking forward to it - she's nervous. On top of that she suspects that West Ravenel will be there. Since the bride is a Ravenel, that turns out to be a pretty good guess. She's holding a grudge against West. He is the man who bullied her husband, Henry, when they were young. Henry was a weak, sickly boy, who was easily picked on by bullies. Phoebe and Henry were fast friends, and childhood sweethearts. She was protective of him, always ready to fight his battles for him. Henry told Phoebe about the boy in school who bullied him, West. Phoebe hated that bully-boy. As they grew older, because of his illness, they were hesitant to marry. Eventually they decided to enjoy the time they had. And, they did. Phoebe and Henry's marriage was a calm, quiet, loving partnership which produced two children before Henry's death. Warning - these children, Justin and Stephen turn into scene-stealers. There is also a scene-stealing cat - Galoshes. Some of the more poignant moments in this story are between Justin and Galoshes, so I advise you, have some salted peanuts by your side to counter the sweetness.
We also get to see some of our previous characters: Sebastian, Evie, Devon, Kathleen, Pandora, and Severin - but they are not a distraction from the story. They are what they are supposed to be - supportive.
I loved both West and Phoebe. They are attracted to each other almost immediately; even though Phoebe puts up a good fight, she just cannot resist him. They were well-developed characters. Neither of them were perfect; they made mistakes, and they acknowledged those mistakes. West had the most angst to overcome. To me his problem boiled down to his not liking himself. He felt he had a past that could not be conquered. Even though I could understand how horrible his childhood was, I did grow a little tired of his I'm-not-worthy routine. But eventually, I was compensated by some wonderful groveling dialogue from him.
I also had a slight issue with Phoebe. Phoebe grew up surrounded by strong, opinionated, assertive people. Her parents would never put up with fools, and in most cases Phoebe was made of the same stock. So, it puzzled me as to why she would put up with a whiney mother-in-law and Henry's weasel of a cousin for so long. She could put West in his place, but she had trouble telling Henry's family where to get off. Although, for the most part Phoebe was a delightful character. Speaking of Henry's family - what happened to his irritating mother? One moment she's whining and complaining. The next moment she's off to Italy and just sort of vanishes from the pages. I guess on her way to Italy she stopped at the Island of Disappearing characters.
This story is peppered with great dialogue and wonderful chemistry between allllll of the characters. The children and Phoebe are a wonderful family group. Phoebe and her father Sebastian are a great father/daughter team. West's interaction with Phoebe's sons was delightful. Justin and Galoshes were charming.
Two memorable scenes. Spoilers - sort of. Watch for two wonderfully written scenes in this book, one poignant and one amusing. A smile came to my face when West shipped off the cat, Goulashes, to Phoebe after Phoebe had told her son he couldn't keep the cat. He sent a job application with it. "I hereby offer my services as an experienced mouser and personal companion. References from a reputable family to be provided upon request. Will accept room and board in lieu of pay. Indoor lodgings preferred. Your servant, Galoshes the Cat." The other wonderful moment involved a book West purloined from Henry when they were in school together. The book had been given to Henry by Phoebe and it had XOXO's throughout it. West's reason for never giving this book back to Henry is so touching you will find yourself falling under West's spell. What a great piece of writing the book scene was - so keep your eyes out for it.
Overall, this was a very satisfying read. For those of you who are following the series, this is a must read. For those of you who have never read Kleypas - what are you waiting on? And, by the way - where was the epilogue? I thought the ending was rather abrupt, I could have used just a few more pages of something, anything which felt like an ending. Even with the few qualms I had, I do highly recommend Devil's Daughter.
Time/Place: England 1877
Sensuality: Hot
