Seduced By A Book: Giveaway, Excerpt, & Review of Devil's Daughter (The Ravenels #5) by Lisa Kleypas

Devil's Daughter

by Lisa Kleypas

Although beautiful young widow Phoebe, Lady Clare, has never met West Ravenel, she knows one thing for certain: he’s a mean, rotten bully. Back in boarding school, he made her late husband’s life a misery, and she’ll never forgive him for it. But when Phoebe attends a family wedding, she encounters a dashing and impossibly charming stranger who sends a fire-and-ice jolt of attraction through her. And then he introduces himself...as none other than West Ravenel.

West is a man with a tarnished past. No apologies, no excuses. However, from the moment he meets Phoebe, West is consumed by irresistible desire...not to mention the bitter awareness that a woman like her is far out of his reach. What West doesn’t bargain on is that Phoebe is no straitlaced aristocratic lady. She’s the daughter of a strong-willed wallflower who long ago eloped with Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent—the most devilishly wicked rake in England.

Before long, Phoebe sets out to seduce the man who has awakened her fiery nature and shown her unimaginable pleasure. Will their overwhelming passion be enough to overcome the obstacles of the past? Only the devil’s daughter knows…

“If you have any misguided thoughts about taking me into your bed, you would find it a vastly mediocre experience. I’d be on you like a crazed rabbit, and half a minute later the whole thing would be over. I used to be a proficient lover, but now I’m a burnt-out libertine whose only remaining pleasure is breakfast food. Speaking of which—”

Phoebe reached for him, brought herself up hard against him, and interrupted him with her mouth. West flinched as if scalded and held very still in the manner of a man trying to withstand torture. Undeterred, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as passionately as she could, touching her tongue to his stiff lips. The feel and taste of him was exhilarating. Suddenly he responded with a primitive grunt and his mouth clamped on hers, wringing sensation from her with demanding pressure. Forcing her lips apart, he searched her with his tongue the way she remembered, and it felt so good, she thought she might faint. A whimper rose from her throat, and he licked and bit gently at the sound and sealed their mouths together in a deep, insatiable kiss that involved his lips, breath, hands, body, soul.

Whatever it might be like to go to bed with this man . . . it would be anything but mediocre.

Connect with Lisa Kleypas

Website: https://lisakleypas.com/

Facebook: @LisaKleypas

Twitter: @LisaKleypas

Instagram: @LisaKleypas

New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas graduated from Wellesley College with a political science degree. She’s a RITA award-winning author of both historical romance and contemporary women’s fiction. She lives in Washington State with her husband Gregory and their two children.

Title: Devil's Daughter: The Ravenels meet The Wallflowers
Classification: Adult Fiction
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Ravenels
Format: Paperback; 384 pages
Publisher: Avon (February 19, 2019)
ISBN-10: 0062371932
ISBN-13: 978-0062371935
Author's Website: https://lisakleypas.com/
Notes: I received an eARC loan from the publisher for review purposes. I must also admit I am a HUGE Lisa Kleypas fan.

Lady Clare, Pheobe to friends and family, is just coming out of mourning and back into society two years after her husband's death. The marriage had been a love match, and while she's open to the possibility of love, she has no delusions as to how rare a second chance at it would be. When she meets the man who tormented her husband in his youth, she instantly dislikes him, but as she gets to know him things get...complicated. He's not at all what she pictured. He is handsome and charming with a devilishly wicked sense of humor. He draws her out from under the rain cloud that's been hovering over her since her husband's death. Would falling for the man who bullied her husband all those years ago be a betrayal???

West Ravenel parents died when he was you and was sent off to boarding school when none of his relatives could be bothered to raise him or his older brother. Truth be told, he had been a holy terror. Later he gained a reputation for being a rake. Somewhere along the way, however, he grew up and became a man to be admired, but he still feels as thought he's someone who just doesn't quite fit in. When he meets Lady Clare he is instantly enamored by the beautiful, warm young widow, but being as she is a Duke's daughter, he believes she's way too good for him and well above his reach . But is she...

"It's an unfair fact of life that the worst men end up with the best women."

This is the fifth book in the Ravenels series and I think I just died and went to heaven. Lisa Kleypas is one of my favorite authors and I adore her stories. She tends to expertly entwine love, passion, family, and friendship into her novels, and this one was no exception. How did I love this book? Let me count the ways...

First, I love that Ms. Kleypas included characters from one of her previous series. While you can read this book as a standalone I truly recommend that you don't. There are some scenes in this book between Sebastian, the Duke of Kingston, and his lady wife Evie (who were the prevalent characters in the Wallflower series) that you cannot possibly fully appreciate unless you've read the "Devil in Winter" first. I absolutely loved those scenes, and knowing Sebastian still loves his wife as much as he did when we were first introduced to the couple just brought a smile to my face and warmth to my heart. Plus, there are some parallels that Sebastian, Pheobe's father, sees between himself and West Ravenel that you won't pick up on unless you've read "Devil in Winter". So definitely read it, if not the whole Wallflower series, before this one. You'll be glad you did.

Second, I loved seeing Sebastian play matchmaker. I adored watching as he oh, so subtly pelts West with questions aimed at determining the man's character. I think I fell in love all over again with Sebastian as he watched out for his daughter, and had only her best interest at heart. It was so fun to see what kind of father he turned out to be.

Third, I loved how West was with Pheobe's children. The scenes where the kids and West interacted were just so precious. You could just feel any doubts you may have had about the man just melt away as he displayed both patience and care when he played with the children and diligently answered their questions. It was utterly charming.

Fourth, and probably the most important. I loved how Pheobe and West were together. The chemistry between them was phenomenal, but it was more than that. You could just tell these two would fall madly and deeply for each other. It felt like the reader was watching two soul mates finally find their other halves. It was simply swoonworthy.

Fifth, I love it when an author uses parallelisms to convey a certain thought, message, moral lesson, or idea to the reader. It's sort of like a verbal underlining used to emphasize something going on in the story by pairing it with another similar yet less obvious situation. It highlights what the author wants the reader to grasp on to and/or see. In this story Ms. Kleypas uses a cat to create the parallelism. See if you can figure out what it is the author is emphasizing. (Yes, I'm being very vague because I'm trying not to give too much of the story away.)

I could go on and on about this one, but lets just say I equate reading this book to eating warm ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies that just hit the spot without all the calories. It's like indulging in a guilty pleasure without any of the guilt. Basically, it's like partaking of comfort food for the soul that warms your heart all while making you believe in the magic of love and the power of forgiveness.

If you haven't figured it out, I gave this one 5 out 5 roses. I absolutely loved it. The characters were engaging and extremely three-dimensional. The romance was sweet, charming, and sexy as all get out. Additionally, there was a nice dose of humor mixed in with an interesting look at life during an era in the midst of change. On the Lisarenee Romance Rating Scale, this one earned a STEAM rating--too hot for a fan, but you still have a handle on things. You should use extreme caution when reading a book with this rating in public. People may inquire as to why you looked flustered and flushed. I HIGHLY recommend this one. It's Kleypas at her best. Who could ask for anything more? Um, well, er, except for another book and another and.... Well, you get the picture. *SMILE*