The Ravenels #3
Lisa Kleypas
Historical Romance
Published in 2017
H/h - Lord Gabriel St. Vincent/Lady Pandora Ravenel
Setting: London, 1876.
Read in March, 2017.
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
Sooooooooo...I
know this one’s going to be a difficult one for me because I was
really, really looking forward to this book. But alas! I may have
expected too much. :(
I just finished Lisa Kleypas’s much anticipated book 3 of the Ravenels series, Devil in Spring,
and I’m rather underwhelmed by it. Don’t get me wrong, the writing was
great; the storyline was, again, great as well. Any of LK’s ‘mediocre’
books are wayyyy better than what’s out there in the name of historical
romance. But I am not going into that direction. I love LK and I will
love her writing no matter what I felt. But the problem with Devil in Spring
was that no one can really surpass Sebastian St. Vincent for me.
Unfortunately, not even his own son. His reputation, for me, only comes
after Derek, the hero of Dreaming of You, my most favorite LK book. Sadly, I had not reviewed this one, neither did I review the Wallflower series, probably LK’s best known and most loved series till today. I read and re-read those in my pre-Goodreads era.
If you haven’t read either Dreaming of You or The Wallflowers series, you really should. Sebastian St. Vincent was the hero of book 3, Devil in Winter.
And boy he kept his lovely Evie (and us) so warm during those winter
months, and beyond. ;) I, in general, have a great dislike for rakes
even when others swoon over them. But LK’s rakes are a league of their
own. She just knows how to make me fall in love with
them so I always trust in her writing. Both Derek and Sebastian were two
of her biggest rakish heroes that many of us still adore like no other.
I can go on and on and on about those two books but this review is for Devil in Spring, sort of a sequel to Devil in Winter.
This is the first time we actually get a glimpse of the characters of
one of LK’s series where they’ve grown older (having grandchildren and
all that). In their 50s, Sebastian and Evie still hadn’t lost their
touch, as you’ll find out in the prologue of this book. Their chemistry
can still make my toes curl in anticipation. That’s where Sebastian also
breaks the news that their eldest son, Gabriel, has this time done the
unthinkable. He’s gotten caught, and caught good. Now he’ll have to
marry the girl too.
Then we get a flashback of a few days back
where we find Lady Pandora Ravenel is in a ball, and trying her best to
blend the shadows so she doesn’t have to dance and mingle. Even though
her twin sister, Cassandra, is the more graceful one who’d probably
become the toast of the ton and loves all sorts of mingling, Pandora
thought a Season was a waste of her time. She has loads of plans for her
life, and none of that has anything to do with marriage and husband and
children. Eugh. But her cousin and guardian, Devon, has paid for all
the expenses so she must act as interested as possible even when all she
wants is to stay far away from it all.
Like that’ll ever happen. :/
Now, The Ravenels is a completely new series from LK, with new set of characters. Set in the Victorian-era, Cold-Hearted Rake,
gives you the intro to The Ravenel family, and its two surviving males,
brothers Devon and Weston. The Ravenels are a rowdy bunch who had
always had a penchant for self-destruction. They live wild; always drawn
to the adrenaline rush and the danger, never bothering to think about
the consequences. And they die young too, which has come to be known as
the “Ravenel curse”. Devon and West, both have the same bend on
self-destruction by living a life fast and furious. They had no title or
money but Ravenels are Ravenels and they know how to
live. Even then, Devon didn’t want a title stooped
under a pile of debt and a dilapidating country estate. But when his
titled cousin, the last direct heir to Lord Trenear, breaks his neck
from a fall from horseback, he had no other choice. Not only he had
several duties that came with the title, Devon found that he’s now
responsible for Theo’s 3 younger sisters—Helen, and the twins Cassandra
and Pandora. If that wasn’t the worse thing to deal with, he’s also now
responsible for Theo’s widow, Kathleen. At first, their relationship was
that of oil and water but soon it turned into something else. Devon and
Kathleen found themselves in love (which did nothing for me
unfortunately), so on and so forth. A family, responsibility and love
did change both Devon and West to become more cautious about their
lifestyle, spending it on more fruitful ventures. As a result, now they
have a thriving estate with Devon already having a child with Kathleen,
his life seemingly fulfilled.
In book 1, we meet Rhys
Winterborne, one of Devon’s close buddies and business partners. Born to
low-class Welsh parents, Rhys has worked his way up and now owns the
biggest chains of retail stores in London. He’s rich as Croesus, if not
more, and so powerful that his background doesn’t matter these days.
