just love Kerrigan Byrne's writing! The story flows and builds and pulls me into a whole different world (which is the whole point of reading). After reading the first book in this series I was very excited to dive into Ramsey and Cecelia's story.

I love that Kerrigan writes diverse characters. The heroines aren't all dainty, perfect ladies. Cecelia breaks all the molds for women of her time. She is tall, soft and curvy. She is intelligent, independent, and fiercely loyal to those she loves. Cecelia doesn't want to marry, because she doesn't want to change herself to fit a man's ideal. When she suddenly inherits a notorious gaming hell from her mysterious benefactor is when all hell breaks loose.

Ramsey is a man on a mission. He's a man who has quite literally pulled himself up by his boot straps. Abandonment, loneliness and determination are things he understands well. He's a hard man who holds himself to impossibly high standards. He's fighting to save young girls from being kidnapped and sold to the highest bidder, which leads him to Cecelia's newly inherited establishment.

Cecelia and Ramsey have to team up to find the people responsible for the missing girls. Ramsey doesn't trust women and with good reason, so to watch Cecelia break down his walls is just so beautiful. She is not without her own struggles with loneliness, but she doesn't let that stop her from loving with her whole heart. I love a hero who is a big grumpy bear, but really has a tender soft heart under his tough exterior. 😍😍😍

They found the cure to their loneliness within each other. As with all other Kerrigan Byrne books the mystery/suspense is well written and so worth it in the end. I won't spoil that for you 😉. I love the angst, emotion and steam in all her books. Cecelia and Ramsey are just my new favorite. I'm anxiously awaiting for the next installment.

CW: child abuse, child abandonment, sex trafficking, death on page, some body shaming language, violence (sexual and other)

The second in the Devil You Know series, this is one of those books that most readers will either love or hate. I found myself a bit on the fence.

The book starts with a traumatic scene from the heroine’s past including fat shaming, abuse and being locked in the cellar for an extended period of time. It paints a vivid picture of the formative years for a woman who is brilliant, sunny, and surprisingly untortured by the abuse she experienced as a child. Some of that is because, we learn later, she has been educated and formed strong friendships.

Rescued by a mystery woman and man, Cecelia is whisked away from her childhood home and the abuse of her father.

After that, the first quarter was really draggy, purple prose-y, and focused on building up animosity and tension between the two MCs.

The hero is slightly older, at about 40, and is dead set on denying himself any earthly pleasures while making it his mission to rid London of crime. He knows Cecilia socially, but worlds collide when her inheritance puts her in the Lord Chief Justice’s cross hairs. And he is frigid, bordering on mean most of the time.

There is some violence and action from those initial interactions, and then a race to solve a deadly mystery that has the MCs banded together in a secret location in the countryside. Both MCs are determined never to marry, for reasons tied to their traumatic pasts, but they still find themselves drawn to each other and fighting feelings. The romance element is strong, passionate and I think interesting because you wonder how they will resolve some very deep seeded issues.

There are several intimate scenes throughout, although they are pretty much on the steamy vanilla side being not too graphic. Byrne definitely writes with a flowery pen (or finger on the keyboard) which I found myself getting lost or resorting to skimming. However, I know that other readers like more description and details, so this may be your catnip.

Characters, action, and plot also have a fair amount of angst which you really have to be in the mood for. And I probably, honestly, wasn’t. So it at times felt over the top or exhausting. Other reads may find it engaging or just the right amount of drama to sweep them away into the story.

The ending had a nice twist, and was wrapped up into a fairly lovely HEA or at least HFN, so it definitely delivers on that score…particularly if you are a fan of enemies to lovers.

I recommend this for Regency Readers looking for angst, action, and enemies to lovers.

★★★★★★ 3.75 out of 6 Enemies to lovers, this features high stakes mystery

This was engaging and I read it fast. It's still serious, but doesn't feel as dark as the first one.

I did really like the characters. Cecelia is easy to like. She has had a really rough life, but is still kind and optimistic. Ramsey is kind of a grumpy hero. I didn't fully connect with them, but they were well-developed. There are also great side characters-I particularly liked Phoebe. She was adorable.

