THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE

Author: Stefanie Sloane ISBN: 9780345517395 6/2011 HISTORICAL Publisher: BALLANTINE
Time Period: Regency, 1811

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I adored the heroine in DEVIL IN DISGUISE, Lady Lucinda Grey.  She’s not just beautiful, independent, and wealthy—she's smart and she's sharp!

At the ripe ‘old’ age of twenty-six, she’s firmly ‘on the shelf’, and that doesn’t bother her much. For that matter, she’s not much keen on love or marriage and has a dream to expand her horse breeding program. She lives with her three aunts, who are known to the ton as ‘The Furies’ for their eccentric personalities.

William Randall, the Duke of Claremont (or the ‘Iron Will’, as the ton calls him), is a member of the Young Corinthians, a group of young titled gentlemen who are spies for the King. His cover of a debauched rogue is well established throughout England and the Continent. As he’s handed his new assignment—the protection of Lady Lucinda’s life—Will decides the only way to get close to her would be if he courted her.

Knowing that Lady Lucinda may not be interested in being courted, he tempts her with a horse. This is not your ordinary horse, mind you. This horse belonged to her a long time ago, and she needs it for her breeding program. Our duke dangles this ‘carrot’ in front of our heroine and tells her that if she lets him court her for the next three months, the horse is hers. Marry or not, she gets the horse. It doesn’t take her long to agree to this wager, and from here on, the story takes off.

One of my favorite scenes is at the start of the book, in which Iron Will sets his eyes on our heroine for the first time:

“Bloody hell. Lady Lucinda Grey was beautiful. Not just pleasing. Not just pretty. Beautiful. Will felt heat rising from his belly to his chest. A mass of honeyed yellow curls artfully framed her face—and that face. The bluest eyes Will had ever seen shone like, well, he wasn’t quite sure, not being poetically inclined but even from his distant vantage point the brilliancy of them could not be denied.

Her lips, slightly pink, delicately shifted from question to statement and back again, surely hypnotizing the lot of fools around her.

Don’t look down, man. Whatever you do, do not look any further.

But his eyes seem to act of their own accord. His gaze lowered from her pert, ridiculously charming chin, and he found himself in forbidden territory. The creamy, milk white expanse of skin that showed above her pale pink evening attire begged to be caressed. As for what came next, even Will felt embarrassed over his reaction. The lady’s breasts were, in a word, perfection.”

To begin with, I’m stunned with the fact that this is Ms. Sloan’s first book. It is THAT good! For a debut novel, I thought it extremely well-written, with a plot and dialogue rivaling well-seasoned authors.

DEVIL IN DISGUISE is full of twists and turns, and I loved the pace Ms. Sloane took in revealing the plot as well as this charming love story. I read this book in one evening, and I’ve already gone through her second one, THE ANGEL IN MY ARMS (review to follow), and I’m looking forward to THE SINNER WHO SEDUCED ME, the third book in the Regency Rogues Series.

Melanie Friedman