Hello

Here is the link to my Blog Review (posted on Release week :) )

http://gisspotreviews.com/index.php/2020/10/02/review-all-scot-and-bothered-devil-you-know-2-by-kerrigan-byrne/

I have read a few books by Kerrigan Byrne and I have enjoyed her books so ofcourse I was excited about this one.

All Scot and Bothered is another book by this author that I have enjoyed very much. So entertaining.

Enjoyable read! Cassius and Cecelia were sizzling. And even though this title is a standalone, it was great to "see" Redmayne and Alex again. I cannot wait to read the third in this trio.

Cecelia Teague had a desperately unhappy childhood, suffering abuses at the hands of the man she believed to be her father. She was convinced she would die, locked in a small room in the cellar as punishment for some imagined sin, when a woman appeared, insisting Cecelia be released, and she was spirited off to London. Cecelia thrived at school, reveling in the study of math and science, and formed an alliance with two other red-haired girls, Alexandra and Francesca, calling themselves the Red Rogues. After finishing school, the other two girls married well, but Cecelia was shocked to discover her deceased aunt had left her in charge of girls’ school and gambling hell. Determined to make a success of training young women with no other prospects, she is forced to play the role of an all-knowing and worldly woman when the house is raided by The Vicar of Vice, Lord Cassius Gerard Ramsay.

Ramsay was single-minded in his focus to stop corruption and shut down the gambling hell that Cecelia had just inherited, but he found himself overwhelmingly attracted to her. When someone plants a bomb at her house, Ramsay steps in and carries Cecelia, her ward Phoebe, and her chaperone Jean-Yves away to Scotland in an effort to keep everyone safe until he is able to process his feelings. His Spartan, neglectful childhood had left him with significant emotional scars, and he dared to hope that Cecelia was the only woman in the world who could make him whole once again.

This was an enjoyable but fairly typical romance, with the expected (spoiler alert!) HEA. I liked Cecelia, with her sharp mind and atypical course of study, and didn’t expect to like Ramsay as much as I did. He’s like an avenging angel, come to strike down those that sin, and I originally wrote him off as a mean-spirited jerk. In addition to his childhood traumas, he has isolated himself in service to his career, and I was pleasantly surprised at his transformation. This second book in the series reads well as a stand-alone.

In the first book of this series, How to Love a Duke in Ten Days, Piers, Duke of Redmayne, had his story. Now, Cassius Gerard Ramsay, Lord Chief Justice of the High Court, gets his. He is as strict as can be. Currently, Ramsay is on a mission. He is determined to find out the ins and outs of a notorious gaming hell in London, and is more than shocked when he discovers that it is being run by a woman, Cecelia Teague.

Cecelia had an unfortunate upbringing, but due to a secret benefactor, she not only was able to go to a fantastic boarding school, but also to attend university. Her advantages grew from there, she also inherited a gambling establishment. So, proper English lady by day, and no-nonsense business owner at night. When she discovers that Lord Ramsay is trying to destroy her business. That is bad enough in itself. Considering how drawn Cecelia is to Ramsay opens another can of worms.

What is not to love in this book!? Ramsay is the full package - and truthfully, in historical romances, Scottish men are my absolute favorite. Then we have a strong-willed heroine. I think Kerrigan Byrne excels when it comes to writing her characters, because Cecelia was all but perfect for me. Bring in intrigue and passion, and the result is a wonderful, well-written story that leaves me waiting for more. The fabulous trilogy closes with The Devil in Her Bed, scheduled for release in March 2021.

Many thanks to Kensington Publishing and to NetGalley, as well as Edelweiss, for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

I honestly had a massive problem with the hero of this story, because he was a sanctimonious prig who wanted to believe the worst of Cecelia simply because she was a woman. And he quite literally at one point tells her that although he doesn’t like women for *reasons* he doesn’t think like that about HER, because… he wants to have sex with her? I guess?

Now, there are times when Cecelia actually does a bang-up job of calling Ramsay on his misogynistic nonsense. And there are times, like the one above, where she doesn’t. Where she basically melts at him telling her she’s Not Like Other Girls. And that made me want to SCREAM. I wanted her to tell him ‘actually, I’m exactly like other girls, thanks, it’s literally your libidinous hypocrisy making you want to believe otherwise’. I got that she had a tough background and she just wanted to Belong and he was pushing all her buttons as the Big Strong Protector type, but the reality was, he was a Bad Cop. He used intimidation tactics and violence to get his way - witness the early scene where his men trashed her property while executing a warrant and he neither apologised nor asked them to clean up their mess. He NEVER apologised, because he quite simply believed he’d been in the right all along.

I liked Cecelia, but she deserved so much better. And the final crown was put on me not liking this book when the one and only character of colour, in this novel set in the late Victorian era, turned out to be ‘an Indian man’ who was never given a name but was working for the villains and got shot in the final confrontation. Really? REALLY, that’s the best you could do regarding representation? That is tokenism of the worst possible sort, and it drops this down from a two star to a one star read for me.

**Another reviewer pointed out - and I missed it the first time - that when the primary villain revealed herself, she disclosed that she’d been Cecelia’s aunt’s lover. So not only the only character of colour in the book, but ALSO the only queer character in the book, turn out to be villains and are killed off. When literally the only two characters in your book who are non-white or non-straight are portrayed as villains, this is actively harmful representation. And this is with St. Martin’s Press, a major publisher. What is the POINT of having gatekeepers in the industry, if they don’t use those gates on things like this? I’m so frustrated and disgusted.

All Scot and Bothered is the second book in the Devil You Know series by Kerrigan Byrne. Although it is part of a series it can easily be read as a standalone book.

Cassius Gerard Ramsay is the Lord Chief Justice of the High Court AKA the Vicar of Vice. His upbringing wasn't a happy one but he has used his hardship as motivation to become the best, powerful person he can be. He wants those that have laughed at him in the past and who have said he would never amount to much to now have to bow down to him and his authority and revels at the fact that they do. His main motivation to choose the job he does though is to bring criminals to justice and to rid London of vice. It is in his capacity as Lord Chief Justice that he comes into the life of the Scarlet Lady.

Cecelia Teague's life hasn't been an easy one. She was treated abominably by her father and at times just wished she was dead. One day though she is rescued from her prison by a woman who once knew her mother and becomes her benefactor. Cecelia was sent to boarding school and then onto university and was well on her way to becoming part of London's high society, that is until her life takes a complete 360 as she is thrown into the less celebrated side of London. She inherits a gambling hell which was run by the Scarlet Lady, the woman who left her the place. The hell is under investigation by Ramsay because it is suspected of being the place where young woman are kept after being kidnapped and then sold to men for their sick pleasure.

Ramsay and the police raid the place and it's there that he runs into Cecelia as the Scarlet Woman. She had to dress up as her to hide her real identity because Ramsay has met her as herself and her reputation would be ruined if he or anybody else knew about her inheritance even if it was just a normal gambling hell.

He does find out who she really is but will he believe that she has only just been thrown into this new world and that she really isn't the Scarlet Lady?
Will they both be able to discover the truth behind the missing girls and find them. There are evil people that are willing to do anything to stop that happening.

This story had me gripped from the very first pages. The more I read, the quicker I needed to read so that I could not only find out who was behind the missing girls but also to read how Cecelia and Ramsay's relationship grew from enemies to lovers. The mystery and drama of the book were thrilling, I really had no idea who the villains were. The romance between our H/H was believable and when they finally gave in to their passion it was steamy hot. This book was just my cup of tea and I am happy to recommend it.

This is the second book in the Devil You Know series. It’s about a trio of unconventional, witty, independent, and academic women who have formed an unbreakable friendship since their school age, and how they’ve overcome their childhood traumas to make their own successful ways in life...

Cecelia Teague is a mathematician who finds joy in numbers, formulae, codes... She suddenly inherits a gambling hell from her mysterious aunt together with a significant puzzle that could bring down the most important figures in the empire. From her sunny disposition, nobody would think of a lonely, bullied, and abandoned girl. I love Cecelia for her intelligence, her kind heart, her vulnerabilities, and her tremendous strength and conviction to stand up for what she believes. I just want to be a part of their trio 😆😍!

Lord Cassius Ramsay is the Lord Chief Justice, a grumpy, uptight, righteous man who has worked hard his whole life to rise to that position of power. His prejudices against Cecelia’s deceased aunt and his mistrust in women make Cecelia his immediate adversary. But when Cecelia is in danger, he comes to her rescue just at the right time 😏. And his icy heart couldn’t resist the sunshine that is Cecelia Teague, who eventually teaches him how to love 😍!

