Rating: 
Summary: strong Regency
Review: Sir Alasdair St. Erth spent numerous years on the continent with one goal in mind: vengeance on the Sealbys for what they did. He has the evidence and he has insured that his intended targets know what he possesses. Now he is back on English soil ready to complete his life's quest the fall of the house of Sealby.At the Swanson Ball, country mouse Katherine Corbet shows the strength of a lioness protecting her cubs when she helps Alasdair escape the machinations of a marriage minded woman. Though he realizes she is an innocent, Alasdair decides she is the perfect pawn to enable him to complete his personal mission. However, as he begins to fall in love with his sacrificial lamb, he starts questioning his desires because he knows when he gains checkmate he loses everything. Though the theme of revenge and romance has been used numerous times in novels and movies, Edith Layton provides Regency readers with a strong tale due to a delightful cast. The lead couple is wonderful as Alasdair struggles between love and revenge knowing he needs the former, but remains obsessed with the latter though the presence of Katherine has weakened his resolve. Ms. Layton provides her usual exciting novel starring two strong protagonists that will leave fans satiated and new readers as fans. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: strong Regency
Review: Sir Alasdair St. Erth spent numerous years on the continent with one goal in mind: vengeance on the Sealbys for what they did. He has the evidence and he has insured that his intended targets know what he possesses. Now he is back on English soil ready to complete his life's quest the fall of the house of Sealby. At the Swanson Ball, country mouse Katherine Corbet shows the strength of a lioness protecting her cubs when she helps Alasdair escape the machinations of a marriage minded woman. Though he realizes she is an innocent, Alasdair decides she is the perfect pawn to enable him to complete his personal mission. However, as he begins to fall in love with his sacrificial lamb, he starts questioning his desires because he knows when he gains checkmate he loses everything. Though the theme of revenge and romance has been used numerous times in novels and movies, Edith Layton provides Regency readers with a strong tale due to a delightful cast. The lead couple is wonderful as Alasdair struggles between love and revenge knowing he needs the former, but remains obsessed with the latter though the presence of Katherine has weakened his resolve. Ms. Layton provides her usual exciting novel starring two strong protagonists that will leave fans satiated and new readers as fans. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous book, to be savoured slowly.
Review: [Warning: This is a rough draft review, to be polished up later. I wrote this review as an aid to friends, and a strong recommendation to buy this novel] I picked up Edith Layton's latest THE DEVIL'S BARGAIN - and I read through it nonstop (very much in a hurry - will have to re-read later). It was good, starting between the dialogues between the hero and his well-meaning friend (and the odd villain/criminal), and those between the heroine and her cousin. And there were three "ugly sisters" borrowed from Cinderella etc, but not as bad as that, of course. And best of all for those tired of endless wedding nights and heroines exhausted from passion in their first encouter, although there is plenty of implied sex in the book (including a couple of startling scenes early on, and one shattering revelation towards the end), the hero and heroine don't actually make love until after they married. I loved the major characters, the descriptions (particularly of the bath/bordello as well as the low-rent areas), the minor characters (including a madame Mrs Pansy and the servants), and above all, the dialogue. Some might find parts of the book too introspective, but I felt that this was a story of two mature characters finding each other, and one giving up a fair amount in search of love. The plot - the hero Sir Alasdair St Erth is out for vengeance against a particular family (or couple) the Scalbys, but his reputation has been badly marred by family mishaps and his own behavior in the past. He finds and uses a young woman Katherine Corbet, staying with a family with several unmarried (and very ugly) daughters to launch into society. During the narrative, he comes to realize that Katherine is worth more to him than the revenge (or rather the form that he intends the revenge to take), and this realization is hastened when Katherine is kidnapped. [The identity of the kidnappers and their motivation is a small but significant sub-plot, but the effect of the kidnapping is very important to the story]. Katherine and Alasdair agree to marry - not because her reputation has been ruined when she disappears, or because she is caught kissing Alasdair and more, but because they genuinely care for each other. At the end, Alasdair achieves his revenge, although not in the form he originally intended or even planned later. The hero is somewhat in the framework of Quick heroes, but rather more interesting in some ways, especially when he is pondering whether to take a mistress or visit a brothel, and when he is discussing his courtship of Katherine with a friend. The heroine Katherine is beautiful but not particularly interested in London society. She comes from a somewhat dysfunctional family background, but her parents obviously care about her as well. Her dialogues with her cousin Sibyl are also worth reading. In fact, much of the charm of the story comes as much from the lovely extended dialogues as it does from the narrative, the premises of the plot, the revelations that build up slowly (including a Big Secret), not to mention all the careful research that shows through in the descriptions of a bath in a London brothel and other seedy areas. The tone is a cross between London's THE BAD BARON'S DAUGHTER, Chase's VISCOUNT VAGABOND, and Brockway's ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT. [I mention these particular titles quite deliberately, as you will see if you read the book]. The cover is very classy. I have to mention this, because so many covers are just clinches. This is a book you can safely carry around.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book, to be savoured slowly.
