Devil Takes a Bride - Gaelen Foley
BOOK: Devil Takes a Bride
AUTHOR: Gaelen Foley
RECOMMENDED BY: etarowyn (author recommendation)
COMMENTS: Huge thanks to beckybelle I didn't have to mug anyone to find this book!
Wow, what a way to start a story huh? Out of all the books so far, this one has the most memorable and heartbreaking opening. After just reading the opening I was hooked! An accidental murder, a fire to cover it up that results in more deaths and leaves a young boy an orphan. Pretty heavy stuff for just the first few pages.
Fast forward twelve years and Devlin "Devil" Strathmore is all grown up and looking for revenge, since he doesn't believe what happened to his family was an accident. He's secretly spying on the men he thinks had something to do with the deaths of his parents and young sister by becoming one of them. Depraved, moral-less, and cruel. At least on the outside.
I thought Devlin was a fascinating character, one who's personality isn't just black and white but with varying shades of grey in the middle. He's bound by his grief and rage to seek revenge against those responsible but he's also being controlled by it. He is alone because he doesn't want to care about someone only to lose them. Yet he can't help caring about his elderly aunt, even as he tries to distance himself from her. He is kind to strangers and animals but again he is driven by grief and rage at times.
Lizzie Carlisle is definately my favorite. She's smarter than the heroines in the other books, and because she's been hurt and betrayed already, she gives Devlin a run for his money and several tongue lashings, the likes of which I'm sure he's never had. She's an admirable character, trying to put her life together and make it better. Even though she's been hurt, she's still such a sweet young lady who seems to take care of everyone around her instead of caring for herself. She's innocent, yet not annoyingly naive.
What made this book so enjoyable was the suspense that building and building throughout the story. It kept me on my toes wondering when Carstairs and Quint were going to discover Devlin's true intentions because let's face it, those bastards were evil and so twisted in their amusement. I also have to give props to Foley for making the villians truly realistic and well, scary.
Onto the much debated subject: Alec.
What he did to Lizzie was awful I agree. He was deliberately cruel to a person who would have done anything to protect and care for him and in the process destroyed years of friendship and loyalty. Let's face it, the only reason Alec started trailing after Lizzie was because someone else wanted her. Alec was selfish in thinking that Lizzie was his to toy with whenever he chose and that all he had to do was snap his fingers and she'd dump Devlin and come back to him. After all, he's Alec Knight. It was wrong of him to do so but it didn't make me hate him, I felt sorry for him because I started seeing him as truly the most neglected of the Knight family. The younger brother everybody had little or no faith in. That no one cared enough for to sit and talk to him and see beyond the reckless behavior and selfishness. The only one who ever bothered was Lizzie and I think about halfway through the book Alec realized that he was in very real danger of losing the only connection to humanity and decency he had.
Lizzie started out as the victim of Alec's selfishness but she unintentionally paid him back... By falling in love with someone else. It was a harsh wake up call for Alec and I did feel sorry for him when Lizzie turned down his proposal, but again, he had it coming.
One of my favorite things about Devil Takes a Bride is Billy, Jacinda's husband. I loved how protective of Lizzie he is. While the Knight brothers would protect her if she needed to be protected, it's Billy that treats her more like a beloved sister, complete with scowls and threats. He's such a sweetheart!
AUTHOR: Gaelen Foley
RECOMMENDED BY: etarowyn (author recommendation)
COMMENTS: Huge thanks to beckybelle I didn't have to mug anyone to find this book!
Wow, what a way to start a story huh? Out of all the books so far, this one has the most memorable and heartbreaking opening. After just reading the opening I was hooked! An accidental murder, a fire to cover it up that results in more deaths and leaves a young boy an orphan. Pretty heavy stuff for just the first few pages.
Fast forward twelve years and Devlin "Devil" Strathmore is all grown up and looking for revenge, since he doesn't believe what happened to his family was an accident. He's secretly spying on the men he thinks had something to do with the deaths of his parents and young sister by becoming one of them. Depraved, moral-less, and cruel. At least on the outside.
I thought Devlin was a fascinating character, one who's personality isn't just black and white but with varying shades of grey in the middle. He's bound by his grief and rage to seek revenge against those responsible but he's also being controlled by it. He is alone because he doesn't want to care about someone only to lose them. Yet he can't help caring about his elderly aunt, even as he tries to distance himself from her. He is kind to strangers and animals but again he is driven by grief and rage at times.
Lizzie Carlisle is definately my favorite. She's smarter than the heroines in the other books, and because she's been hurt and betrayed already, she gives Devlin a run for his money and several tongue lashings, the likes of which I'm sure he's never had. She's an admirable character, trying to put her life together and make it better. Even though she's been hurt, she's still such a sweet young lady who seems to take care of everyone around her instead of caring for herself. She's innocent, yet not annoyingly naive.
What made this book so enjoyable was the suspense that building and building throughout the story. It kept me on my toes wondering when Carstairs and Quint were going to discover Devlin's true intentions because let's face it, those bastards were evil and so twisted in their amusement. I also have to give props to Foley for making the villians truly realistic and well, scary.
Onto the much debated subject: Alec.
What he did to Lizzie was awful I agree. He was deliberately cruel to a person who would have done anything to protect and care for him and in the process destroyed years of friendship and loyalty. Let's face it, the only reason Alec started trailing after Lizzie was because someone else wanted her. Alec was selfish in thinking that Lizzie was his to toy with whenever he chose and that all he had to do was snap his fingers and she'd dump Devlin and come back to him. After all, he's Alec Knight. It was wrong of him to do so but it didn't make me hate him, I felt sorry for him because I started seeing him as truly the most neglected of the Knight family. The younger brother everybody had little or no faith in. That no one cared enough for to sit and talk to him and see beyond the reckless behavior and selfishness. The only one who ever bothered was Lizzie and I think about halfway through the book Alec realized that he was in very real danger of losing the only connection to humanity and decency he had.
Lizzie started out as the victim of Alec's selfishness but she unintentionally paid him back... By falling in love with someone else. It was a harsh wake up call for Alec and I did feel sorry for him when Lizzie turned down his proposal, but again, he had it coming.
One of my favorite things about Devil Takes a Bride is Billy, Jacinda's husband. I loved how protective of Lizzie he is. While the Knight brothers would protect her if she needed to be protected, it's Billy that treats her more like a beloved sister, complete with scowls and threats. He's such a sweetheart!