Well, only maybe to the Bon Ton. And to resolve that he needs to marry a
Lady who would smooth his way in there as well. However, Helen didn’t
come to him only as a solution to his problem, to be his ornament when
he’s attending balls and soirees. They forged a bond when Rhys is
gravely injured in a train crash that left Devon injured as well. That
bond went a long way, and Rhys knew he simply needed Helen in his life,
didn’t matter at what cost. Her platinum blonde beauty only complements
his severely dark looks. They could do well together! However, what
caught Rhys by total surprise was the fact that Helen wanted him too.
Here he thought she’s gonna despise him for his background, but that
didn’t matter to Helen at all. On top of that, her innocence was
intoxicating as well, especially when it was her who was trying to
seduce him, not the other way round! The rest is, I should, say history
cause book 2, Marrying Winterborne, was marvelous. I loved it! Rhys and
Helen’s chemistry was superb and they weathered every trouble thrown in
their way with the strength of their love and trust in each-other.
In
both books, Cassandra and Pandora were featured as secondary
characters. We also met some other secondary characters who proved to be
important parts of the storyline. I didn’t expect Pandora’s story to be
published before Cassandra’s but was nevertheless surprised to find
that’s how the series was to progress.
We’ve all known that
Pandora has her little quarks. Even with her willowy body and long dark
hair, comparing to her curvier, blonde twin, Pandora is more of a
tomboy. She likes the sense and smell of all sorts of adventures. She
likes making up words of her own that no one has ever heard before. She
dreams of having her own life, where she’d earn her own living, never
depending on anyone. In one word, Pandora is an independent soul. And
she was so determined to be single and independent, happy to become the
crazy aunt to all her nieces and nephews that, for her, marriage was a
word equal to prison. She had already planned board games (LK definitely
did her research to a tee on every single issue she’d touched on this,
and other books of the series) which are already scheduled for printing
before Christmas. Rhys has already ordered a good amount of copies to
launch her career thru the Winterborne. No woman, hell even any man,
can’t think of a better or bigger platform for launching their career!
Pandora had so many things to do, so this Season thingy is more of a
bother for her than anything else. She’d rather do something else to
further her project than sit here and be bored in the most boring
company possible.
Pretty soon though, she was about to have the
thrill of her life. Soon her life was upside down when she goes to
retrieve a pair of earrings for a trysting companion (I would’ve never
done that, no idea why she did it)... and ends up meeting the town’s
most sought after bachelor, Lord Gabriel St. Vincent, in the most
unbecoming way possible. Stuck on a sofa, the same sofa where that
trysting couple were...... yuck. But I digress........ It was definitely
not the meeting of any girl’s dreams but Pandora is found with Gabriel
by a busybody aaaaaaaaaand she’s now stuck with him. Even though, in
looks Gabriel gives her the butterflies, the mention of marriage begins
giving her the hives and hyperventilation of the worst kind. In fact,
this is her worst nightmare, however devastatingly handsome the
prospective bridegroom is. Pandora will not have it! And it’s not as if
Gabriel himself was happy with the prospect but he was willing to give
it a try and see where it goes. It totally felt like Gabriel didn’t find
Pandora appealing in any way other than the physical. Obviously she
wasn’t the type of women he was used to, and she rejected his suit right
in front of his face! ;)
After that comes that ‘famous’ scene
where Gabriel unburdens himself to his father about his sexual needs and
how whatever-it-is that makes him run to his current mistress, even
after knowing how his parents disapproves of his liaison with a married
woman. No other women will do, she has whatever power that makes him a
slave to her. I was equally intrigued and horrified by the prospects. I
was like, maybe he’ll be a rival to his father in his own
way…hmmm. At one point even dark BDSM crossed my mind and I
thought, well, maybe only the mistress can handle his
demands...hmmmmm. The hints were too vague so I kept on
reading, thinking how Pandora will go about handling his demands and all
that...
To have the families meet formally, St. Vincents invites
the Ravenels to their beautiful country estate closer the ocean.
Despite everything, Gabriel was anticipating Pandora’s arrival. He was
already attracted to her even if he wasn’t happy with her odd notions
and ideas about life. On the other hand, Pandora was having all sorts of
bad thoughts. Oh she also totally get why women wanted Gabriel, her
body would give her signs on that regard. But will he let her do what
she wants to do? Let her market her board games? How were his parents?