Review: [Warning: This is a rough draft review, to be polished up later. I wrote this review as an aid to friends, and a strong recommendation to buy this novel] I picked up Edith Layton's latest THE DEVIL'S BARGAIN - and I read through it nonstop (very much in a hurry - will have to re-read later). It was good, starting between the dialogues between the hero and his well-meaning friend (and the odd villain/criminal), and those between the heroine and her cousin. And there were three "ugly sisters" borrowed from Cinderella etc, but not as bad as that, of course. And best of all for those tired of endless wedding nights and heroines exhausted from passion in their first encouter, although there is plenty of implied sex in the book (including a couple of startling scenes early on, and one shattering revelation towards the end), the hero and heroine don't actually make love until after they married. I loved the major characters, the descriptions (particularly of the bath/bordello as well as the low-rent areas), the minor characters (including a madame Mrs Pansy and the servants), and above all, the dialogue. Some might find parts of the book too introspective, but I felt that this was a story of two mature characters finding each other, and one giving up a fair amount in search of love. The plot - the hero Sir Alasdair St Erth is out for vengeance against a particular family (or couple) the Scalbys, but his reputation has been badly marred by family mishaps and his own behavior in the past. He finds and uses a young woman Katherine Corbet, staying with a family with several unmarried (and very ugly) daughters to launch into society. During the narrative, he comes to realize that Katherine is worth more to him than the revenge (or rather the form that he intends the revenge to take), and this realization is hastened when Katherine is kidnapped. [The identity of the kidnappers and their motivation is a small but significant sub-plot, but the effect of the kidnapping is very important to the story]. Katherine and Alasdair agree to marry - not because her reputation has been ruined when she disappears, or because she is caught kissing Alasdair and more, but because they genuinely care for each other. At the end, Alasdair achieves his revenge, although not in the form he originally intended or even planned later. The hero is somewhat in the framework of Quick heroes, but rather more interesting in some ways, especially when he is pondering whether to take a mistress or visit a brothel, and when he is discussing his courtship of Katherine with a friend. The heroine Katherine is beautiful but not particularly interested in London society. She comes from a somewhat dysfunctional family background, but her parents obviously care about her as well. Her dialogues with her cousin Sibyl are also worth reading. In fact, much of the charm of the story comes as much from the lovely extended dialogues as it does from the narrative, the premises of the plot, the revelations that build up slowly (including a Big Secret), not to mention all the careful research that shows through in the descriptions of a bath in a London brothel and other seedy areas. The tone is a cross between London's THE BAD BARON'S DAUGHTER, Chase's VISCOUNT VAGABOND, and Brockway's ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT. [I mention these particular titles quite deliberately, as you will see if you read the book]. The cover is very classy. I have to mention this, because so many covers are just clinches. This is a book you can safely carry around.
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