The Devil Takes a Bride

By: Julia London

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

From powerful love to sizzling passion, Julia London always delivers an incomparable listening experience. Returning to her acclaimed Cabot Stepsisters series, we meet an earl who can only be tamed by one wicked lady.

A plan born of desperation

Once the toast of society, Grace Cabot and her sisters now await the shame of losing high status and fine luxuries upon the death of the Earl of Beckington. The dire circumstances are inevitable unless, of course, Grace's wicked plot to seduce a wealthy viscount into marriage goes off without a single hitch. But once a stolen embrace with the wrong man leads her to be discovered in the arms of Jeffrey, the Earl of Merryton, her plan takes a most unexpected - and scorching - twist - and altered by passion. Governed by routine and ruled by duty, Jeffrey had no desire for a wife before he succumbed to Grace's temptation. Though his golden-haired, in-name-only bride is the definition of disorder, he can't resist wanting her in every way. But once her secrets meet his, society might consider their lives to be ruined beyond repair - while Jeffrey might just see it as a new beginning.

©2014 Dinah Dinwiddie (P)2014 Recorded Books

I give this 3.5

3.5 really, thanks to Rosalyn Landor's narration. This was a good book. Not quite a "spend your last Audible credit" book but a good book. The characters are flawed and that's not a bad thing in a romance. Jeffrey's OCD may be a bit overdone but it's probably true to life. His other obsession kept me a bit skeptical of how that would play out but that turned out okay. I wonder if Grace's mother's illness could be from the injury rather than dementia? The series is good and the dialogue can be quite fun. I'll wait patiently for the next book.

Wonderful

Learning to accept each family member as they are …. Jefrrie learning to deal with his issues Author Thank you I enjoyed listening to this series.

Unique characters

I enjoyed this book because it was intense (although a little brash for the time line) however much Grace tried to save her marriage was exemplary and shows just what a strong and patient woman can achieve

title was misleading

Otherwise... Stellar. I did, personally, dislike whe. her love "fixed" him... but it was a sweet story with some less than sweet steamy scenes... it wrapped up nicely, although I wish it had dragged out their interlude a little longer... the set up was very intriguing and you definitely felt for both characters...

Not my favorite...

I am listening to this series in reverse order and have to say I much preferred #3.

I do have to compliment the author for bringing in conflicts that are far out of the ordinary for historical romances. This particular one touched on mental illness--not debilitating to the point of institutionalization, but the sort of life impacting, long suffering sort that many people endure while remaining mostly functional. I applaud that sort of plot innovation.

What dimmed my enjoyment was that the sexual relationship between the two characters was, to me, pretty creepy, at least in the beginning. There are some lines crossed regarding consent, equality and control that I found off-putting. I usually don't feel such strong distaste (enough to mention it in a public review!) but...yeah. That was so not healthy, what was going on at first.
I admit I might be over sensitive because I am a survivor of sexual abuse. I consider myself fully recovered, but this book's intimate scenes were super "triggery" in a way I haven't encountered in a very, very long time. If you are like me in that regard, or if you have very strong feminist leanings (in which case you're unlikely to read romances anyway), I would advise avoidance of this title.