I love this enemies-to-lovers setup and also the side characters (Cecelia’s old butler/friend/father figure Jean-Yves and little girl Phoebe). But I feel like it takes Cecelia and Ramsay quite some time to act on their attraction towards one another, all because of Ramsay’s misunderstandings and biases. And I would love to see more of the investigation process of the mystery left behind by Cecelia’s aunt. But all in all, I really enjoyed Ms Byrne’s beautiful writing prose with a good blend of emotional, heartbreaking, funny, sweet, and steamy scenes ❤️!

4.5⭐️ read for me!

*Special thanks to SMP Romance for sending me the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

It's a split decision for me on this book. While there was some good here there was also some bad and that made it very difficult to form a firm opinion about which outweighed the other and that was a bit tragic because I did feel there was a lot of potential here, it just never really got the chance to flourish. I did like Cecelia but I certainly did not like all her actions. The one thing that I am 100% sure of is that I really did not like Ramsay. I love stoic gruff and broody and he may have been some of that but mainly this guy was just a straight up, judgmental jerk. I tried very hard to give him the benefit of the doubt and time to improve my opinion and it simply never happened, eventually there was just too much water under that bridge. I did think the writing was well done though and the book did try to shine some light on the important issues of child abuse and child trafficking. I wish I could say the same abought about weight issues, misogynistic behaviors. Plus, I hate when a books over does not match the character's descriptions. Cecelia was supposedly a big, beautiful woman, so I ask what part of this cover showcased that??

All Scot and Bothered by Kerrigan Byrne continues her series of delightful romances. Strong independent women and brave, conscientious men make the stories real and believable. This one has a lot of danger thrown in with plots and treasonous acts. All of it come together to make a delightedly suspenseful romance.

This is an enemies to lovers with a grumpy hero and a sunshine heroine which is normally my jam but I didn't feel any chemistry between them. Maybe it was because I ended up reading this in spurts which many have contributed to the disjointed feeling it gave me. It took over fifty percent of the book for the MC's to do anything about their attraction to each other, the first half was spent developing a mystery plot that I felt ended up falling pretty flat.

The hero went almost all the way to the end being a giant asshat. He needed to grovel hard, IMO. If it hadn't been an ARC I probably would have DNF'd. It was okay but not great. I love KB so I am looking forward to the next book. Hoping for more relationship and character development and less mysterious shenanigans.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for the free copy. All opinions are my own.

All Scott and Bothered by Kerrigan BYRNE

Spies ,sex ,and murder!
A book that contains all of this would keep anyone enthralled. The author, Kerrigan Byrne
keeps you entertained to the very end. If you have ever been in a maze this book is a lot like that. You think you are going down the right path and then you find yourself not being able to get through the brush, but if you go back there is so many people that you thought you could trust, but now you are wondering truly which of those people are the ones you can truly put your life in there hands. But, then again you don’t even realize that you can’t trust them because you never had a reason to test anyone close or trying to be friendlier towards you.
Cecilia Teague lived a life of pure horror with her supposed father, Vicar Josiah Teague. He was a evil incarnate of the devil who would lock her in the cellar for days with no food or water because he wanted her to contemplate on the evils of women’s sins and that she at the tender age of seven would tempt boys and men to look at her and want to seduce her, a child! He would beat her and emotionally berate her with taunts of that she was too smart, homely, and fat.
She was saved by Genny, sent by a benefactor that Cecilia always hoped was her real father because Genny in removing her from the Vicars home said that Cecilia was not even her real father and that they were there to save her from him! All she knows is that Genny had him sign papers and that she was saved from a life of darkness that contained hatred & loneliness! Genny took her to a school, but there unfortunately she faced the same loneliness, but met a wonderful gardener who became a honorary grandfather figure. Later Cecilia met her lifelong friends Francesca and Alexandra and the three became known as the “Red Rogues “.
Cecilia was contacted by a solicitor who made it known that she had just inherited, Miss Henrietta’s School for Cultured Young Ladies and a gambling hall! She had no clue who this lady was or why she would have left her this inheritance. She found out that this was her mother’s twin sister and this was her mystery benefactor all these years and not a mystery father. But, why did her Aunt not come forward out of the shadows? Her Aunt was known as the Scarlet Lady.
Then she found out her Aunt also left her the guardianship of a seven year old girl, Phoebe, but no information as to who her mother or father were. Why all the mystery and what was the mystery book in code and why was her Aunt murdered?
Cecilia met the half brother of her best friends, Lady Alexandra’s husband, Lord Cassius Gerard Ramsay, Lord Chief Justice of the High Court. He is a No Holds barred, no drinking, no vices, no women kind of man! The last seven years he has lived like a monk? Why? He is also known as the,Vicar of Vices and was Cecilia’s Aunts nemesis. There was also a Crimson Council which is basically a criminal enterprise like a Mafia. They were also having issues with the Scarlet Lady and it could be possible they were part of her death or had her death ordered. The Crimson Council apparently was ran by a select group of rich aristocrats and used low base individuals to do the dirty work. However, there was one main person who pulled the strings like a puppet marionette and had everyone else dancing across the stage to his tune!
Be careful in reading the book because the author is very good in sending you down one path and you are so sure you have it figured out!
Kerrigan Byrne is extremely worth reading and I hope there is another Rogue book because we need to figure out Lady Francesca’s story!