Will they even accept a girl who not only doesn’t know how to behave
like a lady, but also have radical ideas? She wanted to be accepted by
them if this marriage was to take place. She wanted Gabriel to
understand her POV about life. I totally got her agitation about it.
In
no time though, Sebastian and Evie put all of Pandora’s uncertainties
to rest. She finds that she’d be one hell of a lucky girl to have such
in laws. And Gabriel becomes the man of any girl’s dreams by being
charming, super nice, and quite understanding! The chemistry was there,
even if not in full bloom. I was super excited to see where this was
going! Gabriel was trying to do what Sebastian told him to do, to give
this a try and see where it goes, and found he likes being with her,
even if she’s not the type of women he’d been with before. So different,
so like...Pandora! He’d treat her like a child a few times, which, at
first, I found cute. Their banters about Gabriel’s reputation as a
seasoned rake were one of the funniest conversations of this book. :P Oh
Pandora, you’re a gem! No wonder I liked you so much!!
For the
first 50% I was super optimistic, even if I wasn’t totally into Gabriel
yet. I also loved the whole Ravenel family together... Loved Sebastian
and Evie... Loved seeing Marcus again (hint: The Wallflowers). I loved
how beautifully descriptive was LK’s writing, and I could transport
myself in that cove, and the sandy beach where the first seed of love is
woven between Gabriel and Pandora. I mean the idea of love, nothing
literal. Not yet. LOL
But things kind of started going downhill
after Gabriel and Pandora’s wedding. I found Gabriel’s super easy
transformation into a devoted husband too unbelievable. Pandora was a
blast but she was also an innocent. And their chemistry was never more
than lukewarm. Their kiss didn’t make my toes curl, neither did their
love scene make me sigh. It just didn’t. And he continued to treat
Pandora like a child with a smile here, or a tone there, that I thought
sounded more like he was placating a child. It kept on happening and I
simply couldn’t stand it. Yes, Pandora was rather naïve about things but
she was a fast learner. I don’t know, but my doubts about their
relationship never went away. Plus I failed to find why he was so
enamored of his mistress? For what particular reason? :/ Apart from a
very light bondage scene with Pandora, I didn’t think Gabriel had any
other kinks or whatever that any seasoned courtesan couldn’t handle. :|
Anyhoooo.........back
to the story. In a few chapters into the story, comes the other ‘famous
scene’ where Gabriel’s jealous mistress strikes her barb at Pandora.
And I was like, no, LK just did NOT go there! *gasp* Then I was
horrified by Gabriel’s behavior towards her. Yes, I mean the mistress. I
understand that the relationship was purely based on sex, still, was
there not even a bit of affection? Previously, it didn’t sound like he
hated her and took what she offered without any qualms whatsoever. Now
that he’s married, she’s someone he’d rather not acknowledge. Hypocrite!
I do think the mistress was stupid to do what she did, but that scene
could’ve been dealt in a better way. Gabriel had no grace to speak of
and I hate to think if Pandora is in any type of trouble with him, how
he’d treat her. If the point was to make Gabriel look like a devoted
husband, it failed. I only thought he was an a$$. And I don’t exactly
see why the mistress was even made to make an appearance at all.
Entirely pointless IMO.
After that, their relationship held no
more magic for me. I tried but failed to find anything to cling to.
Thankfully, there were other happenings in the story, and I was more
interested in the sub-plot of the Irish radicals and how their
assassination plot was incorporated here to pave way for the next books.
We, again, meet Ransom, an inspector of the law. He was introduced in
book 2. In here he seemed to be greatly involved in figuring out what
was going on. It seems there’s this secret and rather terrible scheming
going on inside the government to turn things upside down, and no one
was acknowledging the latest incidents, including the assassination
attempt on Pandora. Gabriel was duly furious and had promised to help
Ransom whenever he needed it. There’s also a hint that Ransom maybe
someone closer to the Ravenels than we’ve thought before. Hmmm... I also
enjoyed seeing Dr. Garrett Gibson again, even if I don’t like her manly
name, whose book will be the next, titled Hello Stranger. And I have to wait till next year to find out more! Why oh WHY? :(
In
the end, I know very well that I’m in the minority. And I’d say this
again that I LOVE Lisa Keypas but sometimes it’s just what it is.
However, I’ll request that you to read the book (but try read them in
order for better enjoyment) and find out for yourself. What bugged me
may not bug you at all. For me, I’ve moved on, and now eagerly awaiting
the next installment. 3.5 stars.
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