Sebastian maintains that he is totally selfish but I loved watching the ways in which he cares for and protects Evie as the story unfolds. Oh well, that’s probably the romantic in me!

Evie needs to escape her abusive relatives in order to blossom into the woman she is destined to be and this leads her to Sebastian. Sebastian is a lost soul who needs to find a purpose in his life to bring out the best in him and he finds this in Evie and the gaming club. I like to think that fate brought these two together.

What makes this book work so well for me is the amazing chemistry between Sebastian and Evie. (For those who haven’t yet read that book, I don’t want spoil it for you, but suffice to say that Sebastian’s actions at the end of the book are reprehensible.) Well, it’s confession time, because by the end of the book, I had completely fallen for him! I can only applaud Ms Kleypas for the way in which she made me believe that a self-centered, heartless, idle womanizer can become a caring, tender, hard-working man, madly in love with his wife. Those who have read It Happened One Autumn will understand my reason for this skepticism. I admit when I started reading this book, I had serious doubts that Sebastian could ever be redeemed in my eyes. The rake redeemed by the love of a good woman is a frequently used theme in historical romances but the brilliant writing of Lisa Kleypas turns this clichéd theme into something unforgettable. This is the third book in the highly successful Wallflowers series. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine’s callously discarded broken hearts - which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions…or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.īut Evie’s proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Sebastian’s reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden’s good name.

Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage! Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due.

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas