4 stars to this great story!!!
The Devil in the Saddle is the second book in the Princes of Texas series. I truly enjoyed reading about how Hallie Prince found her HEA with Rafe Fontana. Hallie has had the worst recent months. She has lost her father and she caught her fiance cheating on her with one of the bridesmaids.
Hallie feels distraught and out of sorts. It is during this time that she reaches out to Rafe. He has been one of her closest friends since they were young. His family has worked for hers for a long time. I liked how real their friendship was. I can see a true connection between them. Though Rafe was what Hallie needed at the moment to help her in her life, it was so sad to see the hardship Rafe was going through. We learn that Rafe has been in love with her for the longest time, but he always set his feelings aside to be the friend she needed.
I loved Rafe! I loved how he was with her and treated her. He was always there for her. It was painful to see how his feelings towards her had to be pushed back because it was never the right time to confess his feelings.
Although she was unable to accomplish some of her dreams in the end she tried her best to make them a reality. I admired Hallie's tenacity to work out her problems on her own and her way. She took her own time to heal and truly discover what she wanted to do with her life. When she finally realized what made her truly happy, she went out and got it.
I highly recommend this series and I can't wait to read about our grumpy Nick!

Thank you to the author/publisher for sending the ARC for an honest review.

Such a delightful book. Rafe was the perfect hero. He has been in love with Prince since they were kids. As adults her world feels like it's out of control. Family, friends, young love, redemption. I laughed and cried while reading this book.

I loved The Devil In The Saddle! I couldn’t love Rafe more … he’s such a fabulous hero! And Hallie came through with flying colors without being the “princess” I thought she could be. A great continued thread to the Princes of Texas series. I’m so excited to see where this goes, and I’m glad that additional characters are being added so the series can continue to grow.

Hallie's story. Continuing the saga of the Prince family. Rafe has always loved Hallie, since childhood. Hallie just caught her fiance cheating on her with one of her friends. This sets up the story which is romantic, entertaining and wonderful. I enjoyed it and look forward to the next one.

Hallie Prince is the princess of the Prince clan but ever since her father died she's been restless. She broke her engagement when she walked in on her fiance and one of the bridesmaids and has been drifting since then. Rafe is Hallie's lifelong friend, son of the ranch majordomo, former Army Ranger and general good guy. He splits his time between Chicago and San Antonio where he's working on a project with some fellow vets. Hallie doesn't know what she's supposed to do in life. She starts projects and doesn't finish them. She needs a purpose. Rafe helps her see that she has a lot to offer. She just needs to follow through. Oh and he's been in love with her his entire life. He decides her can't tell her because his father works for her family. Hallie finds her groove but is it too late for them to be together? Rafe returns to Chicago to finish his project but his heart isn't in it any longer. A great second book in the series.

For over half the book, I really disliked Hallie. She came off as a spoiled, bratty, entitled, pushy and manipulative (no means no goes both ways, ladies) brat. I wanted Rafe to get as far away from her as possible. Thankfully she changed, grew up it seemed.
Now don’t get me wrong, Rafe was no angel. He and Hallie weren’t in a relationship, and despite his ‘undying love’ for her, he is with another woman. I can’t root for an H after that. Perhaps I am naïve, I still believe that if you claim to love someone, you don’t hop into bed with another.
There was mention again about how the family was in such financial peril, yet Hallie, instead of returning clothes and wedding things, she destroys them. That’s not what us normal folks would do if we were strapped for cash.
I have noticed that authors have latched onto a troupe for their characters, something to make them appear like great people, using the ‘they are working with disabled kids’ angle. I was worried that Ms. London was going to overuse it throughout the book, but I was relieved to see that she kept it tasteful and not preachy. I’ve read a few books where it was the center of every other paragraph, which takes it from nice to opportunistic.
One question I have, why ‘Devil in the Saddle’? Rafe is in no way a devil, he’s not even a rude alpha type. Angel in the saddle would have been more descriptively accurate.
The ending was satisfying. And, book three looks good!

How lucky was I to get an ARC of Devil In The Saddle? This is the second in Julia London’s Princes of Texas series and it’s every bit as good as the first. I was grinning like a loon before I’d even finished the first page of this story. It is oner of those books that has the ability to lift your mood immediately thanks not just to the witty conversations that swirl across the pages but also to the situations in which the hero and heroine find themselves in and the imagery that goes along with it.
I loved that Hallie, trained as a ballerina, had difficulty with her posture for running. I also loved that her mother and grandmother, who’d spent most of their lives buying the best that designer labels had to offer them, would find joy in browsing the shelves of Walmart.
Beneath this light and entertaining surface a deeper story unfolds as both Rafe and Hallie deal with self image and perception problems on their road to true love. Hallie has been brought up to be a society wife but struggles with a low sense of self worth as she’s always bowed to the wishes of others and never achieved anything for herself. Rafe is the son of Martin, the property manager of the Prince family ranch. He’s been head over heels in love with Hallie for years but worries that with all the privilege and opportunity Hallie has had she might not consider him good enough for her.
This was one book I wanted to go on forever. Sadly it didn’t but I can look forward to the joy of reading it again and again. Highly recommended.

I loved The Devil in the Saddle. Julia London creates the most loveable characters in this story. Hallie is finding herself. Being a Texas socialite isn't working for her. Her father's death and the financial fall out makes living the easy life much harder and her breakup with her cheating fiance makes her rethink her life of volunteerism and shopping.

Rafe has worked hard. He's been special forces in the Army, is finishing his college degree, setting up a charity and helping his dad on the Prince ranch. He's been in love with Hallie forever. He's so determined that he doesn't measure up in her world or eyes that he's his own worse enemy when it comes to building a relationship with Hallie.

Hallie is torn between her love of Rafe and her need to determine who she is and find her passion in life. With a couple of slow starts she does find find what she wants to do and who she wants to be. Now it's time to convince Rafe that they should be together.

I laughed, I cried (more than once) and was so glad to see these two get their HEA.

Rafe's woman doesn't need to speak more than once, “what are we doing on the floor? We should find a bed.” He stared down at her with surprise. Yes, a bed. A big bed so they could roll all over it. He stood up, then reached down and picked her up off the ground, swinging her up into his arms." Rafe is a sentimental mam, "...and I don’t want to ravish you in your childhood room. Or mine. Or in a car. I want to ravish you in a soft bed with clean sheets.” I liked this book, I loved Rafe.