As a young girl, Cecelia Teague was rescued from the home of the man she’d believed was her father, an extremely cruel man who’d treated her miserably following her mother’s death. She was placed in a Swiss school for girls where she became lifelong friends with two other redheads, calling themselves the Red Rogues. Her benefactor remained unknown until now when she’s learned that person has died and left her a gambling hell. Unfortunately, that’s placed her in the sights of Lord Cassius Ramsay, the Justice of the High Court, whose mission is to destroy the establishment...and its owner.

Ramsay is the half brother of Piers Atherton, the Duke of Redmayne, who is also married to Alexandra, one of the Red Rogues. Cecelia and Ramsay crossed paths at a dinner they had at their home and shared a close moment. When he confronted her at the gambling hell, she was in disguise so it took awhile for him to learn that the owner and Cecelia were one and the same. There was so much intrigue and subterfuge in this story that it made it extremely interesting, especially when it became clear Cecelia was in danger.

Cecelia is a tall, voluptuous woman who goes against the grain of the typical heroine. She’s brainy with a strong aptitude for mathematics. She was a formidable force with a velvet glove and confounded Ramsay at ever juncture. I liked their interactions, even though I despised his cruelty at times. What I loved most about the story was that it’s unconventional, even down to the ending that was chock full of surprises. Add to that, it’s narrated by Derek Peters, who lends so much authenticity to the characters and delivers another exceptional performance. I love this series and especially liked these two characters who were given a great, creative story to highlight their romance.

I receieved an ARC from Netgalley and I am happy to give my honest review.

This book was quite the story. I really liked the first book in this series, which was also bonkers at times, so I had high hopes going into this one. Cecilia was quiet and wallflowerish but the opening scenes made me grow in respect for her. She suddenly inherits a gaming den with a new ward and a school that supports destitute women without any training. Yikes.

Cassius is a high ranking judge who has it OUT for Cecilia's aunt and now her. He doesn't believe they have nothing to do with missing girls and believes they are trafficking them. Good thing he watches out for Cecilia though - he's there when a bomb goes off and when she almost gets kidnapped off the street. Finally he believes her and takes her away to safety while she decodes her aunt's blackmail journals.

So yeah, this was kind of bonkers. A lot going on and through it all I did really like Cassius. He was hard headed but also had good intentions. I wish we got more into Cecilia's head or heard more about her skills in mathematics. She fell kind of flat to me. Overall I did enjoy this story and it was a nice escape from everything going on in the world.

Ramsey known as the Vicar of Vice is against everything Cecilia is for, well most everything. She tries to help the ladies of the night learn skills to leave that life. Ramsey is trying to shut her down. When Ramsey saves her and her ward and vows to keep them safe, he realizes Cecilia is all he's been looking for. Neither one is willing to give up their livelihoods for each other, but when danger finds them, priorities change and love prevails. I received a complimentary copy and I am voluntarily reviewing.

After reading book 1 in this series earlier this year, I was so excited to get my hands on this book! I love the Red Rogues, the strong female friendships play right into my interests. After diving into this highly anticipated follow up, I found myself with mixed feelings. I enjoyed a good amount of the book, including Kerrigan Byrne’s writing style, but I found MC Cassius Ramsay overbearing, uptight, and unkind. He was not enjoyable to read and he did not have my sympathies for a good chunk of the book. His accent was a also bit frustrating to read in the way it was captured, but I can understand why that is. When Ramsay and Cecelia were in scenes together, I found him more interesting and pleasant to read. I also enjoyed getting to see Ramsay realize the error of his ways. I give credit to Kerrigan’s writing, she does know how to build relationships and trust between her characters and to continue bringing surprises.
The action-packed ending with surprises didn’t work for me as well as it did in book 1. It also brings to light a few questionable elements. The villain turns out to be queer, and an accomplice described as “the Indian” doesn’t even get a name. Given the lack of diversity throughout the rest of the book, these portrayals seem pointless and thoughtless at best, harmful at worst. I am sure many readers may not notice or take issue with this representation, but others may be harmed and I expect better from the author and the publisher.
This would have been a 4 star read for me despite the really unlikeable hero, but the ending knocks it down to 3 stars..