There's a mystery element with danger that pushes them together. I guessed a lot of the mystery reveals. The ending also felt rushed with that. But maybe things will be more deeply explored in the last book.

I'm still not really sure Byrne's writing is for me. In additional to having trouble connection, I'm often confused and have to re-read. I'm not confused about the larger plot-it's more during individual scenes.

This is the second book in The Devil You Know Series. Cecelia’s story is filled with twists and turns and is really fantastic.
Content warning for child abuse.

You don’t necessarily have to have read How to Love a Duke in 10 Days to understand this book, but you should read both!

I can’t wait for book #3!

This book took me a while to get into. There wasn’t much action the first few chapters and there was too much description instead of action for my tastes. The romance was almost too sudden and there wasn’t much build-up to the initial feelings between the two characters. The last half of the book was better in that I could feel the tension both in the plot and the dynamic between the two main characters.

This was a great enemies to lovers romance with some mystery and action!

This one took me a little longer to get into than the first book in the series and I wasn't sure if I was going to like Ramsey. Cecilia was fearless and awesome along with the rest of the Red Rogues. I really enjoyed the twists at the end and little Phoebe. Things wrap up quickly in the end and was fairly predictable but also very enjoyable.

Two good to their core, stubborn, smart, and principled main characters make this an engaging read. I have a soft spot for rough-hewn Scottish men. And the side characters are interesting enough that it made me want to read the other books in this series. I'm not sure what sets this book apart from other romance novels of the same ilk, but I am not sure it matters. It lives up to its tropes.

Wow so much steamy! But I really could not like Ramsay or the count. They were such asses! The book brings another story of the 3 red heads. Their friendship is fun to read. They have each other's backs. This story is Cecelia's story. She inherits a gaming home with so much more. But she is just not the type of gal to feel comfortable with that. And the place is raided then bombed shortly after she goes to view her inheritance. They why and how is a good mystery with a good ending. I liked the story just not some key characters.

I enjoyed this new book in the series that can be read as a stand-alone. Cecilia is stunned to finally discover her mysterious benefactor is her maternal aunt who runs a gambling hell and school for women to learn trade. It appears she also loves to collect secrets on influential people and it may have gotten her killed. Cecelia inherits it all, including a seven year old child, just as Ramsay comes through the door to accuse her as the owner of helping sell girls and getting them murdered.

Eventually, they work together to solve the mystery leading to their romance. Ramsay struggles to work out his feelings for Cecelia and she is the same as they both never thought to marry. They both have horrible childhoods and that helps them understand one another.

As with the first book, I love how the author kind of tells you what the next story will be without really saying it. I look forward to Francesca’s story and her hero that we meet in this book. It is a stand-alone, but if you’ve read the first book, you can figure out who the hero will be. Well done.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

A few pages into “All Scot and Bothered” and I think I should warn you; read that first book first because although the romances in each book are independent stories, there’s another subplot, one of a mystery that starts in the first book and is still going in the second (and probably in the third as well) so please read “How to Love a Duke in Ten Days” and then read this one. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Sometimes it is hard to leave the past behind. Especially when your past is a traumatic one, a childhood ruled by a religious fanatic of a father who sees sin in everything you are and everything you do. One who puts you in a dark wet cellar until you pay for crimes that are not really yours but rather done to you. Such is the story of Cecelia Teague, who, at 13, was rescued by a friend of her late mother and who is told that the man she thought to be her father didn’t sire her. Cecelia has a guardian angel who looks after her from a distance, she’s told that she’s to inherit a fortune and she’s sent to school in Lake Geneva where she meets Francesca and Alexandra and realizes that she’s never to be alone anymore; she becomes ‘Cecil’ one of the infamous ‘Red Rogues’ trio.

