Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas is the romance novel equivalent of visiting an old friend and immediately feeling cozy and welcomed and nostalgic. It’s got witty dialogue, a self-aware and charming hero, a heroine is who slightly too pure for this world (but not so much as to be irritating), and cameos from Kleypas’s original Wallflowers. It’s not a perfect book; the conflict is weak and inconsistent, but I felt so happy and warm reading it that I didn’t care.
Phoebe, Lady Clare, is the daughter of Sebastian and Evie from The Devil in Winter. She’s inherited her mother’s red hair and her sweetness, and actually reminded me of Evie quite a lot. When the book opens Phoebe is attending the wedding of her brother, Gabriel and Pandora Ravenel (the couple from Devil in Spring). Is it vital to read both of those books before this one? No, but they’re excellent, so you might want to do so anyway.
Phoebe is a widow with two young children. She married her late husband and childhood sweetheart, Henry, knowing that he was chronically ill and would likely predecease her. The two had a marriage that a foundation of deep love, but not much passion.
When Phoebe arrives for the wedding, she’s distressed to find that West Ravenel is also in attendance since she knows he used to bully Henry in boarding school. West has been acting as estate manager for his brother, Devon, the hero in Cold Hearted Rake. When we first met West in that book, he had recently decided that his life of drinking, gambling, debauching, and generally being a irresponsible man-child wasn’t actually that great. We’ve had these lovely glimpses of him throughout the other books in the series as he slowly morphs from a dissolute younger brother to man who is responsible, self-aware, and kind.
The thing I love so much about West is that he makes this transition on his own. He realizes his behavior is crappy and hurtful and selfish, and when he decides he needs to be a better person, he does the work to get there. No heroine sets out to improve him. No stern father withholds an allowance. West has no external motivator to get better; his push comes purely from his realization that he wants to be a better person.
By Devil’s Daughter West is pretty much there. He makes no excuses for his past. He’s doing hard work that he finds fulfilling and he’s re-engaged with his family so he can have meaningful relationships with them.
I originally thought this book would be about Phoebe being desperately attracted to West (she is), but unable to forgive him for bullying her late husband when they were young. I was surprised to find that conflict was resolved pretty quickly. West admits to be being a bully (and other characters explain to her that he was somewhere in middle of a Lord of the Flies-like food chain that apparently happens in boys’ boarding schools, as opposed to being some kind of apex predator). She forgives him early on into the novel and the two enter into a flirtation that turns into affection that turns into something more intensely passionate.
In fact, there isn’t a whole lot of conflict beyond that. Phoebe is a young widow with enough money to marry whoever she wants. She has a sort of unspoken understanding with her late husband’s cousin (who has been managing the estate) that she might marry him one day, but it would be purely out of convenience. When she realizes that she doesn’t know exactly how said cousin has been running the estate her son is due to inherit (poorly it turns out) she turns to West to help her gain an understanding of her own properties and how to manage them, giving them more time together.
The most significant barrier to West and Phoebe just falling in love and being together is the fact that West is afraid that his past shittiness makes him less than worthy of Phoebe.
The truth is, I didn’t mind that there wasn’t a whole lot keeping these two crazy kids apart. Their relationship progresses organically and it’s based so much on mutual respect and affection that it’s impossible not to be drawn into it. In addition, West has been one of my favorite characters since The Ravenels series came out, and I wasn’t disappointed by his depiction in this book. He’s charming and self-deprecating and funny, while also being genuinely kind.
In one scene he’s laying on the floor, playing with Phoebe’s youngest son and a toy farm:
West lounged on the floor between her two sons, a heavy forelock of dark hair falling over his forehead. “What does the chicken say?” he asked Stephen, holding up a wooden figure.
The toddler took it from him and answered, “Rowwr!”
West blinked in surprise and then began to chuckle along with Justin. “By God, that is a fierce chicken.”
Delighted by his effect on West, Stephen held up the chicken. “Rowwr,” he growled again, and this time West and Justin collapsed in laughter. Quickly West reached out to the toddler’s blond head, pulled him closer and crushed a brief kiss among the soft curls.
Had there been any doubts lingering in Phoebe’s mind, they were demolished in that instant.
Oh, yes…I want this man.
Me too, Phoebe, me too.
One other element that I loved was that the text clearly calls out how Phoebe’s body changed after having children. She has stretch marks that she’s initially a little self-conscious of during sex, although West tells her that he finds all of her beautiful.
We also get a brief glimpse of Phoebe’s parents, Evie and Sebastian, still happily married, Sebastian still a little wicked, which will delight fans of The Devil in Winter.