Cecelia Teague was rescued from a horrible life by an unknown benefactor. As an adult she finds out her benefactor was her mother's sister, who owned a gaming hall. It's not all that it seems. The money from this hall supports training for education for woman to make a living. Cassius Gerard Ramsey, Lord Chief Justice of the High Court suspects this place kidnaps young girls and sells them. It's not true, but Ramsey is determined to prove that it is, until Cecelia breaks down his defenses. A coded book, a bomb, near death and on the run to Scotland. Never a dull moment.
A free copy of this book for an honest review.

There’s little sense in beating around the bush, so let me state outright: try as I might, I just couldn’t get into this book. Now, that’s not to say I didn’t finish it—I did—but it was a week and a half-long struggle of forgetting all about it then suddenly remembering and reading a few chapters.

On the whole, I didn’t *dislike* this book. I certainly didn’t hate it. But the plot was, at times, tedious, and then wrapped up in a startlingly race to the last page—all while giving the reader little in the way of evidence relating to the bad guys. Honestly, there was at least one jarring leap of logical that left me confused enough o needed to skip back and make sure I hadn’t missed anything.

Having said that, I did like the friendship of Cecelia and her Red Rogue pals. I haven’t read the first book and I suspect I was poorer for it, but I love the idea of unwavering and supportive friends. I liked, too, the addition of little Phoebe who provided a few sweet moments worth smiling about. I even liked the romance, despite the fact that Ramsay was bullish and, frankly, mean at times, while Cecelia was a bit wish-washy. (I’m still not sure I agree with her decision re: the gambling hell, but hey, maybe that’s just me.)

Ultimately, though, I was lost by lengthy passages with florid wording, repetitive thinking, and even more repetitive descriptions of moments and meanings. This was my first Kerrigan Byrne book, and as I have many friends who name her as one of their favorites, I would probably give her another try with another story—perhaps Francesca’s—but sadly, this one just didn’t make the grade for me.

Absolutely no one writes tortured characters better than Kerrigan Byrne. She has this amazing ability to write both hero and heroine as people with traumatized pasts that leave them damaged. All Scot and Bothered is just another example of her ability to make your heart break for her characters and then cheer even harder when they overcome their demons.

The Devil You Know series revolves around 3 best friends from school who are bound by their secrets and their love of manly pursuits. Each book opens with a prologue that shows that heroine’s darkest hour. Cecelia was born a bastard and raised by her mother’s husband, a cruel man of the cloth who blamed all females for the sins of the world and his impotence. The glimpse into her childhood given to us in the prologue simultaneously made me heartbroken and furious. I rarely get so angry over the treatment fictional people receive, and that is all do to Byrne’s writing.
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Another characteristic of this author is her ability to make both hero and heroine seem reasonable. Both Cecelia and Cassius are flawed and make mistakes, but their thought process always makes sense. We understand why they made that wrong choice because we can see how their past trauma has affected their thinking. This saves the reader from being angry at one of our leads for being idiotic even when they are clearly being idiotic.

I’m a sucker for romance series that have a series plot. The Devil You Know series is the perfect combination of wrapping up each book with a HEA and leaving a mystery left to solve. In book 1, we are briefly told the backgrounds of all 3 friends. Each friend has her own mystery and our appetites are wetted for reading each girl’s story. There is one friend left, and I personally will be waited with baited breathe for her book.

3.5 stars
This series got me started on a quest of reading historical romances. I liked the first book and was intrigued by the other women in the Red Rogues. This is Cecilia's story. We learned more about Cecilia's back story and it was fascinating to see how that part of her life will affect her present. We get to know more about Ramsey and he becomes a major part of Ceclia's life. The tension between the two was strong and seeing how they would navigate that along with everything else had me reading fast to see how it all plays out. The twists and turns were riveting. And of course Alexandra, Piers, and Francesca played their roles and we got introduced to new characters that were majorly involved. Overall, All Scot and Bothered was a good read and I was completely infatuated with the story. I am interested in the next book and can't wait to see what happens with Francesca.