Many years later Alex (Alexandra) marries Piers, the Duke of Redmayne, and that’s how Cecelia gets to meet the groom’s brother, Cassius Ramsay Lord Chief Justice of the High Court and also a Scot. Lord Ramsay has been living the monk’s life for nearly seven years but on meeting Cecelia… he’s become a walking erection (uhm yeah). The instant sexual attraction Ramsay feels for her is more of a problem than a happy thing. She's beautiful, luscious, endearing, tempting and, something he doesn't know on meeting her, she's extremely smart and has a privileged mind for mathematics. Nobody knows she’s an heiress so all the ton sees her as an outcast, a childhood friend of the Duchess… and Ramsay is not different from them

Due to a past dealing with risks and debauchery he is now a sober man, strict, cold and workaholic. The very opposite life choice to that of the charming and spontaneous Cecelia who instead of living as her vicar ‘father’ meant her to, decided to indulge in pleasures and endeavors that are shameful in a woman of the time, such as education, independence and, yes, sexual freedom. The sinless and the sinful change paths.

They are bound together by a plot, a web of sex trafficking that involves them both. He as the law crusader fighting sin and vices and she as the heiress of her aunt’s, who leaves her a gambling and pleasure den which is also a school for young women who are likely to end up as sex workers, beggars or killed. She also inherits her aunt’s pseudonym ‘The Scarlet Lady’ so he, believing that she is the mastermind behind the plot, doesn’t know that the powerful woman is actually Cecelia. She will help him find the truth and unveil the criminal web to clear hers and her aunt’s names and to help the young girls at risk of being abducted and sold.

I’ve read several books written by Kerrigan Byrne and there are a lot more to be read in the near future. She’s one of my favorite writers because her books are so much fun to read, and yet she’s not afraid of digging deep into serious matters. She can do both at the same time, and succeed. Reading Kerrigan Byrne‘s romances makes your day(s) brighter, trust me. Her heroines are fantastic her heroes are charming but the best about her is her style. She conquers you with her writing, no matter how hard you fight it, it’s her spontaneous humor, it seems so effortless, so wicked… she makes you her accomplice, her partner in crime and the crime is one of love, fun and fantasy. She’s everything you’re looking for in a writer, she gives you dreams to dream. Especially when there’s a Scot in the game, and in this case we have one particularly stiff Scot with his strict ways and narrow views at the beginning. So narrow that you want to be the one to broaden them, you want to be Cecelia an kick the Scot in the shin and make him realize that indulging in pleasures is… A PLEASURE indeed.

Kerrigan Byrne really knows how to write to keep her readers coming back .
I’m a big fan of the highwayman. I have found all her works truly touch base every woman is looking for . Love , lust , to be recognized.... to feel safe .

This book is the second of the red rogues. I feel that yes , you could start with this book , but I would definitely start at the beginning to get the full experience.

The red rogues are three young women , all with a version of red hair , to join forces in friendship over their many hardships and tragedies in live . This is the story of cecelia .

Cecelia was raised by a cruel man . Her mother was a whore. Typical life at this time. Cecelia was saved early on by a female benefactor and was taken to be raised in comfort . You will learn , Cecelia is so much more than a pretty face . Her brain , her cunning and wit will keep you Turing pages.

Ramsay is a bull headed scot with a nose for right and wrong . But he has it so bad for Cecelia. Their meetings are pure fire and we will have yet another piece of the mystery that lies within each book revealed.

Happy reading

This series just gets better and better. I love the relationship between Cecelia, Alexandra and Francesca. and how they still supported each other. I actually liked Devil of Dorset and several of the side characters were hilarious..

I received an advanced reader copy from #NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It has been a while since I was in the Scottish Highlands with Kerrigan Byrne. It took me a bit to get back into this particular plot line. I remember the story of the three girls at a boarding school and the adventures that they had. The formation of the Red Rogues! This is the second installment of that series, following Cecilia.

Most of the story actually revolves around the half brother of Redmayne from the previous book. He goes by Ramsay. We get a really good look at his past about halfway through the book. It's really important to know that you don't understand him until halfway through the book! Otherwise you're going to find him as a heartless, tyrannical individual. Once you learn a little bit more about his past, he's a bit easier to swallow.

As the primary hero, his journey is quite intense to watch. He has been holding himself at bay for so long, when true love finds him, he doesn't know what to do. However, the Scot inside him will not be held back for long!

I greatly appreciated Cecilia's character. She is passionate, intelligent, compassionate, and extremely understanding of those who are around her. We learn a little bit about her past at the beginning of the book, but the vast majority of the book is spent learning about Ramsay.