Fans of Kleypas’s work will love the cameos that Devil’s Daughter has to offer. Newcomers might feel a little lost with all the name dropping, but I think will find West and Phoebe charming enough to overcome it. If you’re look for a historical that’s light on angst and don’t mind weak conflict, then check this book out.
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I read this one last week, & a B+ sounds about right. I like West’s development – if you haven’t read the Ravenels’ series, you should, but be warned he does start off rather unprepossessing. While I liked both West & Phoebe, I kept wanting to spend more time with Sebastian & Evie, my favorite of the Wallflower pairings.
On a somewhat esoteric note, as an accountant myself, I loved the bit about the radical concept of double-entry bookkeeping!
*flutters helplessly* I love West. That’s all.
I loved this book. I read it the day it came out and it was just so soothing.
I own this but have yet to read it. You’re inspiring me to move it up in my list. Thanks for the review, Elyse.
A highly uneven book for me. The first half is in the top ten romance books I have read. I resent having wasted my time on the over sexed with unreasonable actions last quarter.
I really felt the lack of plot conflict. Not only was there really nothing keeping them apart, but Phoebe’s father Sebastian was in favor of the match from Day 1 and working to make it happen. And then Phoebe’s decision to marry someone she had real passion for, instead of the convenient late husband’s cousin was made moot, because the cousin took himself out of the running by doing some really crappy stuff.
The most I’ll call it is a pleasant read. Phoebe was a bit too good to be true, but West’s rapport with the kids was great.
I read this about a week after it came out, at a time when I was stressed out and the stress was making me physically sick (I had run a low-grade fever most of the week, and was horribly tired as a result…hurricane recovery, I don’t recommend it). I tend to gravitate toward historical romance when I don’t feel great, either physically or emotionally, and both of those areas were involved at this point. It’s the literary equivalent of a warm fuzzy blanket with a brownie and a glass of milk for me. This book got me at exactly when I needed it. It was delightful in all the ways I needed it to be (humor, West’s rapport with Phoebe’s kids, Sebastian generally acting like Sebastian) and the lack of a ton of conflict actually worked for me (again, hurricane, I have all the conflict I need). It was the right book at the right time, and that was nice for me.
West has come a long way and I think he deserved much better than Pheobe, he was a darling. The best part was that it made me want to look up Sebastian and Evie’s relationship and re-read it after many years. I did think the cover was quite lovely.
@Crystal: Internet hug! I’m a Floridian & the nonprofit I work for is still helping people hit by the last couple of hurricane seasons. Stay safe, take care of yourself, & see what long term recovery organizations (LTROs) are working in your area.
I am a sucker for a hero who redeems himself, yet doesn’t think he is good enough for the heroine. This story was all about the second chances in life for both West and Phoebe. That said, West was my book boyfriend for a week but I agree with the B+ review. The conflict was a little weak but I was happy with how everything turned out.
Anybody else think the cover model looks a bit like Christina Hendricks?
I really loved the way Kleypas depicted Phoebe’s widowhood. I think she got a whole lot of that right.
I want a West for my daughter and I, too!
Liked it, but I think Sebastian stole the show.
I liked all of the returning characters and I like how it dealt with Phoebe’s grief. However, when it starts out with her being brave enough to go back into society after mourning, she falls in love with literally the first available guy she meets. I thought there was a little too much of all the other characters being like “you guys are perfect for each other” and encouraging the match because it made them (the other characters) happy. I would have like to have seen a little more development with Phoebe meeting other people, experiencing some of the social whirl, and then reconnecting with West.
Did anyone else find that the first 5ish pages of the book was really telling not showing? It started off good with some letters from Phoebe and her late husband which showed how West was a bully when they all were young-but it was followed by a summary of the whole progression of Phoebe and Henry’s marriage together and it came off really clunky and brought me out of the narrative. As I was reading it I couldn’t figure out why she didn’t do a progression of flashbacks/scenes or just let the information develop gradually throughout the story (which is what she usually does in her books?). It’s not like the book was that long either, there was room for an extra bit at the beginning. Anyways this clunky introduction followed by the 2 chapters of call backs of characters from previous books made the beginning an uphill battle. The second half of the book was wonderful though-much more natural and enjoyable to read 🙂
I’m old as dirt and embarrassed to be so in love with Weston Ravenel that it makes my gums hurt (been there since the train crash rescue in CHRake)! LOL! He’s everything – a charming, funnyAF,fully self-aware man, who, as you said, has gotten there through his own growth, which is so sexy. Phoebe’s determination to have him just as he is, asking him to trust that she and her boys love him… oh, my.
Then we get to the Winter Garden scene – and I think my scalp started to melt!
I absolutely loved your review of Devil’s Daughter!