I find this to be an intriguing twist on a typical romance novel. Because it was so different then the typical heroine transformation, it took me a bit to get into it. That being said, the story is excellent. The only reason I gave four stars instead of five is because once you learn another portion of the mystery, it is very hard to forget.

Well worth the read! I actually want to go back and read the first in the series because of this book.

Let me say this: I'll keep picking up whatever Kerrigan Byrne keeps putting down.

I absolutely loved All Scot and Bothered. I didn't know whether to tear through this like mad or savor everything slowly. I did both.

Cecelia Teague was another of the amazing women of the Red Rogues. She was a mathematicial genius; she was a sweet, kind, generous woman in spite of the way she'd been treated in the past. She was the light for Cassius Gerard Ramsay's darkness.

Ramsay also had a heart-breaking past, and he'd become a grumpy, stern, rigid man. He had devoted his life to justice and protection, and he was just the protector Cecelia needs.

These two together were fire: instant chemistry, sexual tension galore and slow-burn romance/desire that just about killed me.

Phoebe was an adorable addition to this story, and as usual, there was the perfect combination of romance and mystery. I'm definitely looking forward to Francesca's story.

***I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley.***

I really enjoyed this book. But it was a rather busy story. It started out with her being pushed into the basement that is very dark and scary for her. The loneliness is almost overwhelming. I think a lot of people feel that way. She is rescued and sent to a school. She meets Francesca and Alexandra. They become the Red Rogues. They are so intelligent, charming, and loyal to each other. Cecelia's aunt is killed and everything goes to her including her aunt's enemies. Then the Vicar of vice barges in screaming, searching, and trying to intimate everyone. She handled it beautifully. It gets a little more complicated from here. Little girls have been disappearing all over the town. I read it straight through and found it mesmerizing.
Lord Ramsay was definitely a pain in the... He was actually the Lord Chief Justice of the High Court, and he had tried to become as perfect as he could so he felt he had the right to judge people. His life had not been easy either. Neither of his parents should have had children. His half brother got the title. But he had worked very hard to be where he was now.
Ramsey and Cecelia had met at a soiree at his brother's Place. He found her beautiful but he did not want to give up his seven-year celibacy. He did not drink either. He could not keep his eyes from her. Both their lives get even worse.
It was so well described you could see the scene as things went on. It kept your attention and did a great job of entertaining you. The houses, all were magnificent, the bad guys were just that. There was a deep attraction between them. I do recommend this amazing book and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Cecelia Teague was an orphan and facing a very difficult life when an anonymous benefactor comes into her life and sends her to an elite boarding school and then to university. She became best friends with two other girls. All three are smart and wealthy enough not to have to worry about life and support each other though life’s ups and downs. Then… without warning her benefactor dies and leaves her a gambling establishment that supports a woman’s school. Now faced with having to live two lives: one as the Scarlet Lady owner of a notorious gambling hell and one as a respectable lady of the ton who is falling for Lord Ramsey. Unfortunately, it is Lord Ramsey that wants to catch the Scarlett Lady and put her in jail.

The book was really slow and poorly conceptualized at the beginning. It is a very complex story and took a little patience to get into the swing of it. Once the storyline got sorted out it was a fun read. Overall, I did like the first book in the series better than this one, mostly because I had a hard time liking our hero until half way through. The overall story is unique and I enjoyed the last half of the novel.

The next Red Rogue, Cecelia, gets her story here with Piers half-brother, [Cassius] Ramsay. Most of my rating is for Cecelia, who although she could be a bit too good to be true at times, was really a sweet and decent person. Ramsay, while I liked him in parts, veered to the hot or cold sides frequently and without warning. A lot of Ramsay reminded me of Argent in The Hunter, only on the right side of the law. He was noble, but it came out wrong a lot of the time. Cecelia definitely gave him too many chances for his behavior.

There were several cute and funny moments at least, though far too many references equating Ramsay's Scottish heritage to being fierce, wild, beastly, etc. I get it, I even like Scot romances for this, but you really get beat over the head with it here. I was not crazy about the Phoebe storyline; it kind of wrapped everything up too cutely.

I was glad to see Alex and Francesca again, and the ladies' interaction. On the whole, I'm enjoying this series, and can't wait for Francesca & Chandler's (I assume) story in the finale.

Pride and Perfectionism

Right from their first scene together, you can feel the palpable heat between Ramsay and Cecelia. He's instantly drawn to her yet knows he shouldn't:

"A living sin, was Cecelia Teague. A wicked brew of both innocence and indulgence. The female equivalent of a truffle."

But their next meeting is when everything threatens to explode in passionate fury! The fire between these two is like poetic chemistry, yet the secrets between them prove nearly insurmountable.

The story unfolds at a fast pace, leaving the reader almost as breathless as the characters who are trying to figure out who they can trust and just how far they'll have to go for answers. I was on the edge of my seat throughout this book, due in equal parts to the outside threats against them and the inner turmoil they felt for each other.

The writing is filled with heartbreaking emotive scenes, deliciously bawdy humor, triumphant stand-up-and-cheer moments, and gut-wrenching honesty that leads to a realization that neither of them should have to give up their essential purpose in life to be together, making their HEA all but impossible to believe in.

These characters truly came to life in unexpected ways. I adored Cecelia's scientific approach to learning everything, and I cheered for her indomitable spirit even when faced with losing everything dear to her. I swooned for Ramsay when he demonstrated that even though he couldn't understand why he felt so drawn to her, he wouldn't hesitate to burn the whole world down to protect her from everything and everyone who is threatening her.

The surprise twist at the end had me close to tears, and searching back through the book for clues that might have prepared me for such a revelation. The scene describing how his own heart nearly broke at the realization of how close he came to destroying everything he could ever want was written with such sensitivity that it was pure literary magic. The bigger they are, the harder they fall indeed.

While this book is a complete standalone with a tremendously satisfying HEA, reading it is enriched by having read the first book (How to Love a Duke in Ten Days) which gives a much more detailed account of the three Red Rogues, what ties them together, and why they're so fiercely loyal to each other. Observant readers will also be able to piece together clues in both this and the previous book to gain a few insights into the third book's characters and history.

I love this story, love this series, and will read anything written by this talented author. If you're a fan of historical romances, you don't want to miss this one. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

I have been thrilled with this series. I adore these three Red Rogues and their unbreakable bond. Like the first in this series, All Scot and Bothered is filled with mystery, suspense, wit, romance, and hope. Though these characters have suffered such dark and tragic pasts, the wit, banter, and thrill of the mystery keep readers from being mired down in the darker elements.
This book was the quintessential adversaries to lovers book. I was sucked right in to all the obstacles these two faced. They may have lusted for each other from the start, but they certainly didn’t trust each other. There’s nothing more exciting than seeing two characters discover what they thought was boiling hatred is really sizzling passion. I loved watching that complete progression of feelings unfold. First impressions are shattered, secrets uncovered, and trust strengthened as love conquers all.
Anything Kerrigan Byrne writes is a must read for me. Her writing is impeccable- flowing and eloquent. The growth that occurs with her characters for romance to blossom is extraordinary. She has a real knack for taking a tried and true trope and giving it a fresh twist.
Fans of her Victorian Rebels series will be thrilled with this Devil You Know series. It has all the steam, scandals, and secrets I’ve come to anticipate in her books. I am so anxious to see what Kerrigan Byrne has in store for me next. There’s a luscious hint to it in this book and I am already counting the days till Francesca’s story.

"All Scot and Bothered (Devil You Know Book 2)" by Kerrigan Byrne
A never a dull moment historical romance with some suspense-filled didn't see that coming surprises. There are some spicy scenes, well per my personal spice/non-spice gauge. If you are not in the market for spice in your reading; you can easily skip those parts, just as I have a tendency to do. I did thoroughly enjoy my time in this story which can be read as a stand-alone. And, if you have not read book 1 (How to Love a Duke in Ten Days) that too can be read as a stand-alone story. Meanwhile, I think this is a worthy read. Happy Reading ! !
Note: I received an ARC of this story from the publisher this is my honest review.